Collateral Damage - Marc Cerasini [96]
"There must be something..."
"Peek out your window," Morris interrupted. "There are quite literally thousands of trucks on the road right now. It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack while blindfolded."
Jack bit back a curse. "Anything from Langley yet?"
"The bio-weapons experts are still reviewing the contents of the computer. Director Henderson urges patience."
"Patience is no virtue when you're running out of time," Jack shot back.
"Pithy, and well said," Morris replied. "I'm going to remember that one."
Layla Abernathy rested her hand on Jack's arm. "Langley will come through," she said. "They understand how urgent the situation is."
Jack nodded, took a swig of water from a plastic bottle. Across the bay from the pair, Tony slouched in a seat. Like Jack, he wore new scars from this day, and it wasn't over yet.
Morris's voice suddenly came on in Jack's headset. "I have the Director of CTU's Biological and Chemical Warfare Unit on line now," he said. "I'll put him through."
As the connection was made, Tony sat up, adjusting his own headset. Layla tapped her foot nervously.
"Dr. Vogel here," the Director began.
"What are we dealing with?" Jack asked without preamble. "Is it a biological or a chemical agent?"
"Both," Vogel replied with equal bluntness. "The agent is called Zahhak, after a demonic snake of Persian mythology, sometimes depicted with two heads. The name is apt because this substance brings death in two ways."
"Explain," Jack ordered.
"At first we thought we were dealing with a simple sarin compound," Vogel replied. "Sarin, or O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate, is a clear, colorless, and odorless nerve agent classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction. Sarin is nothing new, of course. It was developed in the late 1930s by German researchers looking for a better pesticide. What they created instead is one of the deadliest compounds on earth. Sarin has been used..."
"Zahhak is not sarin, then?" Jack interrupted.
"Not precisely," Vogel said. "Like sarin, Zahhak is very unstable. It can break down in days, which is why Kabbibi needed a lab here in America to produce the weapon. Various substances have been tried to make the agent more stable and increase its shelf life. A stabilizer chemical called tributylamine has been used in the past, with mixed results. Dr. Said Kabbibi tried something different, something revolutionary, and it worked."
Jack's impatience with the technician threatened to boil over. He opened his mouth to speak; Layla restrained him with a gesture.
"Layla Abernathy here," she interrupted. "You said this was both a chemical and a biological weapon?"
"I was getting to that," Vogel said testily. "Kabbibi initially tried to bond various bacteria with the sarin substance, hoping to make the chemical more stable. He tried many organics without success, until he stumbled upon bacteria called Clostridium perjringens. The result was a two-pronged weapon of mass destruction more deadly than anything previously encountered."
"Two-prong?" Jack cut in.
"Let me explain," Vogel said with a sigh. "A terrorist attack in the Middle East often involves two sets of explosive devices. After the initial blast and resulting casualties, emergency workers stream to the scene of the attack. That's when the terrorists unleash a second string of blasts, to kill those rushing to aid the victims."
Jack frowned, recalling accounts he'd read of such diabolical attacks.
"When Zahhak is unleashed, the sarin compound immediately attacks the nervous system of its victims," Vogel continued. "Symptoms present in minutes include runny nose, tightness in the chest, constriction of the pupils, nausea, drooling. Difficulty in breathing increases as the victims lose control of their bodily functions. They urinate. Defecate. Vomit. Bleed from the nose and mouth. Death