Black Flagged Redux

Chapter 49





12:29 AM

CIA Headquarters

Langley, Virginia





The National Clandestine Service's Operations Center was fully staffed and buzzing with activity in anticipation of the impending covert operation in Stockholm. They had no idea when or if the operation would proceed, but most of the CIA personnel currently locked into the glass chamber wouldn't see daylight until it was finished, or the mission was abandoned.

Similarly, a small private chamber in the White House Situation Room was manned by the most trusted members of the national security advisor's inner circle, along with a similar group aligned with the Secretary of State. They had access to a live, classified feed of the operation. A CIA operations technician ensured that none of the data fed to the White House directly compromised CIA operatives in the field. The White House would see a slightly watered down version of what was seen and heard in the Operations room.

Bauer and Manning had managed to convince White House bureaucrats that any premature release of information to European allies could be intercepted by the Russians, with horrifying results. Any sniff of a western intelligence agency alert in Stockholm had the potential to cut off their inside source at the FSB. Without Reznikov's address, the Russians would dispose of the rogue scientist, leaving them with no leads to chase down the deadliest bioweapon ever mass produced. The White House agreed to give the CIA team one shot at recovering Reznikov before bringing the rest of Europe into the fold. The CIA was gambling everything on the success of Sanderson's team.

Berg glanced over at the bioweapons specialists assembled around one end of the table. They had borrowed a few scientists from the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center to analyze the lab results from Helsinki. The scientists had been asked to stay in the Operations Center to provide technical support to the team in Stockholm. None of them had any idea what they might find in Reznikov's apartment. Manning had suggested they stick with Edgewood personnel for now, until the next phase had been decided. The scientists were assigned to the U.S. Army and much less likely to slip away for a private phone call than their Center for Disease Control colleagues.

The scientists had stressed the serious implications of the laboratory examination performed on the intact brain sample retrieved from Monchegorsk. The subject's temporal lobe showed multiple localized lesions, in addition to a generalized neuropathy throughout the entire brain. The severe damage to the limbic system, specifically the temporal lobes, explained the erratic and violent behavior seen by Petrovich's team on the streets. The CIA's chief psychiatrist had added her own assessment and explanation of the bizarre behavior witnessed by Petrovich's team and confirmed as widespread by Major Sabitov.

In her opinion, the encephalitis virus had been genetically modified to mimic the behavior of the Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE) virus, which was the only form of encephalitis known to localize in the limbic system. She explained that the temporal lobes were critical to the mediation of aggression. Psychiatric literature strongly suggested that patients with severe temporal lobe damage frequently exhibited a tendency for marked destructiveness and impulsiveness. It was not uncommon for patients to look emotionless or unresponsive, followed by sudden, unpredictable fits of uncontrolled motor activity and aggressive behavior. She called it intermittent explosive disorder (IED), but one of the scientists from Edgewood called it the ultimate weapon.

He suggested that the virus may have been engineered to maximize the impact of the symptoms described by the psychiatrist. Untreated, Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE) resulted in rapid death in roughly 70% of cases. Lab analysis suggested that this strain had been modified to reduce lethality. They wouldn't know for sure until they could get a sample to Edgewood, but the implications of this modification were frightening.

Even among patients immediately treated with high-dose intravenous Aciclovir, fatality rates hovered at thirty percent and less than three percent ever regained normal brain function. An effective, widespread attack with this virus would be devastating. Unlike nerve agents or traditional biological weapons, the effects of this bioweapon would expand far beyond the original target. It would create a pocket of sick, uncontrollable patients that would require massive resources to manage effectively.

With the frightening potential to transform entire cities into violent playgrounds filled with irreversibly brain-damaged citizens, the world would never recover from the psychological damage caused by the release of Reznikov's virus. The resources required to house and treat the mentally disabled survivors would serve as a constant reminder to the public. In his opinion, the Russians had taken the easy way out in Monchegorsk.

The most frightening aspect of the entire situation stemmed from a casual comment made by one of the Edgewood scientists. In passing, Berg heard him tell one of his colleagues that he highly doubted the virus had been genetically modified in some "half-ass laboratory trailer in the middle of Kazakhstan." Berg didn't pursue the comment, but kept it in the back of his mind. It might explain why the Russians wanted to find Reznikov so badly. Maybe their biological warfare program hadn't died on the front lawn of the Novosibirsk facility in 1978, along with Anatoly Reznikov's father.

He started to walk over to Audra when his cell phone rang. Berg took one look at his BlackBerry's screen and nodded at Thomas Manning. The bustling conversations within the operations center ceased instantly, and every face stared at Karl Berg as he raised the phone to his ear.

"Berg here," he said.

"Reznikov's address in Stockholm is 22 Bondegatan, apartment 3B," a deep Russian voice said.

"22 Bondegatan. 3B," he said to the operations analysts.

Berg didn't pause before speed dialing Petrovich. "22 Bondegatan. Apartment 3B," he spoke into the phone and paused to scan the screens.

"South of the city. Stay on the line and we'll get you there as fast as possible. I have a CIA employee on the ground within ten city blocks of that location. She'll provide us with live intel," he said.

"Patch her voice into the center! I want to hear everything she says!" Berg said.

He glanced up at the main screen in the Operations Center, which displayed a city map of Stockholm, resized to encompass two locations. The team's starting point on Odengatan and the ending point on Bondegatan. The street was one of Stockholm's notoriously tight one-ways.

"Tell them to get over to the Klarastrand. They'll have to backtrack a bit off of Odengatan, but it's the fastest route. Traffic should still be light at this time of the morning. Tell the team to watch the pedestrian traffic on Bondegatan. Lots of cafés doing brisk coffee business. Still too early in the year for permanent outdoor seating, so it should be relatively clear of any crowds," said an analyst from their Scandinavian Section.

Berg nodded and relayed all of the information to Petrovich, who acknowledged it and informed Berg that he would be in receive only mode until they were on the road.

"How long to get there?" Berg said.

"Fifteen minutes with no delays," the analyst said.

This promised to be a long fifteen minutes.