The Beijing conspiracy

by Adrian D'hage

  At first the London authorities had reported that the only casualty from the blasts in Hyde Park and the city’s financial district had been the suicide bombers themselves, and there had been speculation that both bombs had gone off prematurely before the bombers had had a chance to enter one of the teahouses in the Park or the office block crowded with workers. The great city hardly missed a beat. The tourists had been inconvenienced when the park had been sealed off but the authorities were quick to re-open it, restoring as much normality to city life as possible so the terrorists were not seen to be winning. The bombers had detonated their bombs just ten seconds apart, the first at 7.50 a.m., but at the same time Hyde Park was being re-opened, Dr Paul Templeton, the Head of Porton Down telephoned the Prime Minister with the unwelcome news. These were no ordinary bombs. Clouds of radiation were being detected in busy Oxford Street and Park Lane in Mayfair, Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho and as far east as Fenchurch Street Station and the Tower of London.

  The CNN anchors, Monika Spalding and Efram Brooks, were used to covering world catastrophes, and this looked like a routine terrorist attack that had failed. They crossed to CNN’s London correspondent Michael Duffy.

  ‘What can you tell us, Michael?’ Monika asked. The image of CNN’s news desk faded to that of a tall man in a woollen overcoat and black scarf standing in Hyde Park with a double line of London plane trees devoid of leaves in the background.

  ‘This attack still has authorities puzzled, Monika. Apart from the suicide bombers themselves and some minor injuries in the Chinese Embassy, no other casualties have been reported. Although, as you can hear, there are a large number of sirens sounding and the police presence in the city is increasing.’

  ‘A fear of more attacks?’

  ‘Perhaps, but we’ve had no word on that yet, Monika.’

  ‘And these bombs went off prematurely?’

  ‘That was the authorities’ first impression but that theory is coming under increasing pressure from several experts, particularly as the bombs went off within seconds of one another. We’re also getting some unconfirmed reports of large numbers of people turning up at doctors’ surgeries and hospitals with extreme vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea. It would seem that most, if not all of these people either attended the ‘Peace Rocks’ concert in Trafalgar Square on Sunday night or they’re from the Hampton area.’

  ‘Michael,’ Monika said, breaking in. ‘We’re going to have to leave it there, we’re getting a feed from the Prime Minister’s Office in Downing Street.’ The pictures of Hyde Park faded to figures in biowarfare suits outside Number 10 – suits that were entirely useless against gamma radiation. Those images were replaced with a stony-faced Prime Minister, flanked by the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London.

  ‘Until we know the extent of this situation the authorities have advised that it would be prudent to evacuate the city. The Home Office will coordinate the evacuation and we’re appealing for calm. I can confirm that a radioactive substance, caesium chloride, has been detected in the bomb blasts and we’re now monitoring the extent of the plume. I’m also advised that caesium chloride has been found in both of the fountains in Trafalgar Square, and in the water supply around Hampton. We’re confident that the radioactive water is confined to the Hampton area and is unlikely to affect any areas beyond that. The Home Secretary will confirm this as soon as possible.’

  The Prime Minister’s words fell on deaf ears. With every television and radio station in the country broadcasting the disaster live, the news of the dirty bombs had spread through the city at the speed of light. There was a silent and unseen killer in the air and the stoic citizens of London were unnerved. The terror was palpable. People rushed onto the city’s streets, jamming the tube stations and fighting to get on the buses. Supermarket shelves were emptied of bottled water as panic overtook the entire country. Stocks on the London Stock Exchange plummeted.

  Monika Spalding was obviously shaken as she turned to her co-host. ‘And we have some early reports of what looks like a similar situation in Australia, Efram?’

  ‘This is increasingly looking like a coordinated worldwide attack, Monika,’ Efram said, turning towards the camera. ‘We cross now to Brisbane, Australia, where more explosions have been reported in that city. What can you tell us, Kimberly?’

  Efram’s swarthy face was replaced by a young CNN reporter standing beside the Brisbane River.

