Polar Shift Part 2

THE TROUTS HAD BOOKED a beachside hotel room with a balcony that overlooked the harbor and offered an unimpeded view of the distant s.h.i.+pping docks. Since arriving in Rio, they had taken turns sitting on the balcony watching the transmitter s.h.i.+ps.Trout brought Gamay a cold gla.s.s of orange juice and pulled up a chair beside her. "Anything happening?"Gamay raised the binoculars to her eyes and studied a long s.h.i.+pping dock on the other side of the harbor. "The transmitter s.h.i.+ps haven't moved an inch since we got here."Trout borrowed the binoculars and inspected three s.h.i.+ps tied up parallel to the dock."Did you notice that the liner is gone?""It was there yesterday. They must have left before we got up this morning."Gamay had wondered what a pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p was doing in a cargo vessel area. They had read the name painted on the stern: Polar Adventure. But neither one of them had given the vessel much thought. They had been more interested in the three cargo s.h.i.+ps, which were named Polaris I, II and III, after the northern pole star."I think we should take a closer look," Paul said."My thoughts exactly. I'm about ready to go for a ride."Minutes later, they were driving along the edge of the harbor. The resort hotels thinned out, and the neighborhood they were pa.s.sing through became more commercial. Eventually, they came to a concentration of warehouses, s.h.i.+pping company offices and maritime buildings. They pa.s.sed several containers.h.i.+ps, and went by the empty berth formerly occupied by the ocean liner. A guardhouse had been set up near the three vessels they had seen from the hotel.Standing outside the structure was a beefy guard who carried a side arm and a rifle. He was smoking a cigarette and talking to a longsh.o.r.eman. Paul kept the car at the same speed so he wouldn't attract attention, but he drove slowly enough for Gamay to give the s.h.i.+ps a quick but thorough inspection."Any other guards?" Trout said."Only the one, that I could see. There may be more on board.""Maybe not. They wouldn't want to attract attention by having too many security guys hanging around. This could be a golden opportunity to snoop around.""Yes, but he had a very big gun. How do you propose to get past that?"Trout gave Gamay a lopsided grin. "I was thinking that a beautiful woman could provide a, uh, diversion.""Here we go again. Cherchez la femme. The oldest trick in the book. Do you think he'd fall for a ruse like that?""You're kidding," Trout said with a chuckle. "We're talking about a hot-blooded Latin male.""Unfortunately," Gamay said with a sigh, "I think that you're right. Okay, I'll do my Mata Hari impression, but you're buying dinner."A half hour later, they were back in their hotel room. Paul mixed a couple of cool rum drinks, and they sat on the balcony sipping from their gla.s.ses and taking turns watching the s.h.i.+ps through binoculars until the sun went down.After a dinner sent up by room service, Gamay took a shower, doused herself with perfume and slipped into a low-cut red dress. Beautiful women abound in Rio, but Gamay drew every male eye in the lobby when she and Trout crossed to the hotel entrance.The s.h.i.+pping dock had undergone a stark personality change. The trucks, longsh.o.r.emen and stevedores had left for the day, and the dock area had developed a rank, sinister atmosphere. Unevenly s.p.a.ced pole lamps cast yellow puddles of light that were diffused by a fog that had moved in from the harbor. A foghorn moaned in the distance.Gamay drove past the empty berth formerly occupied by the Polar Adventure and pulled the car over and parked under a lamppost near the guardhouse. She got out of the car, stood in the light and took a swig from a bottle of rum. With noisy fanfare, she raised the hood and poked her head underneath. Then, swearing loudly in Spanish, she kicked the fender, looked around and waved at the guard. Weaving as she walked, she made her way over to the guardhouse.The guard was a dark-complexioned, muscular man with an expression of bored suspicion on his flat-featured face. Gamay spoke perfect Spanish, but for the benefit of the guard she slurred her words. She said her stupid car had stalled, and