Webster opened a file on the table before him and slid over a crinkled
photograph in the form of a small postcard. Dirk silently looked at
the black-and-white image of a hardened Japanese woman of fifty glaring
violently into the camera lens.
"An homage card of Fusako Shigenobu, former revolutionary leader of the
JRA," Webster continued. "Found it in the wallet of one of your
would-be assassins after we fished them out of the sound."
"What's the JRA?" Dirk asked.
"The Japanese Red Army. An international terrorist cell that dates to
the seventies. Believed to have been broken up with the arrest of
Shigenobu in 2000, they appear to have staged a deadly resurgence in
activity."
"I've read that the prolonged weakness in Japan's economy has spawned
renewed interest in fringe cults by the Japanese youth," Gunn added.
"The JRA has attracted more than a few bored youths. They have claimed
responsibility for the assassinations of our ambassador to Japan and
deputy chief of mission, as well as the explosion at the SemCon plant
in Chiba. These were all very professional hits. The public outrage,
as you are no doubt aware, is straining our relations with Tokyo."
"We suspect the JRA may have been behind the cyanide attack on Yunaska,
as a prelude to a more deadly strike in a major urban area," Jost
added.
"And also behind the smallpox infection of the Yunaska scientist Irv
Fowler," Dirk stated.
"We have not established that link," Webster countered. "Our analysts
suspect that the scientist may have contracted the disease in
Un-alaska, from a local Aleut. Japanese authorities do not believe the
JRA is sophisticated enough to obtain and disperse the smallpox
virus."
"I might think otherwise," Dirk cautioned.
"Mr. Pitt, we are not here to gather your conspiracy theories," Jost
remarked in a belittling tone. "We are just interested in learning
what
^ JRA agents were doing in the country and why they tried to kill a
Iv[UMA diver."
"That's special projects director," Dirk replied as he hoisted the
duffel bag up onto the conference table. Then, giving it a strong
shove, he pushed the bag across the table in the direction of Jost. The
arrogant transportation security director scrambled to hoist a cup of
coffee out of the way before the bag slid up against his chest.
"Your answer is in there," Dirk stated brusquely.
Webster stood and unzipped the bag as Jost and Gunn looked on intently.
Carefully wrapped in foam padding was a large section of the bomb
canister that Dirk had recovered from the I-403. The silver-porcelain
casing was split open, revealing a segmented interior, with several
empty compartments positioned beneath a small nose tip component.
"What is it?" Gunn asked.
"A sixty-year-old dirty bomb," Dirk replied. He then retold the story
of the World War II attack on Fort Stevens, his discovery of the
submarine, and the retrieval of the bomb canister.
"An ingenious weapon," Dirk continued. "I had the epidemiology lab in
Washington test for trace elements, to see what was armed in the
payload section."
"It's made of porcelain," Webster noted.
"Used to protect biological agents. The nose cone had a simple timed
explosive, designed to detonate at a pre specified altitude to disperse
the main payload armament. As you can see, it would have been a pretty
small charge. Enough to shatter the porcelain casing but not damage
the payload with undue heat or pressure."
Dirk pointed to the interior payload compartments, which were
cigar-shaped and stretched nearly to the tail fins.
"It's not clear whether the payload agents were mixed together during
flight or upon detonation. But the bomb could obviously carry multiple
compounds. The contents might be one or more biological agents with a
booster, or a combination of biological or chemical
agents. The CDC lab was only able to find a trace chemical agent in
one of the compartments on this particular bomb." '
"Cyanide?" Gunn asked. "None other," Dirk replied.
"But why utilize more than one payload?" Webster queried. "To ensure
a specific kill zone, and perhaps divert attention. Let's say cyanide
was combined with a biological agent. The cyanide gas would have a
high lethality in a concentrated area only, whereas the biological
agent would create gradual problems over a larger region. Cyanide gas
also dissipates quickly, so attack survivors would reenter the drop
zone unaware of a secondary danger. But that's just speculation. It's
possible the canister design was for a different intent, to strike with
a mixture of several chemical agents or biological agents that would
produce a higher lethality in combination."
"So what additional agents were on this bomb?" Gunn asked. Dirk shook
his head slowly. "That, we don't know. The lab technicians were
unable to detect any remaining trace elements from the other
compartments. We know that the reason for using porcelain was to house
biological agents, but the Japanese experimented with all kinds of
organisms, so it could be anything from bubonic plague to yellow
fever."
