Yuri led Kaminsky to a concrete bunker that had been built at the back of the hanger. Inside the bunker, tables stacked with electrical equipment took up most of the space. A half dozen technicians watched the instruments, waiting for the test to begin. All eyes turned to the two men as they entered.
The general and the physicist went over to a large viewing window in the forward wall of the bunker.
"What have you accomplished? Explain what I am looking at." Kaminsky eyed the odd structure in the middle of the hanger.
"Tesla's design is limited by the technology of his time, but it would have worked even back them. It has been a challenge to build it."
"You have overcome the obstacles?"
"Most of them. What you see here is a test device only, based on Tesla's prototype design with adaptations for modern materials. The plans for the actual weapon are different. It will be much bigger and requires a different power source."
"How does it work?" the general asked. Yuri had prepared himself with simple answers Kaminsky could understand.
"It ionizes hydrogen atoms and strips them of their electrons."
"Leaving sub-atomic particles?"
Yuri nodded, pleased at Kaminsky's understanding.
"Yes. Exactly. Stripping the electrons causes the creation of protons. The device accelerates the protons past a high voltage electrode and discharges them as a focused, high-energy particle beam. It travels at almost the speed of light in a straight line. The beam pulses continuously as long as power is applied. When it strikes the target it disrupts the atomic and molecular structure."
"Why hasn't this been done before?"
"We tried to develop such a weapon. The old Semipalatinsk-21 test site in Kazakhstan was used for the experiments. The Americans have been experimenting with particle beam weapons for years. The difficulty lies with the energy source and portability. We could not make the beam strong enough to prevent dispersion in the atmosphere, or make the weapon practical in size. Once I understood how Tesla's thinking worked, I was able to design a unit that overcomes some of these obstacles. Some remain."
Kaminsky waited. Yuri continued.
"The biggest problem is power. The beam requires more than 100 megawatts to reach targets in space. Tesla designed a revolutionary power source. It is almost complete, but we still lack a key element to boost it to sufficient levels. We are building ahead of ourselves. Until we have that element, we will not have the capability you desire."
"What is missing?"
"An amplifier, the key to reaching maximum power."
"And this?" Kaminsky waved his hand at the odd-looking shape in the hanger. "What is the capability?"
"With the test unit I anticipate a range of less than two kilometers before blooming."
"Blooming?"
"Blooming is when the beam disperses because of particles in the atmosphere. Dust, humidity, things like that. Once it blooms, it loses destructive force. Two kilometers is a great achievement, but as you can see, the device is not practical for battlefield conditions."
"You don't know if it will work." There was a hint of warning in Kaminsky's voice.
"General, you requested I notify you when the device was ready to demonstrate. I am confident it will work."
Kaminsky smiled and patted Yuri on the shoulder. "So, let us see it work."
"Begin, Sasha." Yuri spoke to his chief technician, hovering nearby.
Sasha barked commands. Rows of lights on the boards changed from red to yellow to green. The ozone smell grew stronger.
"We have to build up the charge," Yuri said. "Once we reach that point, power can be applied continuously."
Kaminsky nodded. Electricity crackled and leapt from the tops of the copper rods like lightning and poured into the core. A blue haze formed around the Tesla device. It hummed, a deep, low vibration Kaminsky felt through the soles of his boots.
"Ready," Sasha called.
From their vantage point, Yuri and Kaminsky could see the target, a T-34 tank placed a kilometer away on the plain.
"General," Yuri said, "just press that button under the window. The device has already been targeted."
A large red button projected from a steel box mounted on the wall. The two men looked through the glass. Kaminsky pressed the button.
A blinding beam of blue light ripped through the air. The tank vanished with a sound as if a god had clapped his hands together.
Kaminsky stared open-mouthed at the spot where the tank had been, speechless. Even Yuri was surprised at the power he had unleashed.
Kaminsky found his voice. "This was designed as a weapon?"
"Yes. The American papers of the time called it a 'Death Ray'."
"They were right," Kaminsky said. "Amazing. You have done well, Yuri."
The physicist preened at the flattery.
Kaminsky picked at his large nose. "We have a little less than three months. Will it be ready?"
"Only if we can resolve the power amplification. Otherwise, no." He paused. "There is something that may help, but it's a long shot."
"Go on."
"There is a book, very old, in Portugal. The Spaniards found it during the conquest of the Yucatan. It's called the Mafra Codex. Tesla mentions it in his notes. I'm not sure why, but he thought it might help him refine the weapon. Get me the book."
Kaminsky nodded. "It will be done. Once you have the power boost, will the weapon work?"
"Given that condition, yes. We've had some difficulty with the aiming device. Since we can't test it with the real weapon yet, we're using lasers. I think we are past most of the problems. With a true amplifier in place, the range of the beam will be as good as infinite. Nothing will stop it."
"And you can sustain the beam?"
"Once the amplification problem is solved, I am confident we can. Perhaps only for a few minutes."
"A few minutes is all we need," Kaminsky said.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Elizabeth and Stephanie watched the display from a photo comparison program running on the Crays downstairs. The program scanned a combined database from Interpol, NSA, DIA, Langley and the intelligence services of Israel, Britain, and the European Union. There were a lot of bad people in that database. The computers looked for a match to the pictures transmitted from Nick's camera.
The program analyzed distinctive facial features and body posture. Eye shape, bone structure, ear lobes, the shape of the skull. The nose. Dimensions in a 3-D axis. Beards, clothes, hats, eyeglasses, contact lenses and makeup meant little to the computer. It could be fooled, but it wasn't easy.
On the left of the monitor screen, the pictures from the cafe flickered and changed as the computer sorted and compared. On the right, facial images from the database blurred in rapid succession. The facial recognition program was one of the foundations of anti-terrorism. It required the kind of computing power only governments could afford.
The pictures froze. MATCH appeared in bold red letters.
"Bingo," Stephanie said. She tapped a key. The picture went full screen. Information about the subject popped up beneath it.
"Well, well. Not a nice man," Elizabeth said. "Zoran Jovanovich. Captain in Mladic's Scorpions. Wanted for war crimes committed at Srebrenica in '95."
They read the file in silence.
"A real bastard," Stephanie said.
"He's sitting a few tables away from Nick. I don't believe in coincidences. I wonder if he's got any friends with him?"
"I'll narrow the search to Serbian nationals, war criminals. Associations with Mladic."
Steph entered the commands. Images flooded the screen again. Within a minute there was another match.