Just as he turned in his chair to sign off on his computer terminal, the monitor lit up.
"Lieutenant Mendenhall, Europa has monitored a two hundred and fifty percent power surge on levels seventy-three and seventy-four — the security system on those levels is currently in failure mode as of oh-one-fifty-eight hours."
Mendenhall heard Europa's female voice and shook his head as Jason Ryan walked into the office, yawning and looking as if he hadn't gotten any sleep.
"What's up, Will?"
"Europa is reporting a power surge and security system failure on levels seventy-three and seventy-four. I was getting ready to—"
Ryan and Mendenhall felt a rumble pass through their feet just as warning bells started sounding throughout the facility.
"What in the hell was that?" Will asked.
"All damage-control personnel report to levels seventy-three and seventy-four immediately. This is no drill. It is recommended that all rescue and fire personnel utilize stairwells one-oh-one and two-oh-eight for access to the affected areas."
"Europa, continue broadcasting personnel direction and accept security override Mendenhall 001700. Let me know what's happened on affected levels!"
"Override accepted," Europa said. In the background Will heard her warnings still being broadcast through the complex communications system. "All personnel—"
Suddenly Europa went dead. The monitor was black and the sound system went down. The overhead lights flickered, went out, and then came back on. However, Europa was still nonfunctional.
"Damage report!" Will called through the intercom to the affected levels.
Jason Ryan pointed toward the door and Will nodded, knowing he was going to join the rest of security on levels seventy-three and seventy-four.
There was no reply from the lower levels. Will was getting frustrated because he couldn't direct the rescue and firefighting efforts. Then all of a sudden Europa sprang back into life, as if nothing had ever happened to her.
"Lieutenant, Europa has detected trace amounts of Composition Five explosive on levels seventy-three and seventy-four immediately after security shutdown. Total collapse of vault housings in one hundred two of three hundred seventy-two vaults. Preliminary examination of area is total loss of artifacts in seventy percent of vaults on level seventy-three and fifty percent on level seventy-four."
"Jesus Christ," Mendenhall said as he saw the video as Europa finally established a working camera on level seventy-three. The picture showed a total collapse of the rock ceiling, and somewhere fires were raging.
* * *
Captain Everett and Niles Compton surveyed the damage on level seventy-three. Temporary floodlights had been placed by the engineering department, and they cast eerie shadows on the granite boulders that had been blasted free of the excavated tunnel. Smashed and burned-out vaults had been crushed beneath the tremendous weight of the cave-in.
"Preliminary report?" Niles asked as he reached down and picked up a piece of pottery freed from one of the vaults by the rush of water from firefighting hoses. It looked Roman, but he couldn't be sure. Niles gently placed the shard on a small outcropping of rock.
"We estimate only ten pounds of C-five were used. The engineers said you don't need much to bring down the ceiling in any of our corridors except for the reinforced residence and lab levels. As for the fire, Europa is working on what accelerant was used, but it looks like something new and not on the books." Everett held up his hand and a gleaming, silvery substance shimmered. "At least, I've never seen an accelerant like this. Storage level seventy-tour only sustained cave-in damage, and only three vaults were a total loss. My thinking is the target was level seventy-three, not both."
"So, we're looking at an intentional act of sabotage."
Everett walked over to the computer terminal that was dark and without power since Pete Golding had the system momentarily shut down. He reached up and touched its face.
"Europa reported a power failure on these levels moments before the explosion and fire. I checked her records; the electrical conduit was severed by a small charge, but only after our saboteur gained access to the level," Everett said as he turned and eyed the director. "The question, Dr. Compton, is why wasn't the identity of that person noted by Europa with her eye-scan procedure? This level is low security, but you still have to gain entry by key card and eye scan."
"I see where you're going with your line of thinking, but to get to your target area, Captain, you would have to assume someone deleted Europa's clearance history for these levels — t hat's why the temporary failure of Europa."
Everett didn't avert his eyes, because he knew that the only logical conclusion was upsetting to say the least, enough so that he didn't want to voice it.
