Chapter 3.1

Douglas Arizona

Cindel woke to the pounding on the door and looked over at the clock on the nightstand next to the bed. The red glow of the numbers showed it was five in the morning. With a groan she rolled up and walked naked across the room and threw the door open. McCormick turned his head at the sound of the door opening and began to say something, but instead stood there with his mouth open. Before him stood Cindel, her pale skin seeming to glow in the semi darkness while her red curls cascaded down her shoulders but stopped short of her bare breasts. For nearly a minute he stood there somewhat in shock and somewhat in lust at what stood before him before Cindel broke his entrancement.

“Take a picture why don’t you!” she said impatiently. McCormick’s head snapped up at her words.

“Umm, sorry.” he said sheepishly and cleared his throat. “I was coming to get you. Washington will be on the phone in an hour and I figured you would want to have a chance to get dressed, eat, and review any new data that came in over night.”

“Food sounds good.” She said with an expression of weariness as she gestured for him to enter. “Coffee would be better though.” She turned away and headed for the bathroom door as McCormick entered and closed the door behind him. From inside the bathroom the sound of the shower being turned on could be heard. McCormick went over to the bed and sat down before reaching for the phone and dialing in a number. He had just finished hanging up when Cindel returned with a towel wrapped around her damp hair and went to her open luggage and began to remove the clothes she would wear for the day.

“I ordered to have coffee and food delivered to the command center.” Said McCormick looking up. “I have the residue and fragments analysis from both sites for you as well.”

“Read them to me” said Cindel as she slipped into her business slacks.

“The residue found is a combination of Sulfur, Carbon, and Potassium Nitrate.” He said flipping through the pages in the folder.

“Basically gun powder.” She said as she finished dressing and began drying her hair.

“Better then that. Black Powder. The original stuff.” He replied. “They don’t even use black powder anymore, even in re-enactments with antique or replica weapons. Everyone has gone to a substitute that is more efficient called Pyrodex.”

“So what is the difference between the two?” said Cindel.

“Pyrodex has all the same components as black powder, with the addition of graphite and potassium perchlorate.” He said. “While any one can probably make black powder, hardly any one does as there is no market for it.”

“So if no one really makes it anymore, then how is it that enough was around to be used to fuel those cannons we saw in the video sticking out of the trailer?” she asked. “Can we get some idea of where the components are from?”

“We can try, but this is not exactly like tracking Uranium to find out where it was manufactured. The abundance of the material would make it difficult to ascertain anything like that.” Said McCormick. “And the odds of it being manufactured outside of the States would make it pretty much impossible.”

“What about the fragments?” Cindel said as she finished getting ready and indicated the door. McCormick stood and moved to the indicated direction while still reading the file.

“The fragments come from an iron shell filled with black powder.” He started.

“So basically a cannon ball?” she cut him off.

“Actually no.” he said. “A cannon ball refers to a specific type of projectile also referred to as a round shot. It is a solid iron ball that was meant to plow through objects and destroy things as it bounced along. A shell is similar to a cannon ball but is hollowed out and filled with black powder then capped with a fuse, usually made of cloth wrapped around black powder. Once the fuse hit the powder, the combustion would stress the iron shell and cause it to fragment and be launched as lethal projectiles. Kind of like a modern grenade only larger.”

The two of them reached the vehicle and got in. McCormick handed the file over to Cindel then started the engine and backed out of the parking stall. Cindel began flipping through the pages slowly reviewing the data.

“You know, when I have imagined someone attacking the United States, I have always imagined something bigger.” She said aloud. “Nukes, chemical or biological weapons, even large trucks filled to the brim with homemade explosives. Not archaic weapons that do a little damage.”

In case you didn’t notice,” said McCormick, “the police station suffered more then a little damage.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She fired back defensively. “In the grand scheme of a terrorist attack, you want to do as much damage as possible. Level a city block, kill thousands of people, and so forth. Not blow up a mostly empty police station. Something about this whole incident does not feel right. No one is claiming responsibility. The entire attack in fact seems to have been engineered to stall the police while the attackers pillaged the town. Not exactly what I call a terrorist attack. More like a tactical well planned robbery on a large scale.”

“So you think this is not the work of terrorist?” McCormick said slowly.

“I don’t know for certain, but this whole thing just does not feel right.” She replied.

The vehicle parked at the opposite end of the hotel near the conference room that had been taken over for use as the command center. Both of them got out and approached the door being guarded by a local sheriff officer who nodded at them as they passed. The room was filled with several people from a variety of agencies. Few looked up as they entered. Most were to busy looking over computer data or on phones discussing their findings with their agencies. Cindel and McCormick moved past them to a divided off area that was her desk and conference area. The conference table had recently been set with trays of coffee and pastries. Cindel grumbled her displeasure at the basic fare and grabbed a cup of coffee. She had barely sat down when several of the individuals came into the conference area and sat down at their designated seats. A speaker phone could be heard dialing and then the conference started.