"Or smallpox?" Gunn asked. "Or smallpox," Dirk confirmed.
Jost's face glowed beet red. "This is a preposterous fantasy," he
grumbled. "The history lesson is interesting but irrelevant. A modern
terrorist group salvaging weapons off a World War Two submarine? A
nice story, but how are your biological viruses going to survive under
the sea for sixty years, Mr. Pitt? We know the Japanese Red Army.
It's a small, tight-knit organization with limited sophistication.
Political assassination and planted explosives are within their means.
Deep-sea salvage and microbiology are not."
"I have to agree with Rob," Webster added in a muted tone. "Although
the cyanide canister is an interesting coincidence with the Yunaska attack, the fact is that cyanide is a compound readily obtainable
from many sources. You've admitted that there is no traceable evidence
supporting the smallpox source. And we don't know for sure if the
missing bomb canister on the sub was lost somewhere else on the vessel
or was even loaded on board in the first place."
Dirk reached over to the duffel bag and unzipped a side pocket, pulling
out the still-blinking digital timer he'd found in the torpedo room.
"Maybe you can at least find out where this came from," he said,
handing it to Webster.
"Could have been left behind by a sport diver," Jost noted.
"A sport diver with a possessive disposition, apparently," Dirk
remarked drily. "I've been shot at twice now. I don't know who these
characters are, but they take their game seriously."
"I assure you, we have a full investigation under way," Webster stated.
"I'll have our lab in Quantico reanalyze the bomb casing and take a
look at the timer. We will find the perpetrators who caused the death
of the two Coast Guardsmen." The words were firm, but the hollow tone
in his voice revealed his lack of confidence in the
outcome.
"We can offer a safe house for you, Mr. Pitt, until we have made an
apprehension," he added.
"No, thanks. If these people are who you say they are, then I should
have nothing more to fear. After all, how many JRA operatives can they
have in the country?" Dirk asked with a penetrating glare.
Webster and Jost looked at each other in unknowing silence. Gunn
jumped in diplomatically.
"We appreciate your investigation into the loss of our helicopter," he
said, gently ushering the men to the door. "Please keep us advised as
to any new developments, and, of course, NUMA will be happy to assist
in any way we can."
After they left the room, Dirk sat silently shaking his head.
"They've hushed up the Yunaska incident because they are getting so
much flak for the unsolved assassinations in Japan," Gunn said.
Homeland Security and the FBI are stymied and are relying on the
Japanese authorities to make a break in the case. The last thing they
want to admit, on top of that, is that the smallpox case was part of
the attack, with just one victim and no terrorists."
"The evidence may be weak, but there is no reason to foolishly ignore
an attack on our own soil," Dirk stated.
"I'll speak to the admiral about it. The director of the FBI is an old
tennis partner of his. He'll make sure it doesn't get brushed under
the carpet."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by the lean face
of Yaeger poking in.
"Sorry to intrude. Dirk, I have something for you."
"Come in, Hiram. Rudi and I were just plotting the overthrow of the
government. Was Max able to access the National Archives' secure
records?"
"Does McDonald's have golden arches?" Yaeger replied, feigning
insult.
Gunn gave Dirk a sideways glance, then shook his head in amusement. "If
you guys get caught on a security breach, do me a favor and blame it on
your father, will you?"
Dirk laughed. "Sure, Rudi. What did you find, Hiram?"
"The Naval Ministry records were somewhat limited. It's a shame that
most all of the original documents were returned to the Japanese
government in the fifties. The available records in the archives are,
of course, written in Japanese, using a variety of dialects, so I had
to set up several translation programs before I could initiate a
scan."
Yaeger paused and poured himself a cup of coffee from a large silver
urn before continuing.
"As it is, you are in luck. I found a log of operations orders from
the Japanese Sixth Fleet covering the last six months of 1944."
"Including the I-403?" Dirk asked.
"Yep. Its mission of December 1944 evidently had high importance. It
was approved by the fleet admiral himself. The actual sailing order
was short and sweet."
Yaeger pulled a sheet of paper from a thin folder and read aloud.
""Proceed northerly route to Pacific West Coast, refueling Amchitka
(Moriokd). Initiate aerial strike with Maka^e ordnance earliest practicable. Primary Target: Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria.
Alternate Target: Alameda, Oakland, San Francisco. With the emperor's
blessing." "
"That's a pretty ambitious target list for just two planes," Gunn
remarked.
