“I can have it waiting in the lobby by the time you get downstairs. Quick enough?
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
I will take that as a compliment Igor,” both rising from their chairs. “We will both meet when your mission is over and have that drink you owe me,” he said as his military aide entered into the room, walking directly over to where they both stood.
The enlisted man stopped five meters short of the Colonel, holding up a red folder with “Top Secret” emblazoned across its top.
“Colonel Sergey Vasov,” the enlisted man said, snapping to attention. “You have received an urgent message from Moscow. It’s to be read immediately.”
“Bring that folder over here, Sergeant,” the Colonel ordered, looking at Igor as if to apologize for his man’s actions. “This man beside me is an Army Captain who probably possess’ a higher security clearance then myself.”
The enlisted man walked over to Igor and executed a perfect 45-degree angle salute as if on a parade ground. “My apologies sir, I was not informed of your presence in our embassy.”
“None required, Sergeant. You were only performing your duty,” Igor said, impressed with the soldiers sincerity, returning his salute with a more casual one.
He turned to hand the Colonel his folder, the Sergeant once again executing a perfect salute before turning to withdraw back to his post in the message center.
“He’s a good man, Igor. He keeps his mouth shut and does what he is told,” Sergey said, anticipating a smart remark from Igor. “Allow me to open this first and then we can continue,” holding up the folder.
After several minutes, he looked up at Igor, handing the message for him to read. “It is from General Poszk, he informs me that you are aware of one of our many little secrets. On this side of the ocean, I tend to call them our Peace Enforcers instead of suitcase weapons. Suitcase makes it sound as though we are traveling to some overnight destination. Peace Enforcers are a more accurate portrayal of their intended use.”
As FSB Station Chief, Sergey knew each location for the Peace Enforcers dispersed throughout the United States. Up until he received the message from General Poszk, Igor’s true intentions were not revealed to him, only that he support him any way he could. Now, the general chose to include Sergey in the inner circle with the disclosure of the problem with the Washington DC weapon. Something was amiss.
Igor read the message in the folder and in-turn informed that the American FBI knew of the problem with the DC weapon. It was to be considered compromised according to communications intercepted by the FSB.
The FBI were using the weapon as bait and attempting to trap their rebel.
Peter pondered the repercussions that could be expected for something of this magnitude. Maybe it could actually work to their advantage? This would be a small price to pay considering the end result. It would also put an end to the plan Sir Robert and the General envisioned, but at least the rebels would not control it. That would seem to be the most important aspect of the situation, at least to Igor.
“I see our FSB boys are still the best at intercepting communications,” Igor said, re-reading the message.
Sergey looked uneasy. “I find myself in the position of having to apologize to you my friend,” he said. “It seems as though we might have a problem. A little over an hour ago, the DC police closed a 3 square block area of the city; something to do with a gas leak. I was monitoring the situation due to one of our weapons being smack dab in the middle of the leak area. With the general’s timely message and yourself being here, it looks as if something else is brewing.
“Hold on Sergey,” Igor said, realizing that with the gas leak story and the area cordoned off, the rebel might smell a trap and pass. He now wondered if the rebel had an alternate weapons location. The damned FBI, why couldn’t they just let him walk in unobstructed and then nab him? It could be over in a matter of minutes instead of drawing additional attention to the area.
“Sergey, the FBI is basing all of this on our rebel only having one location, one suitcase. This man is going to have a backup plan — he’d be a fool not to.”
Igor assumed he did and would have to leap ahead ASAP to try and spring his own ambush at the next location. He would allow the FBI to guard and then retrieve the DC weapon. The new scenario would work to Igor’s advantage, sweeter than the original planning.
“I need you to tell me the location of the two closest weapons in proximity to Washington DC. If I am correct, I feel our rebel might choose to abandon this area and move to a less intrusive location, one absent both the FBI and police. If I can anticipate his next move and beat him to the next location, I could possibly ambush him. The game would effectively be over.”
Sensing the urgency in his friend’s voice, Sergey was already heading for the rooms exit. “Follow me.”
The Capitols majestic white marble dome come into view as Peter turned off the Highway onto 13th street, only 2 Kilometers from his first objective. Eyeing the dome caused a shudder to run through his body with the realization sinking in.
From Peter’s previous discussions with Boris, he had stated the suitcase weapons initial blast would destroy the surrounding area up to and including the Capitol itself. The resulting explosion would effectively saturate the Capitol in a radiation bath, and provide a slow death for the unfortunate souls inside.
The light turned to red, allowing Peter to view the faces of people who potentially could be affected by his actions. He fixed his gaze on a group of young children crossing in front of him, evidently on some type of a field trip. They held onto a single rope to not get lost, the last child in line stopping to wave at him as he sat in his car. The little blond haired girl giggled as she strove to catch up with her group, her adult teacher now hurrying her across the street before the light changed.
It’s more than that, thought Peter, trying to block the mental image of the children. This one blast would cripple the United States, wiping out its White House, Treasury, Supreme Court and many other minor, but never the less prominent cogs to support its government’s existence. It was a mission to save his own countries children and their families. It was war, and in a war people had to die.
Peter focused on the plan. Once the suitcase was removed from its earthen tomb, he would adjust the unit’stimer for 10am the following Monday morning — this would allow maximum exposure of the weapon — catching most at their work areas. The big fish would also be in the pond. From news clippings and published schedules that were available on the Internet, the President would be giving a speech on the White House lawn at the same moment. This would allow the world to view the resulting explosion live on the Television a mere fraction of a second before the cameras melted from the searing heat that would accompany the thermal blast.
As he drove down 13th street,Peter noticed the heavy volume of traffic coming from the opposite direction — away from his target. Sensing something might be amiss, he searched the car’s radio for a news station. After several tries, he found one that kept running the top headline story of a gas leak forcing a 3–4 block area around the White House to be evacuated.
“Damn it,” he said aloud, banging his hand on the dashboard. Peter realized the Red Cross building was only two blocks from the White House.