asked him to come take a look. He glanced at the car, which was partially obscured by the shadows, hesitating."Don't tell me you're afraid of me with that big gun you're carrying."She staggered and seemed to fall before she grabbed the guard's shoulder and gave him a blast of rum-soaked breath. The appeal of a s.e.xy, drunk woman and the veiled insult to his manhood did the trick. He laughed l.u.s.tily and put his arm around her shoulder. Gamay laughed too, and they made their way back to the car."I think they gypped me and there's no engine," she said, placing her hands on her hips.She was gambling that he would follow the male instinct to stick his head under the car hood. When he did, Trout stepped out of the shadows, tapped him on the shoulder, then dropped the guard with a powerful right cross. With Gamay's help, they gagged and tied the dazed guard with towels borrowed from the hotel, took his guns and stuffed him in the backseat of the car.Trout put the man's cap on his head, slipped a flashlight into his windbreaker pocket and tucked the pistol in his belt. "Call in the cavalry if I'm not back in twenty minutes."Gamay hefted the rifle. "Be careful," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "You're looking at the cavalry."Trout would rather have Gamay at his back than a hundred John Waynes. She was an expert marksman, and anyone caught in her sights would have a short life. He swiftly climbed to the top of the gangway and looked around the deck. The fog that hung over the s.h.i.+p and dampened the deck lights would make him less visible, but it would also provide cover for any guards watching the deck.He had seen the photos Austin and Zavala had taken of the s.h.i.+p exhumed by the whirlpool and had a general idea of the layout. He blindly navigated his way through the murk and managed to find the superstructure without slamming face-first into it. He felt his way along the exterior until his groping fingers came to a door. He stepped into a darkened s.p.a.ce and flicked on the flashlight he had borrowed from the guard. A companionway led to a deck below.Clutching the guard's pistol in his free hand, he descended the stairs and followed a maze of corridors. At the end of one pa.s.sageway, he paused and put his ear against a metal door, then tried the handle. The door was unlocked. He opened it and stepped through.His footsteps echoed as he slowly made his way to a railing and saw that he was standing on a balcony. He was in a cavernous s.p.a.ce that must be the generator room Austin and Zavala had described. He flashed his light around and realized why there was only one man guarding the s.h.i.+ps. There was nothing to guard. The room was empty.Trout made his way back to the main deck. Austin had talked about a shaft that ran down through the hull from the deck to the water. He finally found it, along with the framework around the rectangular opening. But there was no sign of the cone-shaped structure. The s.h.i.+p seemed to have been stripped clean. He pondered the idea of checking out the control room, but decided that there wasn't time. Gamay would storm the s.h.i.+p in search of Trout if he didn't come back when promised. He headed for the gangway.The guard had regained consciousness, and Gamay had to threaten him with his gun to quiet him down, but other than that there had been no incident."What did you find?" she said."Nothing. And that's what's so interesting. My guess is that the other s.h.i.+ps are stripped down too."They dragged the guard from the car and left him in the shadows. He had started struggling against his makes.h.i.+ft bindings. With a little more effort, he would be able to free himself. About a hundred feet from the guardhouse, they tossed his guns into the harbor.There was little chance that he would raise the alarm once he got free. His employers would not be pleased if they learned he had fallen down on the job. He would have enough trouble explaining what happened to his weapons.On the drive back to the hotel, Trout described his search of the s.h.i.+p and the surprising results."But why? And what did they do with all that stuff?"Trout shook his head, picked up his cell phone and punched out a number from the directory."We'll let Kurt figure that one out."

