“NBC suits,” I asked.

“Nuclear Biological Chemical protection suits. Similar to our CBRN suits, but older, not as sophisticated.

“What’s that,” said Rodgers, pointing to the yellow barrel.

“It’s an over pack. Normally used to seal up leaking 55 gallon drums. I suspect it contains the material they couldn’t decontaminate, but I won’t know until it’s opened,” said the Lieutenant.

I read the name Dowd on the Lieutenants uniform. “Lt., You know what we are looking for?” I asked.

“I’ve been briefed. An unknown quantity of VX has been smuggled into the country. We need to find it before someone can use it.”

“From what you’ve seen here, can you tell how much VX we are looking for?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke. “Assuming they transferred the VX into new containers and left the originals in that over pack, not more than 100 kilograms, about 20 gallons.”

“What kind of damage could that much do,” Rodgers asked.

“Properly dispersed, that is about 10 million fatal doses,” Dowd said quietly.