Terrorist cover story¶
The terrorist cover story is the official account of the Marblehead incident that the task force gives the National Guard after Big Bill tells them to stick to the conventional facts: a religious group of bioterrorists attacked the town and its nuclear plant, there was no monster, and the nuclear detonation "wasn't us."
| Type | Lore (cover-up) |
| Aliases | Marblehead cover story |
| Ordered by | Big Bill (Big Bill Nelson) |
| Delivered by | Andrew Howard and Kurt Larson |
| First appearance | Summer Service 06 |
The order¶
After the creature dies, Andrew phones Big Bill, who is about 15 miles outside Marblehead, stuck behind a road "literally four feet underwater" and waiting for a boat. Big Bill already knows of the nuclear attack, which he says is under control, and that a submarine was lost. Andrew tells him "the thing is dead" and that it is bad out there radiologically. Big Bill calls it a military problem now and tells the team to stick to the conventional facts of the incident without breaking classification. When Andrew asks whether they should mention why the task force exists, he answers, "Oh, absolutely not. God, no," and says that is for the report. Andrew then supplies the story himself: "Terrorists, right?" Big Bill confirms, "Terrorists." (Summer Service 06)
Rita (as Andrew Howard)
"Terrorists, okay. Terrorists."
What the team tells the Guard¶
Andrew briefs the others: terrorists did everything, there was no monster, and the team killed only two men, Jester and the man who went out the window with the toilet. (Summer Service 06)
At the Guard checkpoint the account, told mostly by Andrew with help from Kurt, runs as follows:
- Kurt says the team has been intercepting a splinter group of bioterrorists who set out to cause an incident at the nuclear plant, and slowed them and stopped their goals.
- Andrew describes the group as religious, pointing to the murals in City Hall and literature about returning to the ocean. He admits the motive is unclear, since the team had only a few days in town.
- He says the plan was to take down the nuclear plant, and that the group had intentionally spread a parasite through the local food supply.
- The team hands over the canister of worm cure, which Andrew calls an antidote found in the investigation. Asked whether the terrorists made it, Kurt says "Unclear at this time." See anti-worm agent canister.
A Guard lieutenant (Older Guard officer) says the attack failed but killed a few guards, that his field medics report "profoundly wild things," and that the military is distributing deworming medicine. When he asks how the infestation relates to the nerve agent, Andrew says they are not entirely sure yet. (Summer Service 06)
The nuke¶
After the blast, and the radio contact's whoop of "That was awesome! Get the fuck away from there," the players agree that the nuke "wasn't us" and was not within the FBI's jurisdiction. Rita jokes that the people responsible were the same terrorists who did "the other war crimes with the chemical agents." In fact Zack's Huell had fired the Davy Crockett at the creature. When the lieutenant mentions that "someone used a tactical nuke" at the plant and that it will be hard to keep out of the news, the team feigns surprise; Zack answers, "That scoundrel. What?" and asks how the terrorists got hold of such a thing. (Summer Service 06)
Truth versus story¶
The cover story borrows from what the team actually saw. The church (Sons of Adam) served worm-filled communion wine and its leaders preached a return to the sea; see Second coming and eschaton. Whether the church spread the worms deliberately is only the team's suspicion. The cover story leaves out the angel thing, the submarine fight and the unnamed covert group on the radio. (Summer Service 06)
Trivia¶
- In the episode's cold open Big Bill tells his wife, "The Protestants are trying to kill my detectives." When Andrew calls in, Big Bill greets him with "The Protestants didn't get you," so "Protestants" seems to be his shorthand for the church. (Summer Service 06)