Tom crawled up to the crest of the small hill and lay next to him. The machine gun sat between them. Al was on rear security. The other three rested between them. The climb hadn't taken as long as he'd expected. It had, though, been taxing on them, Niki most of all.
“What’re you thinking?”
The sun crested the mountains behind them. Soon the total intensity of its light would hit the valley floor and the thick cover of mist would soon burn off. None of Hotak’s forces had ventured out beyond the guard shacks. Once they did, they'd better understand what the enemy intended.
“I’m thinking if the drug trade here is a nine billion dollar a year operation. And if Hotak controls a large percent of it, he may be at the point where he doesn’t care about a few million one way or the other. Does it make sense to transport all that opium by truck here for processing?” He pulled himself down off the crest.
“What if the trucks full of opium that don’t go through this place instead go on to Bangkok or wherever. Business as usual.”
Julia made an internal calculation. “I would be a sizable percentage I guess.”
“What if what’s going on here isn’t his drug business? What if Hotak is turning the containers coming through here into biological weapons?” Mike stared down at Randall.
Julia took the hint and tapped Randall on the shoulder.
“Hmm?” Randall looked up. “Yes, I see. No, I don’t think so. You’re saying the opium is somehow infused with the smallpox virus, and then what? Addicts contract the virus?”
“No, the opium is irrelevant except as a means of initiating the bio-weapon. Hotak ships these containers full of opium worldwide, my guess western countries. Somehow he alerts Local and Federal authorities about a shipping container full of drugs at their port. The containers now all over the world are more or less synchronized to be opened near the same time. This part would take an incredible amount of planning. But with the resources he has, he could do it. Inside is the opium. Also inside is a device ready to spray aerosolized smallpox infecting those nearby. It also settles on the bundles inside. As soon as someone moves the bundles, they touch or breathe in what's on them. They become infected as well as the people who opened the container.”
“Your description of weaponized smallpox delivery systems leaves something to be desired, but…”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, I’m not exactly a biological warfare specialist. I’m spitballing here.”
Randall's lips formed a tight smile in apology. “But, I understand. And yes, smallpox can be weaponized. That is what I did here. It can be an aerosol, a powder, or any number of other variations. Hotak could have implemented any number of these variations. I don't know I only worked on the aerosol version. In many ways, it is almost perfect for biological warfare. The victim absorbs weaponized smallpox through breathing or the skin, or both.” Randall sat up on the side of the hill, putting his elbows on his knees. “The victim doesn’t get sick right away. He knocks off from work and goes home. Later he starts to feel poorly. Possibly he infects his family, or he returns to work and infects his coworkers? Maybe the barista at the coffee shop on his morning drive contracts it? Later, he goes to the hospital and infects the staff. It will depend on the country. How sophisticated is the hospital? What are the hospital’s procedures for infectious diseases? There's a host of other variables that will determine how much the disease will spread and how fast. Smallpox won’t be the first thing local doctors will test for, why would they, it’s been eradicated. We could have the beginnings of a pandemic in a matter of months, if not sooner.” He opened his hands palms up. “But why? What purpose would it serve?”
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Al leaned back from his spot below them, tilting his head upward. “We know he’s an asshole, with some people, that’s all it takes.”
“Maybe.” Mike wasn’t convinced.
“We think we know how.” Julia drummed her fingers on her leg. “The why, we’re going to need more information.”
“That’s right. This new theory again changes the parameters of our mission here. Unfortunately, we have no way to call in the commandos.”
“We have a few options as I see it,” Al said. “We’re safe now. We could hide out in these mountains and hope Hotak’s men don’t find us. But, we have no food or water and not a lot of ammunition. Or, we make our way to the closest, kind of friendly country, which is Pakistan. Again we have no food or water, and we’ll have to stay off the roads because Hotak’s men will be patrolling them looking for us. Finally, the shittiest option, we can go back into the mountain and try to find some communications gear, a radio, a cell phone, something. Then we can call in the good guys who, by the way, haven’t heard from us and are probably getting pretty antsy right now if they don’t think we’re dead.”
Silence met Al’s list of options.
Mike looked down, weighing the options looking for something else. Three of the six of them were trained in this kind of thing, but they were all worn down. Julia had proved herself capable, but this was way beyond her wheelhouse. Niki, this was also outside her experience too, and she was hurt. And Randall, at best was a question mark, but they needed his expertise.
Tom nodded. He’d reached the same conclusion. Option three was the shittiest and was the only option.
“Okay, the way I see it, not all of us need to go back in there.” He didn’t have to say it. They knew their chances of coming back were slim to none.
“What! You want to go back inside?” Randall’s voice rose. With his knowledge of the pathogen, he knew he would have to go. The fear, scorn, and volume of his voice increased. “I’m a fucking epidemiologist, not a Ranger.”
“You’re in the Army, aren’t you?”
“I’m not going back in there. We barely got out, and you want to go back.” There was more than fear in his voice. Resentment at Mike and what he’d done had turned into a kernel of hate.
“Relax, you’re not going. I’m going, and Al’s going. That’s it. Him to make the call to the commandos and me to provide security. The rest of you stay here.”
Niki bristled.
“Nope.” Tom’s statement was firm and clear, broaching no argument. “I told you, I’m with you to the end. I’m coming.”
Mike slowly exhaled. “Thanks, brother.”
“Who do you think you are?”
Mike flinched at the intensity behind Niki’s eyes.
“My Father is dead at Hotak’s hands. Everyone I loved is gone because of him. I’m the only one left, I will avenge them. And you won’t stop me, take me with you, or I’ll go on my own. You look at me and think because of my condition, I’m weak. I’m not.”
“Niki, no one thinks your incapable, but.”
“And,” Niki broke in, “my father and Hotak were enemies for a long time. When he discovered Hotak was building something here, he infiltrated a few workers into the project. What I know will give me an edge, all I’ll need to kill Hotak. So I’m going. I’ll discuss it no further.”
“Dammit,” Mike muttered under his breath. This new info part was probably bull, something to help convince him. She knew no matter how things played out, she needed them. But he couldn’t fault her logic. He’d existed with the thought of revenge for years to the point it dominated his every thought and effort. He and Niki weren’t family or kindred spirits, but they did have something in common, hate. What kind of hypocrite would he have been to deny her justice? Her loss was more recent, more raw, and he was damned if he would let her go by herself.
“You can come.” His friends gave him a mildly surprised look but didn’t say anything.
“Great,” Julia said. She didn’t say it with much enthusiasm. “I guess I’m coming too. We need to get back in there and discover what this is all about. And, I’m sure not staying here. Randall doesn’t have a gun, I do, but I’m not exactly an expert.”
“Hey.”
Randall may have considered it an insult to remain with him, but it wasn’t.
Everyone’s eyes were on Randall.
“What?” He looked at each of them. “I’m not staying here by myself.” He was the least happy of them to go, but what choice did he have? “I guess I’m going, besides you’ll need me if we find anything about Hotak’s plan.”
“All right, I guess we’re all going.” So much for being in charge if nobody wanted to listen to his orders.