‘It remains more of a possibility than the likelihood of the collapse of Israel.’
‘Will the Israeli government agree to any of the demands?’ Steve asked.
‘I’ll find out in the next couple of hours,’ said Uri. ‘I’m due at the Knesset, our parliament, to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister.’
‘But what do you think?’ Steve pressed for an answer. ‘Is there any possibility that the Israelis will accede to their demands?’
‘Not a chance. Israel has never given into threats before.’
‘So this is going to escalate. There are going to be a lot more deaths.’
‘That is apparent. We just need to be ready.’
‘We may as well bring back Yanny and Phil from Amman,’ said Steve.
‘Steve is right,’ Ed said. ‘Initial reports indicate that there may be no deaths in Arizona. They have picked the most isolated of communities out of season, and the air fresheners may not have been tested during installation. Haberman, sorry, Habash and his people appear to have purposely chosen it as a warning. It is Israel they want to weaken, not America.’
Next day, the full team assembled in Tel Aviv. Yanny and Phil had come in on the previous night’s flight from Amman. Charles Proctor had returned to England awaiting further instructions.
Steve was holding the chair as Uri was catching some rest after an all-night session in Tel Aviv with his country’s leaders. ‘Yanny, what is the situation from your side?’
‘Samir Habash left Amman for the West Bank, as we know. Apart from that, I have no more to offer.’ She appeared sad.
‘You spent a lot of time with him,’ said Steve. ‘What was he like? Do you think he is determined in following on with this plan?’
‘He is highly educated, highly focussed. He must be stopped, killed if necessary.’
‘I realise that must be difficult for you,’ Steve said.
‘I still remain a professional.’
‘Phil, is there anything from your side?’ Steve asked.
‘Nothing new. The only observation would be that Hafeez’s depot in Ramallah may well be the laboratory.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Montgomery asked.
‘Jamal Aburish, Uri’s contact there, discovered there had been a delivery a few months previous of some high-tech medical equipment from Germany – centrifuges, electron microscopes, containment devices.’
‘It sounds as if it may be the laboratory,’ Montgomery acknowledged.
‘So what do we do?’ Steve asked.
‘I see no reason as to why we don’t check it out and close it down,’ Montgomery said. All the virus material has probably been dispatched. However, there is still the possibility of some residual which, if it got out into the general community, could wipe out most of Ramallah within three months.’
‘Okay, that’s agreed,’ said Steve. ‘Montgomery will disassemble the lab, and Ed will follow up in the USA. Uri, when he is back, will focus on the situation in Israel. He’s just texted – apparently, the Israeli government will not comply with any of the demands.’
‘Then the death count will rise,’ Montgomery said.
‘He’s right,’ said Yanny. ‘Samir Habash will not give in. He has given too much away to weaken now.’
‘Yanny, Phil and Harry, the tried and trusted team,’ said Steve. ‘Find Samir Habash.’
‘We will.’ Harry spoke for all three. ‘And we will find out where all the viruses are secreted.’
‘Habash will tell us, one way or the other,’ Phil acknowledged. He was not averse to persuasive methods when the situation dictated.
***
Ma'ale Adumim presented more of a problem than the previous targeted Jewish settlement in the West Bank. It was only seven kilometres from Jerusalem and with a more mobile population. The majority of the adults worked in Jerusalem, and the regular bus service moved people throughout the region. Modi’in Illit had been exclusively ultra-orthodox, Ma’ale Adumim was not.
With Paul Montgomery heading over to Ramallah, it had been left to Dr. Bob Sangster, another colleague of his from CDC. He had come over in the other Starlifter.
‘If the infection occurred only four days ago, we have plenty of time?’ Bob Sangster said on the phone to Montgomery.
‘You’re assuming four days. And where are those who were initially affected? Are they all accounted for?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘That’s the problem. Until everyone is accounted for, we cannot relax. What about the air freshener in the male toilet? Is it confirmed?’
‘We’ve been in and recovered some air fresheners,’ Sangster replied. ‘It looks possible that they contained the virus.’
‘And when were they delivered?’ Montgomery asked.
‘Four days appears to be correct.’
‘And the person who installed them? Where is he? Who is he? Do you have a full inventory of who may have used the facilities since then?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Then you better get it quick. I’ll phone Uri Weizman to help,’ Montgomery said.
With the ultimatums and the infections in the West Bank, Uri Weizman was being placed under an inordinate amount of pressure from Mossad to relinquish control and to bring in the full weight of the organisation. He argued that the best approach was for a select group of professionals to deal with the situation, and he would use Mossad personnel as required. They argued in return, that Mossad was the best and why was he working with a bunch of mercenaries, guns-for-hire, instead of following departmental procedure. He had no answer other than to phone the Prime Minister, who in turn phoned the head of Mossad, who told his people to back off.
‘Uri, we need some help,’ Paul Montgomery said.
‘Tell me what you need.’
‘It looks as if four days is correct, which means those infected are not yet contagious. We need to find them all, plus whoever installed the air fresheners in the first place. They all need to be isolated. In eight, maybe ten days, all of them will be able to pass on the disease. If they are in the centre of a major population, the numbers of dead could multiply exponentially. Some of those infected could be overseas, getting on a plane somewhere. The virus could go global.’