"Think about it, though," Dirk said. "The cities are concentrated
enough all to be reached on a single flyover. Two or three biological
bombs per city would wreak deadly havoc, if that's in fact what they
were. Hiram, you said the ordnance was referred to as Maka^e. St.
Julien Perlmutter found mention of the same term. Any information on
what they were?"
"I was curious about that myself," Yaeger replied. "I found that the
'iferal translation was 'evil wind' or 'black wind." But there was no
additional information in the official naval records."
Yaeger paused and sat back in his chair with a knowing, look.
"Well, did you find anything else?" Gunn finally goaded.
"It was Max, actually," Yaeger replied proudly. "After exhausting the
National Archives data, I had her search the public databases in the
U.S. and Japan. In a Japanese genealogy database, she hit pay dirt,
locating an obscure diary from a sailor who served aboard the I-403
during the war." Holding a printout up to his face, he continued.
"Mechanic First Class Hiroshi Sakora, Imperial Navy Air Corps, was a
lucky devil. He came down with appendicitis while the sub was crossing
the Pacific on its fateful voyage in December of 1944 and was
transferred off the boat and onto the refueling ship in the Aleutian
Islands. All his shipmates, of course, went on to perish when the sub
was sunk off Washington State."
"And he made mention of the I-403's mission?" Dirk asked.
"In vivid detail. It turns out that the young Mr. Sakora, in addition
to his aircraft mechanic duties, was also in charge of aerial
ordnance
for the submarine's airplanes. He wrote that before they left port on
their final voyage, an Army officer named Tanaka brought aboard an
unusual type of aerial bomb that was to be used on the mission. The
shipboard morale became very high, he added, when the crew learned they
were to make an attack on the United States. But there was much
mystery and speculation about the unknown weapon."
"Did he identify what it was?" Gunn pressed.
"He tried to, but working with the fellow Tanaka was difficult. "A
gloomy, overbearing, obstinate taskmaster," he wrote about the
officer.
Typical Army-Navy rivalry, I suppose, plus the submariners didn't like
his being a last-minute addition to the sailing crew. At any rate, he
pressed Tanaka for information, but to no avail. Finally, just before
he fell ill and was transferred off the sub in the Aleutians, he
wriggled the information out of one of the pilots. The pilot, so the
story goes,
shared some sake with Tanaka and was able to pry the secret payload out
of him. It was smallpox."
"Good God, so it's true!" Gunn exclaimed.
"Apparently so. He wrote that the payload was a freeze-dried virus,
which was to be detonated and dispersed at altitude above the most
concentrated population points of each city. Within two weeks, an
outbreak of smallpox was expected all along the West Coast. With a
thirty percent mortality rate, the deaths would have been staggering.
The Japanese figured the resulting panic would allow them to negotiate
a peace settlement on their terms."
"The threat of more smallpox bombs on our home soil might very well
have changed the resolve of many people to finish the war, Gunn
speculated.
An uneasiness crept over the room as the three considered how history
may have played out differently had the I-403 successfully completed
its mission. Their thoughts then turned to the possibility of a more
current threat.
"You mentioned that the virus was freeze-dried. So they must have had the ability to store the virus for long periods and then rejuvenate it," Dirk commented.
"Necessary for a long sea voyage," Yaeger
added. "According to Max
the Japanese had difficulty in keeping the viruses alive in their munitions for any length of time. They ultimately perfected a way of
freeze-drying the virus, for easier handling and longer storage, until
the need for activation when deployed. Insert a little H2O and you're
in business."
"So the virus could still be a viable danger, even after sixty years at
the bottom of the sea," Gunn remarked. "I guess that answers Jost's
question."
"There's no reason the smallpox wouldn't survive in freeze-dried form
if the canisters hadn't cracked during sinking. Since they're made of
porcelain, the canisters could survive intact for centuries
underwater," Dirk said. "Might also explain the various interior
segments to the bomb. A compartment with water was needed to
rejuvenate the virus."
"Perhaps it was more fortunate than we know that all but one of the
canisters were demolished on the I-403," Gunn remarked.
"That still leaves one canister unaccounted for," Dirk replied.
"Yes, as well as the other mission ordnance," Yaeger added.
Dirk and Gunn looked at each other. "What other mission?" Gunn asked
incredulously.
"The I-411."
Yaeger felt their eyes boring right through him.
"Didn't you know?" he asked. "There was a second submarine, the
Dirk Pitt18-Black Wind Page 20