Special Talents

by J. B. Tilton

  The man stood looking at the group. Oddly, he was also wearing a large backpack. It seemed to be full from the way it bulged. And in one hand the man was holding some kind of device that had a cord running from it to the backpack. He held the device high and was looking at the agents one after another.

  "Hold your fire," Scarborough ordered. "He's holding a dead man's switch."

  A dead man's switch. Jeremy knew of them. They had originally been designed to use in modern trains. In the event an engineer became incapacitated, say due to a heart attack or other calamity, the dead man's switch would automatically operate stopping the train and possibly preventing a wreck or other mishap. Since their invention, they had been applied to many other areas as well.

  In this case it wasn't hard to tell what its function was. The device in the man's hand was the detonator for the bomb. The bomb that he carried in the backpack he wore. It was a simple device. Press the plunger on the switch and the bomb was activated. If he let go of the plunger for any reason, the bomb would detonate. Which meant if any of the agents shot him, they'd set off the bomb. Their only recourse was to disable the switch so the bomb couldn't be detonated.

  "Give it up," Scarborough said to the man. "There's no way out. There's no reason anyone has to be hurt. Deactivate the switch and I promise you won't be harmed."

  "My name is Harold Baker," said the man. "I do this in the name of almighty Allah and the oppressed Muslims of the world that the American government has sought to subjugate and murder. Allah has declared that those who oppressed the faithful and righteous of the Muslim faith must pay for their acts of heresy and blasphemy. Allahu Akbar."

  Allahu Akbar. Translated it meant "Allah is the greatest". It was the opening declaration of every Islamic prayer. And it was also the phrase uttered by many suicide bombers just before they detonated their bombs. As Jeremy and the others watched in horror, Baker opened the hand that was holding the dead man's switch to the bomb on his back. As the switch fell from his hand, he closed his eyes and raised his head to the heavens.

  At almost the same instant someone rushed from the crowd of agents that was surrounding Baker. Jeremy recognized Simon as the latter tackled Baker and the two went tumbling to the ground. But it was all ready too late. Baker had released the dead man's switch. An instant later, the bomb detonated.

  Jeremy's hands came up involuntarily to shield his face. He knew it was a futile move the moment he did it. As the bomb detonated he knew they would all be vaporized almost instantly. For just an instant he wondered if he would feel any pain. Or if it would all be over too fast for any pain to register.

  He heard the explosion and saw a bright flash of light. But the impact of the bomb never came. As he lowered his arms he saw the explosion even now beginning to dissipate. Everyone else stood around looking. They all seemed confused. No one was injured. The fragments of the bomb flew out in all directions but passed harmless through the bodies of the men and women gathered around.

  "What happened?" questioned one of the Secret Service agents. "Why aren't we all dead?"

  Suddenly Jeremy realized what had happened. Simon had tackled Baker. In the instant when he had first made physical contact with the bomber, Simon had used his ability to phase them both; along with the bomb Baker was wearing. In that split second between when Baker had released the dead man's switch and the bomb had detonated, they had been phased.

  Simon had often said how his phasing made him almost like a ghost. Insubstantial to the "real" world. It was how he had been able to get into places and steal what he had needed. In his phased state, most security devices were useless. Motion detectors and head detectors didn't register him. He could move about as he pleased without any fear of being detected.

  It had worked the same way with Baker. In their phased state the explosion of the bomb had been like watching it in a movie. While they could see the explosion, and hear it, it was absolutely no threat to the "real" world.

  "Simon," Mariah gasped as Jeremy realized that the rest of the team would also figure out what had happened.

  Simon would have known that in their phased state the explosion would not have been a threat to anyone else. Even an atomic explosion would have presented no danger to the "real" world. But it would have been different for him and Baker. The explosion would have affected them as any explosion would have. Simon had sacrificed himself to save the team and all the Secret Service agents in front of the Capital Building. And the untold millions of others that would have been affected by the atomic explosion. Just then Janet walked up to the group, the two Secret Service agents with her in tow.

  "Sorry, Jeremy," she said. "I tried to take Chang out. I pushed my ability to its limit hoping to take her down. Unfortunately she was better than I anticipated. She was able to avoid my attack."

  "Are you okay?" Jeremy asked. "What happened? You were unconscious."

  "Like I said, I pushed my ability to its limit," responded Janet. "I guess it was too much. I passed out. When I came to these two were standing over me and told me what happened."

  "I guess when you pushed your ability your body hardened to the point where Chang couldn't use her skill against you," said Jeremy. "She was probably convinced she had killed you which is why she then turned on me. Luckily help arrived just then and she decided to make her escape. If she hadn't I have no doubt she would have killed me. Thanks, Janet. You saved my life."

  "What happened? James asked, rushing out to the group gathered around. Conroy was close at hand.

