Corrector (40 page)

“It might be wise to assign the mobile units to a sweep of the factory areas again tonight,” Jake said.

“I’m concerned that they can get close enough to detect anything without going onto the grounds,” Carlson said.  “I think we need to mount a repeat sweep of those facilities on foot.”

“You mean tonight?” Laney asked with a groan.  “We spent three and a half days going through the first time.  We can’t cover them all tonight.”

Now energized, Carlson shook her head.  “Not just us.  We’ll make up three teams, with each of us in the lead.  We will have one or two of the specialists and a couple of police officers on each team.  That should allow us to move quicker.  We’ll also have the highway patrol and the police mobile units alerted to watch for large vehicles moving into the area.”

She pulled out her phone and started making calls.  In less than a half hour the new plan was in place.  While they waited for the people to arrive, they divided up the places that were the most likely candidates.  Jake would go with Carlson, and Laney and Evans would lead their own teams.

It was just past six AM the next morning when Jake and Carlson struck pay dirt. 

“That was locked before,” Jake explained with certainty. 

The lock on the large gate used for vehicular traffic was missing.  The gravel on the old unused road was slightly depressed and showed signs that something had been driven through here recently.  The road wouldn’t have shown anything if it hadn’t been for the heavy rains the past week which had softened the roadway.

“What about the HPRID?” Carlson asked the technician who stood off to one side.

“The background reading is still about normal.  It might be a little higher than average, but nothing to indicate something is close.”

Making a decision, Carlson called for reinforcements.  It took ten minutes for the swat team to arrive.  She hadn’t wanted to pull Laney or Evans away from their own search, as this could still be a dead end, and getting help from the FBI office at this time of day would take far too long.  It was impossible to say how many bad guys they might encounter if this was really the place they had put the bomb.

“You can wait here,” she said to Jake. 

Jake shook his head.  He meant to see this through.

As a group, with the swat team taking the lead, they started into the enclosure.  They had reached the outer wall of the old plastic bag factory when the technician spoke up.  “The background level has increased.”

Carlson looked meaningfully at Jake.  “Looks like you might have been right.”

The next step was a job for the pros.  While the technician, Jake and Carlson waited, the swat team made their entry into the building.  No shots were fired, and a few minutes later they received a call.

“You need to come in here,” the swat team leader told Carlson.

Inside they found a medium sized U-Haul truck parked in the center of the larger empty central area.  A body lay on the ground some thirty feet away.  It was wearing some kind of radiation suit, although the headpiece had been removed. 

“He’s been shot,” the swat team leader said.

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” the technician said.  “Whatever is in that vehicle, that cheap suit he was wearing wasn’t enough protection.  We shouldn’t stay this close to that thing.  I don’t know what kind of bomb is in there, but they have packed the thing with some kind of radioactive waste.  We are getting far more than an unexploded bomb would provide.

“No one else is here?” Carlson asked, while signaling everyone to move farther away from the vehicle.

“The building is secure.  Whoever shot him appears to have cleared out.  They must have positioned the truck, killed the driver, and left.  We can only guess when they plan to set it off.”

“We have a pretty good idea,” Carlson said, looking at Jake.  “Clear everyone out. Get the experts in here.  We need full suits and the bomb squad.”  Then she called Evans and Laney to let them know what they had found.

It took longer than anyone liked for the team to assemble.  The time of day hadn’t helped getting everyone together.  Some of the members were sleeping, others showering and getting ready for the day, while the rest had already departed for breakfast.  Everyone had to adjust, get organized and gather before being able to report to the site.  Finally, however, one of the specially equipped vans and one of the common black SUV’s drove up to the enclosure where Jake and the others waited.

“Wow!” exclaimed Chris Baker after a preliminary check to verify their readings on the U-Haul. “You are right.  That thing is hot.  I don’t know what there is for a bomb, but they have packed it with nuclear waste.  It’s going to require full suits, and at that we will want the minimum exposure times.”

Chris had his team suit up as did Josh Slater who was the lead man on the bomb disposal team.  He didn’t appear particularly nervous, but Carlson told Jake that this was the first time they’d actually been placed in a situation where they had to try and disarm a live rogue nuclear device.  That was assuming that’s what was inside the back of the rental vehicle.

“It’s nuclear,” Josh reported back a few minutes after going inside to have a look.  “They’ve piled containers of waste around the thing.  Chris and his people can offload some of that while my team goes to work on the bomb.  A first glance says it isn’t a very big bomb or very efficient.  But it’d be enough to scatter this mess and take out a few blocks of the city.  The mechanism is surprisingly complicated, which makes me wonder why the bomb is as crude as it is.  It’s almost as if they didn’t want a full yield device.  I also hope we have time.  I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

“It’s set to go off at noon,” Carlson informed him.

Josh glanced at his watch.  “Just over three hours.  You’re certain of that?”

“We have excellent intelligence on that aspect,” Carlson assured him.

Josh nodded.  “I’d best get back at it.  Roy has been having a first look, but he’ll need my help.  We will set up the usual video and audio so your team can monitor progress.  I’d recommend you go back outside.  There is no need to be any closer to the radiation than necessary.  Of course, it won’t matter if this thing goes off.”

Then it was a matter of waiting and letting the professionals do their job.  The clock moved swiftly it seemed to Jake.  Laney and Evans appeared uncomfortable, but Carlson was stoic and calm.  Jake had yet to see anything faze her iron control.

