Element 94

by Kleiner Jeffries

  “Sir, is there something we may help you with?”

  “Who are you?” C.J. asked, his free hand gripping the hilt of his knife.

  “We are with the…”. The organization the men purported to belong to was not familiar to the ex-captive. “…We are stationed here outside of Ouagadougou to monitor…”

  “Look out!” C.J. screamed as he moved to the side. The crack of gunfire sounded. One of the international aid workers fell to the ground, as the bullets intended for the American operative struck the wrong target.

  C.J. immediately pulled his weapon before him, caught sight of the gunman, and shot him dead with a volley of his own. Screams from surrounding bystanders sounded as they haphazardly ran from the scene. C.J. ignored the anarchy about him, and desperately sought cover. Was there anyone else still lurking around? He dared not approach the downed men, lest he expose himself out in the open street. The closed government building offered protection to his rear, and the operative trained his attention before him in a 180 degree arc. His focus was jarred momentarily as a single crack broke through the air. It seemed to originate above his current position. He looked up and realized someone must have fired a shot from inside that government building. It would not be difficult for a killer from a window above to pick off the operative. If someone was indeed inside that building, C.J. would be a sitting duck.

  It occurred to the operative that he had perhaps walked into a trap – one gunman in the street blocking the exit and luring him to just the spot where another might easily fire upon him from above from a location inside the building.

  As it turned out, C.J.’s concern was well justified, although help came from an unexpected source. Without warning, the front door to the building violently swung open, revealing a muscularly built man with broad shoulders and a heavy beard. As he exited, C.J. could see he was dragging a body, fresh blood oozing from a wound to the man’s skull. The agent’s would-be killer was dead, stricken from a perfectly placed bullet.

  “It is not safe for you here” the bearded man said as he peered at C.J. with penetrating eyes. C.J. immediately relaxed his grip on his weapon as recognition swept over him; he knew that voice!

  “Ali?” C.J. mouthed in a barely audible whisper. His eyes were now wide with anticipation, as the prospect of rescue seemed ever closer. Was that really his fellow CTG operative, who had no doubt covertly infiltrated himself in this remote land in search of the missing soldier?

  The bearded, barely recognizable agent nodded in the affirmative, after which Ali quickly silenced C.J. with a squint of the eye and a finger drawn before heavily whiskered lips.

  “Quick, come with me” he whispered.

  The two men quickly strode off the main road, and stopped halfway down the street.

  “Get inside”, Ali gestured to C.J. as they entered what appeared to be an abandoned building. Once safely off the exposed alley, C.J. allowed himself to relax his guard, and mustered words he had not thought he’d get to say for some time. His heart pounded with excitement, and he could hardly suppress his emotions as he spoke with tacit gratitude.

  “I knew you would come”

  “Never leave a man behind” Ali intoned. The special forces slogan now held new meaning following the ordeal which C.J. had endured.

  “Man is it good to see you”

  “Anytime, Muzzy” Ali replied, referring to C.J. by the nickname often reserved for his now-deceased older sibling. “Had a feeling you’d get away from these bastards..you ok?”

  “Yeah, just get me out of this place” The emotion in the former captive’s voice was evident.

  “C.J., can’t do that. I’ve got a job to do here.”

  “What do you mean?” C.J. couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Listen, Mack’s leading the rescue team. I doubt they realize you’ve escaped. I’ll radio it in, let them know. Won’t be long.” Ali reassured the former hostage. “My work here is just beginning…I’m headed under C.J.”

  ”Covert?” C.J. asked quizzically. He had heard of Ali’s exploits as an undercover agent.

  The more senior operative did not respond. Rather, Ali brought a radio to his ear and spoke in a code unfamiliar to C.J. Another voice could now be heard in the background as the transmitter picked up a signal. The words were interrupted by the frequent swishing sound of static on the airwaves.

  “Faarooq….must know…order has been delivered” The reply came in Arabic.

