The Iscariot Factor (Half Staff Book 2)

by Rick Mitchell

  “Ron, if you don’t bring him back alive, it’s going to be hell to pay with the President. In saying that, the team’s safety comes first. If it’s a question between…Hell, you know.”

  “I know. There’s a jump seat in here that will fit you; sure you don’t want to go with?”

  “Negative, I asked Beth and she said that I couldn’t go with Doliver to Denmark. She thinks he’s a bad influence. God’s Speed.”

  THE THIRST

  Coming December 2014

  June 13, 2006

  The Ayatollah, Iran’s Supreme Leader, wasn’t pleased when people disrupted his morning’s rituals. Mahmoud always interrupted him at the most inopportune times. Ahmadinejad, and a man he had never seen, approached him. Three feet from him, both men bowed. The Ayatollah told them to rise.

  “Ayatollah, we are sorry to bother you on this beautiful morning, but I believe that this is of the utmost urgency.”

  “Mahmoud, has there ever been anything in your life you didn’t think was of the utmost urgency?”

  Ahmadinejad paused for a moment. “May I introduce you to Ali Razirei, one of our most renowned scientists?”

  The Ayatollah looked at the man. “Are you one of our nuclear scientists, Razirei? I would have thought, I would have heard of you.”

  Razirei froze, wondering if he should speak in the presence of the Supreme Leader. Mahmoud motioned for him to go on. “Sir, I am not a scientist, I am a chemist.”

  The Ayatollah was growing more annoyed by the second. “Get on with it. What do you want?”

  Ali Razirei could not speak. He just bowed his head, wishing now that he had never sent his finding to Ahmadinejad.

  The Iranian President spoke. “May Ali sit Sir; before he passes out?” Khamenei motioned for the man to sit.

  “Supreme One, I misspoke. Ali is a chemist who oversees our countries desalination, turning saltwater into drinking water. Currently his plant processes more than fifty million gallons of ocean water into drinking water daily. Razirei has promised to double that in fewer than three years.” Ahmadinejad said.

  “I must apologize for my earlier behavior Razirei. What may I do for you?”

  “Tell him Razirei!”

  “Supreme One, three years ago while working to speed up the filtering, I uncovered a salt water molecule that I had never seen. I first considered it an anomaly, but samples proved that it was present in all our holding tanks.

  “Once filtered into drinking water, I was shocked to find that this molecule was still active. As after desalination, it has no color, or taste. I then began studying it to see if it held any properties that would prove beneficial.”

  “And did it?”

  “Allow him to finish, Great One.” Mahmoud replied.

  “No, Supreme One, it proved just the opposite. After splitting the molecule, I noticed that after a short period of time, it regenerated. Doubling, and then, doubling again. I then made a serum using the molecule, and injected it into a lab rat. At first, I saw no change in the animal. But after a few weeks I noted the creature was acting rather strangely.

  “It became irritable, and soon began pacing back and forth in its cage. One morning I came to work to find that it had chewed off one of its front paws. It was losing so much blood that I killed it later that day.

  “I performed an autopsy to find the molecule no longer present in the animal. Somehow it had died with its host. The blood, urine, and water, inside the rat also showed no signs of it. I went outside the scope of the autopsy, and found it. Supreme One, it had altered the rat’s DNA.

  “Next, I injected the serum into a pig. The pig considered the closest tissue match to our own human body. I gave the pig the same dose as the rat, even though it was one hundred times its size. The result took months, but it followed the same progression. I took a second pig, and doubled the early dose. The larger dose did not alter the speed of the reaction. When I performed their autopsies, conclusions were the same as in the lab rats. No sign of the molecule; except when I checked the pigs DNA.

  Both men could see the Ayatollah was already thinking ahead of the story. He started to speak, but had second thoughts. “Continue” he said.

  “This proved that once spliced, the molecule took on a life of its own. It regenerated, and growth continued until it could attach onto one the carrier’s genes. Supreme One, this goes against all know laws of nature.”

  Mahmoud took that statement as his queue to take over the report. “Sir, a little over two years ago, I was visiting the plant, and Razirei sought a private meeting. He told me of his findings, and I decided that we should move forward with human trials. We injected the serum into twelve prisoners. As it had with the pigs, it took months before we saw any changes in the men.”

  “Over those months we begin to notice gradual changes in some of the men; anxiety, mild depression, insomnia, and fatigue. In four of the prisoners, the changes were more severe. They began having hallucinations, dreams, bouts of depression, and often, rage. In two of the cases, the men attempted suicide. One succeeded.

  “We then moved our testing to a small border village. We were going to administer the injections to the males of the village, but then decided to try a different approach. Razirei spliced the molecules, calculated the dosage necessary, and added the serum to the town’s only water supply.

