The success of this plan would result in a more dramatic series of blows than had been dealt to any enemy in the history of man. There would be five nearly simultaneous detonations.
Once he completed his assigned tasks he would get back to his research on the next generation of these devices. He had learned much since they had obtained the material, data, and designs from the attack in the African facility. He would learn even more from the resulting detonations. By the end of the year he would be able to produce the necessary core materials at a much faster rate. Then they could hit again, and harder. The Americans were known to be so weak-willed that they would never use a nuclear weapon in response. The mere thought of them arguing the action in their “news” media made him laugh. If they knew anything about how to properly use power they would not merely endlessly talk.
AP NEWS FLASH: The former President of the United States has filed a lawsuit against President Scott Press claiming he has usurped power. The court system will have to respond with their intention to hear the case or not. It is expected that no matter what the outcome this will become a case for the court of appeals, if not being raised directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. According to legal experts, this lawsuit has absolutely no standing, and is expected to be thrown out quickly. The former President was clearly about to be replaced through the normal line of succession outlined in the Constitution, which would put the former Speaker of the House as next in line after the Vice President.
AP ECONOMIC NEWS FLASH: Just a few moments ago OPEC nations announced that they would be cutting oil exports in a transparent effort to keep prices artificially high. Internationally prices are expected to rise rapidly as demand for fossil fuels has never been higher. This action combined with the unexpected change in leadership in the United States is expected to add to the price of oil. The rise in energy cost is expected to have repercussions across all sectors of the economy. The most immediate impact will be on gasoline, which is typically followed by a rise in food prices from the resulting increase in production and delivery costs.
Chapter Eight
Dr. Joba had arrived at the airfield hours earlier than anyone who would be responsible for the actual physical transportation of his life’s work. Today had to go well. He felt that he still had much to do.
He did have to admit to himself that he was somewhat of a perfectionist. He wanted to re-inspect all of the containers just one more time. That brought the total to eight iterations. It was important that things were done properly.
He was especially interested in the packages containing the core material structures. Those packages would be difficult to replace if they were intercepted. Not to mention, if they were discovered and confiscated their presence would bring focus to the threat. That focus might result in all of the devices being found, and their mission would be thwarted.
The other packages being smuggled could be replaced. There was very little in them that would reveal their ultimate use without a trained, expert eye. Even then it would be a challenge with the way he had broken up the packages. The typical customs official would never be able to figure it out. Even if these parts were confiscated they could be purchased just about anywhere on the open market, then they could be reconstructed on location. It might delay parts of the attack, but ultimately the result would be the same.
This would be his last chance to take some measurements and ensure no radiation signatures were detectable, even when using the most sensitive detection equipment known to mankind. Once he had completed his tasks he would leave the area while other people would ensure that the crates were all stored in the smuggling compartments on the business jets being used for the transportation task.
It amazed him just how little customs officials examined the people or the baggage carried, when it came to the contents of private luxury jets coming into countries around the world. It was as if they assumed anyone with enough wealth to travel in this fashion would never bother bringing anything with them that they wouldn’t disclose on the Customs forms. As if on the people on these types of jets always made their money honestly, he thought with an audible chuckle.
The Customs officials examining the jets in the United States were known to be some of the least thorough in the world. They would never look under any of the “permanently” installed fixtures. There was plenty of space in which to hide boxes the size of the ones holding the precious core materials.
He assumed they would move these jets through several nations before their final destinations to disguise their point of origin. They would also have to modify their flight records to disguise the points of origin.
He was immensely proud of the job he had done. There was absolutely no way that their sensors could find this equipment. Only visual inspection could interrupt their plans, and that type of time consuming inspection was rare considering how lazy and cocky the Americans charged with these inspections had become. Many “simulated” attempts at doing this had been done over the past few years and they had all run perfectly, or so he had been told. He hoped it was the truth, and not just blustering propaganda.
There were five nuclear cores. Two would go to the United States. Three would be moved to Israel. All would be detonated on some carefully chosen targets that he had personally been involved in selecting. The precise locations of the detonations were chosen to ensure the maximum amount of damage to selected portions of their infrastructure, and carefully selected human casualties.
They finally had the opportunity to wipe out the ability of the Americans to construct their military war machines. Perhaps this would last for a decade, or more. By then the world map would be much different. Islam would control much of it, and with a little luck, the entire globe. This was truly the will of Allah.
All that had to happen was some small connection of sub-assemblies and then proper insertion of the core into the device. He had even taken the time to personally train those who would perform the on location tasks.
Each crate of material, or surrounding apparatus, would travel on its own aircraft. The five cores would travel completely solo with the exception of the one “business traveler” who would move each one of the cores to its final destination.
He also knew that no customs agency in the world had the equipment sensitive enough to find the telltale radiation signature of the core material. Most government agencies, and this was especially true of the Americans, used Universities to build all of their early stage prototype detectors. Those same Universities had insisted on publishing their results in peer-reviewed journals for anyone with a computer and an internet connection to read.
He had built copies of the best performing of these prototypes. He then worked to improve them, and made them even more sensitive. This made his equipment superior to anything currently in use for cargo inspection anywhere in the world.
This morning he was using a suite of those same sensors to search for any detectable radiation signature being emitted from these containers. He found nothing that would raise an alert except to the most expert of nuclear scientists. Those scientists would never be the ones charged with inspecting airplanes for illicitly imported nuclear material. Those men and women would be at their Universities doing research, and far from the Customs Inspectors.