  “Faarooq?” C.J. mumbled the real name of the man before him. “What the…” A blow to his temple sent him stumbling backward in mid-sentence. Ali/Faarooq held a gun pointed at the operative, a stern, grim smile on his face.

  “You…” C.J. said in surprised awe, his eyes wide with comprehension. “It was you all along…”

  “C.J., do as I say or you’re dead. Now throw down that gun.” The terrorist ordered.

  “You son-of-a bitch!” C.J. screamed as he scrambled to his feet, the AK-47 still slung across his chest.

  “Throw that fuckin’ weapon down, boy!” Faarooq barked back. The terrorist realized he might be dealing with a unique animal here, one that might not fear death after being caged for so long.

  “You think I care if you kill me! Go ahead, shoot!” C.J. placed his hand on the assault rifle as he spoke, in deliberate disobedience of the terrorist traitor before him.

  “Okay” Faarooq said stoically, realizing he had few options. The man before him was a formidable opponent, and he could ill afford to take a chance. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, discharging the weapon from point-blank range. C.J. instantly collapsed to the ground.

  Bill Kelly entered the room with a frenzied look on his face.

  “Leah, are the NBC teams at peak alert?”

  “Yes. And the President and selected senior cabinet members have already been evacuated” the operative added, anticipating the inevitable follow-up query from her boss.

  “Good. Lee, I won’t ask you to stay. Do what you need to do. I’ve made that clear to…”

  “Bill, I’m not going anywhere. We’re spread thin as it is; CIA, FBI, local enforcement – everyone’s scouring the major sites, events, attractions. What do you expect me to do - I’ve got to stay and help.” A desperate search for 94 was now ongoing in all 3 cities.

  “Very well. Listen, STAT has a chamber. If anything goes down, you head…”

  “Bill!” Leah interrupted for the second time. “I do not plan to run from this. I’m heading out to the field to work alongside the others.”

  “Lee…”. Kelly realized he wasn’t going to change the determined woman’s mind. “Be careful”.

  The agent that had saved Leo Koval’s life in New York bravely headed out in search of the bomb they all knew was likely armed and ready to be detonated. There were few leads in the case, and the nation’s security forces were frantically searching for the weapon believed to be within the city limits of the nation’s capital. The most prominent locations had already been scoured. Now the exhaustive search was extended to any public venue with potential to result in significant civilian casualties.

  The brave agent exited the war room, leaving Kelly anxiously pacing back and forth, his fingers nervously running through his gray-speckled brown hair as he desperately went over his actions of the frenzied prior hour. In particular, the nation’s leading terrorism expert fretted at what he did not do. Should he have convinced the president to call a state of emergency and evacuate the city, along with the other two at-risk epicenters? Some of the nation’s most senior advisors had felt they should, but Kelly argued against such a course of action. Even if they could cordon off the city, it would be nearly impossible to prevent someone from smuggling the material elsewhere. And what if they were wrong altogether? What if there was no bomb, radiological or otherwise, set to be detonated in the capital or anywhere else? Had anyone in the history of mankind ever attempted to evacuate an entire city the size of Washington, D.C.? As many people would have died in
the ensuing panic as they would at the hands of their enemies, the counter-terror chief had reasoned.

  Kelly’s concentration was suddenly jerked to his pager, the vibration signaling an incoming message. It was Koval. Kelly immediately dialed the extension, anxious to hear what the scientist had learned about the substance which now loomed ever larger as a threat to them all.

