Fear City by F. Paul Wilson Page B

watch her, and when the time was right …
    Without a word he turned and walked away.

 
    4
    Mir Aimal Kasi followed Dolley Madison Boulevard on his way back from a delivery in Arlington. He had no idea who Dolley Madison was, and it wasn’t the fastest route back to Reston where his courier service was based, but it took him past a certain driveway in a section of McLean called Langley. He passed whenever he could. The trees along the road hid the headquarters of the hated CIA, the eyes and ears of the Great Satan where the ruination of Islam was plotted.
    The road was nearly empty now, but in a few hours the plotters would stream out onto the highway, heading for their homes. And every weekday morning the eastbound cars backed up at the traffic light that controlled their left turn into the headquarters.
    He could strike a blow for Islam then.
    He imagined lobbing hand grenades between the twin rows of waiting cars as he drove by, shrapnel piercing gas tanks and igniting them, secondary detonations causing more explosions. And amid the fiery thunder the screaming cries of infidels as they burned alive.
    A pleasant fantasy.
    But where could he get hand grenades? He had the whole weekend to seek some out.

 
    5
    â€œGood,” said Yousef as he positioned the three fifty-five-gallon drums around the front room. “These are perfect.”
    Kadir wished he’d help them carry the second load of urea and nitric acid in from the car, but he seemed to think he was above that. Ayyad had gone back to his job.
    When the car was empty, and Kadir and Salameh were gathered in the room, Yousef said, “We have enough here now to get started with the first batch. You two will mix nitric acid into the urea crystals until it forms a gel. When that happens I’ll show you how to add strips of newspaper to thicken it into a paste.”
    â€œWhat will you be doing?” Kadir said.
    â€œI will be mixing the nitroglycerin in the kitchen. That’s a more delicate job.”
    Kadir had heard of nitroglycerin but knew little of it beyond that it had to be handled with care.
    â€œIsn’t that dangerous?”
    â€œVery. That’s why I’ll be in a different room where it won’t be jostled. We’ll store it in the freezer for safekeeping.”
    Kadir still didn’t like it. He pointed to the barrels of urea and bottles of nitric acid lining the floor against the wall. They’d only scratched the surface of what was stored back at the Space Station locker.
    â€œDo we need two explosives? We’ll have over half a ton of the urea mix.”
    Yousef’s voice took on a lecturing tone. “I have made this kind of bomb before. It will consist of four explosions.” He held up a finger. “The first will be blasting caps set off by standard fuses.” Another finger came up. “The blasting caps will set off containers of my nitroglycerin.” A third finger rose. “The nitroglycerin will set off your urea nitrate paste, which will do the bulk of the damage.” The fourth finger jutted up. “The nitrate will then rupture the hydrogen tanks.”
    â€œHydrogen?” Salameh said.
    â€œWe use it all the time back home,” Yousef said. “It creates an extra explosion and a huge fireball.”
    â€œBut we have no hydrogen.”
    Yousef smiled. “We will when the time comes.”
    He ducked back into the kitchen and returned with two sets of swimming goggles and an oblong cardboard box. From that he withdrew small paper surgical masks to cover their mouths and noses.
    â€œYou are going to need these.”
    Kadir took a mask and a set of goggles. “Why?”
    â€œFumes,” Yousef said. “The fumes are not pleasant. And be careful with the nitric acid,” he added. “It is highly concentrated and if it splashes on you it will make a hole through your clothes and burn your skin.”
    Kadir was no longer so eager to