Authors: J. B. Tilton
"Well, doctor, I'm sure you have some questions," said Napolitano.
"A couple," said Jeremy.
"I figured as much. When I was told that Assistant Director Scarborough had tried to run a background check on Richard Moser I figured you were trying to put some pieces together. I've had a meeting with the President and he has authorized me to tell you everything we know. As you'll soon see, the reasons for the secrecy are quite valid."
"I never had any doubt," said Scarborough. "I should have been able to access a routine background check. The security classification on it has to mean that this Moser is considered a major threat against the United States. Possibly as high as Osama bin Laden."
"Or higher," commented Porter.
"Higher than the most wanted man in the world?" Scarborough asked.
"Gentlemen, there's a lot of information we need to give you," said Napolitano. "But before we start, I have to warn you. This information has the highest security classification possible. Not even the Vice President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nor most of Congress are aware of this information. In fact, other than myself and the National Security Advisor, even most of the President's cabinet does not have access to it. For reasons which, I hope, will become self-evident very soon."
"You can rely on our discretion, Madam Secretary," said Jeremy.
"Good," said Napolitano. "Before we get to Richard Moser, I think there is some other information you need to be made aware of. General Porter."
"I assume you are both familiar with the Chernobyl disaster," began Porter without preamble.
"As much as anyone, I supposed," said Scarborough. "The nuclear reactor in the Ukraine had a meltdown producing one of the worst nuclear disasters in history."
"It was the worst nuclear disaster up to that time," said Porter. "The official cause was a sudden surge of power. When the reactor personnel attempted an emergency shutdown there was an even more extreme spike in power output. This led to a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. The graphite moderator was exposed to the air, causing it to ignite. A plume of highly radioactive smoke covered an extensive geographical area, including Pripyat, the city near the Chernobyl reactor. To this day it is still uninhabitable."
"I remember reading about it in the papers," said Jeremy. "The resulting cleanup nearly bankrupted the Russian economy."
"Quite true," said Porter. "However, the public story of the accident, while accurate, is not the whole story. Sometime during the night of April 25, 1986, dissidents broke into the Chernobyl plant. Their plan was simple. Cause a diversion to keep the staff of the reactor busy while they stole some plutonium that was used to power the plant.
"Unfortunately things went wrong. Their plan was to begin a meltdown and sneak away with the plutonium while the staff stopped the meltdown. Unfortunately they had damaged some of the equipment. It became impossible to stop the meltdown and the accident was the result. Several days later the FSB, the Russian Federal Security Service, cornered and killed all of the dissidents involved in the break in."
"But they didn't recover the plutonium," interjected Jeremy.
"Very astute, doctor," said Napolitano. "No, they didn't. The FSB theorized that the dissidents had either spirited the plutonium out of the country or had hidden somewhere where it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find."
"They never did find it," continued Porter. "A few months ago the Russian army was on some routine maneuvers. They came across a defunct work camp from the former U.S.S.R located in Siberia. Most of the camps were shut down in the early 60s and some have lain unused since then.
"The Russian army found very high traces of radioactive material in one of the buildings of the camp. The Russian government theorized that the material stolen from the Chernobyl reactor had been hidden there. However, the material was no longer there. Someone had discovered its location and moved it."
"So you think that terrorists somehow found the plutonium stolen from the Chernobyl reactor and took it for their own use?" questioned Scarborough.
"Precisely," said Napolitano. "How they found out about it is anyone's guess. But somehow they did and were able to get it out of Russian without anyone knowing about it."
"How much plutonium are we talking about?" Jeremy asked.
"According to official estimates, nearly 25 kilograms, which is approximately 55 pounds," said Porter.
"To put it into perspective, gentlemen," said Napolitano, "the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 used only 6.2 kilograms. That's just under 14 pounds."
"So whoever has the material has enough to build a bomb 4 times the destructive power of Hiroshima," said Scarborough.
"Or 4 of the same destructive power," said Porter. "Hiroshima was some 349 square miles in size. The bomb directly killed an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of 1945 it is estimated that the total casualties were between 90,000 and 120,000 caused by injury and radiation. Nearly 70% of the city was completely destroyed and almost 10% was severely damaged."
"Imagine that destructiveness set off in 4 American cities simultaneously," said Napolitano. "Or even set off separately. The bombs could be put into place and then just wait to set them off. One large bomb could do massive damage to any metropolitan area in the United States. But 4 bombs set off at different predetermined times could cripple us. Panic would set in as every major city in the country believed they might be next."
"That's why you had us check out that van," said Scarborough. "You think the plutonium was brought across the Canadian border and is heading for the D.C. area."
"Yes," said Napolitano. "Our intelligence reports tell us that it is very likely that all the necessary components for a nuclear device are being brought to the Washington to be assembled into a bomb. The scenario of multiple bombs in multiple cities is a worst case scenario. But it is our belief that only one bomb is being assembled. The necessary components to make a bomb might not raise any red flags by themselves. But once they're together, and the bomb has been assembled, we would be in a very difficult situation to prevent its detonation."
"Why Washington, D.C.?" questioned Jeremy. "Why not assemble the bomb somewhere else and then bring it into the city? It seems to me that it would be easier to assemble a bomb somewhere else. There wouldn't be as much scrutiny in a town that didn't present a target for terrorists. And it should be relatively easy to move the bomb into the city once it's assembled."