  The President of the United States was not familiar with the procedures at hand. He had been whisked into a vehicle, and boarded Air Force One only moments earlier. Apparently, it was not safe for him to remain in the city – anywhere in the city. That the most powerful man in the world was uprooted from his own base of operations, from his own residence, was unimaginable. Yet Joshua Sam Groves had no choice, the secret service insisting on such measures out of concern for his well being, something so perplexing to the former military man he was momentarily rendered speechless. In the haze of the frenzied charge to leave the Capital, Groves could muster little but to ask, “Where are we going”. “South” was the only response the secret service chief afforded at the time. They were heading south, running for their lives from a two-bit terrorist who had stumbled upon a weapon of frightful potential. At least this was the President’s estimation – and one that was not far off except that Ra’ed Al Abbas was far more than a two-bit terrorist, having secretly cultivated his plan over many years, despite the tremendous efforts of the past decade to eradicate such elements from the planet. And of course, they had yet to learn of the unimaginable destructive potential of element 94, a substance of apocalyptic proportion far beyond any the world had ever known.

  Groves subsequently learned that they were circling the skies over the Carolinas, within easy access of refueling planes based at Charleston Air Force Base. Until a safer option emerged, the President would effectively control the nation’s military and security agencies from the air, hoping to formulate a cohesive strategy to uproot Udeen and the terrible threat the organization now posed.

  Groves had been briefed about element 94 some weeks prior. The shock of such inauspicious news had yet to wear off when he was told of the detonation in the desert plains of the Sahara in Northwest Africa. He had slept little since the initial briefing, as the failure to detect the devices mounted over the ensuing days and weeks. And now this organization of which he had never heard of less than a month prior had proven they had already weaponized the material. Those “in the know” in Washington were shuddering, including Bill Kelly, who had obviously urged the men charged with protecting the President to evacuate him from the city. A number of senior staffers, many of who were aware of the imminent threat, were conspicuously left behind, lest the office of the executive peek suspicions around town. Heck, practically no one in Congress knew of Sayf Udeen’s extremist potential, the organization having laid a low profile for so long, let alone element 94. Anyone with foreknowledge had to take precautions to avoid inciting widespread panic, the President notwithstanding, who in no subtle terms voiced his wish to remain in the city in solidarity with those left behind, still confident in Kelly’s ability to find the bomb. But the leader of the free world had responsibilities that demanded otherwise; there was no choice but to ensure his safety based on the best available information. Within minutes of confirmation of 94 as the explosive agent earlier that day, Groves was propelled airborne.

  The responsibility weighed heavily upon the warrior-turned politician, for protecting the people of the Unites States was foremost among the tasks of the office of the President, and any failure would ultimately find its way up the chain of command and rest squarely upon his shoulders. But blame and responsibility were afterthoughts – the safety of the citizens of Washington, Seattle, and Detroit was paramount. Secondarily, concern for the security of the entire free world now loomed ever larger - teetering on the edge perhaps more than ever before, certainly at least since the cold war era first heralded the terrors of nuclear power and the concept of mutual – and indeed global – destruction. In retrospect, the two superpowers of the day served as effective deterrents to any real conflict, despite hiccups in security like the first launching of a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile and the Cuban missile crisis. In the former case, a missile travelling thousands of miles successfully struck a target in Eastern Russia, sending shudders through the US military apparatus, which had been grossly lagging in such rocket technology. The Cuban Missile crisis during the Kennedy administration loomed perhaps even larger when 36 missile launchers (and probably at least as many warheads) were first noted 90 miles South of the mainland United States. But those events now palled in comparison with a radical power like Udeen, professing to rid the world of the “infidel and zionist invaders”, who were not merely in control of a weapon of mass destruction, but who possessed a demonstrable method of delivering that power, namely eluding the nation’s radiodetection system. The present situation left the otherwise anointed “leader of the free world” and former war hero withdrawn and solemn, contemplating his powerlessness while his closest advisors prepared to convene for a crisis meeting aboard the aircraft. He was a man used to control, and in the span of a few short weeks that control had eroded with mind-numbing rapidity. Not only had terrorists acquired nuclear capability right under their noses, but the very seat of power, Washington, DC, was now in imminent danger. How the hell had this happened? Where was the breakdown? How could it have come to this? Groves pondered drearily.

