Dead Man's Rule (41 page)

“Yes, thank God,” said Dr. Ivanovsky, who seemed oddly reassured by the military man’s answer. “And trust him, too.” He turned to Ben. “This general thinks correctly. You can go home. I am okay now.”

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FTERWORD

Not nearly enough of this book is fiction.

The Soviet Union did indeed have a massive and secret biological-weapons program, of which Biopreparat was a part. The scientists who worked there developed a number of genetically engineered germs that are deadlier, more infectious, and less curable than anything humanity has ever faced. When the program was shut down—or at least scaled back—after the collapse of the Soviet Union, dozens of germ factories were simply abandoned. Thousands of scientists with only one marketable skill were suddenly without jobs.

The Ebolapox virus depicted in the story probably exists. Russian scientists admit to having developed the technology to insert Ebola genes into smallpox viruses, but claim they have not actually done so. The former second-in-command at Biopreparat, Dr. Ken Alibek, doubts that claim. But even if his former coworkers have not bred Ebolapox in Russia, some of them may well have done so for Iran, North Korea, or one of several other new employers. Now that the process for breeding this virus is known, it is only a matter of time before someone actually does it—if they have not already.

Shortly before the 9/11 attacks, the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies led a war-game-style simulation called “Dark Winter.” It was intended to study the effects of a terrorist attack like the one plotted by the Vainakh Guard (i.e., simultaneous attacks on multiple American cities). The only significant differences were that (1) the simulated terrorists in Dark Winter used ordinary smallpox—not one of the “superbugs” created by Biopreparat or another secret weapons lab, and (2) the terrorists hit only three targets, shopping malls in widely separated cities. Within three weeks of the simulated attack, the Johns Hopkins scientists projected, smallpox would have spread from those three malls to twenty-five states. Within two months, up to one million Americans would have died and the epidemic would be out of control. After the simulation ended, former senator Sam Nunn, one of the Dark Winter participants, said this in his testimony to Congress: “It’s a lucky thing for the United States that—as the Emergency Broadcast Network used to say—‘This is just a test, this is not a real emergency.’ But, Mr. Chairman, our lack of preparation is a real emergency.”

Much has been done since Dark Winter, including the initiation of Project BioShield, a comprehensive federal effort to protect America against bioterrorism. But much remains to be done. Some of the deadliest organisms used in biological weapons have no cure. Further, the Director of National Intelligence’s 2015 Worldwide Threat Assessment found that “the time when only a few states had access to the most dangerous technologies is past. Biological and chemical materials and technologies, almost always dual-use, move easily in the globalized economy, as do personnel with the scientific expertise to design and use them.”

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CKNOWLEDGMENTS

You would not be holding this book in your hands right now if I had not received help and support from innumerable people. First and foremost, I thank my wife, Anette, who is my muse, sounding board, and biggest fan.

Thank you to Amy Hosford, associate publisher at Waterfall Press, for believing in this book and bringing out a new edition.

Thanks to Sue Brower, agent extraordinaire, for tirelessly advocating for her authors and their stories.

I also owe a special debt of gratitude to those experts who reviewed the portions of the book dealing with Russian crime and biological weapons—subjects with which I happily have no personal experience. Assistant United States Attorney Terry Kinney provided extensive and invaluable feedback on the Russian criminal culture in Chicago. Dr. Nwadiuto Esiobu, professor of microbiology at Florida Atlantic University, who does federally funded work on bioterrorism countermeasures, offered helpful insight on the care and culturing of the virus described in these pages. My fellow Golden Domer, Special Agent Cathy Viray, was generous with her time and expertise in providing several useful details about the inner workings of the FBI.

Dennis Hillman and Dave Lindstedt edited an earlier version of this book and made invaluable suggestions throughout.

Last, but certainly not least, I appreciate the suggestions and corrections of the Valley Community Church Writers Group and dozens of other test readers.

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BOUT THE
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UTHOR

Bestselling author Rick Acker is supervising deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice. Most recently, he and his team won a string of unprecedented recoveries against the Wall Street players who created the mortgage securities that triggered the Great Recession. Acker has authored several legal thrillers, including
When the Devil Whistles
, which award-winning author Colleen Coble described as “a legal thriller you won’t want to miss.” He spends most of his free time with his wife and children. You can learn more about Acker and his books at
www.rickacker.com
.