The Alexandria Connection (18 page)

‘Tennessee Whiskey Washburn. I thought they’d put that old fart out to pasture. But at least the debates will be interesting,’ said McNamara. ‘A sharp-as-a-tack ex-secretary of energy with an approval rating through the roof, against a “what’s his face” from Montana.’

‘The debates on climate change will be especially interesting,’ said O’Connor. ‘One candidate who knows it’s way past time to act, and the other who wouldn’t know shit from clay. Assuming Davis makes it through the primaries, he’ll be in the pocket of the world’s biggest polluter.’

‘And there’s something else,’ said Murray. ‘The phone taps have also revealed that Bannister’s been in Stockholm recruiting a Professor Ahlstrom to work for EVRAN.’

‘The Nobel Laureate? Why would he want to work for Crowley? Ahlstrom’s been trying to get politicians to do something about global warming for decades,’ O’Connor said.

‘I agree – but if Crowley can get someone like Ahlstrom on Davis’s team to debunk climate change, that’s going to carry a lot of weight in an election.’

‘So how does he get him to jump ship?’

‘Ahlstrom’s in a bucket of financial and marital trouble, and I wouldn’t put it past Crowley to use that as leverage. I’ll do some more digging,’ Murray said.

‘I wonder if our friend Crowley has an even bigger agenda than the White House . . . there are a lot of things not adding up here.’ O’Connor had been analysing the discussion with interest, and he was wary. Apart from Hailey Campbell being pissed over having Buchanan foisted on her campaign, none of what he’d heard made much sense.

‘Hmm . . .’ McNamara stroked his chin. ‘It would be useful, Barbara, in the broad envelope of keeping close tabs on our friend Khan, if you could keep an eye on this. It’s a long bow, but there may be a connection we can’t yet see.’

Murray nodded knowingly. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

‘You’ve been most helpful, and we’ll stay in touch,’ McNamara said, getting to his feet.

‘That’s my card,’ Murray said to O’Connor, giving him a card with her personal mobile and email. ‘Don’t hesitate to call if you need me,’ she added. Her smile lingered before she turned on her heel and strode out the door.

‘I think she’s got the hots for you,’ said McNamara, chuckling to himself.

‘Never mix business with pleasure,’ O’Connor countered.

‘Hasn’t stopped you in the past . . . or do I have to remind you of your little peccadillo in Moscow?’

O’Connor feigned indifference.

‘Now,’ McNamara said, more seriously. ‘This race for the White House only makes sense if Crowley’s backing Davis because he thinks he can control him; but there are a few other things that are not adding up. Where the hell is this “choke point” Khan’s focusing on, and what’s the P in that text?’

T
he servant set the tray of drinks on the stone table: lemon squash for Omar Yousef and Tayeb Jamal, and a gin and tonic for Khan.

‘So . . . everything set for the Phase One attack, Yousef?’ General Khan asked. Yousef nodded.

Khan pulled up a Google Earth map of the Middle East on his laptop, and homed in on the Persian Gulf and Ras Tanura, the massive Saudi Arabian oil refinery. The largest in the world, it was located on the western coast of the gulf, just to the north of Bahrain.

‘It’s big,’ Khan said, bringing up an image of the vast refinery with its myriad tanks, pipes and pumping stations. ‘They disgorge around seven million barrels of crude a day, and process another million barrels into refined products – 4000 tankers a year.’