"Then it had to be someone with a level one-A security clearance."
"A department head." Everett finally voiced the unthinkable.
"Damn," Niles said, kicking at a small stone statue.
* * *
Niles Compton was at his desk on level seven with Alice. She had been alerted at home in Las Vegas after the sabotage at the complex. Niles placed his glasses back on and then stared at the nineteen folders sitting on his desk. Every department head in the Group was accounted for including himself, Alice, and Virginia. To the right of that pile, Carl Everett had delivered his own, Ryan's, and Mendenhall's, the hierarchy of the security department. Located in one of those personnel files was something that might tell them who the traitor in their midst was.
"What has me baffled is, why level seventy-three? Are we moving on that question?" Alice asked.
Niles took a deep breath of air and then let it out slowly.
"I have Captain Everett and Virginia on that now. They're compiling a list with Europa of the contents of every vault on both levels. I just find it hard to believe that one of our people could be responsible for this—"
The double doors to his office were suddenly pulled open, and Virginia Pollock entered and went right to the desk.
"Did you find something?"
"You haven't heard?" she asked as she hit a button on Niles's control panel. The large center-screen monitor came to life as Virginia placed the channel on the twenty-four-hour Pentagon news service. "Someone just attacked the Independence Oil facility in Texas City."
The view was of a massive refinery fire. The image came from a helicopter circling the plant ten miles distant. Far below, you could see hundreds of firefighters fighting the blaze among the rubble and ruin of buildings and machinery.
Niles pulled his top right-hand drawer open and pulled out his direct phone line to the president. His hand hesitated over the handset, and then he slid the phone away from him.
"He may be a little busy at the moment. Have they stated any casualty reports, Virginia?"
"It's a miracle. Unlike the fatalities inside the Venezuelan attack, they think there's only one death thus far, thanks to the warning that was sent and this time heeded before the missiles struck. They do know for a fact they were sea-launched weapons."
"They are reporting that the plant was warned ahead of time?" Alice asked.
Virginia nodded as the scene on the monitor switched to show the three hundred employees of the refinery standing outside of the gates, watching their livelihoods vanish before their eyes.
Niles looked from the monitor to the two women. Virginia, for her part, averted her eyes.
"What in the hell is happening?"
* * *
At twelve midnight, Niles walked into the complex cafeteria and took a tray from a stack. He looked around the eating area and saw only a few technicians sitting and drinking coffee. He slid his tray down the cold line, eyed the egg salad sandwiches in their see-through wrapping, and decided he would settle for a cup of coffee and piece of pie.
He had just placed his tray on the table, sat and removed his glasses as Captain Everett walked over with Pete Golding in tow. Everett dropped a computer printout on the table and then sat in an empty c
hair, Pete following suit. Neither man looked happy.
Niles didn't bother putting his glasses back on as he raised a piece of pie to his mouth. Halfway there he thought better of it and put it back down.
"Europa says she admitted no one to the lower levels before the detonations," Everett said.
"Europa doesn't lie, Captain, although she can be fooled. We have a saboteur here, and as soon as you grasp the fact that it's someone with the clearance and someone who knows the Cray system, the sooner you can start your hunt in earnest," Pete said, pulling the piece of pie over to his side of the table and starting to eat.
"We also found this mysterious accelerant on level seventy-four. It just failed to ignite. So that means the target could have been any one of six hundred vaults — if they were targeted at all."
Niles rubbed his tired and itching eyes and looked at Everett.
"It has to be someone with intimate knowledge of Europa and her subroutines, wouldn't you say, Pete?"
"Absolutely. Not all department heads even know they can bypass her security. I would say less than six people have that knowledge."
"What about an outside influence?" Niles asked with hope.
"You mean to break into Europa and flush her security protocol?" Pete asked indignantly.
"Why not? Her main job is to backdoor other systems; maybe she was done the same way," Niles persisted.
