Black Flagged Apex (4 page)

"But going to Red would leave no question in anyone's mind that this was the real deal. If we're planning to activate the National Guard, I don't see how we can avoid it," said Marianne Templeton, secretary of Homeland Security.

"Going to Red will cause a widespread panic. We need to slowly ease into this, based on the immediacy of the threat. We can activate the National Guard without going to Red," the White House chief of staff said.

"I don't think we can get away with that for very long. Dr. Chandrashekar, where does the CDC stand in terms of a response?" Templeton asked.

"We're already assembling first-response teams and deploying them nationwide, so they can reach anywhere within the continental U.S. within a few hours. These teams will confirm the presence of the virus and allow full-scale resources to be deployed. We'll coordinate with Health and Human Services to educate the public as determined by the administration. We're working up media packages, public education announcements, and response guidelines for first responders," Chandrashekar responded.

"Pauline, what can we expect from your department at the outset?" the president asked.

Pauline Rosenberg, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services leaned forward to see around Director Shelby.

"Mr. President, my department will work closely with the CDC to ensure the rapid and targeted deployment of our National Disaster Medical System assets. Under your recent directive, we have created and disseminated several National Planning Scenarios intended to guide federal, state and local disaster planning efforts. Unfortunately, efforts to implement the recommendations proposed by these scenarios are still in their infancy at the state and local levels. The sooner we alert state and local governments, the better. These scenarios are designed to focus response efforts for geographically limited disasters projected to produce significant casualties in the tens of thousands. A bioweapons attack is one of the scenarios. State governments need to start readying a response."

"I agree with you, Ms. Rosenberg, but we need to figure out how to do this without creating a panic," the president said.

"What are we doing directly on a federal level?" he asked.

"On a federal level, we are preparing all of our deployable medical response assets. We have fifty-five Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and thirty-one Federal Medical Stations that can be deployed within twenty-four hours. All of the equipment and personnel are being assembled as we speak. Once CDC identifies a hot zone, we will commit these additional assets and start intensively coordinating with local medical and law enforcement authorities. Nineteen thousand patients will require an incredible effort at every level, which will quickly outstrip local resources. Mr. President, you should be prepared to immediately declare any area hit as a federal disaster."

"Nineteen thousand was only an example. The number could be in the hundreds of thousands, depending on the target city," Dr. Chandrashekar informed them.

"What about the Strategic National Stockpile and Project BioShield? We've spent close to forty billion dollars on bioweapons defense since 9/11 and the anthrax attacks. Five billion alone for vaccines," the White House chief of staff said.

"Unfortunately, most of that money went to purchasing and stockpiling vaccines and drugs to counter anthrax and smallpox, which have always been considered to be the most likely bioterrorism threats. We've also put a considerable amount of funding into research for an antidote to botulism toxins. The rest went to research to improve treatments to exposure to chemical and radiological weapons. We have no stockpile of anti-virals suited to treat a weaponized version, or any version of herpes simplex encephalitis."

"What about the drug companies that make the ones we need?" the chief of staff asked.

"We're in contact with them right now, to see how quickly they can increase production of these drugs. The production of oral valacyclovir can likely be increased immediately, but the intravenous acyclovir will present a problem. Unfortunately, the intravenous solution is the standard of treatment for HSE. High doses of orally administered valacyclovir are only theoretically effective in this case."

"Shit. We have nothing stockpiled to defend against this?" the chief of staff asked.

"Not at the moment."

"I'll get on the phone to the CEOs of these companies as soon as I leave the room and make sure you have their undivided attention," the president said.

"Where do we stand right now in the investigation?" asked Sarah Kestler, White House counterterrorism director.

This was Shelby's chance to shine, though he knew that most of his own taskforce's success depended heavily on Sanderson's team's efforts in Europe. All of this was a cruel twist of fate and irony for Shelby, one that scorched his very soul with the fires of mistrust and suspicion. Sanderson had burned them all twice now: two years ago by destroying the HYDRA investigation for his own selfish purposes, and one day ago by forcing the president to grant his entire band of criminals a blanket immunity agreement. Each scenario had been carefully crafted and manipulated by Sanderson.

Deep down inside, he wasn't completely convinced that this whole terrorist threat wasn't Sanderson's plan from the very beginning. He would never forgive Sanderson for the two high-profile embarrassments placed in his lap, and despite the immunity agreement, he
would
have his revenge. He'd have to be patient and extremely cautious, but he'd find a way to send that traitorous bastard to prison for the rest of his life. He already knew where to start the process.

He stared down at Major General Bob Kearney and nodded. He hadn't been surprised to see his friend in the meeting, but the presence of Rear Admiral DeSantos seemed unusual. Why the Strategic Services Branch (SSB) needed to sit in on one of the most important meetings in history was lost on him, unless the SSB was Sanderson's new home. Kearney would be seething if this turned out to be the case, but the arrangement might prove useful. Kearney was an ally that might prove instrumental to bringing Sanderson down. If Sanderson's crew was attached to the SSB, a subordinate command to Kearney's DIA, Shelby's commitment to bringing Sanderson down might be easier than expected.

Clearing his throat, he stood up to address the president.

"Task Force Scorpion will focus investigative efforts in two directions. Since Al Qaeda operatives were last in possession of the virus in Europe, our primary focus is on suspected Al Qaeda cells in the U.S. These cells typically operate independently, but based on the coordinated plan foiled in Europe, we suspect that this will be a coordinated effort here at home. The larger the network, the more likely we will pick up leads right away. I have tripled the number of agents to the International Terrorism Operations Section assigned to Al Qaeda and made this the FBI's number one investigative priority. Homeland Security has made a similar shift in its resources," Shelby said, nodding to Marianne Templeton.

