Chapter 20: Here We Go Again

Does anyone have a plan?

Tom crawled up to the crest of the small hill and lay next to him. The machine gun sat between them. Al was on rear security. The other three rested between them. The climb hadn't taken as long as he'd expected. It had, though, been taxing on them, Niki most of all.

“What’re you thinking?”

The sun crested the mountains behind them. Soon the total intensity of its light would hit the valley floor and the thick cover of mist would soon burn off. None of Hotak’s forces had ventured out beyond the guard shacks. Once they did, they'd better understand what the enemy intended.

“I’m thinking if the drug trade here is a nine billion dollar a year operation. And if Hotak controls a large percent of it, he may be at the point where he doesn’t care about a few million one way or the other. Does it make sense to transport all that opium by truck here for processing?” He pulled himself down off the crest.

“What if the trucks full of opium that don’t go through this place instead go on to Bangkok or wherever. Business as usual.”

Julia made an internal calculation. “I would be a sizable percentage I guess.”

“What if what’s going on here isn’t his drug business? What if Hotak is turning the containers coming through here into biological weapons?” Mike stared down at Randall.

Julia took the hint and tapped Randall on the shoulder.

“Hmm?” Randall looked up. “Yes, I see. No, I don’t think so. You’re saying the opium is somehow infused with the smallpox virus, and then what? Addicts contract the virus?”

“No, the opium is irrelevant except as a means of initiating the bio-weapon. Hotak ships these containers full of opium worldwide, my guess western countries. Somehow he alerts Local and Federal authorities about a shipping container full of drugs at their port. The containers now all over the world are more or less synchronized to be opened near the same time. This part would take an incredible amount of planning. But with the resources he has, he could do it. Inside is the opium. Also inside is a device ready to spray aerosolized smallpox infecting those nearby. It also settles on the bundles inside. As soon as someone moves the bundles, they touch or breathe in what's on them. They become infected as well as the people who opened the container.”

“Your description of weaponized smallpox delivery systems leaves something to be desired, but…”