“Which confirms, I think, that the American officer is a SEAL, and not a CIA bureaucrat.” Pak considered the problem. “Trying to abduct an American was dangerous. And foolhardy. Especially if the man is a Navy SEAL! But even if the attempt had succeeded, it was not wise to focus the attention of the American intelligence apparatus on your European assets.”
Adler shrugged. “Another incident of random terrorism. I doubt that the Americans would attach any unusual significance to it. I happen to believe that the reasoning behind Ulrich’s decision was sound, even if the execution was flawed.”
Pak nodded, almost reluctantly. “Perhaps. I dislike introducing random elements into a plan this complex, but the reward, if we could learn just what the enemy knows, what they are planning, would be invaluable, I agree. Can your people in Germany make another attempt against the Americans? Possibly against the other one, the petty officer.”
Adler shook his head. “Not now. Both left the country early this morning.” He shrugged. “According to my sources, they returned to London. It is possible they returned when news of the incident at Middlebrough reached them.”
“Then they may already know something about Firestorm. What about the woman?”
“The one with the BKA? So far as I know, she is still in Wiesbaden. She has had a bodyguard assigned to her since the abduction attempt, but she is maintaining her old schedule. Are you suggesting that we try again to abduct her?”
“If she can tell us about the Americans, about why they are here, yes. And if she was giving the Americans information from the Wiesbaden computer about us and our operation, then it might be worthwhile to interrogate her. We could learn exactly what they know about us.”
“It would be risky. We mustn’t alert them to our interest in their activities too soon.”
Pak shrugged. “Having already gambled with one attempt, it will be worth the additional risk to try again. We have only another forty-eight hours, yes?”
“Less than that, now.”
“Then I suggest that you talk to your people in Germany. They could arrange it with a minimum of risk.”
“Very well. Where do you want her? Not here. And it wouldn’t be safe back at our Hamburg site.”
“No,” Pak agreed. “You will have to arrange to have her flown to the operation, once it begins. She could be kept aboard the Rosa. Or on one of the targets, once we have them secured.”
“Consider it done.”
Murdock and Chief MacKenzie stood side by side in the close and darkened room, staring through the two-way mirror. Alone in the brightly lit room next door, the North Korean woman sat on a straight-backed chair, looking frail and alone in the institutional gray slacks and shirt she’d been given. The only other furniture in the room was an empty table and one other chair.
“She must know we have her under observation, Skipper,” MacKenzie said, watching her. He whispered, though the observation room was heavily soundproofed. “A mighty cool customer.”
“So,” Murdock said, turning to the other two men in the darkened spy chamber. “What have you learned so far?”
“That this lady is very well trained,” Major Dowling-Smythe said. “She’s not going to tell us a damned thing.”
“She’s already told us one thing unawares,” Wentworth told Murdock. “When they brought her in here, she was under some rather close scrutiny by some of your NEST chaps. They went over her and her clothing meticulously, with some fairly impressive equipment flown in from Washington just for the occasion.”
“And?” Murdock prompted. Knowing something about Chun’s background, he was the one who’d originally suggested summoning a NEST — a Nuclear Emergency Security Team — in the first place. The ultra-secret NESTs had been organized under the aegis of the U.S. Atomic Energy commission back in the 1970s, when it had first become apparent that the threat of nuclear terrorism might soon become a reality. They were trained to respond to any type of nuclear-related emergency, but their more secret tasks included monitoring for smuggled or hidden radioactive materials — such as the homemade nukes that might be employed by terrorists or by foreign nuclear powers.
“Your guess was right, Lieutenant,” Wentworth said. “Definite traces of radioactivity, more than could be explained by the background count. There wasn’t much, but their estimation was that she could well have been exposed to a secondary radiation source within the past few days… a week at the outside.”
“Secondary radiation?”
“She wasn’t in direct contact with plutonium or U235 or anything like that,” Dowling-Smythe explained. “But I gather the radiation from something like that can trigger secondary radiation in other materials if they’re dense enough.”
“Cascade radiation,” Wentworth added.
“That’s the stuff,” Dowling-Smythe said, nodding. “If they had a bomb that didn’t have real good shielding, for instance, she could’ve picked up a dose from the lead or whatever they had protecting it.”
“God help us,” Murdock said quietly. “Then they do have a bomb.”
“Not necessarily,” Wentworth said, shaking his head. “They could have plutonium, which they’re planning on dispersing with conventional high explosive… or by dumping it in someone’s water supply. Or she could simply have come in contact with something else that had been exposed to radiation. For all we know the woman’s just come back from having her chest X-rayed… ”
“Different kind of radiation here, Colonel,” Dowling-Smythe said. “And a lot stronger too.”
“Enough to pose a danger?” Murdock asked. “I mean, to people who’ve come in contact with her.”
“Your men weren’t at risk, Lieutenant,” Wentworth said. “We’re talking about very, very small doses.”
“Good.”
“This woman had a substantial and recent contact with a radioactive source,” Dowling-Smythe said. “The doctor who supervised her physical said she hadn’t received a lethal dose, but there was a definite possibility of complications down the line. Leukemia, that sort of thing.” He shuddered, his shoulders drawing up and forward as he shook his head back and forth. “If the North Koreans were involved in some sort of homegrown basement nuclear program, they must not be taking adequate precautions when they’re handling sensitive material. That’s scary.”
“These are scary people we’re dealing with, Major,” MacKenzie said.
“I take it you’ve tried the usual tricks on her,” Murdock said. “Tell her we got her boyfriend, that sort of thing.”
Wentworth nodded. “Oh, yes. Told her we knew all about the bomb too, but that’s such an old trick I’m surprised she didn’t just laugh at us. She’s just been sitting there and not saying a word.”
“What will you do?” Murdock asked.
“Oh, we’ll get her,” Wentworth promised. “Sooner or later, we’ll wear her down.”
“What, torture?” MacKenzie asked.
Wentworth looked pained. “Oh, please. What do you colonials take us for anyway?”
“Outright torture tends to be counterproductive,” Dowling-Smythe said, “especially when the person being interrogated is as well trained and mentally prepared as this one is. The victim tends to hang on for the sake of whatever he’s already suffered. No, we’ll wear her down bit by bit. Good cop, bad cop, that sort of thing, going on for hours on end. Disorientation, repeated questionings. Getting her to make small admissions, and building those into something more substantial.”
“The problem is,” Wentworth said, “is that all of that will take time. And standing back here watching her with the interrogators, I get the distinct impression that, well, time doesn’t matter for her.”