"Our second focus is on domestic terrorism networks. Intelligence gathered in Europe indicated the remote possibility that one of our homegrown terrorist groups may be involved, though this has not been confirmed, and the extent of their involvement is unknown. Special Agent Ryan Sharpe, Task Force Scorpion's leader, has worked extensively within the Domestic Terrorism section for the past few years and is intimately familiar with all of these groups. His assistant, Special Agent Frank Mendoza, is a rising star within the Al Qaeda investigative section. I've put our best people on deck for this and am confident that we'll start making significant progress immediately," he finished.

"And our overseas assets? How do they fit into this?" asked the national security advisor.

Both Shelby and the director of the CIA started to answer this question at the same time, neither one of them wanting to back down.

"Director Copley?" the president said.

"Thank you, Mr. President. Intelligence suggests that Al Qaeda planned to use a medical supply distribution company in Germany to ship the remaining virus to the U.S. Discreet assets are moving quickly to that site and—"

"Should I be worried about this?" the secretary of state, Colin Hyde, interrupted.

Shelby chuckled to himself and had to exercise every last bit of restraint not to visibly show his amusement. Should he be worried? Hadn't he seen the results of the CIA's discreet assets in Stockholm? They nearly destroyed half of a city block in broad daylight. The Black Flag teams were the secretary of state's worst nightmare. An international incident steamroller on autopilot to tear up as much of Europe as humanly possible. He should be very worried.

"We can talk about that a little later, Colin. Based on the information we've shared with Germany already, I don't think they'll have a problem with what we have in mind," the president said, nodding for Director Copley to finish.

Shelby couldn't restrain himself and barely managed to turn an outright laugh into a cough.

"If we're lucky, the virus may still be sitting in Europe. If not, they'll do everything possible to figure out where these canisters were shipped. Evidence found in Europe indicated that several Al Qaeda cells made hasty exits from the European scene. If the canisters were shipped recently, as suspected, Task Force Scorpion might have a chance of grabbing it all at once on the ground here."

"You mean we're not even 100% sure this is inbound?" Joseph Morales said, speaking up for the first time.

Morales was the Department of Justice's assistant attorney general for National Security (AAG-NS) and directed three other AAG's within the National Security Division that handled the legal aspects of counterterrorism, counterespionage and intelligence gathering. Shelby rarely clashed with Morales, since his position was newly appointed by the president, and they mostly saw eye to eye on issues regarding domestic counterintelligence and counterterrorism. Most importantly, his attorneys spent most of their time focusing on foreign intelligence gathering methods. Frankly, he was surprised that the president had included him in this meeting, as he could imagine no circumstance on earth under which the administration would bring him up to speed on the details of their most current foreign intelligence gathering asset's origins. Morales would be another ally Shelby could rely upon when things started to get dicey.

"We should have a yes or no answer on that within a few hours," Copley said.

"I don't want to overstep my area of expertise, Madame Secretary," Morales said, gesturing toward Pauline Rosenberg from Health and Human Services, "but there are certain actions that won't be retractable. Maybe we should wait for word from our overseas assets before we start contacting state governors and ramping up bioterrorism resources. It won't take much for the media to start piecing this all together, especially with the news from Russia."

"I tend to agree with this course of action," Marianne Templeton said. "If this isn't inbound, an overreaction on our part will unnecessarily panic the public."

Sarah Kestler stood up, scowling with pursed lips. She always wore a severe-looking face, but this new look gave her an entirely new dimension of seriousness.

"Nobody is suggesting that we shut down FedEx and UPS, or confiscate every package delivered within the last week. Some basic steps are prudent. It sounds like the virus could already be here. The European cells vanished within the last four days, right?"

"So it appears from the foreign law enforcement reports," Shelby said.

"Al Qaeda isn't going to wait for us to gather the next report. Four days ago? Give them a day to consolidate the virus at the shipping facility, maybe another day to pack and ship. Until proven otherwise, I recommend that we start taking steps based on the assumption that U.S. based Al Qaeda cells are in possession of fifty-eight bioweapons canisters. Or at least someone is in possession of these weapons. Given the fact that they abandoned Europe, likely in response to the news pouring out of the Kola Peninsula, I don't think they plan to sit around and stare at the canisters for very long. This is a bold plan that took years to coordinate. They're shifting tactics and strategy quickly. Frankly, I'd be surprised if they hadn't already carried out their mission here. We need the National Guard and local law enforcement out protecting our water supply right now. European authorities didn't waste any time securing and testing their water supplies."

"It's just that once we start this ball rolling, it'll be hard to stop," the secretary of Homeland Security added.

"She's right. Once we start making calls at the state level, this thing will take on a life of its own," the Health and Human Services secretary said.

"I think we'll have much bigger problems if Al Qaeda manages to release the virus. Each canister can poison a city," Kestler said.

"Our intelligence indicates that they would use more than one per city," the CIA director added.

"Fair enough. Twenty cities…even one city will create an unstoppable panic, well beyond any scare caused by preparing for an attack. It sounds like the right steps are being taken by every agency at the federal level. I just think it's time to get local and state authorities involved. We need to start securing water supply points and testing water."

"Does anyone firmly disagree with this strategy?" the president asked.

"I still think we should wait until the threat is confirmed. If we immediately take the steps that Ms. Kestler recommends, we have to raise the threat level to Red. There is no going back from there. It has only been done once since 9/11."

"I can live with that," Kestler said.

"You don't have to deal with the impact on the nation's transportation system, airports, borders…this goes far beyond just sliding the color over to Red."

"Just one successful attack will change the nation forever, Mr. President. This has the potential to make 9/11 look like a pipe bomb," Kestler replied.

Shelby liked the way she thought and acted. No nonsense, action oriented.

"All right. Ms. Kennedy?" the president said.