in the van was a black leather briefcase with sturdy brass combination locks. Only Rashid knew the secret of what was contained in the briefcase, but for now he was interested only in the laptop computer. He rolled up his sleeves and climbed into the van. Gorev and Karla joined him, hunched in the back.
Rashid detached two of the leads that ran from a connector on the back of the computer, one to each of the drums. 'I've disconnected the detonators. Now for the disk.'
Sweat sparkled on his temples as he removed a square, hard plastic wallet from the breast pocket of his shirt, opened the laptop and switched it on. After a few moments, the screen nickered to life and the boot program started to load. It took about a minute, and when it had finished Rashid opened the plastic wallet, slid out the disk, inserted it into the slit at the side of the laptop, and hit the enter key. Within another couple of minutes the computer had loaded the contents of the disk, and then a prompt appeared at the top left of the screen: 'ACTIVE. TO PROCEED, ENTER PASSWORD.' Rashid tapped in the Arab word al-Wakia; the screen cleared, and another line appeared, replacing the first one: 'ENTER COUNTDOWN PERIOD'.
Rashid entered the figures 00.00.05 and hit enter again.
Another line appeared on screen: 'COMMENCING COUNTDOWN. FIVE SECONDS BEFORE DETONATION.'
The figure 5 he had entered started to count down: 4. 3. 2. 1. 0.
Then the screen flashed a message: 'DETONATION CODE FIRED.'
Seconds later, another message flashed below it. 'PROGRAM WORKING. DETONATION CODE NOW RESET. TEST RUN COMPLETE.'
'It works.' Rashid smiled. 'Thanks be to Allah.'
Gorev noticed fine beads of sweat on the Arab's upper lip. 'What's the matter? You look worried.'
'I'm not. But I know the power of this chemical, what it can do. If the detonators were connected when the code was fired, we'd all be dead by now.'
'You're sure it's safe?' Gorev asked.
Rashid nodded. 'Until we're ready to teach the Americans a lesson, if we must. And when that happens, we program in whatever time period we want — be it five seconds or five hours, or however long we need to get far enough away from Washington. The computer will do the rest, and detonate the drums once the exact amount of time has elapsed. And there's the other alternative. That Abu Hasim will decide to detonate it himself, remotely, with a satellite signal.'
'And what if the computer goes haywire?' Gorev asked grimly. 'Or generates a spurious signal to trigger the drums?'
'I've been assured that can't happen, Gorev. There are safety circuits built into the detonators that require them to be addressed by a specific code from the computer. Otherwise they won't explode the chemical. And there are only two ways they can be addressed. Either by us, with our program.' Rashid gestured to the satellite dish. 'Or by Abu Hasim over the airwaves, if he remotely accesses the computer with a satellite signal. At all times, the laptop remains in a stand-by mode, ready to receive his signal, even while it's switched off. And it has a long-life battery pack that will last for weeks once it's in a stand-by mode.'
'We better pray you're right and it's safe.'
Rashid wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand, removed the disk, replaced it in the plastic wallet. Then he turned off the computer, gingerly reconnected the detonator leads and climbed down out of the van. When the others had joined him, he locked the rear doors and flicked on the alarm again. He heard the electronic 'beep', the clunk of the front doors locking, and consulted his watch. 'It's time the Americans realised what's in store for them. Time to let them see the power of our weapon.' He pulled on his jacket, said to Karla, 'You can drop me off back in Washington. I'll meet you both later.'
'You don't need company?' Gorev asked.
Rashid shook his head. 'No, I'll do this alone.'
The White House 9.55 a.m.
The President stared at his advisers. Silence
Rashid detached two of the leads that ran from a connector on the back of the computer, one to each of the drums. 'I've disconnected the detonators. Now for the disk.'
Sweat sparkled on his temples as he removed a square, hard plastic wallet from the breast pocket of his shirt, opened the laptop and switched it on. After a few moments, the screen nickered to life and the boot program started to load. It took about a minute, and when it had finished Rashid opened the plastic wallet, slid out the disk, inserted it into the slit at the side of the laptop, and hit the enter key. Within another couple of minutes the computer had loaded the contents of the disk, and then a prompt appeared at the top left of the screen: 'ACTIVE. TO PROCEED, ENTER PASSWORD.' Rashid tapped in the Arab word al-Wakia; the screen cleared, and another line appeared, replacing the first one: 'ENTER COUNTDOWN PERIOD'.
Rashid entered the figures 00.00.05 and hit enter again.
Another line appeared on screen: 'COMMENCING COUNTDOWN. FIVE SECONDS BEFORE DETONATION.'
The figure 5 he had entered started to count down: 4. 3. 2. 1. 0.
Then the screen flashed a message: 'DETONATION CODE FIRED.'
Seconds later, another message flashed below it. 'PROGRAM WORKING. DETONATION CODE NOW RESET. TEST RUN COMPLETE.'
'It works.' Rashid smiled. 'Thanks be to Allah.'
Gorev noticed fine beads of sweat on the Arab's upper lip. 'What's the matter? You look worried.'
'I'm not. But I know the power of this chemical, what it can do. If the detonators were connected when the code was fired, we'd all be dead by now.'
'You're sure it's safe?' Gorev asked.
Rashid nodded. 'Until we're ready to teach the Americans a lesson, if we must. And when that happens, we program in whatever time period we want — be it five seconds or five hours, or however long we need to get far enough away from Washington. The computer will do the rest, and detonate the drums once the exact amount of time has elapsed. And there's the other alternative. That Abu Hasim will decide to detonate it himself, remotely, with a satellite signal.'
'And what if the computer goes haywire?' Gorev asked grimly. 'Or generates a spurious signal to trigger the drums?'
'I've been assured that can't happen, Gorev. There are safety circuits built into the detonators that require them to be addressed by a specific code from the computer. Otherwise they won't explode the chemical. And there are only two ways they can be addressed. Either by us, with our program.' Rashid gestured to the satellite dish. 'Or by Abu Hasim over the airwaves, if he remotely accesses the computer with a satellite signal. At all times, the laptop remains in a stand-by mode, ready to receive his signal, even while it's switched off. And it has a long-life battery pack that will last for weeks once it's in a stand-by mode.'
'We better pray you're right and it's safe.'
Rashid wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand, removed the disk, replaced it in the plastic wallet. Then he turned off the computer, gingerly reconnected the detonator leads and climbed down out of the van. When the others had joined him, he locked the rear doors and flicked on the alarm again. He heard the electronic 'beep', the clunk of the front doors locking, and consulted his watch. 'It's time the Americans realised what's in store for them. Time to let them see the power of our weapon.' He pulled on his jacket, said to Karla, 'You can drop me off back in Washington. I'll meet you both later.'
'You don't need company?' Gorev asked.
Rashid shook his head. 'No, I'll do this alone.'
The White House 9.55 a.m.
The President stared at his advisers. Silence
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