The cell members were monitoring the situation from the closed circuit television camera at the front entrance guardhouse.
The police sharpshooters, now in position, didn’t know that they were being sighted and tracked by the terrorists with the sniper rifles.
Nasih gave an order over the VHF transmitter. “Tell him to give us a phone number to call.”
Within minutes the guard at the gate reported back. “They want you to call 561-555-5931.”
Nasih gave his instructions. “All snipers are to locate the police snipers and fire just below them to send a warning when I give the order.” He then picked up the satellite phone and called the number.
Captain Brenner was standing in a local real estate office when the phone rang. Without the cell towers, mobile phones were useless. Although he had been anticipating a phone call he still jumped when it rang.
Nasih spoke immediately when the phone was picked up. “Tell your snipers to leave their posts.”
Captain Brenner was in no mood to take orders from a terrorist. “They’ll stay until you surrender.”
Nasih calmly pushed the send button on his VHF transmitter and gave the order, “Fire.”
Inside the real estate building the sounds of gunfire brought the captain and his team running to see what had happened. The reports from the police snipers were disheartening. “Jesus, they just missed us. No idea where they’re shooting from.”
The captain angrily went back inside and picked up the phone. “You want war? I’ll give you war.”
Nasih calmly replied, “I have three thousand people in the hands of men who would die for Allāh. How many men have you asked to die today?”
The captain didn’t answer; he just motioned to his lieutenant to have the snipers leave their posts. They would regroup after dark. The captain needed to secure a hostage release.
The captain spoke, “We want you to release your prisoners. We know you’re in control of the two nuclear reactor sites. Holding these people doesn’t give you any more negotiating power.”
Nasih turned to Abdul-Aziz. “They just played into our hands and now I will show some compassion, but only because it makes our job of controlling the hostages easier. We have almost six hundred elderly people, and many of them have special needs and medication that pose a major problem if they become ill. They could also spread disease among our men.”
Abdul-Aziz interjected. “We need to get the children out of the community also. They’re becoming a major problem in feeding and changing soiled clothes. They’re also susceptible to illness. Releasing them would give the impression that we’re willing to negotiate.”
“Yes,” said Nasih. “We also need to reduce the number of people just to stretch the food available. The clubhouse has been well stocked in anticipation of the holidays, but three thousand people can’t be fed. We need to keep them alive and well, until our objectives are met. Then I don’t care what happens to them. Moving this many people in and out of bathrooms is a logistical nightmare, but we can’t afford an outbreak of disease.”
Nasih played out his scenario to the Captain Brenner. “I’ll release all children under the age of twelve with their mothers and all adults over the age of seventy or handicapped. They’ll be brought to the front entrance by buses and allowed to walk off the property. In return you must provide food to feed the remaining hostages. The first hostages released will give a list of required food stocks. Before I release anyone I want a reporter and the broadcast vehicle from WAVW Channel 13 television to televise our demands to the world. Arrange for them to enter the premises. I’ll ensure them safe passage in and out of the complex.”
Captain Brenner and Sheriff Patterson were pondering the request. Sheriff Patterson said, “The release of so many hostages is too good an opportunity to pass up. If they’re asking for food, it’s a good sign that they are willing to keep the hostages alive. Getting the children out of the hands of the terrorists should be our highest priority. If we can’t contact the manager of the supermarket to open the store, we’ll break in and take whatever food is necessary.”
“I agree,” said Captain Brenner. “But the request for the television crew is a bigger problem. Send an officer to the pharmacy parking lot and tell him to have Jeff Grossman the news reporter report to us.”
11:45 A.M.: Jeff Grossman agreed to the request after verifying with the station manager.
12:30 P.M.: The WAVW Channel 13 remote team was televising the first busload of hostages released at the front entrance of Beekman Estates. Jeff had also agreed to go into the community to meet and interview the terrorists. He had exclusive television transmissions of the hostages and this could propel his career. He was basking in the glory of the moment.
