Sword of Allah

Flores, Indonesia

Monroe and Wilkes had peeled off their JSLISTs and although the temperature was close to thirty degrees the slight breeze felt cool and sweet. Colonel Hank Watson and his crew had quickly confirmed the air free of VX. They’d located and secured the drums that had contained the nerve agent, and had just announced that the camp’s water supply was the culprit. How it had come to be contaminated was yet to be ascertained.

‘The whole Darwin thing is a massive assumption on our part, isn’t it?’ asked Monroe, spreading the METFOR out on the bench. ‘We don’t have intel on a positive target that I’m aware of. Kadar Al-Jahani didn’t give it up, the financier continues to say he has no idea, and we’ve yet to recover anything from the hard disks here and nothing on paper has come to light.’

‘Except for the METFOR,’ said Wilkes.

‘That’s right. So then, let’s go over it again.’ Monroe frowned as he leaned over the bench and willed the answer to leap off the printout.

‘You know, when you’re serious it makes me want to laugh,’ said Wilkes.

‘Why is that?’

‘Because I don’t know whether you’re taking the piss.’

‘And that means…?’

‘Taking the mickey, pulling my leg.’

Monroe turned his frown on Wilkes.

‘Okay, Atticus. Let’s get serious,’ said Wilkes. ‘All this fresh air’s getting to me.’

‘We assume Jakarta’s not the target. Why?’

‘Because it’s not on this METFOR, the one the terrorists checked prior to launch.’

‘A fair assumption,’ said Monroe. ‘So what is on the METFOR?’

‘Indonesia east of the island of Bali, West Papua, part of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Northern Territory.’

‘What else?’

‘A bunch of lines, the pressure gradients and a whole lot of ocean.’

‘Okay, so why Darwin?’

‘I think it’s assumed Darwin’s the target because it’s a big population centre full of non-believers, infidels. And it’s in a different country to the one the terrorists live in.’

‘But it’s not the only population centre on the map. There are plenty of others. And, for that matter, why does the target have to be a population centre?’

‘What are you getting at, Atticus?’ Wilkes asked. ‘I think you know where you’re going here, but you’re losing me.’

‘I was at the embassy in Jakarta just after the bombing,’ said Monroe.

‘Yeah, I remember, but what’s that got to do wi—’

‘They weren’t after people in that attack. The explosives used were specifically formulated to take out the structure. The terrorists — these same people — wanted to make a statement,’ he said, emphasising the word. ‘They were hitting out at a symbol.’

‘Okay,’ said Wilkes. ‘I’m with you so far.’

‘So apply the same logic to Darwin and ask yourself what their point is. Where’s the symbolism, the statement?’ said Monroe, smoothing the map down on the bench, ironing it flat with his hands. ‘You want another example, look at 9/11. Bin Laden struck at a symbol of American power. Killing a bunch of people wasn’t the main game. From their point of view, they struck at the very heart of the monster, and made it reel. The civilian deaths were just a bonus. So let’s take another look at this map from that perspective and find the statement.’

Wilkes and Monroe stared at the weather map and saw nothing but what was on the METFOR — outlines of countries, fronts and weather systems.

‘The effective deployment of something like VX depends on the weather,’ said Wilkes.

Monroe gave Wilkes a strange look as if to say, ‘Yeah, Einstein, which is why we’re looking at this thing.’

‘The experts on this stuff say the conditions in Darwin right now are ideal.’

‘Yep,’ said Monroe.

‘Then the answer is in the isobars, these lines here. Isobars join areas of equal pressure.’

Monroe nodded.

‘So as long as they remain equidistant from each other, those ideal weather conditions in Darwin exist wherever the lines go.’

‘Shit, Tom, you’re right,’ said Monroe, suddenly paying more attention to the lines that curved gently into the Timor Sea. ‘Then what’s under this area here?’

‘Oil and gas,’ said Wilkes, a fierce glare in his eyes. ‘You said it yourself, Atticus. Why does it have to be a population centre?’