Page 140 of Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier
“So if we connect the dots, Hashimoto is planning on some kind of biological weapons attack on a U.S. military base,” Juan said. “But which one?”
“Could be anywhere,” Murph said. “The DoD maintains at least seven hundred fifty bases in eighty countries. In Asia, there are a hundred twenty bases in Japan. Seventy-three in South Korea.”
“He wouldn’t hit a base in Japan, would he?” Max asked.
“Depends on how angry he is,” Eric said. “Or why. No telling what his motives are.”
“Motive is the key,” Juan said. “We can’t read his mind. But maybe he’s following a familiar pattern. What if he was planning an attack on Guam, just like his grandfather did?”
“With a submarine?” Max asked. “And neurotoxin?”
“Not just any submarine. But a sub that can launch missiles or even planes.”
“Or drones,” Murph added. “He seems to favor those.”
“We should alert the authorities on Guam,” Max said.
“And tell them what? Get ready for a possible attack at an unknown time by a still unknown person with unknown weapons? And what if we’re wrong? What if it’s South Korea? Or somewhere else? Do we alert all seven hundred fifty American bases ‘just in case’?”
“I see your point.”
“I bet every military base in the Asian theater is on full alert anyway after the sinking of that South Korean destroyer.”
“And for all we know,” Eric added, “he’s conspiring with the Chinese and their Taiwan operations. He might be targeting fleets instead of islands.”
“I actually hope it is Guam,” Murph said.
Max leaned forward. “Why?”
“Their new air defense system comes online day after tomorrow. It’s the latest and greatest, like Iron Dome on steroids. Nothing the Vendor can throw at it will get through.”
“Unless he attacks before then,” Juan said.
“Good point. But that’s assuming he knows that’s the timeline,” Murph said.
“If we do,” Eric said, “he does. Count on it.”
“I’d feel better if we told Guam to stay extra frosty for the next forty-eight hours,” Max said.
Juan nodded. “Agreed. Make the call.”
Murph shrugged. “I think the greater likelihood is that Guam’s new air defense means he’ll be looking for an easier nut to crack.”
“You could be right, Wepps,” Juan said. “Guam is as good a guess as any, but it’s just that—a guess. So forget the target. We need to find Hashimoto.”
“I might have found him,” Eric said. “We finally cracked the encryption on one of the recovered phones—that Plata guy who ran the show on Sorrows.”
“Outstanding. Keep going.”
“Plata’s phone only communicated with one satellite number. The Cray was able to track the movements of Hashimoto’s phone. The main item of interest is this…”
Eric pulled up a map detailing all of the Vendor’s phone locations as red dots. But one location in particular had the highest concentration of red dots. It was an island in the Bismarck Sea.
“The name of the island is Pau Rangi. We think that might be his base of operations.”
“Any chance his phone is pinging there right now?” Max asked.
“It hasn’t broadcast since we leveled Sorrows.”