‘And a lot of that money goes on absurd excesses,’ Yousef said contemptuously, his face clouding. ‘They have as many princes on the Saudi public purse as there are tankers at Ras Tanura – luxury yachts, black American Express Cards. One of them has just ordered an Airbus 380 with fourteen staterooms, a conference room and a movie theatre. There are even stables for horses and a garage in the tail for two Rolls Royces, while my people can’t get enough to eat. Islam does not allow this!’ Yousef exclaimed. ‘But everything is set,’ he added, his contempt for the excesses of the Saudis giving way to an enthusiasm for hitting the West. ‘The Taipan anti-ship missiles are hidden among timber on two lorries, which we have positioned just outside of Quetta,’ he said. The provincial capital of the Baluchistan province of Pakistan was located at altitude, close to Pakistan’s western border and Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. The once tourist-friendly city, known for its bazaars and craftsmanship, was now better known for terrorism. Two bitter conflicts – the Sunni extremist attacks on the minority Hazara Shia community, and the Baluch Liberation Army’s struggle for independence – meant there were regular attacks on mosques and markets, which the police appeared powerless to prevent. It was a situation that suited al Qaeda admirably.

‘We will depart Quetta the day after tomorrow at dawn, and we’ll follow the N40 along the southern border of Afghanistan until we reach the Iranian border at Taftan,’ Yousef said. ‘That’s a distance of about 700 kilometres.’ The Regional Cooperation for Development Highway, which connected Pakistan with Iran and Turkey, was well constructed, but it passed through some of the most barren country on the planet. ‘From Taftan,
insha’Allah
, once we’re across the border, we’ll head north on Route 84 to Zahedan, where we’ll pick up two Toyota four-wheel drives.’

‘Too difficult to get them through the border?’

Yousef nodded. ‘The Iranians may not suspect two trucks loaded with timber, but an additional two Toyotas might raise some questions,’ he said. ‘From Zahedan, we’ll head west across the desert to Bam, before turning south toward Bandar Abbas on the coast.’ The port city, and capital of the Iranian Hormozgãn Province, was the main base for the Iranian Navy.

‘And the border crossing?’ Khan asked.

‘We have a contact, and we’re timing the crossing with his shift,’ said Yousef. ‘It’s unlikely the Iranians will look too closely at a shipment of timber, but in case they do, we have collateral.’ Yousef reached for his briefcase and opened it. Inside were 250 million Iranian rials in used 50 000-rial bank notes, each one of which was worth roughly two dollars. The total was less than US $10 000. Ever since Iran had embarked on a mission to construct nuclear weapons, the sanctions imposed by the West had ensured that the value of the Iranian currency had collapsed.

‘Excellent,’ said Khan, mixing himself another gin and tonic. ‘And you’ll give forty-eight hours warning before the start of that attack?’

‘I haven’t forgotten,’ said Yousef, extracting a battered stamp album. ‘We go to stampgeekcol.com and post an acquisition.’

‘And the Phase Two attacks . . . what’s the situation in the United States?’

‘We have three cells trained,’ Yousef confirmed, ‘and they are ready to go. All they need are the targets, and the Cobalt 60.’

Khan smiled, sipping on his drink and picturing the panic in the streets of the Western capital cities. Once the Cobalt 60 was released into the atmosphere, the intense gamma rays would pass through glass, concrete and all but the thickest lead shielding. When the cancer-causing rays hit the human body, Cobalt 60 had the power to break up DNA, mutating and killing cells. In a short while, thousands would be suffering burns and vomiting blood from bleeding stomachs and intestines. Red and white blood cells would be destroyed, followed by intense headaches, diarrhoea, seizures and comas.

‘Cobalt 60 is one of the Infidel’s worst nightmares. How are we placed in the United Kingdom and Australia?’

‘Great Britain has not been difficult,’ said Yousef. ‘We have strongholds in Somalia in Hayo, and on the island of Lamu, and strong links with the Islamic Courts regime, and despite the Infidel’s attacks from his bases in Djibouti, we’ve been able to train twenty-five Britons in jihadi techniques. They’ve now returned to the United Kingdom, and as you requested, we’ve arranged for a small furniture importing business to be set up. They’re waiting for the word.’

‘And in Australia?’

