Strayker spoke, “Vince; what else have you dug up on this Red Mercury?”
Vince replied, “GAIL has trawled through Russian Intel and was able to hack into systems at a Secret Russian Weapons Production Facility outside of Chapayevsk, GAIL would you care to update us with what you discovered?”
GAIL replied, “Certainly I will try to keep it as simple as possible. The Intel I scanned suggests that Red Mercury is a compound with tremendous energy density; it appears that the Russians have successfully fabricated this compound using ultra high-pressure technology. It appears that when you knock all these electrons out, it is not the same atom and it pulls a lot more energy per gram than any other explosive. The Intel also states that the scientists at the facility have successfully completed the use of Red Mercury and used it to produce a number of softball-sized pure fusion bombs weighing as little as 10 lbs. A size that could be fitted into a suitcase, thus creating a tactical nuclear weapon!”
When GAIL finished there was a few moments of silence before Max broke it and said, “GAIL; I have a basic knowledge of Fusion weapons, but you mentioned pure fusion bombs, what’s the difference?”
GAIL replied, “Firstly to date the Americans have spent millions of dollars in an effort to produce a pure fusion weapon without success. Such a weapon would require no fissile material and would therefore be much easier to build in secret than existing weapons. Pure fusion weapons offer the possibility of generating very small nuclear yields and the advantage of reduced collateral damage stemming from fallout because these weapons would not create the highly radioactive by products associated with fission-type weapons. They would also be lethal not only because of their explosive force, which could be large compared to bombs based on chemical explosives, but also because of the neutrons they generate. The neutrons may cause substantially more casualties than the explosive blast, as in a neutron bomb.”
Strayker’s astute mind had been following the information GAIL had presented and he finally spoke, “Okay; we have a material that the Russians have manufactured that has the potential to be more powerful than anything around at the moment. We have a downed aircraft purported to have this Red Mercury as part of its cargo, on board was a Russian KGB agent from the First Chief Directorate Foreign Operations and foreign espionage, also on board were two CIA agents; anyone have any notions?”
Vince was first to reply, “I have two theories, firstly the Americans found out about this substance and a deal was in play with the KGB agent to have it transported to America,” Vince paused.
Max said, “What’s the second theory Vince?”
Vince paused before replying, “This is the scary version of the two Max. What if the Russian had a buyer in the States?
What if that buyer was a terrorist and was going to use the material for a weapon?”
GAIL came in quickly and said, “I have one more version that is even scarier than that!”
Vince replied, “Let’s have it GAIL?”
“Our MI-6 agents went to New York two days ago to examine the retrieved cargo from the air crash that had been salvaged. When they arrived at the docks, the cargo had been transported supposedly to one of the dockside warehouses. However, it has gone missing, what if there is a rogue element within the CIA and they want the Red Mercury for an ulterior motive?”
Max said, “What would that ulterior motive possibly be GAIL?”
GAIL replied, “To build and detonate a device on American soil, fabricate the evidence and provide proof it came from the Russians or another source to start a war with the third party.”
Strayker was the first to respond, “Good God GAIL! That is a frightening notion!”
Strayker walked over to a phone and dialled a number from memory.
19
Café Reggio
119 MacDougal Street
Greenwich Village
New York.
Lat = 40 degrees, 43.8 minutes North
Long = 74 degrees, 0.0 minutes West
Monday 11th September 1989. (Same day)
Twelve hundred hours EDT
Café Reggio is located in the heart of historic Greenwich Village, just steps away from Washington Square Park.
The Café is the home of the Original Cappuccino and is proud to be the first Café in the United States to serve Cappuccino Since 1927.
In the left corner from the green entrance door, Walter Smith was sitting by the window at a square table with two armchair style chairs.
He was already sipping a Cappuccino admiring the beautiful array of artwork, some of which dated back to the Italian Renaissance period.
Yuri Yurchenko arrived and immediately walked over to the table and sat down in the chair opposite Walter Smith.
A waiter approached him and Yuri said, “I’ll have a hot Hazelnut Cappuccino.”
The waiter nodded and walked away.
Walter spoke first, “I am glad we could get together Yuri.”
Yuri replied, “Yes Walter; so what is the score with the package?”
“We have it stored and secure at a place in Richmond Virginia Yuri.”
“Is it still operational after the air crash?”
“I should have an update within the next twenty-four hours on its capability Yuri.”
“So Walter; do we have any clues as to the cause of the aircrafts demise.”
“From the evidence I have been able to look at; it appears to have been accidental and caused by a fire in the cargo hold, possibly from some other cargo that was inflammable which ignited.
It is a shame we lost our men on the plane.”
“I have heard the British have been looking into the incident and have identified the KGB agent along with your two men,” said Yuri.
“Let me worry about the Brits Yuri!”
Yuri thought for a moment and said, providing the device is operational are we still a go for the 29th Walter?”
