65 Below

by Basil Sands

  They got into the vehicle and backed out of the garage. Once on the road, they made their way out of the city and onto the Parks Highway.

  Depending on weather and road conditions, the drive to Anchorage should take six to eight hours. Shin expected to be there by nine AM at the latest, which would give them plenty of time for a bit of rest. And a good meal at the cozy little Italian restaurant with the amazing mountain views out the large picture windows that faced the entrance to the road that led to the Eklutna water plant.

  Chapter 33

  Fairbanks Northstar Borough Public Safety Building

  Fairbanks, Alaska

  20 December

  00:40 Hours

  Wyatt’s cruiser led the caravan to the public safety building. They pulled into the mostly empty public parking area at twenty minutes before one A.M. A large tractor-trailer painted in the black, brown, and green camouflage pattern of the US Army stretched across a row of vehicle spaces.

  Two soldiers bundled in thick, green military issue hooded parkas, insulated pants, and large white bunny boots stood at the end of the trailer, smoking cigarettes. Beside them, a metal staircase led up to a door in the side of the trailer. The bluish-white mist of smoky steam hung in the air around their heads as breath and cigarette smoke billowed from their mouths and nostrils.

  One of the soldiers reached up through the metal tube railing on the staircase and knocked on the door with a gloved hand. A shaft of bright light shone from inside the trailer as the door opened. A figure stepped out, wearing a full-body green rubber biohazard suit, the large hood folded back off its head as it descended the stairs like a clumsy 1960’s B-movie astronaut.

  The hooded figure approached Lonnie’s cruiser and raised a hand toward her. She rolled down her window. A blast of extremely cold air instantly filled the interior of the cruiser. The frigid air elicited a grunt, and an uncontrollable shiver ran through her body. “Man,” she said, “It’s gotten a lot colder since we left Salt Jacket.”

  The rubber-clad man pulled back his hood. “Yes, ma’am. Once the clouds cleared up, we had that big aurora, and then the temperature dropped almost twenty degrees in the past few hours. It’s about minus thirty-five already and dropping.”

  “Are you guys from the base?” Wyatt asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. The Homeland Security chief called us in. He said we were to report to a Trooper Wyatt or to FBI Agent Tomer.”

  “I’m Wyatt.”

  “I’m Captain Argis, and Major Detrick is inside. You have a package for us?”

  She handed him the bundled Marcus had made. “Here it is. It’s in a shockproof case wrapped in two trash bags, a large folded towel, and a Ziploc bag. The prisoner in the back seat knows some of what it is, but not everything.”

  Captain Argis looked into the back seat at Choi, who was staring up at him. “Does he speak English?”

  “No, but I’m a translator. He was pretty cooperative earlier, and I think he’ll help us out if you need more information.”

  “If he knows what this stuff is, that would be a great start,” said the captain.

  “He told me earlier that he knew one of the chemicals in it. That was how he found it in the first place, using a device he had made to find that one chemical.”

  “Well, ask what that one chemical is, and that will get us that much closer. Let’s get inside the trailer and out of the cold. Otherwise, this suit might freeze and crack on me.”

  “There’s no classified stuff in there, right?”

  “That’s all in a sealed room. We have a clean area where we can talk. Besides, the guy in the seat next to you looks like he could snap your prisoner in half if he tries anything.”

  Bell smiled in response. “You betcha. Half Snapper’s Mate First Class Bell at your service, Captain.”

  They opened the doors and got out of the car. Wyatt opened the back door of the cruiser to let Choi out. She explained to him in Korean what was going on. “You need to tell them what is in the vial.” She pointed to the trailer. “We are going to that building over there. If you are good, we will keep our agreement.”

  Choi nodded to her.

  “If you try to do anything funny, I will not be your Nuna. This man next to you,” she pointed to Bell, who moved next to Choi, “this man will kill you instantly. Do you understand?”

  Choi looked fearfully up at Bell, who was nearly a foot taller and eighty pounds heavier than the slightly built North Korean. Choi swallowed hard and added. “Adaso. I understand.”

  As they walked across the parking lot, Commander Stark came out the front door of the public safety building toward them. “Wyatt!” Stark called from across the parking area.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Where’s the leader of these SEALs? And Marcus, too? I want to talk to them in my office.”

  Marcus and Wasner were getting out of the Jeep as Stark approached Wyatt. Lonnie pointed to them and said, “Wasner is the SEAL team chief—he’s the white guy at the Jeep. The black man is Marcus.”

  The two men passed Lonnie and the others as they crossed the parking lot. As they drew near, Marcus glanced up into Lonnie’s face. When their eyes met, Lonnie immediately snapped her eyes back up to the door of the trailer, avoiding his gaze.

  “Chief Wasner? Mr. Johnson?” Marcus turned from Lonnie toward Commander Stark, who approached them from half-way across the pavement. “I am Bob Stark, Fairbanks Trooper Detachment Commander. Put your men inside to get warmed up and have some coffee. I want to talk to both of you in my office.”

  The two men followed Stark inside. Lonnie, Bell, and Choi entered the trailer with Captain Argis.

