As Ferguson, Camp and Finn walked into the chamber, Special Agent Daniels and Agent Fallon Jessup rose from their chairs.
“Gentlemen, great to see you. Allow me to introduce Agent Fallon Jessup,” Daniels said as Ferguson, Finn and Camp shook hands and made small talk.
Camp was mesmerized by Fallon Jessup at first sight. She was tall and thin, blonde with high cheekbone features and sported an incredible handshake and grip that Camp held one second too long. She wore a khaki skirt, white blouse and navy blue blazer. Her calves were toned, muscular, and strong but not obnoxious. Her voice was soft, but firm and her eyes pierced through Camp’s with relentless intensity. For a split second he felt inferior, under-dressed, improperly groomed. He felt disheveled.
The room was bare. Not a white board, TV screen or telephone in sight.
A rear set of 16-foot doors opened promptly, and the Israeli delegation of 10 people walked in. Numerous pleasantries and handshakes were exchanged. No one offered business cards. As though they had gone through an elaborate rehearsal, Major General Shalom sat directly across from Brigadier General Ferguson and three aides stood several feet behind Shalom. Special Agent Chaim Yariv sat directly across from retired FBI agent Billy Finn as three of Yariv’s aides stood behind him and next to Major General Shalom’s aides. The Mossad agents, Reuven and Yitzhak, took their seats across from Agent Fallon Jessup and Special Agent Daniels. Camp sat at the far end of the American table. No one sat across from him. He was the odd man out.
Major General Shalom spoke first.
“We have some questions… some concerns… and some issues that we’re hoping you can shed some light on.”
“Major General Shalom, our Secretary of Defense personally asked me to meet with you and provide you with anything you need. We continue to stand with Israel as friends, allies and partners,” Ferguson said with kiss-ass thickness that even made Camp sick to his stomach.
“Tell us about Kate.”
Ferguson seemed perplexed. He looked at Billy Finn and past the eyes of Jessup and Daniels down to Camp. No one had a clue what Shalom was talking about.
“The RQ-170 Sentinel drone that crashed near Benalood. Her name is Kate,” said Reuven as he stared straight ahead at Daniels who knew but said nothing.
“The drone was next-generation technology which we deployed over Iran for surveillance of their nuclear program. It was not shot down. There was technical malfunction.”
“Nuclear surveillance, General Ferguson, or was it bio-weapon surveillance?” Chaim Yariv from Shin Bet asked.
Again, Ferguson looked down the row for help, but no one made eye contact with him.
“The short answer is both. We have reason to believe the Iranians are trying to weaponize tularemia.”
“Run-of-the-mill rabbit fever?” Yariv pressed.
Billy Finn jumped in since his counter-part had taken over the questioning.
“No. We believe the Iranians acquired some tularemia stockpiles from the Russians, and they have cooked up a vaccine-resistant bacteria strand suitable for aerosolized dispersal equipment,” Finn said perhaps releasing more information than what needed to be disclosed.
“The outbreak in the Bourvari District earlier this month was not lethal,” Yariv stated.
“Phase One human clinical trial,” Camp nearly yelled from the corner of the last table just to be heard and included.
“And Rasht yesterday? More than 46 dead… and counting,” Yariv said.
“Phase Two human clinical trial,” Camp sighed as he slouched back in his Italian leather chair.
“And what would be Phase Three, Captain Campbell?” Shin Bet’s Special Agent Chaim Yariv asked.
“Phase Three would be Israel.”
Ferguson interrupted and offered a soft rebuke for his American partner.
“We don’t know that, Camp, that’s only armchair speculation,” Ferguson said as he turned his attention back to Major General Shalom. “General, we will share all information with you on this topic in a very timely manner. I urge all of us to remain calm, but vigilant.”
“What about Kate? Are you going to blow her up before the Iranians discover her?” Shalom asked.
“We are evaluating our options right now.”
“Options? What options do you have?” Mossad agent Yitzhak demanded.
“The American government is reluctant to drop a missile on the drone in Iranian territory. We don’t want this incident to be perceived as an act of war.”
Yitzhak laughed and leaned forward.
“And how will the presence of a spy drone be perceived if the MISIRI finds it first? We do not welcome the thought of stealth drone technology in Iranian hands.”
“I’m sure your Ofek 9 has some good images. Why don’t you blow it up if it bothers you that much?” Camp asked as he cleaned a speck of grunge from beneath his fingernail.
Reuven grew intense and directed his comments to the end of the table.
“Perhaps we wouldn’t have an issue at all right now, Captain Campbell, if you and your Alpha Team had taken care of business the way you should have inside Datta Khel Village. I find it surprising that a SEAL would leave a machine like the SkitoMister intact, just to prevent some toothless tribesmen from firing off a few AK-47 rounds.”
“I’m sorry, Reuven, but I looked all over the damned Hindu Kush, and I didn’t see any Mossad boys out there doing the heavy-lifting. Please feel free to join us next time if you’re ever in the area.”
“Gentlemen, please,” Major General Shalom called out, “you indicated a vaccine-resistant tularemia. If Captain Campbell is correct, the Phase Two trial must be such a bacterium.”
“Not necessarily, General Shalom, there’s no indication that any of the citizens in Rasht were previously vaccinated against tularemia. This would appear to be a lethality test,” Ferguson said.
“So you’re saying that we don’t know this particular tularemia recipe, and nor do we know if an existing vaccine will cause an immune response?” Shin Bet’s Special Agent Chaim Yariv asked.
“Not exactly,” Ferguson said with much deliberation. “We have tried to create such a recipe in our labs and a corresponding new vaccine. It’s still too early to know if we’ll be successful… in time.”
“In time for what? Phase Three?” Mossad agent Yitzhak questioned.
General Ferguson pushed his chair back slightly from the table. No one else moved.
“I can assure you that you have the full support of the American government, military and intelligence community. We will navigate these turbulent waters together. But in the mean time, we must remain calm, measured and vigilant.”
Reuven looked over at Camp who was already staring back at him.
“Tell me, Camp… may I call you Camp? How long will it take Raines and her French biotech company to manufacture the vaccine she created? Two weeks? Two months? Two years? We have more than 7 million people in Israel. How many vaccines can they manufacture in a week? And tell me this, Dr. “Camp” Campbell, famous trauma surgeon from Balad and Navy SEAL from Tora Bora… how will we know that this vaccine is safe in humans? It’s never been tested on humans, has it Camp? Or do you suppose that the entire country of Israel stands ready to be your guinea pigs?”