“Yes Yuri; the Russian president is due in on the 28th and will sign the START-1 agreement with our President the following day at the White House.”
“I presume you still want my people to go to the warehouse
Walter?”
“Yes Yuri; as soon as I have confirmation the device is viable I will contact you.”
“Are you sure we have completely covered ourselves Walter? It must be done in a way that does not implement us directly.”
“The authorities whom will investigate the incident will be fed the evidence to lead them to identify the people responsible, ensuring we are in no way connected in the matter.”
“Anything else I need to do Walter?”
“Just make sure you are nowhere in Washington on that date Yuri; in fact it would be prudent not to be in the country at all.”
“Yes... Yes, I will certainly be out of the country, I will leave everything to you Walter.”
Both men finished their drinks shook hands and left the Café.
20
Emergency meeting
10 Downing Street
City of Westminster
London SW1
Lat = 51 degrees, 30.2 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.7 minutes West
Monday 11th September 1989. (Same day)
Fourteen hundred hours BST
The phone call Strayker had made had resulted in the emergency meeting of the Everest group.
All the members were seated when the Prime Minister walked in, they began to stand and she said, “Please gentlemen stay seated.”
The Prime Minister took her seat and addressed Strayker, “Major I will hand over to you.”
Strayker stood up looked at the PM and replied, “thank you Ma’am.”
He then turned his attention to the Everest team and began his briefing, “As you are aware
when we last met last week the Prime Minister tasked me with finding out some more on this Red Mercury. I had Vince Edwards look into this and what we have discovered to say the least is potentially frightening.”
Strayker paused for a few moments and then continued, “GAIL was able to hack into systems at a Secret Russian Weapons Production Facility outside of Chapayevsk in Russia. The Intel scanned suggests that Red Mercury is a compound with tremendous energy density; it appears that the Russians have successfully fabricated this compound using ultra high-pressure technology. The Intel also states that the scientists at the facility have successfully completed the fabrication of red mercury and have used it to produce a number of softball-sized pure fusion bombs weighing as little as 10 lbs.”
Sir Richard Evans head of the British army interrupted Strayker, “did you say pure fusion bombs Major?”
“Strayker replied “Yes Sir Richard pure fusion.”
Admiral Sir Robert Fox head of the Royal Navy and Sir Toby Percival Head of the Royal Air force immediately looked at Strayker and both said at the same time, “impossible!”
Strayker reached down to the floor and picked up his attaché case opened it, pulled out six manila coloured folders, and then passed them around.
He said, “Here is the Intel GAIL retrieved along with hers and Vince’s synopsis, please gentlemen take a look at it.”
The Prime Minister picked up the phone and spoke into it whilst the team perused the Intel.
A few minutes later, the door opened and a woman pushed in a trolley with coffee and teapots along with cups and saucers and accompaniments.
The Prime Minister said, “thank you Mary.”
Mary turned and left the room.
By know each of the team had placed their folders down on the table sitting in silence and all eyes on Strayker.
The Prime Minister broke the silence, “before we continue gentlemen please help yourselves to the coffee and tea,” she caught Strayker’s eye and said, “Major I’ll have my usual a black coffee.”
Strayker replied, “certainly Ma’am.”
The Prime Minister opened her folder and looked through the report.
The Everest team all began pouring their respective drinks, not a word was spoken by them with each man deep in thought with what had just been revealed.
When everyone had sat back down the Prime Minister said, “Okay would anyone like to start the ball rolling on this?”
Pierce Evans head of MI-6 was first to speak, “I speak for both Jonathan’s department and my own and can say we have been unable to source any reliable Intel on this Red Mercury. However I can concur with the report that whatever was salvaged from the Atlantic and taken to The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey docks has disappeared it appears to have been taken by a dark blue semi eighteen-wheeler”
Sir Richard Evans spoke, “If the Intel we have here is genuine and knowing GAIL I have no doubt to believe it; someone is going too; excuse my language, fuck with the USA big time.”
Jonathan Troy came back with, “But what would be the motive behind going down this road, and who would gain from a nuclear detonation on US soil?”
The room fell silent for a few moments before the phone ringing interrupted the silence, the Prime Minister picked the phone up and several seconds later handed it to Strayker and said, “It’s Vince at ICIS Major.”
Strayker placed the phone to his right ear and said, “I presume you have something for us Vince?”
Vince Edwards replied, “Yes; if you would connect me to the system there I have some interesting Intel.”
Strayker stood up, walked over to the large Plasma screen switched it on and immediately came to life with Vince’s image, Strayker returned to his seat, and said, “We are ready Vince for you briefing.”
Back at ICIS Vince was able to see everyone in the room via four cameras in the room that created a three dimensional perfect image of the room.
Vince began his briefing, “Ma’am, gentlemen I believe we have discovered a possible motive for the possible deployment of the Red Mercury weapon in the USA.”