  “Our findings were, to say the least, shocking. Adding the serum to their water supply slowed its progression. Once we began noticing the signs of change, they were less dramatic, and build in intensity overtime. At first, we thought that it chose its victims at random. But as the changes began, we saw that it was anything but.

  “It affected no children that we found. If it did, the effects were so slight, we couldn’t record them. Five percent of the women would develop a negative reaction to the serum. We witnessed only irritability, sleeplessness, or mild depression in these women. Reactions in the older males were similar to that of the women. A handful of these men had what we judged to be midlevel symptoms.

  “In the sixteen to forty-five year old age groups, we noted that forty-two percent of the men had recordable reactions. Of these, fewer than twelve percent had violent episodes. These reactions were in line of what we witnessed in the prisoners. Before adding the serum to the water supply, we brought in doctors, and government physiatrist, to evaluate the towns physical, and mental, health. Also we noted common denominators between the findings in younger men, we still do not know how, or why, the serum discriminates.

  “There was a new difference that begin showing up in the village after the first year. The rates of murders, and suicides increased significantly. Supreme One, we no longer have a simple water molecule, we have a ..”

  “Weapon” the Ayatollah said.

  -----

  PRESENT DAY

  He woke to the sound of gunfire. Instinctively, he rolled off his cot, and belly crawled to the corner of the barracks. He listened for a second, trying to pick out familiar voices. How had his bunkmates escaped without him hearing? The room was pitch-black; except for the pulse of light that shown each time a shell burst close by.

  He backed himself tighter in the corner after hearings someone yelling, “Forward,” in Farsi. He now knew their camp had been overrun. He then thought he heard someone else in the room. He knew better than to call out, it could be the enemy.

  He drew the pistol closer into his chest, and after hearing the noise again, he pointed it toward the approaching sound. He could smell the sweat coming from his attacker. The scent; a mixture of sand, and body odor, quickly permeated the room.

  Suddenly he saw movement and fired three shots, chest level, at his assailant. He heard him crumble to the floor. He waited a moment, and then decided to crawl to the man. Possibly he would have a long weapon. If it were a rifle, he could better protect himself.

  He slowly approached, not knowing if the enemy soldier had already died of his wounds. The noises outside suddenly faded as he inched closer and cl
oser. He heard a faint voice calling his name.

  “Chris….Chris….”

  Lying in a pool of blood was his wife, Rebecca. He rushed to his bedroom door, and switched on the lights. He called 911, and then rushed back to her side. Placing her head in his lap, he began sobbing uncontrollably. Thirty seconds later, she was gone.

  He crawled back into the corner of his room, raised his pistol, and joined his wife.

  -----

  Chance Peters stood outside the glass door of Ron Collins’s office until he noticed him, and motioned him inside. “Chance, what can I do for you?”

  “Collins, I need a few days off. I need to go home.”

  “Ok, it shouldn’t be an issue. I will just need to OK it with Pat. Is there a problem with someone in your family? If so, screw it. Take off.”

  “Not my family. I was asked to be a pallbearer for one of my closest high school buddies.”

  “That’s sad, what happened?”

  “It looks like PTSD.” He just came back from a tour in Afghanistan; killed his wife and then himself.”

  “Crap. When’s the last time you spoke with him?”

  “I didn’t even know he was back. He went into the Army about six months after I enlisted. We kept in touch for a while, and then we just drifted. I got wind that he shipped overseas, but didn’t hear where. His mother called mine, to ask if I could come in for the funeral.”

  “Chance, I should know this, but where’s home?”

  “Franklin, Tennessee”

  “Let me give Pat a call just to make sure that we are clean, and I will get back with you in a few minutes. When did you plan leaving?”

  “The funeral is day after tomorrow. So this afternoon, if that’s OK?”

  Chance left the office while Ron made the phone call to Director Drice in Washington. A few minutes later, he called Chance back into his office. “Chance, I spoke with Pat and he told me to tell you that he is sorry about the loss of your friend. He also said to take all the time you need; to stay and visit your family for a few days after the funeral.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Also, before I spoke to Pat, I spoke with the team. If it’s OK with you, we would like to attend the funeral with you. Doliver liked the idea of being able to tell your mother firsthand what a pain in the butt you are to him.”

  “Ya’ll don’t have to take your time to go. I appreciate the offer though.”

  “Too late, Pat is sending his jet for us, unless you are ashamed to be seen with us.”

  “I would love for my family to meet all of you. Can you keep Greg from hitting on my sister?”

  “I can’t promise that; wouldn’t surprise me if Greg didn’t try to hit on women at the funeral.”

  “Me neither”

  “Also, Agent Watts wants to join us. She said that she might be able to help you, and your friend’s family, through the loss. She has studied PTSD for the Agency, and I told her that as a member of the team, she is always welcome.”

  “So, we are all going?”

  “All but Pat; he has a meeting with the President on Thursday.”