Daredevil Riders

64

“Among other things. The president explained to me about the biological and chemical potential. But he didn’t really get into details. Can it also make the bomb more powerful, for example?”

McElroy said, “No, it’s still a traditional explosive. We believe it is simply a way to deliver biological and chemical weapons on a far more prodigious scale than ever possible before.”

“How can these nanobot things do that?” asked Anthony. “And keep in mind I basically failed science at university.”

McElroy nodded at Weaver. “I will leave the essentials to my colleague here.”

Weaver cleared his throat. “Nanobots are the next generation of nanorobotics. They occur at the molecular level and have a lot of potential uses, beneficial ones, including the delivery of drugs into the body. It’s thought that one day soon nanobots can be released into cancer patients and be programmed to attack and destroy cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unharmed. The possibilities are endless, really.”

“And the biological weapon delivery systems?” asked Herbert. “A terrorist can put anthrax in a bomb right now. So why does this nanotechnology angle make it more dangerous?”

“At the molecular level anything is possible, Herbert,” said Weaver with a trace of irritation. “You can basically build something one atom at a time, outside the normal configurations.”

“Meaning the normal configurations that we have systems set up to detect,” said Herbert.

“Point well taken, Oliver,” said McElroy. “That really is the entire heart of the matter. Detection. If they can change it so we can’t ferret it out, that gives the other side an enormous advantage over us. In fact, an insurmountable one.”

“The other side? Meaning the Russians?” said Herbert.

“How about the Chinese?” said Anthony. “They have more money than anyone. And their science is not too shabby.”

“The Kashtan submachine g*n. And talking a weird language,” Herbert reminded her. “Points at Moscow, not Beijing.”

“And we have very good reason to believe that the Chinese are not involved in this,” said McElroy. “Principally because they don’t have to resort to such tactics to be a superpower. Economically they already are. These days it’s not necessarily how large your military is, but how big your bank account is, and the Chinese wallet is fatter than anyone’s. The Russians, on the other hand, are not in the same position.”

“And the incident in the park was a way of testing the delivery system?” asked Anthony.

“We believe so, yes,” said Weaver. “The nanobots were scattered everywhere. There were no bio-or chemical weapons grafted or grown onto them. We’ve confirmed that. At least the ones we know about. But if there had been? Catastrophic.”

Anthony said slowly, “So the nanobots are a way to actually grow or build bio-or chemical weapons, at a microscopic level and in an undetectable configuration? Load them onto a bomb and set them off?”

“That’s right,” said McElroy. “And if done properly, conventional security forces would be powerless to stop them. So we’re hoping that Fuat makes a mistake and leads us to whomever he’s working with. And soon. It is not enough to arrest him. We need the others. And he’s the only source we have to get there.”

“We’re trying to get Mr. Green to put some pressure on him. Hence her meeting with him tonight. A meeting you guys almost blew to hell,” Weaver pointed out.

Ignoring this, Herbert said, “How did Turkekul get hooked up with the Russians?”

“In your meeting with him he told you that he lived for a time in Afghanistan?” said McElroy.

“That’s right.”

“The timing of him being there was interesting.”

“Let me guess. Late seventies, early eighties. When the Russians were trying to destroy the Afghan freedom fighters?”

“That’s right. Fuat I’m sure on the surface pretended to be on the side of the Afghan freedom fighters.”

“But he was in the Russians’ back pocket,” said Herbert.

“Of course we think that now,” said Weaver. “When he first approached us we thought he was shooting straight. If we knew his loyalties were with Moscow he’d be in jail right now. But we didn’t know.”

“So our discovery of the Russian g*n in Pennsylvania didn’t come as a surprise?” said Herbert.

“No, it was simply more confirmation of what we already knew,” replied Weaver.

“But why have a practice run in the park of all places?” said Anthony. “It allowed us to analyze the debris and discover these nano-things.”

“I believe it shows they have great confidence in their technology,” answered Weaver. “Arrogant bastards. The Cold War never really ended.”

“That may be their undoing, of course. At least we can hope that is the case,” noted McElroy. “At least it provided us with an opportunity to turn the tables.”

“So you think Turkekul was there to detonate the bomb remotely?” asked Herbert. “After he left the park?”

“He was scheduled to meet with Mr. Green, that’s why they left together,” said McElroy.

“Which would have been nice to know before,” said Herbert.

“Need to know, Herbert,” growled Weaver.

“Right,” Herbert snapped back. “I’m getting really tired of hearing that justification for keeping us in the dark.”

McElroy said, “To answer your question, Oliver, yes, we do think he remotely detonated it. The excuse of meeting with Mr. Green there was the perfect cover. She was very surprised when he didn’t initiate contact while she was sitting on the bench.”

Weaver focused on Herbert and Anthony. “And what we don’t need are you two screwing all of this up.”

“If you had told us about it, we wouldn’t have come anywhere near it,” Herbert said reasonably.

“You didn’t require reading in, until now. And I’m not thrilled about it. So from now on keep clear. Got it?”

McElroy rose, supporting himself with the tabletop. “I think they do indeed get it, Director.”

“One more question,” said Herbert. The two men looked at him expectantly. “The president knows about the nanobot angle. But does he know that you suspect Turkekul is a traitor?”

McElroy and Weaver exchanged a quick glance.

“Are you keeping it from the president because you let a spy this

deeply in the game before realizing it?” Herbert was gazing directly at Weaver. “Because if so, that could really come back to bite you in the ass.”

The NIC director flushed. “If I were you, I’d just keep that absurd opinion to yourself. I’ve never understood why you were brought into this in the first place. You’ve been out of the field for over thirty years, and quite frankly, it shows. To repeat, you are ordered to keep the hell away from Fuat Turkekul. Understood?”

McElroy responded. “As I noted before, Director, I’m sure that Agent Herbert understands the situation perfectly.”

McElroy looked directly at Herbert and gave him a quick wink.

They were dropped off at Anthony’s car. As she drove Herbert home she said, “Well, at least things are explained now. The Russians are on the prowl once more. Oh goody.”

“Why the gunfire?” Herbert said abruptly.

“What?”

Herbert closed his eyes.

“Tents,” he said.

“Tents? What the b****y hell are you talking about? Are you planning on going camping?”

“White tents. All on one side.”

This same observation ha