Free Resurrection Day by Glenn Meade Page B

means newcomer. Mustard gas was a first-generation gas. Those like Zyklon B second. VX is third-generation — a class of incredibly powerful chemical weapons that take toxicity to a whole new level, and to which Novichok belongs.'
    'You're saying it could it have come from Russia?'
    'It's possible. Russian VX, more commonly known as RVX, is similar to US-manufactured VX, but has some structural differences in formula. I'm seeing those same kinds of structural differences in the sample we analysed. But it's just as possible it could have been manufactured somewhere else, other than Russia. Saddam Hussein is known to have experimented with Novichok gases. As have the Chinese and the Iranians. Or it could have been manufactured independently, in secret. But that would take a lot of money and research. You're talking about employing the services of top scientists.'
    'So you can't tell the exact source?'
    'Not as yet, sir, no.'
    'How difficult would it be for a terrorist organisation to acquire the component parts to manufacture this chemical?'
    'To produce what kind of quantity, Mr President?'
    'Say the amount it would take to kill every citizen in Washington.'
    The silence from Fredericks' end of the line was noted in the hushed situation room. 'Are you still there, Professor Fredericks?'
    'Yes ... yes, sir, I'm still here.' Fredericks sighed. 'It wouldn't be at all difficult. The hardest part would be coming up with the formula. As for the actual chemical ingredients, they're fairly commonly available and easily purchased — most are derived from agricultural pesticides, pretty much like most deadly nerve gases. Even ballpoint pen ink is only one step removed from Sarin gas. Certain of the formulas aren't difficult to acquire either. The British invented VX, for example, and the method of preparation was first published by the British Patents Office over thirty years ago, and is still publicly available. With some simple lab equipment, almost anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry could produce VX, or almost any other nerve gas. Many of them form part of a class of industrial chemicals known as organophosphates, commonly used as insecticides, but for military purposes they are manufactured to a much higher level of toxicity. For a long time now my colleagues and I have been warning about this same danger, Mr President.'
    'I'm well aware of that, Professor, but to get back to the question of quantity — '
    'If I were to give a rough estimate, a liquid ton of this chemical, correctly dispersed, might do it. That's about a thousand litres. The amount you'd fit in a typically small, suburban home heating tank. It would be more than enough to cause massive numbers of deaths.'
    'And how does it work?'
    'Just like VX itself, and pretty much like all other nerve gases, which are probably the most barbaric weapons ever devised. It affects the nerve motor receptors in the human brain and body. The synapses that carry brain signals between nerve cells shut down. A victim of a nerve gas attack would go into uncontrolled physical and mental spasm. The chemicals affect the respiratory tract and lung function, and the victim can't breathe. It feels like their lungs are on fire. The blood vessels often rupture. It causes an extremely ugly, violent death.'
    'Are there antidotes?'
    'Well, yes and no. There is an antidote called atropine. Victims exposed to VX, for example, would have to be immediately removed from the contaminated area and injected — which might not be possible if the gas has been dispersed pretty much everywhere. Coupled with that, you have to deliver atropine fast, and the method of injection isn't pleasant. It's usually delivered with a six-inch needle into the thigh muscle, or even straight into the heart. But atropine isn't always successful. It depends on how much of the toxic chemical a victim has been exposed to, and for how long. And remember, we're dealing here with something far more toxic than VX, so it's