National Counterterrorism Center, McLean, Virginia

 

Director Bob Bayer swept his gaze across the heavy-hitters seated around the oval table in the NCTC’s secure conference room. The emergency meeting had drawn all the big guns he’d invited and marked the first time heads of all the various agencies involved in counterterrorism efforts had assembled in one place to discuss one topic. It was hard for anyone, no matter what rank or attitude, to ignore a presidential directive that essentially said get with the program or find another job.

Bayer owed that bureaucracy-busting order to Home-land Security Director Jerry Goodall, who had convinced the President to step on some delicate toes and kick the slats out from under a few balky fiefdoms. As a result, Bayer had all the major players in one room and examining the same potentially disastrous problem. Now all he had to do was convince them to take the quick, decisive action he had in mind.

Bayer caught Goodall’s eye and nodded his thanks before calling for attention. “Ladies and gentlemen, that list you have contains the names of the people we are convinced are the major players in this biological attack that’s being cooked up out in the Pacific.” He pointed at the flat-screen video monitor containing the image of Chan Dwyer staring into a webcam mounted on her computer console aboard the USS Independence. “And you’ve heard Chan Dwyer’s excellent assessment of what we believe is the plan for introducing a new strain of very deadly botulism toxin into food sources. I don’t need to lead you by the hand to see the consequences if they manage to pull it off.”

Bayer paused to sip water and glanced across the table where the National Security Advisor, Secretary of State and the President’s Chief of Staff sat mulling the situation and pondering political fallout. He had all the authority he needed to move on the bad guys stirring the deadly soup in the Palaus, but these three would have to handle retribution and consequences for the backers in Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“I’m hoping for a quick and concrete consensus here. My plan, in consultation with Defense, CIA, Homeland Security and the FBI, is to hit these folks out in the Pacific hard. And let me be clear, by that I mean kill or capture—either one will do—to stop this thing before it goes any further.”

Near the foot of the conference table, Dr. Joe Jerardi, the presidential science advisor, raised his hand for attention. “I don’t want to interrupt, Bob, but do we know how far it’s gone already? I mean, are we fairly confident that these guys haven’t already done significant damage or run some experiments that could get out of hand? I did my homework on this Dr. Nasuton from Indonesia. He’s a brilliant biochemist and geneticist.”

“He’s also a committed terrorist, Joe. Let’s not forget that. Meanwhile, we don’t know for sure beyond what the scientists who examined the fish and bird kills out on Wake Island told us. They believe they were looking at experiments gone bad. This was stuff that wasn’t ready for employment on a large scale but represented a serious danger if experiments were to proceed. That’s why we’ve got to stop this right now. If there’s already been some spread of this toxin into food sources, then we’ll have to deal with that as it’s discovered. As you know, we’ve intercepted much of their data and I’m told our best brains are working to develop an effective antitoxin.

“Defense has assets in place right now.” Bayer pointed at the image being transmitted from the Independence. “And we will be moving immediately to take down that yacht that’s being used as a sort of support ship, as well as hitting their base of operations on Peleliu. That brings me to subjects that will need all of our best efforts working hand-in-glove, with political concerns on a back-burner.”

Bayer focused on the Secretary of State who was clearly not happy with being ordered to attend the meeting in person. “Madam Secretary, we need you to handle the situation with the Palauan government in the short term. Someone in their bureaucracy has let snakes into the tent. That needs to be dealt with and we can’t have any local interference with the team that goes into Peleliu to take on these guys. In the long run, your people and the White House will have to determine what we do with this Saudi royal that’s been writing the checks, with the Indonesians who are providing the scientific support and with the Iranians who are in this thing hip-deep for their own reasons.”

The Secretary of State tapped her pen on a legal pad for a few moments and then glanced at the National Security Advisor seated on her right. “Well, the Palau thing is simple. We have significant influence there under the ’94 Compact of Free Association. They are independent on one hand, but dependent on us for a great deal on the other. It’s no problem. As for the rest, we will take whatever political and diplomatic measures are called for with the backers of this thing obviously.” She dropped her pen, folded her arms and leaned back in her chair causing the springs to squeak in protest. “However, you must be aware we can’t start pointing fingers or declaring sanctions without solid evidence that nations like Saudi Arabia or Iran are involved. Give us that and we’ll take it to the World Court, the United Nations and the international press. That’s our best course of action…and that means you need to rethink this dead-or-alive cowboy stuff.”

The National Security Advisor caught the hard glare the Defense Secretary fixed on his cabinet colleague and jumped into the conversation. “I think I can guarantee the president will step up with strong international reaction given evidence that the Saudis and Iranians have their fingers in this pie, Bob. But he’s got to have solid shots in the locker. I’d advise your people to do everything they can to take the players out on Peleliu alive. We get our hands on these people and we can draw a solid line to their backers.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem.” The Defense Secretary shuffled through a small leather-covered notebook. “We’ve got a SEAL Team out there aboard one of our new littoral combat ships. That’s some of our best operators up against a team of scientists and a handful of security goons from Quds Force. No doubt there will be gunplay involved, but I’ll instruct our operators to take everyone alive if they can possibly do so.”

“In my view, the most important thing is to contain the stuff they’re playing with out there.” Homeland Security Secretary Jerry Goodall screwed the cap off a bottle of water and took a drink. “We need to drop a bio-hazard curtain over that island, contain and isolate any experimental materials, and then make an assessment. The best case scenario is to shut ’em down, capture the players and bag up a bunch of evidence concerning what they’ve been doing. It’s gonna be hard for the rest of the world to shrug that off, much less defend it in any way.”

“That pretty much outlines what we’re planning to do.” Bayer fiddled with his mouse and tapped a key on his computer. “I’ve just sent each of you a bare-bones plan of action that I will order at the end of this meeting, unless anyone has questions or serious objections. Independence will intercept the yacht and detain the crew; SEALs will go ashore on Peleliu and hopefully capture their science guys. Our bio-warfare specialists will contain what’s dangerous, and then we’ll move our scientific team from the Seascope in to lock it all down for analysis and ultimate containment. It’s Friday night out in the Palaus. I expect it all to be over by Saturday night or Sunday morning at the latest.”