“I don’t know…at least, I have no direct knowledge. But I found myself wondering the same thing, and I began to make associations. Among the deliveries by TransAvia was a consignment of lead brick.”
“Lead brick?”
“Twelve tons of it. There was also an unusual holding tank from the same supplier—a manufacturer of equipment for handling nuclear material.”
Clark was beginning to understand Klaus’s sense of urgency. If what he was saying was true, a terror attack of unimaginable scale could be brewing. Remote location, secretive financing, equipment for handling radiological agents. And most damning of all—a man behind it with an extensive history of sowing chaos.
“What was the name of this manufacturer?” Clark asked. He wanted details to pass on to the DNI.
Klaus provided it. Clark asked more questions and scribbled notes on a pad.
Klaus became agitated. “You can’t waste time with research. You have to stop Malenkov by striking this airfield immediately.”
Clark’s pen went still. “Like an air strike?”
The Swiss nodded adamantly.
“What exactly do you think we’d be stopping?”
“I don’t know…you are more of an expert in these things than I am. But there are two things that suggest an attack is imminent. First is that the final TransAvia flight was contracted for this morning.”
“Any idea what it was carrying?”
“No. But I can tell you there haven’t been any other shipments for over a week. All the material and equipment I arranged funding for have been delivered. The flight set for today, however, was unique. It was the first to be booked, and there are no others scheduled.”
“Which implies that whatever is being planned, it’s going to happen soon.”
Klaus looked theatrically at his watch. “I would say in the next few hours.”
Clark’s craggy features turned skeptical. In a measured voice, he asked, “And what leads you tothisconclusion?”
“In addition to arranging Malenkov’s operational financing, I also handled his personal investments. He recently gave me access to some sizable new accounts. I don’t know where the money came from, but the numbers are significant—more than three billion dollars. He instructed me to bet all of it on one highly specialized strategy, and to do it in a way that kept his ownership veiled. It was a challenge given the size of the investment, but I carried out his wishes. He now controls extremely speculative option contracts for a particular commodity.”
“What commodity are we talking about?”
“Crude oil. In essence, he is placing a massive bet that the price of oil will skyrocket before the contracts expire.”
“I almost hate to ask, but when is that?”
“Close of business tomorrow. These contracts were executed in various financial markets around the world—it was a method to try to keep them off the radar of regulators. It’s important to note that market reactions to unforeseen events are not instantaneous. Trends take time to develop. But the endgame, to me, seems clear. Andrei Malenkov can become an exceptionally wealthy man…but only if his scheme takes place early tomorrow morning.”
57
Situation Room
The White House
Washington, D.C.
1606 Local Time
Clark conveyed Klaus’s information to the White House. They, in turn, forwarded the pertinent details to the DoD, CIA, and Cyber Cell 6. Problems were immediately apparent.
“We can’t get live coverage of this site anytime soon,” Mary Pat said, reading a message from the NRO. “They’re going over archived footage and everything Klaus is telling us about this airfield at Al-Jaghbub checks out. There have been major improvements in recent months, and it appears to be operational. We have two captures of a transport on the ground, presumably one of these TransAvia flights.”
“That’s all good and fine,” said the SecDef. “But we have no way of knowing exactly what was delivered to that hangar.”
“And more importantly,” Mary Pat added, “what’s being done inside right now.”
