Dirk Pitt18-Black Wind

by Cussler, Clive

  "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