  ‘That’s right, Efram. We’ve had a total of three explosions here. Two on the top of a building in the centre of the city and the third in the Chinese Consulate on the ninth floor of a building in Adelaide Street.’ The reporter’s face faded to images of people running towards Roma Street Station, a sea of blue and red flashing lights of ambulances, police cars and fire engines in the background. In another image, a crowd of people, some of them crying, some vomiting, some nearly hysterical, were queued at the entrance to the city’s largest hospital. These images faded to Parliament House in Canberra and a Prime Minister who was clearly flustered.

  ‘The evacuation of Brisbane is purely a precaution,’ the Prime Minister insisted in answer to one journalist’s question from the packed media conference.

  ‘Do we know how they got into the city’s water supply?’ asked another.

  ‘Look, I don’t want to speculate on that right now, Michelle. The important thing is that we take immediate steps to ensure the people of Brisbane are safe and then investigate this thoroughly before we draw any conclusions.’

  ‘Can you accept that as a result of Iraq we’re a bigger target now, Prime Minister? Khalid Kadeer wants to negotiate. Shouldn’t we at least meet with him?’ shouted another journalist.

  ‘We don’t negotiate with terrorists and now is not the time to cut and run from places like Iraq,’ the Prime Minister replied angrily, closing his folder and finishing the conference. The vision moved back to the CNN reporter beside the Brisbane River.

  ‘With what looks like radioactive bomb attacks on the cities of London, San Francisco and Brisbane in the countries that first invaded Iraq, as well as poisoning their water supplies, this has all the hallmarks of Khalid Kadeer’s final warning, Efram, and the attacks on all three Chinese Embassies and Consulates contain a terrifying warning for a country staging its first ever Olympic Games.’

  ‘Thanks, Kimberley,’ Efram responded and the camera switched to Monika Spalding.

  ‘We have with us in the studio, Professor Edward Barton, Professor of Nuclear Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Barton, thank you for joining us.’

  ‘Pleasure, Monika.’

  ‘Professor, we’ve seen the earlier reports from San Francisco and the death of the bluegill fish at the Millbrae water treatment plant. What’s the risk of nuclear radiation from the water supply in the Bay City?’

  ‘It depends on the strength of that radiation, Monika. While there appears to be no doubt that caesium chloride has been introduced into the San Francisco water supply as well as London and Brisbane, and we know that caesium chloride is one of the most water soluble radioactive substances on earth, it would take a substantial amount of this powder to affect other than the area immediately around the treatment plant itself.’

  ‘Some of the staff at that treatment plant have been hospitalised, Professor, and given that London and Brisbane have also been blanketed in a radioactive cloud, it will be a huge issue in those countries. What are the actual dangers of exposure?’

  ‘Again it depends on the dose that people receive but gamma radiation from 137-caesium chloride causes the cells of the body, or at least the atoms that make up those cells, to become electrically charged. Our white cells that fight infection and the crypt cells of the intestine are especially vulnerable. People will experience the nausea, vomiting, headaches and dehydration symptoms that have been reported in all of the affected cities. We can expect the more serious cases – and unfortunately there may be thousands or perhaps tens of thousands in this category – to develop further symptoms, in
cluding rapid heartbeat, internal haemorrhaging, a darkening of the skin, hair loss and shortness of breath. If the radiation is severe, and by that I mean greater than ten sieverts or joules per kilogram, death can follow in a matter of days.’

  ‘For those who have perhaps suffered a lesser dose, are there any long-term effects, Professor?’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes. I’m sure most of us are familiar with the meltdown of the Russian nuclear reactor in Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986. Already there’s been a significant increase in cancer cases in the Ukraine, and in the surrounding countries of Belarus and Russia. The long-term effects are still being felt as cancers from exposure to radiation tend to show up about ten years after the event.’