‘A total blockade of the city is not so easy,’ said Uri. ‘It’s not as remote as the previous. What are you suggesting?’
‘The city must be blockaded immediately. Same procedure as before.’
‘I’ll phone the Prime Minister. He’s given me his phone number, told me to call if there are any developments. Let’s see what he has to say.’
***
The Prime Minister was in a cabinet meeting discussing the situation when Uri phoned. ‘We need to follow the same procedure that we adopted in Modi’in Illit.’
‘Are you saying the military need to restrict movement, to use force again?’ the Prime Minister asked.
‘There is no option.’
‘Very well, I’ll assign Major General Herzog. She controlled the situation before, although her methods were severe.’
‘If she had not acted as she did, any one of those trying to get out could have infected another population area in Israel. You’ve seen the figures Montgomery put forward. Unchecked, one person could cause a chain reaction and, within three months, upwards of fifty million could be dead.’
Major General Herzog acted quickly. The road blockades on Adumim Interchange ceased the movement of all traffic. Those returning to the town were allowed in once they had been subjected to an exhaustive interview of where they had been, who they had spoken to and whether they had a medical condition. Those attempting to leave had to prove they were not a resident and that they had been nowhere in the vicinity of the synagogue on the day.
The inevitable media focus was soon brought to full speculation. Was it related to the events at Modi’in Illit, although they had no need to ask? They had seen the ultimatum as well. What had changed to put an additional focus on this city? Were there new d
emands? There was also a reported outbreak of smallpox down in the south of Israel, in Rahat.
‘What’s the story the media are reporting about smallpox down in the south?’ Uri asked.
‘It’s the first we’ve heard,’ Montgomery replied. ‘They’ve picked it up before us. We need a team down there as soon as possible. It could be second generation, possibly third by now.’
‘How did it get there?’ Uri asked.
‘It’s must be the truck driver, the installer’s brother at the first settlement.’
‘I’ll have a local team of doctors, as well as Herzog’s people, to deal with it. They are Israeli Arabs. They are bound to be hostile to the Israeli military.’
‘Hostile or otherwise, the situation needs to be contained,’ said Montgomery. ‘If one hundred affected people get out, they could kill everyone in the region within three months. The hundreds, the thousands we see now are going to extrapolate into the millions before this is subdued.’
‘And it’s all because your government couldn’t leave well alone.’
‘And because I failed to refuse their order,’ Paul Montgomery admitted.
***
Montgomery had spent some time training a team of medical personnel from the local hospital in Rehovot. Dr. Asi Cohen, a close colleague of Abramsky Riad, the argumentative doctor from the first outbreak of the disease, had been quick to volunteer after the untimely death of his long-time friend. Suitably trained and with a team of eight, comprising two doctors and six nurses, each with their own positive pressure personnel suit, they made the trip down to Rahat, a mostly Bedouin town. The truck driver had been confirmed as from there. It was where he had returned after staying with his brother in the north.
As Montgomery had suspected, a majority of the local people had assumed the disease was as a result of failing to honour Allah, not as a consequence of a virus from a laboratory. As people died, they were buried with all the sadness that accompanied such an event.
‘How many have died? Asi Cohen asked the village elder.
‘Why have you brought soldiers with you?’ replied the old man. ‘We are a peaceful people, minding our own business.’
‘It is for your protection and that of your people.’
‘I do not understand,’ the old man, Ajwad ibn Zamil said. He was a member of the Banu Uqayl tribe, in his sixties and dressed in traditional clothing. He had commenced his life as a nomad. Modern cities and houses made of concrete remained incongruous to him. He had never fully adapted to the modern life, and now to have a Jew in his house wearing a suit with a transparent mask was, to him, an insult.
‘There is a disease that if not stopped will kill all of the people in this town within three months,’ said Dr. Cohen, a tolerant man who did not wish to give offence, only help. ‘We must take what actions are necessary to prevent that happening. We have seen people already who have the disease. They are going to die.’
‘If that is what Allah wishes.’
‘That may be, and I do not want to disregard your beliefs, but it is for us as medical men to prevent this disease spreading.’
‘One of my wives and two of my children have died,’ the Bedouin said. ‘One was my firstborn son.’
‘I am sorry. How many have died so far?’
‘At least five hundred.’
‘And they were buried as tradition dictates, within a day?’
‘Yes, that is correct.’
‘It’s worse than we thought,’ Cohen told Montgomery straight after the meeting with Ajwad ibn Zamil. ‘There are at least two to three thousand that we have seen who show the infection clearly. They tell us about three to four hundred are dying daily, and that’s not taking into account the households that haven’t been seen for the last week. There could be fatalities in the thousands already.’
It was clear to Paul Montgomery that the situation had changed. The numbers were escalating at a frightening rate and the exponential growth of the second and third generations, possibly fourth, convinced him that the disease was about to become uncontrollable. He could only see military intervention as a possible hope, but it was clear that their methods would have to become aggressive and violent. He regretted his part in the development of the virus. There had only been one person who had shown ability in affecting some control. He phoned her soon after the conversation with Asi Cohen.
