Excerpt

Major General Princeton Taylor, the Pentagons anti-terrorism guru, squirmed into a comfortable position in a leather chair at his neat desk. He took a sip of coffee and reached for the Monday morning intelligence briefing. His temper flared when he read about terrorist cells in the Middle East, then subsided when his thoughts turned to his plan to rid the world of them. He didnt subscribe to the Joint Chiefs wait-and-see philosophy. They were busy playing politics, putting the country in grave danger. Soon his biological would be ready, and no one could stop him.

The intercom buzzed. Taylor pressed the lever without looking up.

Yes.

Sir, General Whiteheads office is on one.

He pressed the button. This is General Taylor.

The female voice on the other end said that General Whitehead would like to see him in his office in the next few minutes. Arriving on the third floor in the E-ring, Taylor followed Whiteheads secretary into the three-star generals office, next to the offices of the Secretary of Defense. Speaking on the phone, Whitehead gestured for him to sit. Taylor settled into one of the two leather side-arm chairs. Cigar smoke irritated Taylors nose.

Whitehead hung up the phone.

Princeton, that was the boss, he said, referring to the Secretary of Defense, Lewis Corwin. Hes pleased with the way you built the Biodefense Center.

Taylor smiled, feeling pleased with himself. Two years earlier the DOD had changed its strategy against terrorism, which led to this secret facility in St. Louis. The Pentagon had decided in the mid-1990s to broaden its biodefense research program and to build a site to produce vaccines, since pharmaceutical companies saw no profit in producing them. A design for the Armys proposed facility had been completed, but no site selected. Several members of Congress ordered the Army to stop until it completed a study to justify the need for such a facility. They believed the military had no reason to get into the drug business.

Obsessed with the vastness of the Russians arsenal of biologicals, and the Middle East terrorists, the Department of Defense couldnt wait. Their concept of war had changed. New antidotes and vaccines were needed. The DOD secretly looked for a hidden site. That search led to a biotech company in the Midwest known as DnaTech Pharmaceutical, Inc., nestled at the edge of Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Dr. David Rutherford III was its President and CEO.

Rutherfords biotech company faced bankruptcy, and he needed money to save it. He and Defense Secretary Corwin, struck a deal. The DOD leased the top two floors and installed a mammoth security system in and around the building. The DOD would pay a handsome yearly sum, and DnaTech would produce the vaccines and antidotes.

Taylor installed the latest equipment for biodefense research on the top floor, calling it the Center for Biodefense Research. On the fifth floor a high-tech, global satellite tracking system was installed --- the Global Surveillance Center.

Lieutenant General Allen Whitehead, Army Chief of Staff, in his early sixties, short and bald with some gray hair at his temples, raised the lid of a wooden box on his desk and removed a cigar.

Care for one, Princeton? said he, holding it in the air. He paused. Oh, you dont smoke.

Taylor shook his head. He held back the urge to tell his boss to go to hell. Whitehead lit the cigar, stood and picked up a brown folder. He sat in the chair next to Taylor, and stared at him.

The Secretary selected Matt Brenner to replace Sinclair. Heres his folder. Taylor reached for it. Offer him the job, and then transfer him from Fort Detrick to DnaTech. He paused to take a puff on his cigar. The director at Detrick is unhappy. Brenner was one of his best and he didnt want to give him up. But thats his problem.

Taylor crossed one leg over the other.

How is Major Wu working out? Whitehead asked.

Major Joan Wu, an M.D. with a doctorate in microbiology and postdoctoral training in pathology, had been in charge of Biodefense and the biosafety labs for two years. Taylor had her transferred from USAMRIID, the only lab in the DOD equipped to study highly hazardous infectious agents requiring maximum containment at the biosafety level-4 (BSL-4). His assistant commanding officer, Colonel Don Jagger, was in charge of Global Surveillance.

Shes doing a banged up job.

According to Dr. Keyes, Brenners a brilliant scientist. The boss is high on his antibiological. He took another puff on his cigar.

Taylor hated the idea of having the childhood friend of Jack Sinclair in his Biodefense Center. He could be trouble.

Whitehead turned to Taylor. That damn antibiological is suppose to supercharge the human immune system to fight off any biological the terrorists can throw at us. We need the damn thing.

But were still faced with chemical and nuclear terrorism, Allen. We should hit the terrorists now!

Whitehead scowled at him. Dammit, Princeton. You know how we feel about that. Dont keep bringing it up.

Taylor felt his heart race. They just dont get it.

Any trouble from Rutherford?" asked Whitehead.

None.

I guess not. The son of a bitch is paid handsomely for those two floors.

Whitehead rose and Taylor followed him to the door. The three-star general stopped, then turned.

What about that fucking Red Book? Any leads?

None, sir.

Whitehead shook his head. Im surprised it resurfaced. I thought Colonel Osborne had destroyed it years ago. How did Jack Sinclair get it?

Dont know, said Taylor. But Dennis Kugler has it now.

Get the bastard.

I assure you, DIA will find him and the Red Book, said Taylor.

No more screw- ups like in Vietnam, Princeton. Make sure you concentrate on biodefense. I dont want Senator Fellows on my ass again.