‘That’s been a little more difficult, but we’ve managed to get a contact with Jemaah Islamiah, who have cells there.’ Based mainly in Indonesia, in the nineties, JI’s Abu Bakar Bashir had sent terrorists to Australia to train around one hundred jihadists. Set up by Abdul Ayub and his twin brother Abdul Rahman, who had trained in Afghanistan with the Mujahideen, the pair fled after the Bali bombing, but many remained.

‘Do they know what they’re about?’

Yousef nodded. ‘JI is focused mainly on overthrowing the Indonesian state, but we have a common cause against the West, and we’ve formed one cell from JI and another cell with Australians who have returned from ISIS in Syria.’ Over one hundred young Australian men had trained and fought with the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the new caliph determined to impose Sharia law on the world. Radicalised, many had now returned to terrorise Australia. ‘We’ve set up a furniture importing business in Melbourne as well, and once the Cobalt 60 arrives, they’re ready to go.’

‘The Cobalt 60 is being sourced,’ Khan reassured his young protégé, ‘and it will be delivered through the port system.’ Khan allowed himself a smile. ‘Shipping containers are one of the Infidel’s Achilles heels. If we take the Australians, the latest figures I have show that authorities only manage to inspect three per cent of shipping imports . . . 100 000 containers out of three million a year. Great Britain is not much better, and as for the United States, Homeland Security is more concerned with what comes
into
the country —’ Khan paused mid-sentence. It was not necessary for the cells to know the source of the Cobalt 60. ‘Assuming phases one and two are successful,’ Khan continued, ‘we will move on to phase three.’

‘They will be successful,’ said Yousef. His dark eyes blazed with a mixture of hatred and anticipation.

Khan brought up a map of the United States. ‘The locations of their key nuclear facilities are published on the internet, and they’re marked here,’ he said, pointing to the yellow international hazard circles imposed on cooling tower outlines.

‘The Infidel is not very clever,’ Khan sneered. ‘He commissioned a report on the weaknesses in his system, and then published it on the internet as well.’ He opened up another window and a report entitled ‘Protecting US Nuclear Facilities from Terrorist Attack’. ‘As you can see, there are 104 commercial nuclear reactors in the United States, over thirty research reactors in universities dotted around the country, and more still in the military. The research reactors tend to be less protected than the nuclear power plants, but the power plants have weaknesses too, particularly those close to large population areas, and close to the sea or on rivers, like this one here.’ Khan pointed to the Indian Point nuclear power plant on the east bank of the Hudson River, 55 kilometres to the north of Central Park in New York.

‘The Infidel’s emergency response plan for Indian Point, which is also on the internet, details the agreed responses from the emergency agencies, including the New York State Police, the Department of Energy, the Buchanan Fire Engine Co, the Hudson and Phelps Hospitals and Westinghouse. This map here shows the layout of the plant, and especially the containment buildings.’

‘Unit One is no longer operating?’ Yousef asked.

‘Unit One, in the centre here, was shut down in 1974, but Unit Two was brought on line the same year, and Unit Three two years later. The containment buildings are the main targets. If we can breach those and destroy the Infidel’s ability to contain a core meltdown, the radiological release to his environment will be catastrophic.’

‘Worse than Fukushima?’ asked Jamal.

‘Far worse. For a start, there are over eight million people in New York City, and of those, they would have to evacuate over five million. By comparison, the Japanese have evacuated only 100 000. If we can interrupt the reactor cooling system, the cores in Unit Two and Three will heat the metal sheath around the uranium fuel. Once we’ve destroyed the cooling system, the reactor core itself will melt into the bottom of the reactor’s steel pressure vessel,’ said Khan, pointing to the plans. ‘Once that fails – and we’ve seen this at both Chernobyl and Fukushima – the molten radioactive debris is forced from the pressure vessel. That then melts through the final concrete casing, and it’s out of control.’

‘An aircraft would be the best weapon,’ Jamal mused, thinking aloud.

‘We don’t need to revisit 9/11, and flight schools in the United States have been tightened up,’ said Khan, ‘but other areas haven’t. The nuclear industry depends on intelligence agencies for information on the overall threat, and in 2008, the CIA identified al Qaeda as their number one nuclear concern.’