  ‘Professor, thank you for joining us at such a difficult hour.’ al-Falid flicked off the coverage he’d been watching on the computer in his office. ‘Allah, the Most Kind, the Most Merciful be praised,’ he whispered. Compared with what he had organised for Beijing the dirty bombs were insignificant, and with the reckless President Bolton in the White House al-Falid was convinced there would be no negotiations. At last Islam would rise to its rightful place in the world. He turned his mind to the final solution and the vaccines al-Qaeda would need to protect the organisation. It was time to meet with Eduard Dolinksy to check on his progress.

  BOOK FOUR

  THE FINAL SOLUTION

  CHAPTER 82

  HALLIWELL LABORATORIES, ATLANTA

  A s the full impact of the worst attacks on the West since September 11 became clear, for those in the United States, Britain and Australia the ‘Year of the Chinese Olympics and the Greatest Games Ever’ had opened in an atmosphere of fear and apprehension, and that apprehension was not confined to the West. The messages of Khalid Kadeer and the attacks on the Chinese embassies and consulates around the world had not gone unnoticed in Beijing.

  The central business districts of London, San Francisco and Brisbane were still largely deserted as the authorities struggled to decontaminate tens of thousands of square metres of office space, rail and bus stations, parks, hotels, swimming pools and public buildings. Thousands of people still didn’t trust the water supplies, tourism was non-existent and thousands more people had lost their jobs. Losses on the stock market threatened a recession and economic confidence was at its lowest since 1929.

  In Sydney, the burned-out hulk of the Ocean Venturer grounded under the Harbour Bridge was a grisly reminder of Kadeer’s first warning. The state government had wisely abandoned the initial spin of ‘it could have been much worse, had it not been for the bravery of the Commandos’ in favour of concentrating on getting the stricken city back on its feet. In the months since the attack, progress had been painfully slow. The intense heat from the burning tanker in the harbour had caused severe structural damage to the bridge and the engineers were unwilling to give an exact date for the re-opening. The news on the tunnels was a little better, with engineers confident they could replace the damaged sections, but that was going to take time and both the harbour tunnels remained closed, as did the M5 at the Cooks River. The trains were running, but only on either side of the harbour and the government had hired as many additional ferries as the harbour could accommodate. Hundreds of businesses had gone under and thousands of people were out of work as well. Worse was to come with the American President’s State of the Union Address that would send shockwaves through Arab, Muslim and western communities alike. Evangelicals like the Reverend Jerry Buffett and other Christian leaders were warning millions of their followers of the approaching Armageddon, an Armageddon that was being quietly orchestrated right under their noses.

  Dr Eduard Dolinsky inserted first one key and then the other into the specially designed locks on the Halliwell vault. It was a breach of procedure that would never have been tolerated at CDC. The reasoning was to guard against a rogue scientist having access to pathogens for which there was no cure, so access to the CDC smallpox vault always required two scientists.

  Imran and Kate helped Dolinsky with the stainless steel trolleys. Kate put an insulated mitten over her spacesuit glove, opened the freezer and stepped back as a cloud of liquid nitrogen vapour poured over the sides of the portable freezer, swirling around her boots and the trolley wheels. At Halliwell, the filo virus Ebola was stored in the same trolley as smallpox. At CDC there had been a strict protocol to keep the two viruses separate for safety.

  Kate could see the look of concern on Imran’s face as they watched the Georgian virologist. There was no doubt that Eduard Dolinsky had already done a considerable amount of work towards combining the harder to catch but more deadly single-stranded RNA Ebola virus with the much more easily transmittable but not quite so deadly smallpox. With India-1 smallpox, only 90 per cent of those who contracted it were likely to die.

