Chris Kuzneski [The Hunters The Forbidden Tomb (epub)

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.These taggants, as they were called, were like encoded messages that identified the origin and purchaser of the material.If they could determine the taggant, then all they needed was the manufacturer’s paperwork.They could simply compare the marker that had been detected to the entries on their master list, and that would give them the name of the buyer.Cobb cursed himself for not taking a sample of the compound when he had a chance.‘If we can get you a forensic report, can you trace the signature?’‘Probably not,’ McNutt answered.‘But that’s okay.We don’t need to go through all of that.’‘Why can’t you trace it?’ Sarah asked.‘And why don’t we need that information?’ Cobb added.McNutt answered Sarah’s question first.‘You probably won’t get a trace because taggants weren’t mandatory in Semtex until recently.And even then, the regulations only apply to new Semtex.There are still warehouses full of older, unmarked Semtex that has yet to be sold.’He turned toward Cobb.‘The reason it doesn’t matter is because the explosive is only part of the equation.’Cobb didn’t understand.‘How so?’‘Well, when I learned that you can’t trace Semtex, I looked for something else that might help us.’ He opened the folder he had brought with him and held up a picture of a detonator attached to a bomb pack.‘And I found this.’Cobb recognized the image.It was a close-up shot of the timer used to synchronize the explosions in the cisterns.McNutt didn’t wait for questions.‘It may look like an ordinary digital counter, but it’s not.It’s one of a kind.It’s made in Tunisia by a company named Mecanav.They make ships, of all things.This sucker actually belongs in the instrument panel of a high-end marine display.’Sarah tried to connect the dots.‘I don’t get it.Why is a Tunisian boat timer being used to detonate explosives?’McNutt smiled.‘Convenience.’He pulled out a map of Northern Africa and pointed at the small country of Tunisia, which sat at the tip of the northern coast.He ran his finger south into Libya.‘Remember Muammar al-Gaddafi – the whack job who ruled Libya for, like, forty years? Under his leadership, Libya became Explosia’s biggest and most-important client.The Semtex that they received was technically the property of the Libyan Army, but most of it ended up on the black market.’Cobb needed specifics.‘How much are we talking about?’‘A scary amount,’ McNutt replied.‘At least seven hundred tons.And that might be a conservative estimate.Some experts put that figure at well over a thousand.’Cobb groaned.For Sarah’s benefit, he put the number into perspective.‘Remember the Lockerbie bombing in 1988? A few ounces took out an entire airplane.’Sarah was familiar with the incident in Scotland, having studied it extensively during her training with the CIA.She knew about the damage not only to the plane, but also to the two hundred and fifty-nine people who had lost their lives.McNutt didn’t let her linger on the past.‘Libya is a hotbed for the Semtex market, but it doesn’t have the manufacturing base to supply the rest of the components needed to construct a bomb.The nearest source of reliable electronics is Tunisia, their neighbor to the north.Namely: Mecanav.Entire truckloads of these timers have disappeared as they made their way from the company’s assembly plant to the shipyards.They almost always turn up on the streets of Tripoli or Benghazi.’McNutt tapped the picture of the timer to reinforce his next point.‘Forget about the tomb, this is where the real money is.You could buy an entire boat for the same price that just a few of these timers go for on the black market.’Cobb finally had the whole picture.It might have taken McNutt a few minutes to get there, but it was worth the wait.The Libyan border was less than three hundred and fifty miles from Alexandria – close enough for a team to get in and out in less than a day.It meant that they could narrow their investigation.‘Sarah—’She cut him off.‘I can limit the parameters of my search.I’ll focus on groups operating out of Libya, specifically those who have a track record with explosives.’‘Well-financed groups,’ Cobb added.‘If the timers are that expensive, there’s got to be some big money supporting their efforts [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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