"Have we re-created the necessary software for our mission?"
"It would have required many months to write and test the software on
our own. We were fortunate in that all of these software programs are
contained within the databases of the assembly and command ship. As
the payload customer, our team has had almost unlimited access to the
ship for the last three weeks while the Koreasat 2 satellite was being
integrated with the launch vehicle. Once on board, our systems team
found it relatively easy to breach the vessel's mainframe computers and
acquire the software code. Under the nose of their computer experts,
we downloaded copies of the software and, over a four-day period,
transmitted the code by satellite link direct from the Sea Launch
vessel to our laboratory at Inchon."
"But I was told the Baekje, or Koguryo as she is now called, left port
a day ago."
"We have already transferred a portion of the program to the ship-board computers and will download the remaining software while the "
ship is in transit via satellite."
"And you have determined the optimal flight path to achieve maximum
dispersal of the agent?" Kang asked.
"We can theoretically launch up range of the target as far as four
thousand kilometers away; however, the probability of accurately
striking the target is quite small. There is no guidance system for
the sub-orbital payload, so we are relying on wind, thrust, and launch
positioning to reach the strike zone. Utilizing normal Pacific wind
conditions, our Ukrainian engineers have determined that positioning
the launch platform approximately four hundred kilometers up range of
the target will maximize the accuracy of delivery. Adjusting for
atmospheric conditions at the time of launch, we can expect the
pay-load to fall to earth within a five-kilometer radius."
"But the aerosol system will be activated well before that," the first
engineer injected.
"Correct. At an elevation of six thousand meters, the aerosol, or
payload system, will be activated. This will occur shortly after the
nose cone fairing has been discarded during flight. In its descent,
the pay-load system will be traveling nearly eight kilometers downrange
for every one kilometer of descent. A vapor trail of the armed agent
will thus be dispersed along a forty-eight-kilometer-long corridor."
"I would have preferred that the launch not take place so close to the
North American mainland," Kang said with a wrinkled brow, "but if the
accuracy of the mission dictates such then so be it. The flight
trajectory will be controlled by the rocket burn?"
"Precisely. The Zenit-3SL is a three-stage rocket designed for pushing
heavy payloads into high orbit. But our desired maximum altitude is
less than fifty kilometers, so we will not fuel the second and third
stages and will short-fuel the first stage. We can terminate the burn
at any time, which we will program to do at slightly over a minute into
the flight. As the launch vehicle coasts in flight to the east, we'll
initiate separation of the payload section from the rocket boosters,
then release the payload housing. The mock satellite will deploy the
aerosol system automatically and disperse the agent until impact."
"Are we positive the American missile defense systems pose no risk?"
"The American antiballistic system is still in its infancy. It is
geared toward intercontinental ballistic missiles that are launched
from thousands of miles away. They will have no time to react. Even
if they did, their intercept missiles would arrive after we have
initiated separation. They might harmlessly destroy the rocket
boosters at best. No, sir, there will be no stopping the payload
deployment once we have launched."
"I am expecting the countdown to occur while the G8 leaders are in the
target area," Kang stated bluntly.
"Weather permitting, we have scheduled the launch to coincide with the
pre-summit assembly in Los Angeles," the engineer said nervously.
"I understand that you will see things through from Inchon?"
"The telecommunications lab is in constant communications with the
Koguryo and will be monitoring the launch live. We of course will be
advising the shipboard crew during the countdown preparations. I trust
that you will be able to join us in viewing the launch?"
Kang nodded. "As my schedule permits. You have done exceptional work.
Bring the mission to success and you will bring high honor to the
Central People's Committee."
Kang nodded again, indicating that the briefing was over. The two
engineers glanced at each other, then bowed to Kang and quietly
shuffled out of the study. Tongju rose from his seat and stepped to
the front of the large mahogany desk.
"Your assault team is in place?" Kang asked his quiet enforcer.
"Yes, they remained aboard ship in Inchon. With your indulgence,
I have arranged for a company jet to fly me to an abandoned Japanese
airstrip in the Ogasawara Islands, where I will rejoin the vessel for
the operation."
"Yes, I expect you to lead the assault phase." Kang paused for a
moment. "We have come a long way in implementing our plan of deception
to risk failure now," he said sternly. "I will hold you responsible
for the continued secrecy of our operation."