  On Dolinsky’s left, Imran had placed the seed vials of smallpox into a specially designed water bath that was kept at a constant temperature of 37°C, the same temperature as the human body. Dolinsky carefully took out one of the vials and held it against a bench light, checking to see that the frozen liquid had completely melted. Kate shivered involuntarily. No matter how often she looked at prepared slides of the crinkly bullet-shaped pox viruses under an electron microscope, or handled the live viruses in their shimmering pale pink soup, Kate couldn’t help thinking that one vial was enough to wipe out the whole of New York City. On Dolinsky’s left, another 37°C water bath had melted the even more lethal contents of vials containing millions of the spaghetti-like strands of Ebola. In the centre of the bench Kate had set up rows of plastic well plates and beside them were the small dark bottles that had come from one of several ordinary domestic refrigerators. Inside the bottles were the microscopic enzymes that were used to splice sequences of the double-stranded DNA of smallpox and reverse-transcriptase enzymes that could synthesise DNA from the single-stranded Ebola. Kate shivered again. It was a complex process that could not be seen by the human eye but over the past months, Dolinsky had produced vial upon vial of Ebolapox, a man-made virus far more deadly than any of the pathogens found in nature. Here, in the Halliwell laboratories, paid for by the taxes of the American people, the single strand had met its double. al-Falid and Eduard Dolinsky both knew that the FBI had assigned close surveillance to the Georgian scientist from the day he’d arrived in the country. Surveillance was manpower intensive and as Dolinsky never went out, that surveillance had been dispensed with in favour of bugging his apartment, although al-Falid was not taking any chances. The one place Dolinsky was free to move around was the Halliwell Laboratories, and once he had gained a clearance to be in the building al-Falid met with Dolinsky in a quiet, unoccupied office.

  ‘The program is on track, Amon,’ Dolinsky assured al-Falid. ‘The laboratory resources have been first class and I’ve overcome the final technical hurdles to combining smallpox with Ebola. Several chimpanzees have been tested and the results have been, how do you say it, impressive,’ Dolinsky said with a slow smile. ‘More importantly I have made progress on the vaccine and several more chimpanzees are showing immunity, but this virus is far more deadly than smallpox or Ebola on their own. Once it gets loose, unless it’s in a small area that can be contained, it will kill hundreds of millions.’

  Dolinsky had no way of knowing that the Olympics were the target, and once he realised the sinister purposes his research could be put to, it would be too late.

  CHAPTER 83

  CAPITOL HILL, WASHINGTON DC

  T he US House Sergeant at Arms cleared his throat.

  ‘Mr Speaker, the President of the United States!’ Senators and Representatives stood and applauded President Bolton as he marched down the centre aisle of the House towards the Speaker’s podium.

  ‘My fellow Americans,’ the President began, ‘we are now facing the most serious threat to our freedom since the Japanese attacked us in Pearl Harbor. Back then, the Japanese made a grave mistake, just as the Muslim fundamentalists have made a grave mistake attacking us in San Franci
sco, as well as in London and Australia. It was a fatal mistake to murder our President. This country is now on a war footing and tomorrow I will be mobilising the National Guard and re-introducing the draft for all eligible men and women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six.’ There were audible gasps from the gallery but the Republicans rose to their feet and applauded. President Bolton glowered at those who remained seated and when the applause slowed, he resumed his speech. ‘I can assure those who seek to destroy all that we stand for – our democracy and our freedom – that this nation and its people will not be intimidated. I am also announcing today that I will be seeking the Republican nomination for the Presidential election so that I can lead you to a greater victory against our enemies.’

  The combined Senate and House applauded again but several Senators and Representatives were doing so without enthusiasm, aware that the prestige and international reputation of the United States had sunk to historic lows in Europe and in other parts of the world. More than one member of Congress harboured private doubts that President Bolton’s ‘bring it on, go it alone’ approach would work. The view of ordinary Americans would be reflected at the New Hampshire Primaries in the not too distant future. After nearly an hour, President Bolton concluded his speech with a blunt message for the Arabs, the Iranians and the Chinese.

  ‘In the Middle East I have deployed no fewer than five carrier groups, one of the greatest naval task forces ever assembled. For those who think they can take on the might of the United States in space I would urge them to think again. Just as we will prevent any nation from gaining nuclear capabilities that can be used against us or our interests, so we reserve the right to deny access to space to any of our adversaries.