“It’s as complicated a mechanism as we’ve seen,” Josh reported over the net some time later.  In addition to the timer circuit, there appears to be a microwave link that suggests that someone could trigger the device remotely if they desired.  It will be important to keep that in mind in the event you come across any of those responsible.  Depending on their willingness to die, they might be in a position to set it off.  I’m a little surprised by the fact the microwave circuit suggests transmit capability as well.  Perhaps the device is able to send status to those watching remotely.  We’ve checked and there is no carrier at the moment, but that function might be remotely activated or come on as the time for the detonation gets closer.  We’ll just have to see.”

“Can you tell if the timer circuit is activated?” Carlson asked.

“The only indication is a red light switch on the activation circuit which is lighted.  That almost certainly indicates the circuit has been activated.  A quick scan shows voltage is present on the circuit, which also supports that it is operational.  There is a monitor timer that is set to one minute which is currently frozen.  Our belief is that when the count down reaches that point, the final sixty seconds will be counted off.  That would be a useful feature for whomever made the bomb as it would give them warning the explosion was imminent giving them time to stop it if they wished.  If we are correct, it will give us a warning if anything trips the circuit for the final countdown.  It is likely that counter would be activated if the remote link were triggered as well.  It would be a reasonable safety device.”

“So what is your intent?” Carlson asked.

“We believe that four wires need to be cut.  The question, of course, is which four wires and the appropriate order.  There are a lot of wires in the damn thing.  A lot of effort went into making access difficult and masking the view of what can been seen to make the determination as difficult as possible.”

“What happens if you cut the wrong wire?”

Josh hesitated the briefest of moments.  “More than likely the one minute counter will be activated giving us all a brief moment to consider our misspent lives.  Of course, we could be wrong, and the bomb could simply go off immediately.  One can never be sure about these designs until they are examined at length in the lab afterwards.”

“Very well.  Proceed,” Carlson instructed.

Carlson turned to Jake.  “There is no need for you to be here.  You’ve done your part.  Evans or Laney can take you away from the site to a place you will be safe.”

Jake shook his head.  “I think I best stay.  I have a bad feeling things aren’t going to be as straightforward as indicated.”

Carlson stared at him intently for a minute, then nodded.  “Your choice.  Just remember, the longer you wait to decide, the less your chances of getting far enough away.”

The next fifteen minutes passed extremely quickly if one was considering the time remaining before the bomb was to be triggered, or extremely slowly if one was waiting for action.  When Josh’s voice came over the intercom it startled everyone. 

“We are going to cut the blue wire,” he announced.  This was as much to inform the watchers what they intended as to create the formal record.  Their actions, both audio and visual were being remotely recorded to be studied later, whatever the outcome of their efforts.  What they learned might be of use against any similar devices, whether the team survived or not.

Jake realized his hands were clammy and he was opening and closing them in anticipation. 

“Wire cut,” Roy announced as he extracted his hands from the bowels of the device.

More measurements were taken and voltages recorded.  There seemed to be a lot of discussion that was too technical for Jake to follow as the men working on the bomb talked as they examined the results.  Jake couldn’t help but sense the movement of time.  He glanced at his watch.  Too slow, he thought.

“We are going to cut the green wire,” Josh announced abruptly. 

On the monitor they could see Roy lean forward and reach inside the electronics with the special wire cutters.

“Oh shit!” Josh said almost immediately.  “That started the timer.”

“Can you stop it?” Laney yelled into the intercom.

“There should be a way, but that would mean understanding the circuit, which we obviously don’t seeing we tripped the destruct switch.  Cutting the wrong wire, which would be any but the correct one would most likely mean immediate detonation.”

“Well do something man!” Laney yelled excitedly.

Jake could see the timer rapidly scrolling down. They had less than twenty seconds to detonation.

. . . . . . . .

“We are going to cut the green wire,” Josh announced.

“No!” Jake said loudly.  “Don’t cut the green.  That’s the wrong one.”

Josh had put his hand out to stop Roy from continuing his move to cut the wire.  “What? He asked, surprised anyone would question their decision.”

Carlson looked at him questioningly.  “Jake?” she asked.

“They cut it,” he said.  “That started the counter.  It’s the wrong one.”

Carlson nodded while making a decision.  “I can’t explain it at the moment, but I think you need to consider the green wire the wrong choice.  What would you cut if the green were eliminated?”

“The red wire would be our second choice, but there is a disturbing current in that wire.  I fear it will start the counter.”

Watching Jake as she spoke, Carlson said with confidence.  “Cut the red.”

Josh hesitated a moment.

“If you’re wrong,” she whispered to Jake.

“If the red does anything, I can warn you again,” he said.

Carlson smiled minutely.  “You’re handy for this kind of thing.”

Josh’s voice came uncertainly over the net, “Cutting the red wire,” he said.

Tensely they all watched as Roy reached deep into the mechanism and cut the wire.

The relief was clear in Josh’s voice a moment later.  “That worked.  Red wire cut.  Two wires to go.”

Another long wait followed while Josh and Roy re-examined the circuitry in light of the knowledge gained from the wires they had cut.  Finally, they appeared ready to go forward.  Once again they all held their breath as the two men cut first the orange wire, and then finished up with the stripped white/purple wire.

“That did it,” Josh said with a deep sigh of relief.  “The power is off.  The bomb can’t be triggered now.”