The Blue Team arrived aboard two gray U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopters. The large birds set down in the parking lot and a half dozen men piled out of each helicopter. At least six of them were dressed from head to toe in black combat gear and heavily armed. These men immediately fanned out to secure a perimeter. Two of the men were wearing light blue anticontamination suits, with sealed boots, helmets, and gloves. The other four men were dressed in desert fatigues.
Rapp was still at the helm of theScandinavian Princess. He watched the SEALs unload their equipment and consult with the members of the DOE Search Response Team. He checked his watch. It was 12:08. Rapp had gotten over the jitters that this thing was going to blow any second. He was sure that al-Yamani wanted to get it as close as possible to the heart of the capital, and also to kill the president and the rest of the leaders who were to be present at the dedication of the new WWII memorial. That event was to begin at 1:00, so if Rapp was forced to bet, he'd say they probably had another fifty-two minutes until the bomb was set to go off.
In his mind, though, those were crucial minutes that could be used to get the bomb further away from the city. Rapp looked at the four helicopters in the parking lot, and decided to call Reimer back. "Paul, listen to me. I'm guessing the weapon is set to go off at one o'clock. I still think we should put it on a helicopter and get it as far away from the city as possible."
"Mitch, I already told you, we need to do the diagnostics first."
"Can't they do that in the air?"
"What if the terrorists placed an altimeter in the fire set and the second this thing gets a hundred feet off the ground it blows?"
Rapp hadn't thought of that. "All right, but what's the plan if the SEALs can't defuse it?"
"We're working on that right now."
Rapp watched the two men in the sealed suits walk down the boat ramp carrying a piece of equipment. "What do you mean, you're working on it?"
"Our first choice would be to take it out to sea."
"That's assuming you'll have enough time. It's at least a hundred miles to the Eastern Shore."
"And the beaches are packed right now, and the wind is blowing to the west, and that's just for starters, Mitch. We game this stuff all the time. The environmental impact, the economic impact, we've looked at it from every angle."
"If taking it out to sea isn't going to work, then what's the other option?"
"The only other option is to take it someplace remote, where the blast and fallout will do the least damage."
"That's it?" said a shocked Rapp. "That's our last and best option?"
Reimer didn't answer right away. "There is one other option, but it has never been fully studied. I don't think the president would ever authorize it. I know the Pentagon would flat out say no."
"Why?"
"Because it involves destroying a multibillion-dollar government facility."
One of the SEALs in desert fatigues came jogging down the dock toward Rapp. "What facility?" asked Rapp.
"Mitch, that's the president on the other line. I'm going to have to call you back."
"Don't..." The line went dead and Rapp cursed.
"Mr. Rapp?"
It was the SEAL who was now standing next to the boat. Rapp let out a long sigh and said, "Yes?"
"Lieutenant Troy Mathews." The officer stuck out his hand. "General Flood told me to keep you in the loop."
He shook the officer's hand. "What's the status with this thing?" Rapp pointed at the cooler. The two men in space suits were moving a device around the outside of the cooler, pausing every few feet and then moving on.
"That's a portable X-ray machine. They're snapping some photos for us so we know what's inside."
"Lieutenant," one of the men in the space suits yelled. "I'm counting six separate firing systems."
"Six?" the officer asked in a shocked voice.
"Yes, and I think they used plastique for a molded charge. It's covered with at least two dozen blasting caps."
"Six firing systems? You've got to be shitting me." Mathews looked toward the parking lot and shouted, "Mike, I need the drill and the fiber-optic camera right away."
Rapp found none of this comforting. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure." The lieutenant started rolling up his sleeves as he climbed in the boat.
As the lieutenant stepped over the dead bodies Rapp asked, "How long is it going to take you to defuse this bad boy?"
"It all depends on how they're wired, but I can tell you it isn't going to be a cakewalk."
Rapp watched as one of the lieutenant's men ran down the ramp and into the water, where he handed over a cordless drill and a black bag. A hole was carefully drilled through the top of the cooler, and then the pencil-thin camera head was delicately inserted. The lieutenant knelt down over the cooler and watched the small TV screen as his men took several minutes to try and glimpse as much as possible.
Finally, they pulled the camera out and one of them said, "No trip wires, sir. I think it's safe to open."
The lieutenant placed both hands on the top of the cooler and slowly lifted the lid. Rapp stood behind him looking down into the jumbled mass of wires and counted the six separate sets of red numbers. They had fifty-three minutes until the bomb blew.
Rapp swore and then said, "Lieutenant, I need a no bullshit assessment. Can you and your team disarm this thing in less than fifty-three minutes?"
The lieutenant studied the wiring, looking at it from the left and then the right. "I'm not sure."
"Well,I'm not sure isn't going to cut it. You see any altimeter in there, or anything else that would preclude us from putting the device on a helicopter, and getting it farther away from the city?"
"No." Mathews looked at his two men in the space suits. "Guys?"
They both shook their heads.
Another minute ticked off on all six screens and it was Mathews who swore this time.
They'd never make it to the ocean in time. Rapp's hands were suddenly covered in sweat. "Lieutenant Mathews, this is what we're going to do. I want your men to place this cooler in the back of that blue-and-white helicopter sitting in the parking lot."
"I'm going to have to call the Pentagon for an okay on that."
In a very calm, but firm voice, Rapp said, "Lieutenant, we don't have time to argue. While your men are putting the device on the helicopter, you are going to assess your chances of defusing it, and I'm," Rapp held up his phone, "going to call the president and General Flood. If you can't tell me with absolute certainty that you can stop this bomb from going off, the most important next step is to get it as far away from the city as possible."
The lieutenant stared down at the jumble of multicolored wires and then nodded. "Okay...it sounds like a reasonable precaution."
"Then let's move it quickly and carefully."
"Mike...Joe," Mathews yelled. "Bring down the lead blankets. We're going to move it."
Rapp got off the boat and started walking down the dock. He dialed a number and put his phone up against his ear. He was going to call the president, but not just yet. There was one other person he needed to talk to first.