Vince paused and then continued, “In eighteen days’ time on the 29th the President of the United States and the Russian President are due to sign the START-1 treaty at the Whitehouse in Washington.”
Everyone in the room was aware of the implications surrounding the START-1 treaty.
START (STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is the first phase of two phases, of a bilateral treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
The first phase would reduce overall warhead counts on any missile type to 5,000, with an additional limit of 2,500 on ICBMs. This treaty also requires that the United States and Russia would have 6,000 fighter aircraft, 10,000 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,000 attack helicopters.
Vince spoke again, “as most of you are aware the lead up to this treaty has been dogged due to the fact the U.S. would have to make considerably less of an adjustment in its strategic forces than would the Soviet Union. It is common knowledge that there are people on both sides that feel uncomfortable about this treaty and it would be prudent to also believe, that a small number of people would want this treaty to fail completely.”
Strayker’s mind as usual was one-step ahead and he quickly came in, “and what better way to achieve this than with a nuclear explosion on U.S soil and to make a big statement, do it on the day of the treaty!”
The Prime Minister responded, “Gentlemen; everything I have heard so far has the potential for a world conflict, but I need real proof we need to join the pieces together with good solid Intelligence. Pierce, Jonathan we need to place the KGB agent at the Russian weapon facility and if he took possession of this Red Mercury and put it on the plane.”
Both Pierce Evans and Jonathan Troy nodded their response.
The Prime Minister continued, “We need to discover what happened to the salvaged cargo, any suggestions?”
Strayker was quick to respond, “Ma’am, I will talk to Vince and see if GAIL can help us, her systems can access CCTV systems on a worldwide basis, she should be able to access the traffic camera systems at the docks and roads into and out of them, hopefully they keep the system backed up?”
The Prime Minister said, “Okay, gentlemen lets work fast on this one, we need clarification on these issues before I can speak to the two President’s, unless anyone else has anything to contribute then the meeting is over?”
Within a minute, the room had cleared.
21
OSC operational base
Hesters Copse
Hampshire
England
Lat = 51 degrees, 12.8 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 57.1 minutes West
Monday 11th September 1989. (Same day)
Fourteen thirty-nine hours BST
Hesters copse is the operational home of the OSC, two miles southwest of RAF Odiham Hampshire the base for joint helicopter command, currently Chinook helicopters are based there.
The base had several buildings, sleeping quarters, a mess, admin block and a secure block to detain prisoners along with an interrogation room, the largest building was on the south side the firing range, the building had been retro fitted to suppress noise along with a powerful extraction system for the fumes.
The complex also had a new Intel room linked directly to ICIS with the other remote Intel rooms in Downing Street and at OSC Headquarters in Whitehall.
Following the escape of a Russian SPETSNA prisoner from one of the detention rooms at the camp seven weeks ago; that resulted in one of the OSC men being killed, the bases security systems had been increased.
Internal security of the base was now in the hands of two military uni
ts, one from the Royal Marines and one from the Parachute regiment being rotated every six weeks.
Each detention room was now fitted with a CCTV system that was constantly monitored by GAIL’s systems.
All doors had been upgraded to blast proof specifications along with automatic locks.
Whenever a cell was to be entered it would now be done with a two-man team, every corridor and room with the exception of the interior of the cell rooms had alarm buttons.
Activating the alarm system would immediately produce an audible sound; every room’s door in the detention block including external access doors would instantaneously be locked down.
There was also a facility to induce an instant reacting sleeping gas into this area should it be required.
At this moment, the six teams of the OSC were live firing in the indoor range using a combination of their preferred weapons, the Heckler and Koch MP-5 submachine gun along with their side arms the nine-millimetre Glock-19.
Although everyman was a highly trained sniper as well, each team had a designated sniper with the position being rotated every four weeks throughout each team.
The weapon of choice for this was the Single-fire bolt action suppressed L96A1 with a ten round 7.62 NATO round magazine capable of propelling the round at three thousand feet per second, this was accompanied with the 10x42 hensoldt telescopic sights.
The teams were dressed in their unique assault camouflage uniform that had been custom-made for the unit; three colour’s had been used the base colour was dark slate grey, inter spaced with a lighter grey known as sea storm and a light blue known as blue chalk creating a disruption camouflage pattern, known as DCP.
Covering their torsos was the Personal Armour System for Ground Troops, PASGT. Pronounced pass-get. This also included a ballistic combat helmet, with an integrated communications system.
Their final piece of equipment was the advanced combat knife with a seven-inch blade with a half serrated cutting edge finished in black.
Each of the thirty-six men had been handpicked by Max and Strayker and they had been poached from the top military units, whenever an objection had been raised, the Battalion Commander would receive a phone call from the Prime Minister, over ruling the objection.
Red Mercury Page 8