Black Wind (Dirk Pitt 18)

"Because it's made of porcelain," Dirk replied, holding a shard up for Dahlgren's closer inspection.

Dahlgren ran a finger over the surface, then shook his head. "A porcelain bomb. Very handy for attacking tea parties, I presume."

"Must have something to do with the payload." Dirk rearranged the fragments until they fit roughly together, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The payload armament had long since washed away in the sea, but several compartmentalized sections formed in the interior were clearly evident.

"Looks like different combustibles were to react together when detonated."

"An incendiary bomb?" Dahlgren asked.

"Perhaps," Dirk replied quietly. He then reached into the side

pocket of his BC and pulled out the digital timer. "Someone went to a fair amount of trouble to retrieve one of these bombs," he said, tossing the timer over to Dahlgren.

Dahlgren studied the device, turning it over in his hands.

"Maybe it was the original owner," he finally said with seriousness. Raising his arm with the timer in his palm, he showed Dirk the backside of the clock. In raised lettering on the plastic case was an indecipherable line of Asian script.

Like A pack of hyenas fighting over a freshly killed zebra, the president's security advisers were biting and yipping at each other in a self-serving attempt to dodge responsibility over the events in Japan. Tempers flared across the Cabinet Room, situated in the West Wing of the White House.

"It's a breakdown of intelligence, clear and simple. Our consulates are not getting the intelligence support they need and two of my people are dead as a result," the secretary of state complained harshly.

"We had no advance knowledge of an increase in terrorist activity in Japan. Diplomatic feeds from State reported that Japanese security forces were in the dark as well," the deputy CIA director fired back.

"Gentlemen, what's done is done," the president interjected as he attempted to light a large old-fashioned smoking pipe. Bearing the physical appearance of Teddy Roosevelt and the no-nonsense demeanor of Harry Truman, President Garner Ward was widely admired by the public for his common sense and pragmatic style. The

first-term president from Montana welcomed spirited debate among his staff and cabinet but had a low tolerance for finger-pointing and self-serving pontification.

"We need to understand the nature of the threat and the motives of our opponent, and then calculate a course of action," the president said simply "I'd also like a recommendation as to whether Homeland Security should issue an elevated domestic security alert." He nodded toward Dennis Jimenez, sitting across the Cabinet Room conference table, who served as secretary of the homeland security department. "But first, we need to figure out who these characters are. Martin, why don't you fill us in on what we know so far?" the president said, addressing FBI Director Martin Finch.

An ex-Marine Corps MP, Finch still sported a crew cut and spoke with the blunt voice of a basic training drill sergeant.

"Sir, the assassinations of Ambassador Hamilton and Deputy Chief of Mission Bridges appear to have been performed by the same individual. Surveillance video from the hotel where Bridges was killed exposed a suspect dressed as a waiter who was not known to be an employee of the hotel. Photographs from the video were matched to eyewitness accounts of an individual seen at the Tokyo area golf course shortly before Ambassador Hamilton was shot."

"Any tie-in to the killing of the executive Chris Gavin and the Sem-Con plant explosion?" the president inquired.

"None that we have been able to identify, although there is a potential indicator in the note left with Bridges's body. We are, of course, treating it as a related incident."

"And what of the suspect?" the secretary of state asked.

"The Japanese authorities have been unable to make a match in their known criminal files, or provide a possible identification, for that Matter. He was not a previously recognized member of the Japanese Red Army cell. He is apparently something of an unknown. The Japanese law enforcement agencies are cooperating fully in the manhunt and have placed their immigration checkpoints on high alert."

"Despite no prior connection, there would seem to be little doubt that he is operating under the auspices of the Japanese Red Army," the CIA deputy added.

"The note left with Bridges. What did it say?" asked Jimenez.

Finch rifled through a folder, then pulled out a typewritten sheet.

"Translated from Japanese, it says: "Be vanquished, American imperialists who soil Nippon with greed, or death will blow her cold, sweet breath to the shores of America. JRA." Classic fringe cult hyperbole."

"What is the state of the Japanese Red Army? I thought they were essentially dissolved a number of years ago," President Ward asked. Waiting for the reply, he tilted his head back and blew a cloud of cherry-scented tobacco smoke toward the paneled ceiling before Finch answered.

"As you may know, the Japanese Red Army is a fringe terrorist group that grew out of a number of communist factions in Japan during the seventies. They promote an anti-imperialist rant and have supported the overthrow of the Japanese government and monarchy by both legitimate and illegitimate means. With suspected ties to the Middle East and North Korea, the JRA was behind a number of bombings and hijackings, culminating in the attempted takeover of the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur in 1975. They seemed to lose support in the nineties, and by 2000 the known leadership of the organization had been largely apprehended. Though many believed the organization was dead, indications of the group's stirrings have been seen again in the last two years. Published doctrines and active media reporting in Japan have provided a new sounding board, gaining more reception in the country's declining economic climate. Their message has focused on anti-American and anticapitalist tenets, rather than the anarchistic overthrow of the government, which has found a degree of support within a fragment of the population's youth. Oddly, there is no visible front man, or poster child, for the group."

"I can endorse Marty's comments, Mr. President," the deputy CIA

director offered. "Until the hits on our people, we've had no overt record of activity from these people in a number of years. The known leadership is behind bars. Quite frankly, we don't know who is now calling the shots."

"Are we confident there is no Al Qaeda connection here?"