"The two Americans ... they surely drowned in the river," Tongju
replied in a hushed tone, catching Kang's drift.
"There is little they know or could prove even if they somehow
survived. The difficulty lies in maintaining the deception once the
mission succeeds. The Japanese must be painted as the responsible
party, with no recourse."
"Once the strike is made, the only physical evidence will be aboard the
Koguryo!"
"Precisely. Which is why you must destroy the ship after the launch."
Kang spoke as if he were asking for a napkin at a cocktail party.
Tongju arched a brow. "My assault team will be on the ship, as well as
your many satellite telecommunications experts?" he questioned.
"Regrettably, your team is expendable. And I have already ensured that
my top satellite engineers are remaining in Inchon during the
operation. It is the way it must be, Tongju," Kang said, showing a
rare hint of empathy.
"It will be done."
"Take these coordinates," Kang said, passing an envelope across the
desk. "One of my freighters bound for Chile will be waiting at that
position. Once the launch is initiated, have the captain sail the
Koguryo to within sight of the freighter and scuttle her. Take the
captain and two or three men, if you wish, and make your way to the
freighter. Under no condition must the Koguryo be apprehended with the
crew aboard."
Tongju nodded in silence, accepting the mass murder assignment without
question.
"Good luck," Kang said, rising and escorting him to the door. "Our
homeland is counting on you."
After he left, Kang returned to his desk and stared up at the ceiling
for a long while. The wheels were in motion now. There was nothing
<
br /> more he could do but wait for the results. Eventually, he pulled out a
file of financial reports and began methodically calculating his next
quarter's expected profit.
The G8 Summit meeting is a forum that was created by former French
president Giscard d'Estaing in 1975. Designed as a conference for the
leaders of the major industrialized nations to come together and
discuss global economic issues of the day, the summit is by tradition
restricted to heads of state only. No controlling advisers or staff
members are allowed, just the top world leaders thrown together once a
year in a private and informal setting. Though the meetings
occasionally result in little more than a prized photo op, the agendas
have expanded beyond global economics over the years to include issues
of world health, the environment, and combating terrorism.
Having recently passed a major global warming legislative package, the
president of the United States was anxious to promote his environmental
protection initiatives on a world stage as host of the next summit.
Following in the tradition of recent nation hosts, President Ward had
selected the scenic and tranquil setting of Yosemite National
Park as the site of the summit. The remote location, he knew, would
deter the usual throng of urban protesters. But in an out-of-character
bow to the worldwide amour with Hollywood, he had agreed to host a
pre-summit reception at a posh Beverly Hills hotel the day before, to
be attended by the current crop of top movie actors and film industry
moguls. Not surprisingly, the invitation was accepted by each of the
leaders of Japan, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Canada, and the
United Kingdom, rounding out the complete G8 membership ranks.
What the president and his security advisers had no way of knowing was
that the G8 reception in Beverly Hills was ground zero for Kang's
missile payload.
Adverse weather, unforeseen mechanical problems, a thousand and one
things could throw off the timetable, Kang knew. But the goal was set.
Make a successful strike while the major leaders of the free world were
assembled and the shock value would be incalculable. Even without
striking the assembled G8 leaders, the terror from the planned attack
would rock the world.
Arcing across the sky from an unseen launch position in the Pacific
Ocean, the aerosol dispenser would be timed to activate as the pay-load
crossed landfall. Commencing its release over the beachfront of Santa
Monica, the payload would dump its deadly agent in a swath across
northern Los Angeles, streaking over the mansions of Beverly Hills, the
film studios of Hollywood, and on past the suburban enclaves of
Glendale and Pasadena. Passing over the Rose Bowl, the viral canisters
would finally run dry and the empty payload would plunge to an
obliterating impact somewhere in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The light mist settling to the ground would be innocuous to the people
on the street. Yet over the next twenty-four hours, the dispersed
viruses would remain alive and highly contagious, even in its low
concentrated dose. Through the hustle and bustle of LAs main tourist
corridor, the unseen viruses would latch onto unsuspecting
victims, without discriminating among men, women, or children.