Tel Aviv
7:30 P.M.: Mark Heckman was just finishing his staff meeting. They had compiled all the information on the terrorist leadership. The Mossad agents finally connected the dots that Nasih Mahmoud Rahman had assumed the identity of Jonah Meyerson, Abdul-Aziz al Hummos the identity of Howard Lieberman and Rashad Ali Obeid the identity of Daniel Schonfeld then immigrated to the United States.
Mark had his staff prepare a document for the prime minister and the United States CIA, spelling out who the terrorists were and what involvement they had in the United States. From research that had been completed in 2008 at the request of Benjamin Werner, they concluded that Howard Lieberman was able to finance and establish a security agency that penetrated various levels of the United States Government, including the FBI, as a special agent and security at two nuclear reactor sites. The Mossad surmised that the weapons the terrorists had in their possession came from the collection that had been purchased legally for the MetroMax Museum. They knew that Daniel Schonfeld was an explosives expert and Jonah Meyerson, had access to explosives through ownership of a limestone quarry. Jonah Meyerson having a substantial farming enterprise could obtain large amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel, the ingredients capable of making ANFO explosives.
It wasn’t a pretty picture and everyone charged with preventing terrorism had been outwitted, most likely by Ahman Imad Rahman, who now they believed was the person known as the Amir that they heard about in so many communiqués over the years.
As Mark Heckman left for Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister Harkavy he gave directions to his staff to send the information to the CIA.
Washington, D.C.
President Conklin’s staff had been trying to get in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Itamar Harkavy for an hour and a half without success. President Conklin was fuming. “He doesn’t want to talk to me because he knows I’ll demand some concessions and I know their policy of no negotiations with terrorists. This is going to get ugly.”
1:15 P.M.: At CIA headquarters the transmission from the Mossad had just arrived.
After quickly reading the communiqué the Operational Logistics Officer contacted Jack Shelby in the Situation Room with the information. “We’re sending it over as we speak. You won’t believe what the Mossad has uncovered and a lot of agents are going to be looking for jobs.”
When Jack Shelby got his hands on the communiqué, he made up twenty copies to hand out. As the various officers and agency heads read the information, the murmur grew louder amongst the group.
General Theodore Knight looked directly at the FBI’s Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division, Devlin Gilbert. General Knight minced no words. “Your agency completely missed 9/11, and bad as that was, you’ve hired a terrorist to head up a counterterrorism department responsible for intercepting and interpreting Arabic translations. Furthermore, this man posing as Howard Lieberman may have legitimately purchased all of the weapons in the United States that the terrorists are using. Get the ATF and see if they can produce a list of the weapons.”
The general paused for a moment, rereading the information, and took a deep breath before he spoke. “They have access to large amounts of materials to make explosives along with an ex
pert in explosives. If I was at the FBI right now, I would be dusting off my resume!”
The president could only shake his head as he read the Mossad communiqué. He turned to General Knight. “I’ll deal with this later. Proceed on what our exposure could be.” From the tone and anger admitting from the president, no one was about to comment further on the communiqué.
As the meeting progressed, the first images of the nuclear reactor sites were digitally processed from the U-2S flyover. The Photographic Intelligence Officer interpreted the images exhibited on the large flat panel LCD screen.
The P.I.O. pointed to the first photograph. “We’ve determined that explosives have been set in the domes of the containment buildings at each site.” He then zoomed in to the top of one dome. “It clearly shows a set pattern of holes bored into the cement structure.”
The P.I.O. brought up a second photograph showing the fuel facility. “This building houses the new and spent fuel rods. Spent fuel rods can take up to several years to cool sufficiently before being transported to a permanent containment structure such as the one under construction at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.” The P.I.O. pointed to the second photo. “This photograph shows explosives surrounding the fuel facility. If the cooling ponds are disabled, the containment vessels will overheat and rupture. We’ve analyzed data from both sites and see the same pattern. We’ve also identified only six terrorists on the outside of the buildings at each nuclear reactor site. One appears to have sniper capability. The problem is we have no idea what is going on inside the reactor buildings. I’ll turn the meeting over to NRC Commissioner, Dr. Dwight Nettleton.”
