Covert One 2 - The Cassandra Compact by Robert Ludlum Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Robert Ludlum
headed.”
Klein went to the window, which had an excellent view of a fuel depot. “It doesn't make any sense. Why would Danko run if this was all he had?”
“Exactly the question I've been asking myself, sir. Consider this possibility: Danko comes across information about the courier while he's rotating through Bioaparat. He starts investigating--- and ends up digging deeper than he should have. He makes someone suspicious and has to make a run for it. But he doesn't have a chance--- or doesn't dare--- to put down anything else he might have learned. If Danko ever discovered the courier's identity, payload, or destination, that information died with him.”
“I can't believe that he died for nothing,” Klein said softly.
“I won't believe that,” Smith said vehemently. “I think that Danko was anxious to get to us because whatever's headed out of Russia is coming our way.”
“Are you saying that someone is bringing a Russian bioweapon into this country?” Klein demanded.
“Given the circumstances, I'd say it's a strong possibility. What else could have frightened Danko so badly?”
Klein pinched the bridge of his nose. “If that's the case--- or even the suspicion--- I have to alert the president. Steps need to be taken.” He paused. “The problem is, how do we protect ourselves when we don't know what to look for? Danko didn't leave us any clues.”
Something in Klein's words jogged Smith. “That might not be true, sir. May I?” He gestured at the Dell computer sitting on the desk.
Smith logged on to USAMRIID and wended his way through the numerous security checkpoints until he reached the library, the world's biggest, most comprehensive compendium on biowarfare. He entered Stage One and Stage Two and asked the computer to bring up the names of all the viruses that had two distinct development levels.
The machine offered him thirteen choices. Smith then instructed the computer to check those thirteen against viruses that Bioaparat was known to have developed, manufactured, and stockpiled.
“Could be Marburg or Ebola,” Klein said, looking over his shoulder. “Some of the most lethal bugs in the world.”
“Stage Two implies reconfiguration, gene splicing, or some other form of alternation,” Smith told him. “Marburg, Ebola, and others can't be 'developed' per se. They exist in nature--- and, of course, in the bioweapons labs. With them, it's more a case of designing effective battlefield delivery systems.”
Suddenly Smith gasped. “But this... this can be tampered with. We know that the Russians were playing with it for years, trying to alter it to produce a more virulent strain. They were supposed to have shut down those labs, but...”
Klein was listening, but his eyes were locked on the screen where black letters blinked like death's-heads against a white background: SMALLPOX.
__________
Virus is derived from the Latin word for poison. Viruses are so minuscule that their existence was unknown until the late nineteenth century, when Dmitri Ivanovsky, a Russian microbiologist, stumbled across them while investigating an outbreak of disease in tobacco plants.
Smallpox belongs to the pox family of viruses. Its earliest recorded history dates back to China in 1122 B.C. Since then, it has changed the course of human history, decimating the populations of eighteenth-century Europe and the native peoples of the Americas.
Variola major attacks the respiratory system. After an incubation period of five to ten days, the disease brings on high fever, vomiting, headaches, and stiffness of the joints. After a week, a rash appears, localized at first, then spreading throughout the body and causing blisters. Scabs appear, fall away, and leave scars that serve as incubation beds for a fresh assault. Death can come within two to three weeks or, in the case of the red or the black pox, in a matter of days.
It wasn't until
Klein went to the window, which had an excellent view of a fuel depot. “It doesn't make any sense. Why would Danko run if this was all he had?”
“Exactly the question I've been asking myself, sir. Consider this possibility: Danko comes across information about the courier while he's rotating through Bioaparat. He starts investigating--- and ends up digging deeper than he should have. He makes someone suspicious and has to make a run for it. But he doesn't have a chance--- or doesn't dare--- to put down anything else he might have learned. If Danko ever discovered the courier's identity, payload, or destination, that information died with him.”
“I can't believe that he died for nothing,” Klein said softly.
“I won't believe that,” Smith said vehemently. “I think that Danko was anxious to get to us because whatever's headed out of Russia is coming our way.”
“Are you saying that someone is bringing a Russian bioweapon into this country?” Klein demanded.
“Given the circumstances, I'd say it's a strong possibility. What else could have frightened Danko so badly?”
Klein pinched the bridge of his nose. “If that's the case--- or even the suspicion--- I have to alert the president. Steps need to be taken.” He paused. “The problem is, how do we protect ourselves when we don't know what to look for? Danko didn't leave us any clues.”
Something in Klein's words jogged Smith. “That might not be true, sir. May I?” He gestured at the Dell computer sitting on the desk.
Smith logged on to USAMRIID and wended his way through the numerous security checkpoints until he reached the library, the world's biggest, most comprehensive compendium on biowarfare. He entered Stage One and Stage Two and asked the computer to bring up the names of all the viruses that had two distinct development levels.
The machine offered him thirteen choices. Smith then instructed the computer to check those thirteen against viruses that Bioaparat was known to have developed, manufactured, and stockpiled.
“Could be Marburg or Ebola,” Klein said, looking over his shoulder. “Some of the most lethal bugs in the world.”
“Stage Two implies reconfiguration, gene splicing, or some other form of alternation,” Smith told him. “Marburg, Ebola, and others can't be 'developed' per se. They exist in nature--- and, of course, in the bioweapons labs. With them, it's more a case of designing effective battlefield delivery systems.”
Suddenly Smith gasped. “But this... this can be tampered with. We know that the Russians were playing with it for years, trying to alter it to produce a more virulent strain. They were supposed to have shut down those labs, but...”
Klein was listening, but his eyes were locked on the screen where black letters blinked like death's-heads against a white background: SMALLPOX.
__________
Virus is derived from the Latin word for poison. Viruses are so minuscule that their existence was unknown until the late nineteenth century, when Dmitri Ivanovsky, a Russian microbiologist, stumbled across them while investigating an outbreak of disease in tobacco plants.
Smallpox belongs to the pox family of viruses. Its earliest recorded history dates back to China in 1122 B.C. Since then, it has changed the course of human history, decimating the populations of eighteenth-century Europe and the native peoples of the Americas.
Variola major attacks the respiratory system. After an incubation period of five to ten days, the disease brings on high fever, vomiting, headaches, and stiffness of the joints. After a week, a rash appears, localized at first, then spreading throughout the body and causing blisters. Scabs appear, fall away, and leave scars that serve as incubation beds for a fresh assault. Death can come within two to three weeks or, in the case of the red or the black pox, in a matter of days.
It wasn't until
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