  "The bomber has been stopped," said Scarborough, a note of sadness in his voice. Even though Scarborough had no abilities, he was very familiar with the abilities of the rest of the team. He, too, would have realized what had just happened with Simon.

  "There was an explosion," said James. "I heard it from inside the building."

  "A . . . minor explosion," said Scarborough. "No one was injured. It's all over now."

  "I'll go let the security in the building know the suicide bomber has been stopped," said Conroy as he turned to head back into the Capital Building.

  "What do you mean a 'minor explosion'?" James asked. "We were told that there was a nuclear device. Those don't create a 'minor explosion'."

  Jeremy thought for a moment. James was right. Even in their phased state, it should still have been a nuclear blast. He had seen films of some of the early nuclear tests. The explosions were always massive accompanied by what was usually described as a mushroom-shaped cloud. But there had been no massive explosion. And no mushroom cloud. From all appearances, it had been nothing more than a normal explosion.

  "Richard," said Jeremy, "that wasn't a nuclear explosion. Even assuming Baker was carrying a minimal load the explosion should have been much larger. I don't think there was any nuclear material in the bomb."

  "It looked more like about 20 pounds of C4," said one of the Secret Service agents.

  "Agent Monroe is one of our explosives experts," explained James. "If he says it was 20 pounds of C4 then you can bet that's what it was. But if the suicide bomber was carrying just a regular bomb, where is the nuclear device we were warned about? And how come no one was injured when the bomb went off?"

  "Someone was," Conrad choked out. "Baker was killed. So was Simon."

  "One of our team members," said Scarborough. "He sacrificed himself to save everyone else."

  "I'm sorry," said James. "I was hoping we could do this without anyone getting hurt. I'll be sure to inform the President of your sacrifice. I'm sure he'll want to do something for your man's family. But at least the danger is now passed. The bomber is dead and the threat to those gathered inside is passed."

  "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Agent James," said Jeremy.

  "What do you mean?" James asked.

  "Sun Tzu," said Jeremy.

  "The Art of War?" questioned James. "I've read it. What does that have to do with any of this?"

  "I read it, too, in college," said Jeremy. "In it Sun Tzu talks about s
pies. Specifically he mentions the doomed spy."

  "I remember," said Scarborough. "Basically he said one of the tactics of war was to give your spies false information. So that when they were captured by the enemy they'd give that information to the enemy who would take measures based on the false information. But in reality you're actually planning something different and your enemy won't be prepared for it."

  "Exactly," said Jeremy. "We've been going under the assumption that Moser was going to use a nuclear device. But he didn't. It was a normal bomb. Outside here where it was detonated it couldn't really do that much damage. And I saw Moser and Chang a few minutes ago over by that grove of trees. If he had planned to use a nuclear device all along, he never would have been here."

  "So you think he had something else in mind from the beginning?" Scarborough asked.

  "Yes," said Jeremy. "In his speech he talks about war. The war waged by what he called the criminals and murderers of the American government. Moser is very intelligent. I would bet he's read Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' and would be familiar with this tactic."

  "I wouldn't be at all surprised," said Richard. "'The Art of War' is required reading in many military academies."

  "So you're saying that this Moser let us learn of his so-called plan to use a nuclear device here today so we'd plan for it," said James. "When he actually had something else planned all along."

  "That's exactly what I'm saying," said Jeremy.

  "Okay," said Richard. "So if he didn't plan to use a nuclear device, how does he plan to kill everyone in that building? There's no way he could get enough assassins in it to kill all of the hundreds of people inside there."

  "He doesn't need an army of assassins," said Jeremy. "He only needs one. In his speech, Moser made references to Egypt. More specifically, the plagues of Egypt. He talks about the power of the American government dying a slow agonizing death. He talks about the people dying in agony.

  "The mention of Egypt in that speech is the key. There's no reference in it about anything nuclear. But there is reference to the ten plagues that befell Egypt. There would flies, lice, frogs, unhealable boils, a total of ten that culminated in the first born of every household being struck down."

  "I'm not seeing any flies or lice," said James.

  "The actual method isn't the important part," said Jeremy. "What they are referred to is. We know that Moser has had contact with Stewart Kranston. Kranston is a genetic biologist. He specializes in genetic engineering to help find cures for diseases. But that genetic engineer could very easily be used for a different purpose. To create what's been called the 'super virus'. An organism so deadly that it can kill everyone it comes into contact with."

  "Jeremy, I don't think I like what you're implying," said Scarborough.

  "I'm not implying anything, Richard," said Jeremy. "I'm saying it outright. I don't think Moser ever intended to use a nuclear device. It's big and bulky and cumbersome. And he knew there was always a possibility that we'd be able to stop whoever was carrying it."

