Chapter 2: The opium trail

James MacLaren hunched forward over the keyboard and screen of the computer in his bedroom. The bedroom door was locked to avoid any unwanted intrusions and there was a good reason for that. James was doing something he shouldn't be and he knew he would be in big trouble with the other members of his family if he was found out.

He had recently turned fifteen and was what might be called a geek if he lived in the US. Here on his father's farm on the very western outskirts of Glasgow, he was merely regarded by his peers as a shy, highly intelligent boy, somewhat spoiled owing to his family's wealth, but interesting because of the things he had already managed to achieve in his short life.

Already pushing six feet tall, he was well built and solid through helping his father around the farm. His father's love of toys and gadgets had allowed James to learn how to fly a small plane and he had even soloed on his father's small helicopter. He had learned to drive when he was twelve and was expert in both his father's jeep and also the range of farm vehicles that were used at various times of the year. When all this was allied to his higher than average intelligence, he kind of proved to be too much competition for other boys his age to contend with and they responded in typical adolescent fashion by shunning him.

James' family consisted of his father - also called James, which led to the son being referred to as Jamie - his mother, Avril and his younger sister Laura. It was fourteen year old Laura that was the focus of his attention at that moment and she was the reason he was doing something he shouldn't.

Jamie had little luck with girls at school. The fact that other boys didn't accept him into any of the social groups somehow seemed to make it difficult for girls to agree to go out with him. Despite the fact that he was physically attractive and intelligent to boot - normally qualities that would have the girls flocking round - he was politely told no whenever he had asked a girl to a movie or a school dance. They were always nice about saying no, but after a series of rejections, Jamie had stopped asking.

With no other outlet for his raging teen hormones, Jamie had turned to the females closest to him. His mother was still only thirty-three and was as trim as a teenager. Her 34b breasts and long, long legs and tight ass had fuelled many jerk-off sessions for the young man. His mother was just simply hot. She had short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. His sister Laura was well on the way to matching her mother. She was five foot six and already had a chest that equalled the older woman.

Jamie fantasised over both of them and rubbed his cock raw some nights. As much as he thought about the two females in the house, he had never thought about actually doing anything with either of them. His mother and father would literally kill him if they even suspected what he was thinking, let alone if he ever tried to act on his thoughts and desires.

He had stumbled over Laura's MSN address when his mother had asked him to bring down his sister's dirty washing. Laura had forgotten to turn her computer off before going to her Girl's Guides meeting and although it had gone into hibernation, when Jamie bumped into her desk as he gathered up the dirty linen bag, the screen had sprung to life. He memorised the address with the idea that he could play a trick on his sister and have some innocent fun.

He created himself a MSN account under an assumed name and gave himself the screen name Highlander. The first time he had connected with Laura he had intended to simply chat and try to embarrass her a little. He was surprised that she had opened up to him so quickly and he discovered she was having just as hard a time of it at school as he was. She had asked where he had got her address and he had fudged it by saying that someone at school had shared it with him, remaining vague as to who that was.

Laura had apparently been impressed by the fact he was an older boy and his chat was relaxed and easy-going. She had found herself so comfortable that she began sharing some quite emotional issues with him and he found himself changing his position.

Jamie gulped as he read back the last message he had sent Laura. He thought he had perhaps gone a little too far. Things had changed from just having a bit of fun to offering his little sister sex advice. He glanced down as Laura's reply appeared.

Sassy14: I'm gonna have to think about what you've said. I'm not really sure I could do what you're suggesting, but I promise I'll think about it. I can see what you're getting at, but it's a big step to take. I don't think I've got the nerve to do it.

Laura signed off soon after that, telling Highlander she hoped he would message her again soon.

The next day Jamie had noticed Laura looking at him differently. He returned her look and was surprised when she blushed and turned away.

"What's that all about?" he thought.

An hour or so later he was stacking bales of hay in the barn when he heard Laura behind him.

"Need a hand with that?" she asked.

He turned and found himself gulping. Laura had changed her clothes since they had exchanged looks and she now wore a little white halter-top and skintight white short shorts. She was looking at him curiously, her head down slightly so she was looking through her fringe a little.

"Holy shit," he thought, don't tell me the only boy she is close to is me? The last thing I meant was for her to dress sexy and tease me for fuck sake. Now what am I going to do?"

Before he could say anything, Laura began to help lift the last few remaining bales. As she bent over, her shorts pulled even tighter against her body and Jamie was treated to the sight of surely the world's most beautiful ass. As Laura bent over yet further he could clearly see the crease of her sex beneath the thin material. He reacted as any hot-blooded male would - his cock filled with blood and he had a raging hard-on inside his jeans.

Like many insecure young boys, Jamie religiously measured his cock every month and knew he had a very respectable seven and a half inches. There was no way he could hide the obscene bulge in his crotch and as Laura took that moment to glance over her shoulder, her face flushed as she stared at it. The look seemed to last forever until at last she turned away and made out she was busy with the hay.

"Come on lazy-bones, help me get this last one up onto the stack," she said, her voice sounding a little breathless he thought.

When they had safely stacked the last bale she gave him a brilliant smile and walked out of the barn. Jamie watched and knew he wasn't imagining the slight sway to her hips, the little wiggle of her ass, as she walked away. His suspicions were confirmed when she glanced behind her to see if he was watching just before she turned at the barn door. When she saw he was, she gave him another smile and then was gone.

Cultivation/manufacture of the quantities of the virus that were required took some months. During that time, Ali Bin Salid was training the teams that would be responsible for taking the virus on the first stage of its journey. Ali was also in charge of the overall plan for how the virus was going to be delivered and then released. He had flown to Zahedan, in Iran, with Shafiq and they had met some local sympathisers who helped them over the border into Afghanistan.

The training camp they were using was in a remote and mountainous region of Afghanistan. It was no coincidence that the area was at the heart of poppy growing and the production of a large percentage of the world's opium. From the Afghan opium came the heroin that blighted so many lives in the west, a fact that pleased the Al Qaeda operatives who managed production no end. Ali however, was interested not in the drugs, but in the well established smuggling routes and contacts that allowed the heroin to get into places like America and the United Kingdom. He planned to use these same routes to move the virus.

Ali had three teams; each made up of six people. Two in each team would carry the packages with the virus in them and the other four would provide effective protection until the deadly vials were delivered. One team was targeting the US, one the UK and the last one was aiming for mainland Europe. His plan called for Al Qaeda cells that were already established to release the virus at all of the chosen locations simultaneously. Ali hoped that this would ensure the maximum impact and hamper any attempts to isolate and contain the outbreaks as they began.

The virus had been delivered and it sat on the desk in front of him. There were six polystyrene packs, each containing 12 vials and one aerosol dispenser. Ten vials contained the virus and the remaining two contained the vaccine that had been developed. Ali had decided on this split so that two packages would be going to each location. That way even if one of the team carrying the virus was somehow lost or captured, there was still a chance for the other to get through and complete his mission.