Instinct: A Chess Team Adventure - By Jeremy Robinson Page 0,9
ever. There is no cure for the virus and though the mortality rate of the infected is ten to thirty percent, ten percent of the population of New York City is eight hundred thousand people. In the wrong hands, these small vials could be weaponized and kill millions.
“So much for Putin’s assurance that their smallpox cache was secure,” Queen said.
“I believe that as much as I believe Putin saved a film crew from a Siberian tiger,” Rook said. “If the guy had been born and raised in the U.S. he’d probably be on Broadway by now. What I don’t get is why this is still kicking around.”
“Human nature,” Queen replied. “We’ve been dousing the world in chemical and biowarfare for thousands of years before we even understood what the stuff was. And the U.S. is just as guilty as any other nation. Just because we don’t use chemical and biowarfare now doesn’t mean we never did. It’s only because we have better tech and bigger bombs that we no longer need to fight dirty.”
“Amen to that.” King nodded as he placed the Q-tip and small device on the floor. He took out a long cylinder that had been strapped to his leg, opened it, and doused the Q-tip and device with Thermate-TH3, a ruddy brown powder made from an iron oxide variant of thermite, barium nitrate, sulfur, and PBAN as a binder. The powder would burn at 2500°C, incinerating all traces of the smallpox and melting a hole in the container and a portion of the decks beneath. He closed the case as another shot rang out from outside the container.
The whup, whup, whup of an approaching helicopter rose in volume. The Chinese had arrived. King stood and shook the remaining Thermate onto the open case. Though more than a few science boys in the United States would like to examine the old smallpox plague contained in the vials, Deep Blue’s orders were clear: destroy it. The world would be a better place without another smallpox strain floating around, even in U.S. hands.
As King wrapped his scarf over his face once more, he headed for the exit with Queen and Rook. He popped a flare and tossed it into the container, then quickly closed and latched the metal doors. The Thermate would quickly suck the oxygen out of the small container space, but the flames would not be smothered. The powdered hell contained its own oxygen source and could burn just as easily at the bottom of the ocean or in the vacuum of space. Once lit, nothing could put it out.
Outside the container, Knight pointed to the sky. A black Zhi-11 gunship was approaching low over the sea, headed straight for them. As bursts of yellow flashed from the helicopter’s twin 12.7mm machine guns, King shouted, “Go! Go! Go!”
The Chess Team darted down a side alley, hiding them from view as rounds chewed up the deck where they had stood only moments before. Hidden from the chopper, they ran without fear of being cut down from the sky, but they ran with weapons out in case the crew still lingered about. As they reached the port rail it was clear that the crew had hid with the chopper’s arrival. They knew enough to not get caught in the cross fire.
The gunship roared above and out to sea, turning in a tight circle. It would be back in seconds.
The team hitched themselves onto their cables, still tethered to the cargo container, holstered their guns, and slid over the side of the ship, rappelling with large leaps down to the small, white, and defenseless motor boat. Once aboard the craft, they disengaged the magnets, which automatically reeled in. Without looking up, King gunned the engine, which looked old, but was actually top-of-the-line U.S. military. The small boat shot forward just as a line of 12.7mm rounds traced across the waves and ripped into the side of the Volgaeft.
King steered the small boat out and away from the cargo ship as the helicopter swung around for another pass. But the helicopter didn’t return. It just circled at a distance.
Too easy, King thought.
“King,” Deep Blue’s voice returned. “Cut hard to starboard.”
King glanced to port. Closing in was an ominous Chinese destroyer, its cannons swinging toward them. “They can’t be serious.”
“The Chinese have been in the Gulf of Aden for a year without any major conflicts,” Deep Blue said. “They’re eager to test