Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson Page A

room that the rest of the team had already converted into a temporary command center. Tristan was staring at a computer screen listing details about various biological weapons. Next to him, Quinn was on the phone. Across the room Seth had two computers set up, one displaying a map of the Washington DC subway system and the other showing someone’s email correspondence.
    Kel threw the roll of bandages at Tristan. “Here, patch up Miller.”
    Tristan snagged the roll right before it hit him between the eyes. “Thanks, boss.” He stood up and let Brent take his seat.
    â€œSomeone in the CIA knows what we’re dealing with,” Brent said as he glanced at the list of known biological agents. “Amy said that the intel officer at the embassy met with the ambassador the day she was taken hostage.”
    â€œAnyone know who the CIA folks were at the embassy?”
    â€œQuinn’s working on that now,” Seth said as Quinn started scribbling notes on a pad of paper.
    â€œHow come I have to play nursemaid?” Tristan muttered as Brent pulled his arm free of his shirt to expose the wound.
    â€œJust lucky, I guess,” Brent told him without sparing him a glance.
    â€œWhat have we got so far?” Kel asked as Quinn hung up the phone.
    â€œI talked to the CIA agent that was in Abolstan. He says the biological agent we’re dealing with is airborne, has an estimated range of a few hundred cubic yards, and remains effective for up to six hours,” Quinn informed them. He paused before adding, “He also said that there isn’t a counteragent.”
    â€œThat means either we’re dealing with the suicide types, or someone is going to set up some kind of delayed release.” Brent started to stand, but Tristan held him in place.
    â€œHold still for a minute. I’m almost done here.” Tristan tied off the bandage and then released Brent.
    Quinn spoke up once more. “The CIA is sending over the report from the Center for Disease Control, but from what they said, this is nasty stuff. Death is within minutes of contact.”
    â€œWhat kind of support do we have in Washington?” Brent asked as he moved to look over Seth’s shoulder.
    â€œThey’re activating two reserve units, and we’re asking the various police departments to pull some overtime hours to help us conduct searches,” Quinn said. “The problem is, even with the extra help, we don’t have the manpower to conduct thorough searches at all of these metro stations.”
    Tristan spoke up. “Since the DCI was targeted, I think we need to concentrate the manpower on the Pentagon station. If someone managed to take out the Director of Central Intelligence and then wipe out a portion of our employees at the Pentagon, our intelligence system would be crippled.”
    Kel nodded in agreement. “Quinn, call Admiral Mantiquez and tell him we need him to task some of the Pentagon units to cover the searches at the Pentagon and Pentagon City stops.”
    â€œIf they can drum up enough manpower, we should have them take care of National Airport too,” Brent suggested.
    Kel nodded and signaled for Quinn to make the call. He then turned back to Brent. “If you were a terrorist, what other stations would you go for?”
    â€œMetro Center has high traffic, as do most of the stations in DC,” Brent suggested. “I think we should concentrate most of the manpower there.”
    â€œWhat about us? Are we shipping out?” Tristan asked. “If we leave now, we can make it there before tomorrow.”
    â€œWe’re on intel for this one. We’ll do what we can to help from here, but for now we need to see what else we can retrieve from that Palm Pilot.” Kel motioned to Seth. “Johnson is already trying to trace this guy’s communications to see who he was talking to.”
    â€œHow are we going to monitor the subway stations in