‘You a hundred percent sure about that, Colonel?’ asked Niven.
The man shrugged. ‘There are never absolute certainties in life, sir, but I can tell you — as much as I can be certain — that these terrorists won’t launch their weapon until the weather is clear. Unless, of course, they’re pushed.’
‘Thanks, Colonel. A little good news, maybe?’ Niven said.
The American managed to combine a shrug and a nod in the one movement.
‘What about Babu Islam — the group itself? Did Kadar Al-Jahani reveal anything new? Their aims, that sort of thing?’ Griffin asked.
‘According to the statements taken from him, their ultimate goal is the establishment of an Islamic super state in South East Asia. They are opposed to the Americans, the Australians — any and all infidels. Various Middle Eastern interests funded them initially. Now they are financing themselves through the sale of drugs in Australia. We’re talking millions.’
‘Then given their aim of creating this Islamic super state, Jakarta has to be considered a possible target too,’ said Griffin.
‘Yes,’ said Mortimer. ‘At last, something I agree with.’
‘Why Jakarta?’ Mahisa asked.
‘Your government is a secular one, Captain,’ Griffin said. ‘It’s also considered to be Java-centric, and there are quite a few ethnic, religious and tribal minorities within Indonesia that would cheer loudly if the Javanese city was taught a lesson. Particularly if the spin was that the lesson came from God.’
Mahisa stared blankly. The Australian intelligence man had a good point, and his family was in Jakarta — the possible epicentre for the weapon.
‘Do you honestly think they would kill their own people?’ asked Meyer, aghast.
‘The fact is, we don’t know enough about BI to make the call either way,’ Mortimer said. ‘God knows there are plenty of precedents for it. But we do know that they are fanatics and killers. Who knows what they’re ultimately capable of? I think we’d be irresponsible to ignore it as a target. Darwin, however…I don’t know. I’m not sold on that one.’
‘Care to enlighten us as to why not, Mr Mortimer?’ asked Meyer dryly.
‘At the risk of putting Darwin’s nose out of joint, in my view it’s not a worthy terrorist target. It has no significance politically. What sort of statement would Babu Islam make to the world if it struck Darwin? Other than, perhaps, that we should treat our indigenous population better?’
‘What, the deaths of thousands of people, white and black, wouldn’t count?’ asked Meyer, continuing the sarcasm theme.
‘Okay, Peter, I’ll give you that, but I think Jakarta would be the more likely target,’ said Mortimer, keeping the tone in his voice as neutral as possible.
‘Christ, we’re talking what, a population of…?’ Niven wasn’t exactly sure, but it had to be big.
‘Close enough to ten million people,’ said Griffin, writing the figure on a pad in front of him and seeing, as he wrote, the horrible consequences of being wrong. When the news was revealed to the people there, the panic in the crowded city would cause almost as much death and destruction as the arrival of the weapon itself.
‘Holy shit…’ said Meyer.
‘I hear what you’re saying about Darwin, Felix, but we can’t take the risk. We’ll have to evacuate the city,’ said Niven, the logistics of that within the time frame utterly daunting.
Mortimer nodded. If he was wrong, he wouldn’t want to be held responsible. And if he was right and Darwin wasn’t the target, well, that was the best outcome for Australia.
‘Spike, you realise you’re going to have to get the army in there,’ said Griffin. ‘There’ll be panic, riots.’
‘What army?’ he said, dropping his guard for a moment and sounding just a little despondent. Australia’s forces were committed elsewhere, a long way from home.
‘What about stockpiles of NBC protective suits. Are there any?’ Ferallo asked.
Niven sucked in his top lip and shook his head slowly. No, there weren’t.
‘Perhaps we can help with that,’ said Watson. ‘The US Army’s been pumping them out as a number one priority for several years, since 9/11. If we go through the right channels, we could get a heap brought down here pronto. The same goes for Indonesia.’
‘Darwin has a population of around ninety thousand people,’ said Mortimer. ‘And then there’s Jakarta’s millions. How many spare NBC suits do you think you’ve got lying around?’
‘Perhaps not that many, sir,’ the US Army colonel said quietly.
A picture flashed into Ferallo’s mind. It was the scene in the movie Titanic when the realisation comes that there are insufficient life rafts for the numbers of passengers as the ice-cold waters surge through the lower decks.
‘Felix, got anything you’d like to add, or ask?’ Niven said. The analyst was frowning at the pad on his knees.
‘Not really, no,’ he said, looking up and taking the pencil out of his mouth to answer. ‘But I’d like recordings from Kadar Al-Jahani’s interrogation sessions, if that’s possible. Is there anything that might give us even the slightest clue?’
‘No, not really. On several occasions he quoted a number sequence that was first thought to be code for latitude and longitude, but that theory didn’t hold up. Otherwise, nothing. He gave straight answers to straight questions, eventually. And as for recordings, it’s unlikely we’ll get them. But we have transcripts. I have them here for those of you who want them.’
‘That sequence could be interesting,’ said Griffin. Meyer nodded. Something in the analyst’s manner told Niven that Mortimer probably did have something to say, but not in present company.
‘We have two possible targets around fifteen hundred miles apart, and the drone has a range of anywhere between eight hundred and a thousand miles,’ said Niven. ‘If we can’t narrow the target we have no chance whatsoever of finding the terrorist camp. It could, theoretically, be anywhere in the Indonesian archipelago.’ To prove the point, he took a felt-tipped pen and drew a big circle around Jakarta and then Darwin. ‘This,’ he said, ‘is a thousand miles.’
‘Shit,’ said Meyer.
‘Captain Mahisa?’ Niven said.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Sumbawa and Flores are probably worth searching now. Even though Jakarta is a little outside the range of the drone if BI’s base is on either island, it’s only just outside the range and it’s not unfeasible that the terrorists could have modified the thing.’ He breathed heavily. ‘We could get lucky.’
‘Yes, sir,’ agreed Mahisa. ‘I can assure you the TNI will cooperate fully. Those islands are very large, and it would still take some time to cover them completely.’
‘Time we don’t have,’ Griffin said.
Niven stood. ‘Okay, people, we need leads. And fast. First and foremost, this battle will be won by brain power. On the surface of it, with Kadar Al-Jahani dead, the trail to BI’s camp would appear to have died with him. But somewhere out there is a scrap of information that will take us straight to Babu Islam’s launch site. There has to be. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.’
Ferallo nodded as if Niven had been speaking to her personally. The information they now had could inject new meaning and relevance into intelligence they already possessed. Before she realised it, the meeting was over and Ferallo was standing. She felt light headed, as if she had vertigo standing at the edge of a precipice. The fact that Australia wasn’t her homeland didn’t lessen her fear or anxiety.