Yousef and Jamal smiled broadly at each other, their teeth flashing white in the semi-darkness.

‘Since 9/11, the nuclear industry in the United States has spent US $2 billion on improvements to the security of their reactors, so this isn’t going to be what the Infidel would call a walk in the park, but if we concentrate on his weaknesses we can still succeed.’ Khan turned to another section of the report. ‘They haven’t named their sources, but those in the know have revealed that requirements for the nuclear industry to protect their reactors from rocket-propelled grenades were dropped because the industry kicked up a fuss over the costs.’

‘And this is the weather data?’ asked Yousef, scrutinising the computer predictions for radiation release.

‘Those are the predicted plumes for various times of the day, based on historic wind and weather patterns,’ said Khan. ‘The forced evacuation of over five million people will be accompanied by frenzied panic,’ he added, breaking into a smile. ‘They’ve also admitted that the bullet-resistant shield used at power reactors is inadequate against a 50-calibre rifle with armour-piercing rounds.

‘Their National Rifle Association have done us a big favour,’ Khan continued. ‘In most states of the US, it’s perfectly legal to own a 50-calibre sub-machine gun,’ he said, opening another window on his laptop and bringing up the site for a well-known gun broker. ‘Here it is.’ Khan pointed to a photograph. ‘The Barrett 50-calibre . . . the one used against us here in Afghanistan, and most favoured by the Infidel’s Special Forces.’

‘Something he will pay for dearly,’ Yousef replied grimly, remembering his close colleagues that were no longer with him.

‘You can purchase a top-of-the-range Barrett for less than US $13 000 online. There’s a catch, but it’s easy to get around because the NRA have done us another favour.’ Khan had always followed American politics closely. ‘Every year or so, the Infidel turns on himself, and there’s a massacre in a schoolyard somewhere.’ Both his young protégés were listening intently. ‘President McGovern has been trying to tighten up gun laws and background checks on buyers, but each time he’s blocked in the Senate.’

‘The NRA again?’ Yousef asked.

Khan nodded. ‘They’re one of the most powerful lobbies in the United States, and they keep track of who votes for legislation in Congress. If you vote against them, they’ll come after you when you’re up for re-election. But,’ Khan warned, ‘our people in the United States need to be very careful. The purchases will have to be done singly, and in different states, and at decent intervals. We have plenty of time for this, which brings me to the question of getting people on the inside of the nuclear plants. It doesn’t matter what the job is – driver, storeman – as long as they have access and can confirm our intelligence. How many of your people are in the United States now?’

‘It’s hard to get an accurate figure,’ said Yousef, ‘because the membership is growing, but we can put together at least one hundred across the country, and ten of those I would trust with my life.’

Khan nodded approvingly. ‘Good, but the Infidel is watching our every move. Mobile phones are out, unless they’re clean, and used on a one-time basis. All planning communication is to be done by courier or through the stamp website.’

General Khan ran through the possible nuclear targets in the United States, ruling out any reactors run by EVRAN, before turning to America’s most trusted allies, and the targets in Britain and Australia.

‘Australia’s relatively easy, at least in our choice of targets,’ Khan said. ‘They only have one research reactor, at a place called Lucas Heights to the south-west of Sydney. It’s been threatened before, but no one’s managed to carry out an attack . . . yet,’ he added, pulling up Google Earth and the overhead satellite images of the layout of the reactor. ‘There’s a military base at Holsworthy, here,’ Khan said, pointing to an area a few kilometres to the north-west, ‘and according to Wikipedia, that houses 2 Commando Regiment, as well as the 6th Aviation Regiment, 17 Signals Regiment and a major medical unit. None of those are likely to bother us, because by the time we’ve blown up the reactor, it will be too late for them to respond. And if the prevailing winds are from the west, the plume will drift across Sydney, their biggest city.’