Rejuvenated by their living hosts, the viruses would silently launch
their internal cellular attacks. Like a quietly ticking time bomb,
there would be no initial clues or symptoms of infection during the
following two-week incubation period. Then, suddenly, a frightening
horror would strike.
At first, it would appear as a small trickle of people staggering to
their doctor's office complaining of fever and body aches. Quickly,
the numbers would swell, soon swamping hospital emergency rooms
throughout Los Angeles County. With the disease having been eradicated
for over thirty years, health professionals would be slow to identify
the culprit. When the diagnosis of smallpox was finally made and the
extent of the outbreak realized, pandemonium would ensue. A frenzied
media would fan the hysteria as more and more cases were diagnosed.
County hospitals would be mobbed by the thousands as every
hypochondriac with a headache or elevated fever rushed to see a
physician. But that would be just the tip of the iceberg for health
officials. As thousands of new smallpox cases suddenly appeared, the
health facilities would be woefully unprepared to provide the primary
treatment for smallpox victims: quarantine. Without an adequate
ability to isolate confirmed cases, the epidemic would grow
exponentially. Kang's scientists had conservatively estimated that
twenty percent of the people exposed to the released vapor would
succumb to infection. With over eighteen million people in the Los
Angeles metropolitan area, even the narrow swath of the payload's
flight path would expose two hundred thousand people to the germ,
infecting some forty thousand. The real expansion would come two weeks
later, as those initially infected would have spread the contagious
germs unknowingly during their first few days of illness. Medical
experts had modeled a tenfold explosion in smallpox cases from those
first exposed. In a month's time, nearly half a million people in
Southern California would be fighting the lethal disease.
Fear would spread faster than the smallpox infection itself, made
more shocking by the vision of the president and other G8 world leaders
fighting the lethal disease. As the epidemic gained strength, cries of
help from citizens, health care workers, and the media would quickly
overwhelm the federal government. Federal authorities would assure the
nation that all would be safe, as sufficient smallpox vaccinations were
on hand to inoculate the entire national population. The Centers for
Disease Control would deliver the vaccinations to local health
authorities to quickly counter the spreading scourge. But to those
already exposed to the virus, the vaccinations would come too late to
be of any help. And to many who received the vaccination, it would
turn out to be useless as well.
For to the horror of health care and public officials, the veracity of
the chimera virus would suddenly come to life. By virtue of its
re-combinant strength, the killer bug would prove itself largely immune
to the U.S. stockpiled smallpox vaccinations. With the death toll
mounting, distressed health officials and scientists would scramble to
develop an effective vaccination that could be mass-produced, but that
would take months. In the meantime, the viral plague would begin
sweeping across the country like a tidal wave. Tourists and travelers
from Los Angeles would unknowingly carry the live virus to points all
over the nation, sparking new outbreaks in a thousand different cities.
As the vaccinations were found to be ineffective, authorities would
resort to the last available means of stopping the epidemic: mass
quarantine. Public assemblies and gatherings would be banned in a
desperate attempt
to halt the viral storm. Airports would close,
subways halted, and buses parked as mandatory travel restrictions would
be imposed. Businesses would be forced to furlough employees while
local governments curtailed their services to avoid debilitating their
entire workforce. Rock concerts, baseball games, and even church
gatherings would all be canceled in fear of sparking new outbreaks.
Those who would venture out for food or medicine would only do so clad
in rubber gloves and surgical masks.
The economic impact to the country would be devastating. Whole
sale industries would be forced to shut down overnight. Furloughed and
laid-off workers would spike unemployment rates to double that of the
Great Depression. The government would teeter on insolvency as tax
revenues would dry up while the demand for food, medical, and social
services would explode. In a few short weeks, the national output
would fall to the level of a third world country.
A further crisis would ensue in defending the national security. The
highly contagious disease would rip through the armed forces, infecting
thousands of soldiers and sailors living in close quarters. Entire
army divisions, air wings, and even naval fleets would be
incapacitated, reducing the effective military force to a paper tiger.
For the first time in nearly two centuries, the country's ability to
defend itself would be seriously endangered.
In the civilian population, health facilities and morgues would be
stretched beyond their breaking point. The number of sick and dying
would quickly reach a critical mass, overwhelming available resources.
Despite operating around the clock, the country's available crematories
would rapidly be overrun with the dead. Like a scene from Mexico City
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