"I uh… why… no! That just can't happen, not to Europa!" the computer genius said with a mouthful of pie.
"Take it easy, Doctor. That would still leave a physical presence here inside the complex to lay the explosives and accelerant. Europa can do a lot of things, but that isn't one of them," Everett said, watching as Pete finally swallowed the piece of pie he had in his mouth.
"Okay, what I want you to do, Pete, once an inventory list of every vault on both floors is compiled, is to go through them with a fine-tooth comb. By looking at that, we may be able to find something to give us the why of it. Captain, until further notice, all department heads are locked out of Europa and confined to the complex."
"Yes, sir."
"I reported to the president, but he hasn't returned my call. With the Texas City and Venezuelan incidents on the front burner, we may be on our own for a while."
THE UNITED NATIONS,
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
The UN general assembly was in short session, as many of the delegates wanted to be close to their consulates while the world figured out who initiated the three attacks. Accusations were tossed around as freely as the insults that preceded them.
As Venezuela took the floor, accusing the United States of dragging its feet on letting the world know the evidence they had in their possession, the lights dimmed and sixteen large viewing screens lowered from the ceiling. A blue field appeared and steadied.
The General Secretary of the UN, Sir John Statterling of Great Britain, stood and slammed his gavel hard on the main dais, then held his hand above his eyes to shade them from the sixteen bright xenon lights of the projectors at the rear of the building. He quickly ordered security to find out what the malfunction was. The general assembly became raucous, making some in attendance feel as if they were back in grade school, acting up when lights suddenly went out.
The screens flashed brightly, and then a sentence appeared. Every screen was utilized, and every language of the UN was spelled out, correctly and precisely, in clear block letters.
ATTENTION: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE HAS BEEN COURIERED TO EVERY MAJOR NEWSPAPER AND NEWS ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD.
Several UN security personnel were banging on the door of the audiovisual room, six floors up. The door had been locked from the inside and spot-welded shut. The video slides had been programmed two hours before by a technician with impeccable UN credentials.
The general assembly floor was silent but uneasy. There were shouts of indignation from individuals, but most felt that this had a very ominous ring to it.
The picture changed and more words appeared in white against a blue field, and still in every language represented by the assembly.
THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD HAVE LOST THE RIGHT TO USE THE SEAS FOR COMMERCIAL PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL TRANSPORT. ALL DELIVERIES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS ARE HEREBY BANNED FROM THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH'S OCEANS.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The president was eating a late breakfast due to an earlier-than-usual national security briefing that morning when a Secret Service agent entered the private dining room. He went straight to the president and whispered into his ear, then handed him a fax just received from the Department of the Navy and the FBI.
"They received these simultaneously?"
"Yes, sir, also the State Department, the Interior Department, the United States Coast Guard, the NSA, and the CIA, plus every news organization with a typewriter or a video camera. All the copies say the same thing."
The president read the first of the faxes. His wife and daughter watched him as his jaw muscles clenched, and the blood slowly drained from his face.
THE UNITED NATIONS,
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Several of the members were standing in shock. Others were yelling at the top of their voices at anyone within earshot.
The screens flickered again and a new message appeared.
THE OCEANS OF THE WORLD ARE NOW AT 61 PERCENT LOSS OF SPECIES DUE TO CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE BY THE OUTLAW NATIONS GOVERNING THE SEAS. THE SEAGOING PRODUCTION OF ALL OIL AND NATURAL GAS WILL CEASE IN THIRTY DAYS, OR THEIR CORRESPONDING PLATFORMS OR PUMPING STATIONS WILL BE DESTROYED. ALL REFINERIES LOCATED WITHIN A ONE-KILOMETER DISTANCE OF SHORELINES WILL CEASE OPERATIONS WITHIN ONE YEAR. WHERE THEY ARE RELOCATED IS AT THE DISCRETION OF PETROLEUM-PRODUCING AND — CONSUMING NATIONS. YOU ARE HEREBY WARNED — THEY WILL REMAIN INLAND OR BE DESTROYED.
