The Maya Codex (39 page)

Dr Hershey smiled through pursed lips. ‘I would draw the analogy of putting your finger in a bucket of water; you take your finger out, and the hole is repaired immediately.’ Hershey glared at Tyler Jackson, the CIA’s most senior scientist at HAARP, silently asking how someone like Officer Rodriguez had been allowed into the briefing.

‘I couldn’t have put it better myself, Dr Hershey,’ the Marine Corps general drawled. ‘Now, if the handbag brigade up the back doesn’t mind, I’d like to hear the rest of what you’ve got to say.’

Hershey smirked. ‘Thank you, General. As part of this program, we intend to conduct three major experiments. The first, which I’ve briefly outlined, will involve a ten-minute burst of extremely high energy aimed at a point above the northern Pacific. Prior to the beam firing, the air force will launch a long-range missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, which we will then deflect off course, towards the Arctic Ocean.’

The Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force nodded enthusiastically. ‘In the past, as part of the National Missile Defense program, we’ve launched interceptor missiles from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, but they haven’t been one hundred per cent effective. This will add another string to our bow.’

Rodriguez shook her head, convinced that no one in the room had any idea what they were playing with.

‘The second experiment will involve the generation of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic waves, or ELF,’ Hershey continued, pointing to the screen showing layers of the earth’s atmosphere. ‘At altitudes of between a hundred and 150 kilometres above the earth, we have what are known as electrojets. Essentially these are rivers of electrons or electricity running through the ionosphere above the earth. We intend to blast beams of extremely high energy into them, which will change the nature of the electrojets and generate beams of ELF that can be used to communicate with our submarines over very long distances.’ It was the Vice Chief of the Navy’s turn to nod his approval.

‘ELF waves can also be used to effectively X-ray the earth, and this, we hope, will assist us to find tunnels in countries like Iran, which is burying its nuclear plants so deep even our satellite-based sensors are having difficulty picking them up.’ Hershey paused to let HAARP’s potential sink in. Rodriguez seized her chance to get the people in the room to think beyond the parade ground.

‘Seismic tomography has long been in use, Dr Hershey, to search for oil and gas deposits, for example,’ she began, ‘and for the benefit of those in this room who may not be familiar with the technique, crude oil and natural gas will return sounds at different frequencies that enable geologists to identify the substance and its location. But those techniques employ energy in the range of thirty to forty watts, which is more than sufficient to get through solid rock. We’re talking here about pounding the earth’s surface with three
billion
watts. Do we have any idea what might happen to the earth’s delicate balance if you unleash that sort of energy?’

Dr Hershey took a deep breath and raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘That’s why we do experiments, Dr Rodriguez – to find out,’ he replied icily. ‘And if you think the Russians, the Indians and the Chinese haven’t built research stations similar to this one, think again.’ He grabbed the remote and thumbed through a number of slides, stopping at a satellite image of an aerial array in the province of Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia. ‘Taken from one of our KeyHole satellites just last month,’ Hershey explained. ‘We’ve got resolution down to half a metre, and you can clearly see the streets and buildings in the small town of Vasilsursk on the River Volga, close to which is the Russian ionospheric heating facility, Sura … here.’ Hershey glared at Rodriguez and aimed his laser pointer at the screen showing a crossed dipole array of 144 antennae in a 300-metre square grid. ‘That station was set up in 1981, well before this facility, and has an effective radiated power of 190 million watts.’

‘Well, that’s all right, then,’ Rodriguez muttered under her breath.

‘The Chinese aren’t sitting on the sidelines, either,’ Hershey continued, flicking the remote. ‘This image was taken only last week, above the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region, which is China’s most western and largest province, and strategically one of the most important.’ Hershey again focused his laser pointer. ‘It’s bigger than Western Europe and borders Tibet to the south, Mongolia to the east, Russia to the north, and India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan to the west. And this next image clearly shows the antennae array of the Xinjiang ionospheric laboratory, located at 40° 24’ North and 93° 38’ East.’

‘We know the Russians are working on controlling the weather, but how much do we know about Chinese capability?’ the Vice Chief of Naval Operations asked.

‘Not as much as we’d like, sir, but I’m assured the CIA is working on that problem as we speak.’

‘Whoever controls the weather controls the world, Dr Hershey,’ the admiral observed. ‘The Russians have already made some progress using explosive devices to bend the jet stream above Siberia, which will reduce the severity of their winter, and I’ve also seen reports that they’re working on controlling hurricanes and cyclones.’

‘Absolutely right, Admiral, which brings me to an outline of our third major experiment,’ Dr Hershey responded, glancing at Rodriguez. ‘The research is not yet complete, but based on our findings to date, we’ve every reason to believe that hurricanes, tornados, volcanoes and earthquakes can all be controlled and initiated at will. It’s a form of weather warfare we intend to perfect before the Russians and the Chinese beat us to it.’

