The Z Contingency

Chapter 12

When Simon entered his office, the first thing he noticed was the presence of a file folder that was not on his desk when he left the night before. It was not exactly hidden, but neither was it in plain sight. Rather, it was in a pile of folders of current cases that Simon kept neatly stacked on the corner of his desk. This file looked just like all the rest, but Simon always kept his desk very neat and orderly, and the corner of this new folder stuck out slightly from the others, so it caught Simon's eye. Since he also knew exactly what he was keeping in his stack, the addition became readily apparent.

He gingerly extracted the folder from the stack and opened it. Inside, he found various newspaper clippings and World Health Organization alerts from 2013 about a mysterious outbreak of a coronavirus in the Middle East. It was related to the common cold virus and the virus that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, but this one had never before been seen in humans. The virus had spread quickly to several people, killing about half, and then suddenly died out itself. In the lower right hand inside corner of the file folder was a number written in blue ink. He did not recognize the handwriting, but he did recognize the "PM" number as a reference for pointing to an OPS "Preventative Measures" project, although some referred to them as Preemptive Moves projects, but whatever the name, their purpose was to nullify potential threats before they could materialize.

Simon had once read the records of PM projects early in his career. The latest two were both to address nuclear weapons. The first of these was back in the Soviet era. OPS had detected activity in the Ukraine that gave them reason to believe that an advanced strategic nuclear device was being developed under the cover of a nuclear power plant that could deliver more than double the yield of the largest fusion warhead at the time. That PM project involved several OPS agents who infiltrated the facility, killed all the scientists involved in the development, and destroyed all records. A massive explosion in one of the reactors was used as cover for their operations. The Soviet government, of course, could not admit to such a weapons development program, which would have been in violation of numerous treaties with the United States, so even if they had suspected sabotage, they made no mention of it, and instead referred only to a catastrophic nuclear accident. It was still considered to be the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.

The second PM project was carried out decades later in Iran. It received no media attention at all because Iran's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons technology had been done completely in secret underground labs, and their constant public denials that they were trying to develop nuclear technology for anything other than strictly peaceful purposes meant they could not acknowledge the complete destruction of their labs and the disappearance of their nuclear weapons scientists.

As Simon digested the information he read, he puzzled over the source of the file's appearance on his desk. Was this a warning or a suggestion? Who knew what he was contemplating? He had been extremely careful about putting anything about his latest thoughts in writing. While most anyone else, even in the security community, would have become very concerned, Simon had been with OPS long enough to know that there were always deeper shadows within the government's most shadowy agency. He was not troubled at the knowledge that there were others watching him, and in fact, it provided him with a sense of comfort, knowing that there were others in this extended family of sorts.... As long as what drove an OPS agent was the interest in protecting America's interests, there was a hidden layer of protection and assistance they could count on. All the same, there was no sense in telegraphing his intentions.

Simon turned to his computer, pulled up the screen for accessing the OPS database, and entered the project number into the appropriate field. The query screen was replaced by a dossier screen for the project. Apparently someone within OPS had already generated a plan for addressing the spread of Islamic radicalism, and had started working on a "solution." So the folder placed on his desk was a suggestion, not a warning.

The report referenced various chemical and biological agents that had been tried, and their results, some only as hints, and others in great detail, but all leading up to the event that the clippings reported. The final entry in the record noted that the project was canceled due to "insufficient efficacy of the available vectors." As he read, a plan gelled in Simon's mind. This feels right. It'll be poetic justice. And, the surviving ones will be so terrified that they won't dare to crawl out from under the filthy rocks they hide under.

No nukes, but a bomb nonetheless. It's got to disperse some kind of a bug, but which one...? The earlier program was abandoned, but was this a suggestion that a different pathogen be tried? I have the notes on what was tried and didn't work. What can I try instead?

Something really gruesome, something that will keep them out of that Paradise of theirs. Something like the plague. Simon dredged up what he learned from that lecture in his epidemiology class from so long ago....

The Black Death, which had decimated entire populations of Europe during the Middle Ages, caused those infected to become covered with sores that oozed pus and blood, eventually turning those areas gangrenous and black, and the victims would vomit blood before being killed by the plague.

Perfect! Thought Simon. They'll look like the vile creatures they are even before they die. It'll finally put the fear of God in those heathen bastards. What was it again that caused the Black Death? Oh yeah, Y. pestis, but that was a bacterium. Can I spread that quickly enough? Do I need something viral? Whatever it is, it's got to make them stop thinking they'll have a shot at any kind of Paradise. No virgins will want these rotting corpses.

Simon's train of thought suddenly paused. A troubling thought furrowed his brow. But what about the other people in the area who aren't radicalized? Those terrorist cowards like to hide amongst the civilians. If I callously kill the innocents as well, I'll be no better than them....

Can I engineer something that targets those genetic traits...? Can I even identify what traits there are that cause a person to radicalize? Can targeting them even be done? Maybe if I just disperse at their training camps, that would limit exposure to acceptable losses. Anyone else who gets infected will just have to pay the price for keeping company with terrorists.

I can live with that....