‘This is Lee-Ann Ramirez; we interrupt this coverage of the Australian Open with breaking news. We cross to our Pentagon reporter, Sheldon Murkowski. Sheldon, I know it’s early in the morning in Washington, but is there any response yet from either the Pentagon or the White House to the accusations by the Kremlin that the US has fired a missile towards Korea?’
‘Lee-Ann, the Pentagon has not yet released a statement, but the mystery cone-shaped object, reportedly the size of a small car, was seen by dozens of tourists on board a Japanese cruise liner as it plunged into the ocean off the island of Hokkaido just before 6.30 p.m. local time.’
‘These are very serious allegations, Sheldon. Do we know what the Kremlin is basing them on?’
‘The Russian Defence Minister, Vladimir Andropov, was quite determined in his remarks. A Russian satellite-tracking station near Vladivostok followed the missile from the west coast of the United States at around 5.15 a.m., Californian time. Minister Andropov claims it was initially tracked across Alaska, but then it inexplicably altered course two minutes into the launch. We expect that either the Pentagon or the White House will hold a media conference shortly, Lee-Ann.’
‘That was Sheldon Murkowski, reporting from the Pentagon. And in other breaking news, a violent storm has blacked out communications over most of Japan and in parts of Korea and southern China. Authorities claim the storm arrived without warning and is the most violent in recorded history.’ The broadcast cut to live footage of Tokyo. The evening sky over the Japanese capital was a strange orange-purple. There were very few clouds, yet the city was being struck repeatedly with huge lightning strikes.
In scenes reminiscent of the September 11 strike on the World Trade Centre in New York, a jagged, forked silver-indigo flash exploded onto the Midtown tower, Tokyo’s tallest building, demolishing the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the rest of the top twenty storeys, which tumbled into the crowded CBD below. Almost immediately after, another immensely powerful flash struck the 750-year-old Great Buddha of Kamakura, splitting the eighty-four-tonne statue down the middle. Nearby, Yuigahama Beach was being peppered with strikes at temperatures approaching 30 000 degrees Celsius, which instantly melted the silica, fusing the sand into fulgurites – hollow glass tubes that penetrated metres into the beach. More powerful bolts struck the ancient heart of the city of Tokyo and more still had thundered into the area around Shinjuku, reducing to a pile of rubble the world’s busiest train station, used by four million commuters every day.
‘Already there is speculation that the events off Hokkaido and the violent storms above Tokyo may somehow be connected. We’ll bring you updates on this unfolding drama as they come to hand. This is Lee-Ann Ramirez, returning you to Australia.’
Wiley got up and walked over to the large map of the world mounted on the far wall of his office. ‘The impact area’s around the Mariana Trench?’
‘A little to the north,’ Davis confirmed.
‘Fuck ’em. Just deny it. They won’t find anything out there, and the media will lose interest.’
‘Well, that will be up to the Pentagon, and perhaps the White House, sir.’
‘Neither of whom would know shit from clay. Get on to their press secretaries and tell them it’s only a suggestion, but remind them who’s making it. In the meantime I want a team of divers up at Lake Atitlan,’ Wiley said, handing Davis a hard copy of Felici’s report. ‘Hernandez was a qualified high-altitude diver, and I’ve got a hunch he didn’t buy all that gear to go fishing. Any word on Tutankhamen or Nefertiti?’
Davis shook his head. ‘The asset’s got the ship in sight, but no one’s disembarked.’
‘For fuck’s sake! Get Rodriguez on the secure video. I want some answers.’