Neither Jackson nor Rodriguez was surprised when they were excluded from the informal discussions over lunch, and the two dined together in the canteen.

‘Your concerns are absolutely valid,’ Jackson said as they shared a barely passable coffee at the end of their meal. ‘We’re able to generate ELF with the power to identify deep underground tunnels, and blast them with heat waves, but there’s a problem with accuracy.’

‘Can that be overcome?’

‘In theory. Using the ionosphere as a lens to reflect the waves back to a target is too imprecise, so they’re planning to use a Minuteman missile which can be manoeuvred into a known position. The outer casing will be specifically configured to act as the reflecting lens.’

Rodriguez handed Jackson a card. ‘That cell’s clean … the system won’t pick it up. If things get worse, call me. I used to work at the White House, and my former boss, Andrew Reed, is now the President’s Chief of Staff.’

46

HAMBURG

O
’Connor directed the taxi driver past the railway sidings to the end of
Buchheisterstrasse
. He retrieved the backpacks containing the precious figurines from the trunk of the taxi, paid the driver, scanned the length of
Buchheisterstrasse
, and then the dockside itself. Satisfied, he nodded to Aleta. ‘Let’s go.’

Dark clouds scudded across the midnight sky, and behind them a three-quarter moon was intermittently reflected off the inky waters of the Elbe, 120 kilometres upstream from the river mouth on the North Atlantic. Together, they walked unhurriedly along the concrete dock, past warehouses and containers and the massive forklifts used to manoeuvre them to the loading cranes. The rusted shape of the MV
Galapagos
, a 15 000-tonne container ship, loomed at the far end of the dock, smoke wisping from her blackened funnel as the engineers worked up the required head of steam for departure.

‘Are customs and immigration going to be waiting for us?’ Aleta asked nervously.

‘With a bit of luck, they won’t be too bothered with a small cargo vessel, particularly at this time of night. Although the captain will probably ask to see your passport, and depending on how busy he is with the final loading arrangements, he might see us in his cabin. Just be your charming self – but not too charming; we don’t want to excite the crew on the first night,’ O’Connor added with a mischievous grin.

‘If we were anywhere else I’d kick you in the shins!’ Aleta said, smiling to herself. The prospect of sailing across the Atlantic with this dashing Irishman was as exciting as it was nerve-racking, but her smile quickly faded as she caught sight of two men in uniform descending the ship’s gangplank.

‘Keep walking. Just act normally,’ O’Connor said softly, weighing up his options as the two men approached.

‘Who the fuck does she think she is?’ Howard Wiley fumed at his chief of staff, shaking with rage at the ‘please explain’ he’d received from the CIA’s director. Rodriguez’ questions at the HAARP briefing had raised eyebrows in more than one corridor of power.

‘I don’t think she understands the potential of the HAARP experiments,’ Larry Davis agreed, sweating more than usual as he absorbed the full force of Wiley’s tirade.

‘Rodriguez wouldn’t know if a goddamned San Francisco trolley car was up her ass until the people got off … and in her case you’d have to ring the fucking bell. I want her head on a plate the minute she steps back into this building. She’s fired!’

‘And if she goes to the media?’

‘We’ll have her behind bars. She’s signed up to the Intelligence Authorization Act like every other motherfucker around here, and if she so much as thinks about opening that big mouth of hers, I’ll have her in the slammer faster than she can blink.’

‘With respect, Deputy Director – and I’m not defending Rodriguez here – the Authorization Act didn’t protect Valerie Plame, and if Rodriguez sues —’

‘Let her! She won’t win, and we’ll clean out the bitch’s bank balance in the process.’

‘She wouldn’t win, sir,’ Davis persisted, ‘but the peaceniks would be all over us like a rash. So far, they haven’t been able to stir up much media interest in HAARP, but this would give them air time, and the director will be more pissed than he is already.’

‘So what are you suggesting?’

‘The chief of station in Guatemala City’s just resigned. Why don’t you send Rodriguez down there in his place?’

‘As chief of station? Are you out of your mind, Davis?’

‘Think about it, sir. Guatemala’s an armpit and we were short-staffed down there even before this codex thing came on the radar, let alone now the chief of station’s resigned. Rodriguez will be working like a dog from the day she arrives. You can claim it’s a promotion into the field; it gets you off the hook with the equal opportunity wankers and gets her out of our hair. And if it all turns to custard, you can remove her, and she’ll probably resign.’

‘It’s a pity we don’t have anyone at the North Pole,’ Wiley grumbled. ‘She could freeze her tits off up there. All right, make it happen,’ he said finally. ‘In the meantime, what’s the word on Tutankhamen and that other bitch?’

‘We’re still checking. We’ve traced them to Hamburg, but they may have left by train.’

‘I want them found – and fast!’

‘
Guten Abend
.’ O’Connor flashed a smile at the two officers approaching along the dock.

‘
Abend
,’ one of them replied.