  The trailer was a fully outfitted mobile laboratory. Just inside the entrance to the right stood two chairs and a small table. A high shelf on the left stretched above a row of hooks, on which hung several dark green rubber suits. Large clown-like boots dangled just above the floor from the end of the legs.

  The room was about ten feet deep and stretched the entire width of the trailer, about twelve feet. A computer console on a desk at the far end lay dormant beneath a panel of various electronic buttons, dials, and digital readouts mounted on the wall next to it. Above all that, on the wall that stretched between the chamber in which they stood and the larger main research area, was a glass window, about two feet by two feet square. The glass in the window was several inches thick. On the other side of the glass it was dark, but not as if the lights were off in the room. There was a black covering over the glass on the inside.

  In the center of the dividing wall to their left, between the table and the electronic equipment, a small round glass window, no more than twelve inches in diameter, was set in a narrow door. It was blacked out from the inside as well.

  “This is as far you three can go. The other side of the door there is mostly a lot of standard research equipment, but a there are some highly classified bits and pieces in there as well. If the prisoner can give us as much information as possible going in we can cut down the time it takes to identify this stuff.” Captain Argis waited for an answer.

  “Please refer to the prisoner as Mr. Choi, so he’s not so intimidated. I think he will cooperate,” Lonnie said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The captain looked at Choi, held up the bundle, and said calmly, “So, Mr. Choi. What is in this vial?”

  Lonnie translated the question and the answer came instantly in rapid-fire Korean. Nervous and fearing for his life, Choi spoke fast. Too fast. Lonnie asked him to slow down and repeat himself several times.

  “It is a chemical compound called Tetrazyklon-E, according to our records,” Choi said. “At least, that is what my device was designed to detect. The chemical properties are relatively benign until it comes in contact with petroleum-based substances like plastic or nylon. On contact with such a material, the TZE converts into an acid that vaporizes the substance it touches.”

  Wyatt translated the information back to Argis, who looked at the vial in curiosity. The small wind
owed door opened and Major Detrick came out of the back room. He pulled the rubber hood from his head. He was a tall, thin man, very nerdy looking with old-style black military issue horn-rimmed glasses resting on a large, beak-like nose. His face was long and narrow, with a pursed mouth and eyes that bore a constant look of surprise. His Adam’s apple jutted almost an inch from his pencil-thin neck.

  Bell, unaccustomed to being around science types, looked at the gangly officer with wide-eyed curiosity. He seemed too skinny to qualify for military service.

  Detrick approached without greeting and said, “Tetrazyklon-E? I am familiar with that compound. It was a form of Zyklon-B that the Nazis had developed, but it turned out to be useless in chemical warfare and in the concentration camps. In mass quantities, the worst it could do was create noxious fumes. It was only a minor irritant.”

  “It doesn’t make sense to spend so much effort on something that weak,” Argis said. “Ask him why they would be so concerned something like this.”

  Lonnie repeated the question to Choi.

  He nodded excitedly and replied, “Yes, yes. I agree with you. It seemed like a waste of time to me, too. I know TZE is not a good weapon against people, so I asked my superiors why we were going to this trouble. They told me it was none of my business.”

  Wyatt translated as Choi continued. “I had to know, so I tried to think of how it could be used. And my conclusion is that there is something else mixed with it, perhaps a bacteria or a virus that could use the TZE as a vehicle to help deliver it. TZE is known as a strong acid against plastics, doesn’t damage metals, and is not only heavier than air, but mixes with the molecules in water to change them into a favorable environment for itself to move undiluted.”

  He continued, “I think the TZE is to be used to dissolve a barrier to allow something else to do the work of a weapon.”

  “Let’s go in that direction,” replied Argis. “It will probably half an hour or so, but maybe less since we know what to look for.”

  As the scientists discussed the vial, Marcus and Wasner followed Commander Stark into the building and down the hall into the head trooper’s office. Stark closed the door behind the two, then motioned them to sit. He sat down behind his desk, leaned forward, and spoke.

  “First off, let me say this thing has gotten way out of hand very fast. This is not exactly the territory of troopers, or even FBI agents. We are more accustomed to facing drug dealers and thieves. I understand you two left a whole mess of bodies out in the snow, and that’s going to cause me a ton of headache.”

  He changed position in his chair, sitting upright, and continued. “That having been said, I understand why you guys did it that way. I was an Army Ranger in the last part of Vietnam, spent the majority of 1973 in a Long Range Recon Patrol unit walking the swamps and jungles around the Mekong.”

  Both men nodded slowly, unsure where the conversation was going.

  “What I am trying to say is that these days, I am a cop. There are things I cannot do, and things I cannot let people get away with. I also understand how important it is to get these guys, and want to let you know, and understand that this is off the record—as long as no innocent civilians end up dead or injured, I will turn a blind eye to whatever happens to these turds. Just make sure it’s a clean kill. Is that clear?”

  “I think,” Wasner answered, “we’re on the same game plan then. We were going to do so anyway, but it’s a lot easier knowing we won’t end up in prison after saving the country.”

  “What about Tomer?” Marcus asked. “He gave us a pretty rough time, and I’m not sure he will keep his mouth shut.”