AS OF THIS DATE, FORCES INVULNERABLE TO MILITARY ACTION, AS DEMONSTRATED OFF THE COAST OF VENEZUELA AND THE UNITED STATES, HAVE RECLAIMED THE SEA. NO MILITARY VESSEL WILL BE ALLOWED PAST THE THOUSAND-METER DEPTH IN ANY OCEAN OF THE WORLD, UPON PENALTY OF IMMEDIATE AND RUTHLESS REPRISAL. YOUR WARS REMAIN YOUR OWN; YOUR LANDS REMAIN YOUR OWN. HOWEVER, THE SEAS HAVE BEEN FORFEITED THROUGH YOUR NEGLIGENCE, ARROGANCE, AND AVARICE. AS A GESTURE OF GOOD FAITH, CIVILIAN TRAVEL UPON THE SURFACE OF THE SEAS WILL BE PERMITTED.
HEED THIS WARNING. THE NORTH AMERICAN GULF COAST AND A THREE-HUNDRED-MILE EXCLUSION ZONE OFF THE COAST OF VENEZUELA ARE CLOSED TO ALL COMMERCIAL SEA TRAFFIC. A PROPOSAL TO AFFECTED NATIONS WILL BE FORTHCOMING. END COMMUNICATION.
THE WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
The director of the FBI stood from his chair. The room was dim with the exception of the four walls where map projections of the world's oceans dominated. Three large red stars were placed in the sea near Venezuela, the capital itself, and in the Gulf of Mexico, at Texas City, Texas.
"The New York police department was the first law-enforcement entity to arrive at the UN. They secured the audiovisual department until our people could get there. Interpol is claiming jurisdiction in the matter, due to it being international property. Nevertheless, we had time to do a hurried forensic search of the area. No fingerprints other than those of authorized personnel were found. The UN A/V department's ten technicians were all accounted for during the incident."
"CIA?" the president asked.
"Sir, we just don't have enough to go on. The slides could have been done commercially or on any one of three hundred million home computers with Photoshop. The systems are just that prevalent. We just don't have enough."
"Well, we obviously have to maintain freedom of the seas, so from that aspect, even though I am taking this threat seriously—" He looked at the faces around the room. " — we have no choice but to continue oil and gas shipments. Admiral Fuqua, do we even have half the resources to guarantee the safety of these vessels?"
"Sir, we're spread so thin at this moment that we can't even guarantee the safety of our own warships, much
less that of commercial shipping. It will be a good three months until we have our battle-group strength up to our normal peacetime standard, much less being placed on a wartime footing."
"Thank you for your candor. Does analysis have anything on the wording of the document? And how in the hell are all of our supposedly secure computer systems being compromised?"
The question was not directed at any one individual in the room. However, National Security Advisor Harford Lehman stood and directed another question to General Kenneth Caulfield. The general had become somewhat grayer in the last six months, and was beginning to show his wear.
"Ken, have we advanced any theories on the weapons or entity used in the attacks on Venezuela and Texas City?"
"Nothing from the intelligence end of things, and the nuclear fingerprint is a dead end. That material is from an entirely unknown breeder reactor. As for the vessel, or vessels, all we have is the sonar tape that shows something that everyone, even the General Dynamics Electric Boat Division, says cannot exist."
The National Security Agency assistant director cleared his throat.
"Go ahead," said the president.
"The wording of the document has indications of American or British leanings, but nothing at this point is verifiable. The words our analysts call 'old school' have them leaning toward not just an ecoterrorist, but a religious one at that."
The president spoke up. "For right now, let's just say we have a threat from someone with a lot of punch backing their words. Ecological terrorism, no matter how noble a cause, is still terrorism. I want facts delivered to me on the claim noted in the text about how damaged sea life has become. This will be something I have to address in the press, although I doubt this entity is out to garner public sympathy with the point they are making."
The men around the table became silent as the president turned away and looked out of the large window. Then he spoke without turning back.
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