Of the four commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it was Dr. Nettleton’s bad luck to be in Washington, D.C. over the holidays. He was slow and deliberate in his presentation. “I must say that in all of our studies and those conducted by other agencies around the world, this scenario has not been fully investigated. To date, the worst nuclear reactor accident was the Chernobyl nuclear reactor site on April 26, 1986, in the Ukraine. In that disaster there was a release of volatile elements in vapor form such as radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium and to a lesser extent krypton and xenon. The problem with iodine-131, cesium-137 and strontium-90 is the radioactive isotopes can be absorbed in the food chain, in grass and other living matter. Iodine-131 has a half-life of only eight days and if potassium iodide tablets are administered to those exposed it will prevent the thyroid from accumulating the radioactive iodine-131.”
The president interrupted the doctor, “How do you get the tablets to the nine million people living in the immediate area?”
“We can’t and we don’t even know if that many tablets are available.” The doctor then turned back to the graph. “The other two radioactive isotopes, cesium-137 and strontium-90, unfortunately have half-lives of thirty years.
Also, we must consider how far the radioactive cloud will travel. Studies of the Chernobyl’s radioactive cloud showed contamination all the way to Sweden and France some twelve hundred miles away. With the right wind conditions we could see a radioactive cloud reach as far as western Texas, or Iowa in the Mid-West or even all the way to New York, though the fallout would be minimal over that distance.”
The room was completely silent as Dr. Nettleton paused a moment to take a drink of water before he continued. “What’s different in these two reactors and the Chernobyl reactor is the core. In Chernobyl the core remained intact, therefore the uranium-235 was not released. In a worst-case scenario, if the core is allowed go into a partial meltdown and then exploded along with the containment building, the heavier elements of uranium and plutonium would then be released.”
The president asked, “How long would the contamination last for the two heavier elements?”
“The half-life of plutonium-239 is over twenty-four-thousand-years. The half-life of uranium-235 is seven-hundred-sixty-million-years. The question of radioactive contamination is how much of these two heavier materials would be released and how far would they be dispersed. No one knows that answer.”
The occupants in the room were silence as the doctor’s statement sunk in. President Conklin asked, “How long would it take the core to melt?”
Doctor Nettleton explained, “That’s determined by a number of factors, mainly how much coolant water is denied. Consider this: the terrorists completely deny the reactor vessel the coolant water. The core reaches meltdown with temperatures exceeding two thousand eight hundred degrees Celsius. The reactor vessel cannot withstand that temperature and would collapse almost immediately, like what happened at Chernobyl. The reactor vessel material could mix with the uranium and slow down the process. Problem being, at what point would the terrorist set off the explosion in the containment structure and the melting core? If timed right, maximum radiation would be released. Another important factor: who is in charge of the nuclear reactors at this time and how much experience do they have in operating a nuclear reactor?”
The room erupted in a fiery debate on how to proceed.
A colonel from the Joint Munitions Command spoke, “We could make a preemptive attack on the nuclear reactor sites using a GBU-28 bunkerbusting bomb. The bomb, capable of penetrating the containment center dome, could be set to penetrate the floor of the containment building to a depth of ten feet before exploding. In theory, the reactor core would be driven into the hole before the bomb exploded, sending the radioactive material into the soil instead of into the atmosphere.”
General Knight wasn’t convinced. “Using a bunker-busting bomb not designed for this kind of operation could be dangerous.”
The JMC Colonel responded. “There are some problems. The microprocessor-controlled GBU-28 would have to be reprogrammed to the new specifications. This could take up to thirty-six hours and still there is no guarantee that it would function in the reprogrammed mode. It could perform just the opposite, sending the nuclear particles outward at a greater force than the explosives the terrorists had planted. The other problem is the risk of setting off any explosives that surround the reactor enhancing the overall effect.”