  Protecting the nation and by extension the world was never an easy task, but one that seemed infinitely simpler from even a decade earlier when anarchy in the Middle East dominated foreign policy and exposed the limitations of American power and security. The nation had evolved since then, developing instruments of deterrence and preemption like HERMES and RDS. Bill Kelly and his vaunted CT unit had uprooted many organizations, leaving behind a seemingly more peaceful, and certainly less threatening geopolitical state. But in the process, had they grown soft, even complacent? Or had they just been outwitted these past years, allowing and indeed enabling the rise of Sayf Udeen until it was too late, like a cancer that remained hidden for years until its deadly presence became known. Yes, that was just what Udeen was, Groves analogized - the cancer of the world, insidiously growing unchecked and undeterred until it could no longer be safely eradicated, having already attained the power to kill its victim.

  “Mr. President”, the national security advisor suddenly wrested the President’s attention, “ we’re out of harm’s way. Your family is ‘vacationing’ out of town, they’re also safe.” Air Force One had left the greater metropolitan Washington area, and was now well out of range of a nuclear device of any kind.

  “Thank you, Sam” the President said to his NSA.

  “Sir, every asset we have is scouring the cities. The secret service are debating where to touch down – they seem to feel area B is secure”. Q alluded to the top-secret base, replete with every technology necessary to govern the country and control its formidable resources, which had been developed for just such a contingency.

  “Fine. Any news from Bill?”

  “Not since the last briefing. He’ll call as soon as he…”

  “I know. Shit Sam, I know.” The President interrupted exasperatedly. Kelly would let them know if any significant changes in the present state of affairs were to unfold. They had not heard from the vaunted anti-terrorism czar for nearly two hours now.

  Groves had inherited the highly decorated CIA veteran of two prior administrations. Keeping him aboard was the easiest of the many presidential appointments to fill. In addition to his superlative record, Kelly was tight with Samuel Weintraub, the former undersecretary of state and now the President’s NSA, who in no subtle terms voiced his approval of the man. “He’s the best, hands-down” Q had reassured the President in his first few weeks in office. Kelly had stood watch during some of the most harrowing of times, and made the world a safer place. But had the CT chief, along with other civilian and military figures responsible for ensuring t
he peace and security of the nation, been duped, enabling a madman to insinuate a nuclear device into the heart of the nation? The vast resources of the country were now scrambling to ward off this assault, but there didn’t seem to be many leads in the case.

  “Goddamnit”, Groves said out loud as the NSA eased into the leather seat beside him. How many innocent people would die on his watch; how many people would be uprooted if 3 nuclear devices were detonated on sovereign US soil?

  “Q – how sure are we that these devices are not fully weaponized?” After all, Udeen had already taken credit for the nuclear detonation on the African continent – there was no doubting their ability to build another bomb.

  “Multiple layers of intel indicate they are dispersal weapons. Not to mention Udeen has even indicated as much – they still fear a reprisal, and are holding back – using the threat of a traditional nuke as a deterrent should we decide to hit back.”

  “Sam, I won’t be blackmailed. You have the General on the line yet?” Groves asked

  “We’ll be connecting with the Pentagon any minute now sir”

  The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the nation’s military was already given the authority he needed. The civilian devastation from the bombs the Americans had deployed in the region might not be trivial, but Presidential clearance had nonetheless been approved. The United States would fight fire with fire - someone was indeed going to pay if the nuclear devices containing element 94 were detonated, Groves determined. No one but a select few knew the country was now at its highest alert in over a decade, code delta. For the nation’s security forces, it was tantamount to a de facto state of war.

  The day had turned into a nightmare for Azeez and his companions. The young African who had been spying from the embankment had made his escape, seemingly killing one of their men in the process. Moreover, they returned to the pickup only to find that disaster had struck a second time – the captured American had escaped. Azeez insisted on tracking down the former captive, but had been rebuffed by his superiors. Another had been dispatched to this task, and Azeez was relegated to finding and killing the youth that had given them so much trouble earlier that day.