  "So just what are you saying, Dr. Sloan?" James asked.

  "Moser had something else in mind," said Jeremy. "Something more insidious than a nuclear device and that could potentially be more deadly. And something that none of your security measures could guard against because a single person could carry it into the Capital Building and you'd never be able to detect it."

  He paused for a moment.

  "I think Moser plans to release a biological agent into the House of Representatives so potent it will infect everyone in the building. Something so deadly it will be almost guaranteed to kill anyone who gets infected."

  CHAPTER FORTY

  "That would be impossible," said James. "The only way he could do that would be to hook a canister of this biological agent to the ventilation system of the building and pump it into the House. I can assure you, doctor, nothing has been hooked up to the ventilation system. And there would be no way for anyone to get a canister of something like that through our security measures."

  "They could if they weren't carrying a canister," said Jeremy. "If they were infected with the agent they could walk right into the building and you'd never know they had it."

  "Are you saying that someone deliberately let themselves be infected with some kind of deadly virus just so they could infect everyone in the Capital Building?" Scarborough asked.

  "That's exactly what I'm saying," said Jeremy. "It's so simple it's brilliant. It's worse than any weapon or bomb Moser could have used. No one knows it's there. Without specific tests – tests your security measures aren't designed to perform – you wouldn't be able to tell someone was infected. By the time it was discovered that he was infecting other people, it would be too late. And in an enclosed area like the House of Representatives – with it packed to capacity – whoever was infected would infect everyone he comes into contact with. They, in turn, would infect everyone they come into contact with. The entire chamber could be infected within a matter of minutes. And by the time we found out they had been infected with something a great many of them would all ready be dead and the rest dying."

  "Moser carries through on his threat to bring down the American government without firing a shot or detonating one bomb," said Scarborough. "Everyone infected would leave the chamber after the speech and spread the infection to everyone they came into contact with on the outside. You get a couple of Senators or Representatives who decide to go home to their respective states after the address and it begins to spread all over the country. We could have an epidemic spreading across the country in a matter of days."

  "And without knowing what the infection was, it would take time to isolate it and identify it," said Jeremy. "Allowing it to spread even farther. More than likely the entire echelon of the American government would die from the infection within a matter of days. As it spreads, more people would begin to die."

  "The America Armageddon that you described to Secretary Napolitano," said Scarborough. "And Moser and his people probably protected by some vaccine that makes them immune to the infection."

  "Yes," said Jeremy.

  "What can we do?" James asked. "You're right about one thing, doctor. The Secret Service is not equipped to deal with something like this. How do we prevent whoever is infected from infecting everyone else?"

  "Well the first thing we have to do is identify whoever's infected," said Jeremy. "That could be a problem. Whatever they were infected with may not show any symptoms. At least not just yet. Someone could be perfectly healthy and still be infecting anyone they come into contact with. It happens in schools and daycares all the time. By the time one child begins to exhibit signs of chicken pox or measles, for instance, they've all ready exposed every other child and the staff to the diseases."

  "So it could be anyone," said James. "Even someone who appears to be completely healthy."

  "Exactly," said Jeremy. "But it would have to be someone Moser has had access to in the past few days. Any longer than that and symptoms would begin to appear. And it would have to be someone who has access to the House of Representatives chamber. They'd have to be able to get inside to infect other people."

  "Unless they were able to infect someone else who had access to the chamber," said Scarborough. "They wouldn't have to necessarily enter the chamber themselves. Just infect someone else who would then enter the chamber and begin the chain reaction."

  "I don't think so," said Jeremy. "It would take days, maybe, to spread the infection that way. And there's no guarantee whoever carried it into the chamber would be able to effectively infect everyone inside. No, he'd want someone who was all ready infected enough to insure they'd pass it on to whomever they came into contact with. So whoever it is would had to have been all ready infected and the disease in full incubation.

  "Moser was very thorough. He must have been able to learn about my ability somehow. He knew that not even I could check everyone and see if they were infected. And without knowing who the infected person is
there might be no way to stop them before they start spreading the infection."

  "Ability?" questioned James.

  "I'll explain it later," said Scarborough. "Right now we have to figure out a way to identify who the infected person is and stop them from going into the House of Representatives."

  "Jeremy," said Conrad. "What is Septicemic? Is it the scientific name for the flu?"

  "No, it's not," said Jeremy. "Septicemic plague is a very deadly blood infection. It was one of the three main forms of plague that struck Europe in 1300s. The other forms of plague back then were bubonic and pneumonic plague. They effectively wiped out three-quarters of Europe and are usually referred to as the Black Death. Why do you ask?"

  "It was in Agent Conroy's mind," said Conrad. "I only caught a glimpse of it and when he said his doctor told him it was the flu I just figured that was some fancy scientific name for it."