Dattar’s mind raced. The Court had frozen it all. He had only his weapon left. He took a deep breath. He needed the money.
“I have something in my possession. It’s a weapon that I intend to use against the countries in the international community who dared to insist that I be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity. I will force their hand.”
Amir sat straighter.
That got his attention, Dattar thought with satisfaction.
“What is this weapon and how do you intend to use it?”
“I can’t tell you exactly, but I’ll prove to you it works. In less than twenty-four hours I’ll send you a link to a newspaper report that will confirm the results of our first test. Understand that it will be a small test, but it will verify what I say.”
Amir looked intrigued. “Is this weapon yours alone? Or do others have it?”
Dattar shook his head. “It’s not only mine, but I have the delivery method. I needed additional funding to test it, and so I went to certain key players to receive it. The project is financed by a consortium called ‘Janus.’”
“Who else is in this Janus consortium? And don’t tell me it’s that Russian bastard Rapanov.” Rapanov was the arms dealer who had arranged the attack on Amir.
“It’s not Rapanov. He’s a small player. It’s a group of nations that have felt the sting of the UN and their economic sanctions. Of course, they won’t acknowledge their role should the plan fail and they be discovered, but they’re paying just the same.”
“So why not ask them for the money?”
Because I can’t afford to show them any weakness, Dattar thought. He wouldn’t say that to Amir, though.
“They’ve paid their share. It’s up to me to fund the final part of the plan, the release of the weapon. I’m preparing for that now, but my assets are frozen.”
“What nations?” Amir said.
“Why do you care? You sell to them all, don’t you?”
Amir nodded. “Yes, but not all pay their bills. Tell me.”
“Yemen, Syria, and the Sudan.”
Amir snorted. “You’re insane. At least two of those countries will devour Pakistan given half the chance, and your tiny foothold on the border will be taken from you. And Yemen contains training camps for at least ten different terrorist organizations, any one of which would be happy to take your weapon from you by force. You’re dealing with a group that cannot be controlled.”
“You forget that my ‘tiny’ foothold on the border contains a newly discovered precious gem mine and I control the utilities.”
“Everyone knows that you rely on Western technology companies to tap these resources. The royalties they pay you are a fraction of what they take out, and you don’t have the know-how within your country to operate the facilities. You need their help.”
“I’ve confiscated the mine and the utility companies.”
“And when you did, the West acted swiftly to charge you with crimes against humanity.” Amir leaned forward. “A charge that, while true, would never have been made against you had you not taken the action that you did.”
“Exactly. But that didn’t work, now did it? Because here I am. Free. And when I launch the weapon, they will have no choice but to negotiate with me and the others in the Janus consortium. They’ll be falling over their feet to do as we ask.”
“If they don’t kill you first.”
Dattar took a sip of his coffee. “They wouldn’t dare. If they try, I’ll release the weapon throughout their country and they can watch the rest of their population die.”
“And the other snakes in this consortium? What if one of them decides to double-cross you?”
“They won’t.”
Amir gave him a wary look. “Why are you so sure of this?”
“Because I’m the only one who knows how to deliver the payload. Without my unique delivery method, the weapon won’t cause any real harm. Also, they’re cowards. They’re willing to pay for their dirty work to be done, but none have the guts to actually place the weapon. Listen, I’ll pay you back, with interest, once the weapon is released. After it launches, I’ll have the leverage to force the world community to not only release my funds, but to pay me more just to stop.”
Amir sipped his drink and stared at Dattar. “What will the Janus consortium request if the plan succeeds?”
“For every nation in the United Nations to pay a protection fee to the consortium and to cede control of all of their manufacturing and technology holdings to Janus. We take fifty percent of all profits.”
Amir’s face held a mixture of surprise and disbelief. “No country would agree to such a thing. It’s extortion at the highest level. It would make them serfs and Janus king.”
“They’ll do it.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll die if they don’t.”
Amir shook his head. “It’s crazy. What weapon can force such a result?”
“This one,” Dattar said. Amir watched him for a moment. Dattar waited.
“No. You tell me a tale of a terrible weapon but show no real proof that it exists. I need proof before I give you the money. Once I see the link, I’ll send the funds, but not before. And I want twenty percent interest.”
“That’s outrageous!” Dattar said.
Amir shrugged. “No one else is going to lend you twenty million based upon a tale of a weapon. Is it agreed?”
Dattar’s coffee suddenly tasted bitter, but he had little choice in the matter. He decided to negotiate different terms if the latest test worked. “Agreed.”
“Where will you start after your test?”
“I intend to release it in New York City.”
29
Klein got the call about the freighter from the director general of the World Health Organization while he was at a dinner reception for a major contributor to President Castilla’s campaign. He stepped outside the ballroom to take the call.
“Mr. Klein? I’ve been asked to convey this information to you by the president. We’ve discovered a freighter floating off the coast of Syria. It was disabled, and aerial reconnaissance revealed that every member of the crew was dead.”
“Because you’re calling me and not Syrian diplomatic personnel, I presume the deaths were not battle related but disease related?” Klein said.
“We’re not sure. The freighter floated into Syrian waters shortly after our reconnaissance. Syria is refusing us access to the ship.”
Klein walked farther away from the ballroom, nodding at an acquaintance passing in the hall.
“How many crew members?”
“Thirty-three. Their last port of embarkation was Cyprus approximately six hours ago.”
“Were they alive then?”
“Yes. All of them. And they appeared healthy.”
“That has to be a mass shooting. What disease can kill that quickly?”
“Our reconnaissance photos managed to snap pictures of at least fifteen crew members scattered on the boat. We’ve zoomed in on each, and none show any signs of gunshot wounds or blast injuries. Three are lying in pools of vomit.”
“Poison?”
“Doubtful.”
“Why not?”
“Because while Syria is refusing us access, it’s also flatly refusing to send a medical or forensic crew to it. They intend to fly over and drop a bomb on the ship to destroy it.”
Klein stopped walking. “They’re going to blow the thing out of the water? What in the world is on that ship that they don’t want us to discover? Polonium-210?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Polonium-210 is what the Russians slipped to their unfortunate former spy. He died in a London hospital days later. It’s highly toxic, but requires a lot of expertise to use.”
“I think they’re afraid to set foot on it. I’m concerned that this may have something to do with the missing mutated avian flu strain. The freighter began its journey from the port in Rotterdam.”