  “Yeah, Wyatt called and told me you had a run-in with him. Don’t worry about him,” Stark said. “He’s a toothless lion with a big mouth. He was sent here because of his inability to keep his yap shut. DHS will keep him quiet—if he files anything, it won’t go anywhere.”

  Wasner smiled. “Good, sounds like we’re all in agreement then. Let’s go release some testosterone on these guys. By the way, have they found the white suburban yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  In the trailer, Argis and Detrick entered the back room. They closed the door behind them and opened the blinds on the windows above the computer desk so the others could see what they were doing. Through the window, about two steps inside the room, was an area sealed off by another barrier wall made entirely of thick Plexiglas. The inner wall provided a second seal of protection against toxic leaks from inside.

  Four showerheads hung suspended from pipes on the ceiling in the space between the two walls. Pegs for hanging the rubber suits jutted from the walls. A bin emblazoned with the biohazard symbol stood at one end. Their heads covered by the large green rubber hoods, and hands sheathed in thick black rubber gloves, the two soldiers’ bodies were totally wrapped in the bio suits, giving them the appearance of old-time astronauts. The hump of self-contained breathing tanks protruded from their backs as they moved around in the lab room.

  Detrick removed the vial from the thick, protective wrapping Marcus had rolled around it. He opened the inner case and put the tube in a vise-like apparatus. He gingerly cut the waxy seal away from the top with a razor blade. Once the seal was removed, he slowly and deliberately worked to extract the fitted glass stopper that filled the top of the tube like a cork. Once that was off, Argis approached with a tray indented with rows of small, bowl-shaped pits. Into each of the tiny pits, he placed several drops of the liquid from the test tube with a small glass pipette.

  He picked up the tray and inserted it into what looked like a stainless steel toaster oven. Argis closed the device’s door and pressed several buttons on a panel to one side. He then went to a computer terminal at the end of the table and watched the monitor.

  Detrick took three Petrie dishes from a shelf above the work area. He placed several droplets of the liquid into one of them and set it aside. Nothing noticeable happened.

  He placed the same amount of liquid into the second, added purified water from a labeled bottle on the counter top, and set it aside. It likewise did nothing visible.

  To the third, he did the same, but when he added a few drops of water, a thin wisp of pale orange smoke curled up from the dish. Detrick motioned for Captain Argis to come over and gestured toward the sample.

  Detrick took the second and third dishes to another corner of the room and placed them on the tray beneath a microscope.

  Captain Argis glanced over at the computer monitor next to the toaster oven-looking device. Something caught his eye, and he walked away from Detrick. Lonnie saw his face through the clear plastic shielding of his bio suit. Intense concentration burned in his expression as he looked at the screen.

  Major Detrick dropped another amount of liquid from a dropper onto the second Petrie dish. Like earlier, a light puff of pale orange smoke rose into the air. He stood from the microscope and crossed the room to where Argis stood. He looked at the screen at which Argis stared. His mouth came open as his eyes registered the output on the screen, which was out of the view of Lonnie and the others.

  Argis pressed a button on the desktop and his voice came over a speaker in the side room.

  “There is definitely TZE in it—we saw that on the spectroscope. And Mr. Choi was right—it is a vehicle for something else. You guys saw the three dishes we set up, right?”

  “Yes,” Wyatt Lonnie replied.

  “The first one had nothing but the substance in it, it did nothing when in contact with air. The second one had water added to it. Whatever the additional component of that compound is, it reacted to the water, but only by reproducing. We could see it under the microscope as it rapidly duplicated itself. In the third, I put a small sample of human skin cells. That’s where things went wild. Did you see the little puff of smoke that came out?”

  They all nodded.

  “That was those cells exploding.”

  Detrick pointed back to the microscope in the corner. “At the microscope, I put the same skin
cells into the second dish and watched the process with my own eyes. It was practically instantaneous, like a carcinogenic reaction on fast-forward. The cells duplicated, grew, split and died so rapidly that I hardly had time to register what I had seen.”

  Bell replied, “So, that was human skin. And this TZE stuff smoked it like that on contact?”

  Argis stepped into the viewing window. “No. The TZE didn’t react—the bacteria that is mixed with the TZE did. The TZE seems to be, like Choi said, probably in there to dissolve plastics to help this stuff move along to its destination. I’m looking at a magnified image of the cells of this bacteria on my monitor, and I have no idea what this little critter is. I’ve never seen it before. But what happened in that third dish indicates that you need to find this stuff ASAP.” He continued, “Judging by the looks of the cells of this bacteria, it’s probably very contagious.”

  Wyatt spoke. “You’re telling us that this stuff is a form of cancer-causing bacteria that can spread?”

  “Exactly. I think Choi was right. They’re probably going to put it into the water supply. Once it comes in contact with the water, it spreads like crazy, totally contaminating the water supply and any peripheral water it comes in contact with.”

  Detrick added, “When it comes in contact with human flesh, it will instantly start a cancerous reaction that will literally cause humans to explode into a mass of bloated and replicating cells that spread to any other person, and possibly even any living organism.”

  Chapter 34