“Hydrogen cyanide gas? How the hell did that get there, Miranda?” The President looked ill as he faced Miranda on the screen.
Drake felt as if he himself was choking on the stuff. He wished she hadn’t started by describing how the people would have died in such detail.
“I don’t like to conjecture. The other unfired oxygen canister remaining on this aircraft looks to be completely normal, though we’ll take that in for testing as well. It might not have been tampered with. Therefore, it is difficult to be certain. However, it would most likely be a form of an ammonia-methane compound, wrapped in a platinum catalyst. Add the high temperature of the thermite trigger and hydrogen cyanide gas would be produced in quantity. In fact…”
She tipped her head sideways for a long moment.
“Jeremy,” s