"Besides the destruction, death, and terror it would cause, we believe the terrorists have a specific purpose for assembling the bomb here," said Napolitano. "To demonstrate they can do it right under our very noses. If they can assemble the components needed and assemble the bomb in Washington, D.C. itself, they can demonstrate they can do it anywhere. The fear and paranoia would be rampant. No city in the world would be safe."
"And they'd be right," said Jeremy. "Security in the nation's capital has to be among the most stringent in the world. D.C. would be considered a prime target for terrorists. If they can do it here, they'd be able to do it in any city in the world."
"And you think Richard Moser is behind this?" Richard asked.
"That's our belief," said Porter. "But to be honest, we don't know for sure. We have no direct evidence linking Moser to any terrorist activities. He's been implicated as associating with some known terrorists. But we have no direct evidence that he's participated or even been involved with any of their activities."
"Okay, hold on a second," said Jeremy. "You implied that this Moser was a greater threat to the United States than bin Laden was. You not only had direct evidence linking bin Laden with numerous terrorist attacks, he even admitted to planning and implementing the attack on 9-11. As well as other attacks on American installations and people. How can you consider Moser a greater threat than bin Laden when you're not even sure he's involved?"
"Richard Moser is a very clever man," said Porter. "Our reports on him are that he travels a great deal and usually in areas where known terrorists are known to operate. We even have reports of him meeting with known terrorists, such as Osama bin Laden, as well as others. But nothing in the reports indicates he had any involvement with any terrorist activities."
"Wouldn't his meeting with them show he's involved?" Jeremy asked. "Why would he meet with them if he wasn't involved somehow?"
"When I said they were known terrorists, I meant they are known now," said Porter. "Most of his meetings occurred before they were active. So the meetings could be construed as incidental. Like someone having a dinner with Ted Bundy or John Wayne Casey before they became serial killers. That doesn't prove that the person they met with had anything to do with the killings. Just as it doesn't prove that Moser had anything to do with terrorist activities."
"But each time after meeting with Moser these terrorist leaders began their Jihads against the United States," said Napolitano. "There's no indication that Moser had anything to do with the planning or implementation of the activities perpetrated by these terrorist leaders. But as I said, they only began their activities in earnest after meeting with Moser."
"So you think that Moser is somehow able to convince these leaders to accelerate their activities against the United States," said Jeremy.
"More than that," said Napolitano. "We believe that Moser is one of your people with a special talent, doctor. We don't know how, but we believe that Moser is somehow able to control these people and cause them to commit the horrendous acts they commit."
"You said that you had no direct evidence linking Moser to these acts," said Jeremy. "That would indicate that he has the ability to control these people even when he's not around. I'm not sure how he could accomplish that. All of the people we've identified as having special talents have been able to do so only when they've been present at a given location. None of them have been able to use their talent when they're somewhere else."
"I can't address that, doctor," said Napolitano. "To be honest, I'm not sure I fully understand your abilities or how they actually work. You're the expert in that area. I can only tell you what our reports tell us. That Moser meets with someone and very soon after that they begin terrorist activities all over the world. And some, like the attack on 9-11, are aimed directly at the United States."
"And you think that Moser is behind this attempt to smuggle plutonium into Washington, D.C. and assemble a nuclear device there," said Scarborough. "Possibly using this Shannon Chang to do the actual work while he works from behind the scenes?"
"We weren't aware of Ms. Chang before her attack on you," said Porter. "But it would be keeping with Moser's method of operation. He'll take a relative unknown and causes them to create unspeakable acts of terrorism and violence against others. While he remains hidden in the background, unobserved by most intelligence agencies."
"But this time we believe that Moser may be taking a direct hand in the plot," said Napolitano. "For whatever reason, we believe that Moser is taking an active part in collecting the components for the bomb and assembling it. And when it's assembled, we believe he's going to detonate it in the nations' capital."
"That wouldn't be in keeping with his mentality," said Jeremy. "You said he always works behind the scenes. That would indicate that he's going to have someone else detonate the bomb. Just as terrorist leaders get others to become suicide bombers instead of doing it themselves. Other people die and create the destruction and terror while the leaders sit back and plan new attacks."
"But that could explain Chang's presence," said Scarborough. "He might have used whatever ability he has to control her and make her the suicide bomber in this instance."
"If he even has an ability," said Jeremy. "We haven't established that he has one. It is possible, however remote, that his meetings with these terrorist leaders is simply coincidence."
"I don't believe in coincidence, doctor," said Porter. "At any rate, we have credible evidence that a nuclear device is going to be assembled in Washington, D.C. in the near future. And it is our belief that Richard Moser is involved."
"The question is," said Scarborough, "what is his target? With a nuclear device he could do a lot of damage. But most terrorist attacks have a specific target. If we knew what his target was that might make it easier to help locate the bomb or the people making the bomb."
"We believe we all ready know what his target is," said Napolitano. "We believe that Richard Moser is going to strike against the United States and not only do a massive amount of damage but he's going to make a statement to the rest of the world. And we believe his intended target is the President of the United States."
"You can't be serious?" said Jeremy. "Moser has to know that couldn't be possible. Security on the President is the tightest in the country. Probably in the world. The Secret Service wouldn't allow that. He has to know any attempt on the President is doomed to failure."
"History would belie that, doctor," said Porter. "The attack on President Reagan would show that it is possible to attempt an assassination of a sitting president. Not to mention the assassinations – or attempted assassinations – of sitting presidents is a very real threat."