‘Major General Herzog, Rahat cannot be contained, the disease is too well-established. You need to isolate the town and prevent further movement in the region,’ he said, Uri and Steve listening in.
‘That’s impossible,’ she replied. ‘An isolated Jewish settlement in the West Bank with only one road in and out is one thing, but this is a city with no central entry point. There are literally hundreds of ways in and out.’
‘That may be, Major General, but it must be done,’ Uri insisted.
‘I agree,’ said the Prime Minister of Israel. He had been listening in at Uri’s request in case there was any doubt as to the implications of Montgomery’s statement.
‘Yes, Prime Minister,’ said Herzog. ‘I cannot see how bloodshed can be avoided.’
‘That is understood.’
‘Mr. Montgomery,’ the Prime Minister of Israel asked, ‘what is the scenario if Major General Herzog does not stop this?’
‘Mr. Prime Minister, if it gets into the Gaza Strip, there is the possibility of the total decimation of the population within months. Egypt will almost certainly be affected. The cost of failure is in the millions. The whole of the Middle East, Jewish and Muslim, could be wiped out.’
At an emergency meeting of the Israeli government, a state of war was enacted. Not against an insurgent Palestine, but against an uncontrollable disease. Those that had not yet seen the disease rejected the directive, believing it to be a ploy to exert further subjugation on the Palestinian people while those that had believed it to be an American-Israeli conspiracy. They were all wrong.
Chapter 10
With events unfolding in the south of Israel, the decision was made to disassemble the virus producing laboratory, now clearly identified as Ismail Hafeez’s transport depot in Ramallah. Paul Montgomery stated that it was closing the gate after the horse had bolted, although he recognised that any residual contamination in the city, could still spread like wildfire.
‘The government in the West Bank has agreed to our request to move one of the Starlifters into the region. Alarot Airport is within eight kilometres of Hafeez’s depot.’ Uri Weizman said.
‘Is the runway long enough?’ Steve asked.
‘I’m told by the pilots that, with minimal fuel and a low loading weight, they can just about manage to set it down,’ replied Montgomery. ‘Transporting the virus – or, I assume, only residual – the thirty plus kilometres to Tel Aviv would only increase the risk of an accident,’ he said.
‘How did Habash manage to transport it to England on a commercial flight, then?’ Uri asked.
‘It was a different set of circumstances. He was carrying no more than a small vial, just a glass tube, with the virus inserted under sterile conditions in a specially designed facility. Habash would have been producing kilogrammes of the material in Ramallah.’
‘Can you dispose of what we find at the site?’ asked Steve.
‘If we can move the incinerator in close enough.’
The flight to Alarot was uneventful, the landing was not. The airport facilities were rudimentary, mostly unused and surrounded by a contingent of the Palestinian security forces. The C141 Starlifter needed six thousand feet for a take-off, four for a landing. The presence of an American military plane soon raised consternation amongst the more hot-headed of the population. It was not long before the crowds gathered, and the protesting commenced. It was against this backdrop that Montgomery and his team travelled the few kilometres to the laboratory.
In the South of Israel, Major General Herzog had her own problems. The disease had been seen in the Gaza Strip, and she had neither the authority
nor the desire to enter. The antagonism between Israel and Gaza was so intense, so derisive, that the people of Gaza would have chosen death from a disease over that of an Israeli-occupying force. It would not be long, however, before they would have no choice in the matter as their population started to dramatically reduce in numbers.
The Israeli troops may not have entered, but the Egyptians had no qualms. Outbreaks were starting to occur close to Cairo, and Habash’s idealistic plan was turning into a nightmare. Those he had hoped to protect were now the ones most threatened.
Upon arrival at the laboratory and donning all the protective gear, Montgomery entered Hafeez’s depot. ‘It’s the laboratory alright. There’s not much to see. A lot of sophisticated equipment, but no one has been near here for a few weeks. The best we can do is to clean up and exit the area.’
‘Can you dispose of everything?’ Steve asked.
‘We can probably sterilise, but an incinerator is not going to melt the equipment down. We’ll bring it up to site, put all the equipment through it, eliminate any residual, and then airlift it out to Atlanta for further disinfecting.’
‘Will that be safe?’ Uri asked.
‘Yes. Four days and we should be out of here.’
‘Have you had any problems with the locals?’
‘No, the Palestinian security force has dealt adequately with any disturbances. There’s been no sign of infection here, so they’re relatively calm. Not the same in the Gaza Strip, from what I hear.’
‘The Gaza is in meltdown,’ said Uri. ‘The people are trying to get out to Egypt, but their military are putting up barricades. Anyone who attempts is being shot down.’
‘You realise this may well be a global extinction event?’ Montgomery projected forward.
‘You’ve mentioned it before. Is it that serious?’ Uri and Steve asked simultaneously.
‘Yes, if it hits a major urban centre in the West or remote communities in the Middle East and Africa, it could spiral out of control. I’ve shown you the figures. We are talking tens if not hundreds, of millions of deaths.’
Terrorist: Three Book Boxed Set Page 12