Clive Cussler - Dirk Pitt 18 Black Wind

Serpent

by Clive Cussler

Series: NUMA, Book 1

Publisher: Pocket Books; (May 31, 2000)

ISBN-10: 0671026682

ISBN-13: 978-0671026684

The I-411's deadly bombs had been quietly transferred into the lab,where an ordnance expert had assisted the biologists in separating thepowdery smallpox virus from the sixty-year-old compartmentalized aerialbombs. The viruses had been freeze-dried by the Japanese, allowing thepathogens to remain inert for storage and handling. The smallpox-ladenbombs were designed to maintain their deadly efficacy for the durationof the submarine's voyage until hydrogenated upon deployment. Oversixty years later, their porcelain casings had repelled all destructiveeffects from decades of submersion. The aged bomb payloads were stillevery bit as potent as when they were loaded.

Placing samples of the cream-colored powder into a bio safe container,the biologists carefully initiated a controlled reconstitution of theviruses using a sterile water-based diluent. Under a microscopic eye,the dormant, block-shaped microorganisms could be seen waking fromtheir long slumber and bouncing off each other like bumper cars as theyresumed their lethal state. Despite the long period of dormancy, onlya small percentage of the viruses failed to rejuvenate.

The research lab was run by a highly paid Ukrainian microbiologistnamed Sarghov. A former scientist with Biopreparat, the old SovietUnion civilian agency that fronted the republic's military biologicalweapons program, Sarghov had taken his knowledge of bio weapon geneticmanipulation and sold his skills in the marketplace to the highestbidder. Though he never desired to leave his homeland, his stock as abudding scientific leader in the agency was tarnished when he wascaught in bed with the wife of a politburo member. Fearing for hislife,

he made his way through Ukraine to Romania, where he hopped a Kangfreighter in the Black Sea. A hefty bribe to the ship's captain ledhim to higher contacts in the company, where his scientific skills wererecognized and soon put to illicit use.

With ample resources, Sarghov quietly compiled a high-tech DNA researchlaboratory stocked with the equipment and tools necessary for a skilledbioengineer to splice, dice, isolate, or recombine the genetic materialof one microorganism to another. In the confines of Sarghov's secretlaboratory, a smorgasbord of dangerous bacterial and viral agents waslittered about the facility, the seeds he cultivated to create a gardenof death. But he still felt impotent. His stock was a commoner'scache of easily acquired agents, such as the hepatitis B virus andtuberculosis mycobacterium. Potentially lethal agents in their ownright, they were nothing like the deadly Ebola, smallpox, and Marburgviruses he had worked with during his days at the Russian facility inObolensk. Sarghov's feverish attempts at creating a knockout killeragent with the resources at hand had failed. He felt like a boxer withone hand tied behind his back. What he needed and desired was a trulylethal pathogen, one from the A-list.

His gift to evil science came from an unexpected source. A NorthKorean agent in Tokyo had infiltrated a government records disposalcenter and intercepted a cache of classified Japanese documents.Expecting to find a bonanza of current Japanese security secrets, theagent's handlers in Pyongyang were angered to find that the recordswere old World War II classified documents. Included in the heist werereports relating to Imperial Army experiments with biological weapons,records that were to be destroyed for fear of embarrassing thegovernment. A sharp intelligence analyst stumbled upon the ImperialArmy's involvement with the final missions of the I-403 and I-411,however, and Sarghov was soon on his way to his own supply of Variolamajor.

In the Frankenstein world of genetic engineering, biologists have foundit a daunting task to create an entirely new organism from scratch. But manipulating existing microorganisms through deliberatemutation, then prompting their reproduction to useful quantities, hasbeen an ongoing art since the seventies. Laboratory-formulatedagricultural crops that are resistant to pestilence and drought havebeen a major societal benefit of such bioengineering, along with themore controversial creation of super developed livestock. But the darkside of genetic surgery has always been the potential creation of a newstrain of virus or bacteria with unknown, and possibly catastrophic,consequences.

For a man of his propensity, Sarghov was not content simply toregenerate the supply of smallpox. He had much more up his sleeve.With help from a Finnish research assistant, Sarghov acquired a sampleof the HIV-1 virus, the most common source of acquired immunedeficiency syndrome. Delving into the HIV-1 viral makeup, Sarghovsynthesized a key genetic element of the horrifying AIDS virus. Takinghis freshly reconstituted batch of smallpox virus, the scientistattempted to grow a new mutated bug, integrating the highly unstableHIV-1 virus. Boosted by the synthetic element that acted to stimulaterecombination, mutant viruses were soon cultivated and then reproducedin mass. The result was a new microorganism that contained theattributes of both individual pathogens. Microbiologists sometimesrefer to the process as a chimera. Sarghov's chimera combined thehighly contagious lethality of smallpox with the immunitive destroyingabilities of HIV-1 into one deadly super virus Reproducing the mutant pathogen in large quantities from scratch was atime-consuming process despite the ferocity of the virus. Limited byKang's schedule, Sarghov maximized the quantities as best he could,then freeze-dried the resulting mutant viruses much as the Japanese hadyears before. The crystallized super virus was then mixed into thelarger stores of freeze-dried smallpox virus from the aerial bombs,creating a diversified toxic compound. The entire batch was processedand refined a second time with boosters that would accelerate therejuvenation process.

The now easily disseminated mixture was delicately packed into a seriesof lightweight tubular containers resembling the insert to a roll ofpaper towels, which were then stacked on a gurney and transported outof the lab. The packaged viral amalgamate was rolled upstairs to thesatellite payload assembly bay, where a team of mechanical engineerstook over, inserting the tubes into larger stainless steel cylindersthat encapsulated a hydrogenation tank and fittings. The process wasrepeated under bright floodlights several times over until five of thelarge cylinders were assembled and placed into large shipping crates. Aforklift arrived and loaded the crates onto the same white Kang paneltruck that had delivered the ordnance, now making a return trip to thecovered dock with a highly revitalized form of the weapon.

Sarghov grinned in delight, knowing a large payday was coming his way.His exhausted team of scientists had met the mark, verifying that theancient smallpox virus still packed a lethal punch, then boosting itsstrength to murderous proportions. In less than forty-eight hours,Sarghov's biologists had processed the sixty-year-old virus into anentirely new killer, the likes of which the world had never seenbefore.

What DO you mean the ship has yet to materialize?" Gunn rasped indismay.

The section chief of the FBI's International Terrorism Operations, acompact man named Tyler, opened a file on his desk and perused thecontents as he spoke.

We've had no information on the whereabouts of the cable ship Baekje.The Japanese National Police Agency has been monitoring shippingtraffic in every port in the country, physically checking every shipthat remotely resembles the description offered by your NUMA crew.They've come up empty so far.

Have you checked ports outside of Japan?

An international notice has been posted with Interpol, and it is myunderstanding that the CIA has been asked to provide inputs at therequest of the vice president. At this time, no confirming informationhas been received. There's a million places she could be hiding, Rudi,or she could have been scuttled herself.