Deadly Ambitions

While David and Danny were putting together their plan, on a warm northern California afternoon in July, Gabriel Kozlov was relaxing at home when he received a call that would change his life forever. A meeting was set later that evening with one of his contacts, Atalo Karamanlis, a self-described Greek businessman in the U.S. on a pretext to discuss some new important piece of business for Gabriel’s company. They met under full security and he was ushered into Koslov’s office; glasses with large shots of vodka were on a table off to one side of his desk. After a slug, Karamanlis spoke: “Gabriel, let me tell you of the project that you will undertake. First some background. More than half of the goods shipped into the United States come through the port at Long Beach, California. It is the second busiest seaport in the country and is the gateway between America and the Asian trade. Over one hundred billion dollars in trade enters the country through this huge port. Being within twenty five miles of Los Angeles, over three hundred thousand employees living in the Greater Los Angeles area are involved in port activities. Aside from the immense Asian trade, the port handles over four billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas from Canada each day. Gabriel, you have been chosen to put together and to implement the plan that leaders in our homeland have been working on for several years; to bring and detonate a nuclear device in America. This is the structure of the plan. The parts will be obtained from Pakistan, Iran and other sources, shipped to Latin American countries and then trans- shipped to your facility. Simply stated, your team will assemble the device and detonate it in the port of Long Beach. We will show the West that we will not tolerate its collaboration with Russia to deprive Chechnya of its freedom. With its huge output, such a catastrophe would cripple the U.S. distribution cycle, make the area uninhabitable and spread fear around the world. Its proximity to Los Angeles makes this a perfect target. Of course, in order to orchestrate such a plan, we need a well-respected American to be the linchpin of this project. That is why you were chosen. You will be assisted with someone who will make contact with you shortly, applying for a management position. She is highly technically qualified in the development of a tactical nuclear weapon. The parts of this weapon will begin to be transported beginning at once in small containers principally from Mexico and other countries friendly to America. You will immediately establish a large storage facility near the port, perhaps an empty warehouse. We have some suggestions in this regard. As materials are brought in, you will invite a group of young American engineers that we have selected especially for their skills in nuclear explosive development and assembly to intern in all departments in your company. To avoid suspicion, they will be rotated through all your firm’s operations as interns and then sent to work at the storage facility to begin the process of assembling the device. It is our plan to containerize the final nuclear device disguised as a small export shipment perhaps no bigger than a suitcase; while being loaded on a specific vessel in the port, it will be detonated. We have estimated the casualties would initially be 250,000-500,000, with the number increasing as the clouds loaded with nuclear fallout spread out to neighboring Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California. The damage to the port itself would destroy major trade facilities including vital natural gas imports; the collateral damage as a result of the detonation would be devastating to the most populated region in this country.