Killian, its Rex Logan.
Rex, how the hell are you? I heard you were back in Toronto.
Rex did not waste time on platitudes. We have a situation developing, Killian. We need to get the board members together for direction. I have some interesting data from my Cairo trip, and there are some developments in White River. Could be related. Looks like a hot spot.
Give me one or two hours Rex. I should have everyone assembled for a secure telecon within that time.
Standing by.
Killian, a reclusive eighty-year-old billionaire and founder of Bio Can Pharmaceutical, knew firsthand the blight of biological weapons. In his youth he had worked for a United Nations special commission to disarm rogue states of their offensive bioweapons programs.
The billionaire was widely regarded as a visionary. He believed biology in the wrong hands could ultimately spell the end of the human race. Killian felt governments around the world had not fully grasped the implications of the biological threat.
In his mind not enough time and resources were being thrown at the problem.
He set out to do something about it.
He formed the Bellona Channel. It was a civilian organization and civilian funded, but the Bellona Channel operatives assembled by Killian were all gleaned from the elite ranks of some of the worlds crack government organizations including the Navy SEALS, the CIA, Britains Special Air Services and MI-6, Israels Mossad and the FBI.
Killian had hand picked Rex from the SAS in Britain and brought him to Canada to head up the indigenous-medicine arm of Bio Can Pharmaceutical. The position served as a cover for his covert work with Bellona.
Rex grabbed the phone at the first ring.
Rex, we have the full board present, go ahead.
Evening, gentlemen.
The greetings were hearty and intimate, coming in from around the world. For some it was an ungodly early hour. Rex was proud to work for this team. The Bellona board was comprised of some of the brightest minds of this age. They shared Killians vision and were bound by loyalty and a common code of ethics.
Once the social niceties were over, Rex outlined the scenario. It was his mention of CIA agent Ken Mitchells presence in White River that really piqued the boards interest.
The way things unfolded with that lab raid in Marumba, I wouldnt be surprised to find Ken Mitchell was double dipping, noted Killian.
A double agent? The question came from the Australian director.
Its feasible. The question now is, what is he doing in White River? We need to find out and we need you on the job, Rex. Youre the one with the background on this case. There were murmurs of agreement at Killians assessment.
Rex felt a sick little slide in his stomach. There went his hope of sending a replacement to White River. Hannahs lambent image swam back into his brain. He squeezed it out and channeled his attention back to the teleconference.
Right. Ill make arrangements. Any word on the Plague Doc? Since the botched lab raid, the hunt for Dr. Ivan Rostov, one of the biggest international manhunts in history, had turned up nothing. Not even a lead. The Bellona Channel was just one of the many intelligence agencies after him.
Nothing so far, Rex. Its been six years now. For all we know, he could be dead. Killian cleared his throat. But he did escape that lab fire with his latest work, the work on ethnic bullets. And thats what has us worried. Even if Rostov was taken out, his work could still be completed by another rogue scientist and sold to the highest bidder.
Rex grunted in acknowledgment. Ethnic bullets was the term the Bellona Channel had given to the Plague Doctors efforts to genetically modify a range of lethal viruses including smallpox, Marburg, Ebola and bubonic plague. The Plague Doctor had started designing these bugs in his Marumba lab so that they would target only people with a specific genetic makeup, creating scourges that could potentially kill only people with blue eyes, for example, or only people of a particular race. The Human Genome Project had made this possible.
The potential was horrendous.
We need you in White River immediately, Logan.
The waters of Howe Sound sparkled in his rearview mirror as the road twisted and climbed up into the thin air of the Coast Mountains.
Margaret had seen to it that Rex had a rental vehicle waiting at the Vancouver airport. Hed asked her to make sure he got something with off-road capability. He was heading into rough country.
The narrow, treacherous road snaked up through forest and raw canyon. The view of the tortured Tantalus range in the distance was breathtaking. Rex felt his spirit wanting to soar as he gained elevation, but as he neared White River, he saw dark clouds up ahead.
They were massing over the distant snow-capped peaks, threatening to unleash their heavy burden.
The road sign ahead indicated the White River turnoff. Rex took the next exit and began the steep climb up through the valley toward White River and Powder Mountain. There were road-block booms at intervals along the road. They were raised up now, but Rex knew that when the winter weather turned foul and the roads deadly, the black and yellow booms would be lowered.