“A strike using a GBU-28 bunker-busting bomb is not feasible,” said the unconvinced General Knight.
The president rose to his feet and spoke very methodically. “We’re vulnerable in every way. Even if we send in a counterterrorist team, the terrorists could still set off the explosions and cause radioactive contamination. We could possibly negotiate the release of the hostages in Boca Raton, but that’s a small part of their overall plan, more to get attention than impact. We have to get Israel on the same page as us or we’ll have a major disaster. I’m declaring a public emergency. I want an orderly evacuation of anyone living within a fifty-mile radius of the nuclear reactor sites.”
The president was interrupted by one of his aides. “Sir, you’re talking about moving almost nine million people. That’s impossible.”
“Don’t tell me it can’t be done. Order every hotel, school and business facility in the Southeast to open its doors and take them in. I want a plan on my desk within an hour on how to prevent the residents from being exposed to radiation. I want the Armed Forces and every law enforcement agency from Florida to Chicago to be on alert and participate in keeping order. America will see armed soldiers on their street corners, but this is reality.”
As the President sat down, another CIA Operational Logistics Officer entered the room and spoke to Jack Shelby, handing him a set of photos and a DVD.
Jack announced to the room, “We have photos of the three terrorist cell members who we believe are the architects of this attack. Please bring this up on the screen.”
The audience waited with anticipation while the DVD was loading. To their surprise, the images on the screen were not the typical terrorist photos in Middle Eastern garments with scowling faces, but three handsome, well-dressed middle-aged men who could pass for any number of regular Americans. They didn’t look hostile or threatening. Jack Shelby announced each of the cell me
mbers first by their Jewish name and then by their known Arab name. They had played their part so well, blending into the American way of life, that no one would ever suspect them to be anything but average businessmen. All except Benjamin Werner, who by now had to be crying out from his grave.
A murmur went through the room as the next pictures were projected.
The CIA Operational Logistics Officer explained, “This is Maria Angela Ceballo Meyerson and her two children. She is divorced from Jonah Meyerson, a.k.a. Nasih Mahmoud Rahman, and living in Colombia with the children. The second is Traci Sanders who is still married to Daniel Schonfeld, a.k.a. Rashad Ali Obeid, and the last and most interesting is Michelle Lieberman, who is divorced from Howard Lieberman, a.k.a. Abdul-Aziz al Hummos, and she is the President and CEO of MetroMax Security.”
At the mention of MetroMax Security the room broke out in a heated discussion.
Jack Shelby rose to his feet to quiet the group and give his assessment. “I know it’s confusing with the Arab and Jewish names, but we have to use both in our investigation. We’re getting ready to show these photos on the major television stations hoping we can get someone to come forward and give us additional details on the three cell members. We’re presently looking for two of the wives in the United States and also dispatching members of the American Embassy in Bogotá to interview Maria Ceballo Meyerson. After we piece together all the information from the Mossad and other sources, we’ll return later today with an update.”
Jerusalem
7:30 P.M.: The emergency meeting at the Knesset was anything but civil. Once the demand note was handed to the members, pandemonium broke out. Those members aligned with the far right took the position of no negotiations with the terrorists. A few of the Conservative Jewish members, hearing of the critical nature of the meeting, broke their traditional observance of the Sabbath to attend. They were the most adamant against repatriation and they were not about to let the assembly vote in favor of it. Those politically central and to the left were concerned about the ramifications of not supporting the United States in some manner, though the demands seemed beyond reason. No Jew in Israel was going to vote in favor of opening the country’s borders to Palestinians, even though they had been expelled without cause and compensation. The price tag to pay retribution to the Palestinians was enormous and beyond the capability of the country to pay. Some saw it as a problem of the United States and refused to even discuss the issues. But the majority of the assembly members knew that the citizens of Israel had many relatives and friends living in the United States and the fact that almost three thousand American Jews were being held captive played heavily on their minds.
The Third Cell Page 39