40

AUSTIN REACHED INTO HIS desk drawer, extracted a dart from a board game and had his hand poised to throw it at the chart of the Atlantic Ocean pinned to the wall when the telephone rang. He picked up the receiver. It was Paul Trout calling from Rio."Hope I'm not interrupting anything important," Trout said."Not at all. I was bringing my scientific training to bear on a knotty puzzle. How's the girl from Ipanema?" Austin said."Gamay is fine. But there's something strange going on with the transmitter s.h.i.+ps. I snuck on board one a few minutes ago. It's been stripped of its turbines and the electromagnetic antenna. I suspect someone has done a similar housecleaning with the other s.h.i.+ps.""Empty?" Austin raced through the possibilities in his mind. "They must have done the housecleaning when the s.h.i.+ps were in the Mississippi boatyard.""We should have figured that something funny was going on. The s.h.i.+ps are just sitting there, tied up to the dock. No preparations. Nothing to indicate that they're going to sea anytime soon. Only one s.h.i.+p has left the dock since we've been here, and that was an ocean liner."Austin was deep in thought and only half listening to Trout. "What's that you said about a liner?""The Polar Adventure. It was tied up next to the transmitter s.h.i.+ps, but it left earlier today. Is it important?""Maybe. Joe says a liner left the s.h.i.+pyard in Mississippi about the same time as the transmitters.""Wow! Think this is the same vessel we saw?""It's possible," Austin said. "They move the transmitters into the liner. Then, while we're watching the decoys, the liner sneaks away with the payload in broad daylight.""So much for the navy's plans to tail the s.h.i.+ps with a submarine.""Cla.s.sic 'bait and switch' operation.d.a.m.ned clever.""How long since the liner left port?""It was gone this morning."Austin did a quick mental computation. "They could be hundreds of miles out to sea by now. That's a jackrabbit start.""What do you want us to do?""Stay put for now, and keep an eye on the s.h.i.+ps in case their owners have another card up their sleeve."Austin clicked off. He was angry with himself for not antic.i.p.ating that anyone intelligent enough to carry out a polar reversal would do everything possible to throw pursuers off their trail. He turned his attention back to the chart. It was a big ocean. With every pa.s.sing minute, the liner came closer to losing itself in hundreds of square miles of open sea. He thought about calling the Pentagon with the news from Trout, but he was in no mood to waste his breath debating the a.s.sistant defense secretary.Sandecker might be more successful, but even he would have to deal with the Pentagon bureaucracy, and there was simply no time. Screw 'em, Austin thought. If the world was going to end, he would rather have the responsibility on his shoulders than those of an anonymous government functionary with an att.i.tude. This was going to be a NUMA deal, through and through.Ten minutes later, he was in a NUMA vehicle driving through the quiet streets of Was.h.i.+ngton. He took the highway to Was.h.i.+ngton National Airport, where the guard at the gate of a restricted area checked his ID and directed Austin to a hanger in a far corner of the airfield. He could see the glow of lights, and easily made his way to where a Boeing 747 jumbo jet was parked on the tarmac.Floodlights set up on stands ringed the huge plane and turned night into day. The plane was surrounded by drums of electrical cable and stacks of aluminum and steel. Workers crawled in and out of the plane like ants on a candy bar.Zavala sat under the lofty tail of the plane at a makes.h.i.+ft table a.s.sembled from a sheet of plywood and a couple of sawhorses. He was going over blueprints with a man dressed in coveralls. He excused himself when he saw Austin and came over to greet him."It's not as bad as it looks," he said. He had to raise his voice to be heard above the noise.Austin glanced around and was relieved to see a semblance of order in what at first seemed to be total chaos."How long before the bird is ready to fly?" Austin said."We've had a few glitches, but all the stuff is here. It's mostly a matter of fitting everything in and connecting it. Seventy-two hours should do it.""How about tomorrow morning?" Austin said.Zavala smiled. "You should get a slot on Comedy Central.""Unfortunately, there's nothing comic about the news I just received from Paul." He told Zavala about the missing liner. "Could you a.s.semble the rest of the setup while we're in the air?"Zavala winced. "Possible, but not advisable. It would be like trying to stuff a sausage on the run.""What if there's no choice but to try?"Zavala looked at the hectic activity and scratched his head. "I never could resist a juicy sausage. C'mon while I break the bad news to my right-hand man."The man Zavala had been reviewing blueprints with was Drew Wheeler, an amiable Virginian in his forties who was a NUMA specialist in the logistics of moving big payloads around the world. Austin had worked with Drew on a few projects where heavy equipment was needed in a hurry. Wheeler's tendency to think things through, as if he were mentally chewing on a plug of tobacco, could drive people who worked with him to distraction. But they soon learned that he had a knack for laying out complex plans in his head so they could be executed seamlessly.Austin asked how things were going and got the typical Wheeler response. He c.o.c.ked an elbow on one hip and squinted at the plane from under his eyebrows like a farmer trying to figure out how to remove a tree trunk from a field. "Well," he said, pausing before he answered. "Things are going okay.""Are they okay enough to get this plane off the ground tomorrow morning?"Wheeler chewed the question over for a moment before he replied. "What time tomorrow morning?""As soon as you can make it."Wheeler nodded. "I'll see what I can do."He ambled back to the plane as if out for a casual walk. Austin wasn't fooled. "I'll bet you a bottle of Pancho Villa tequila that Drew's already figured out how to do this.""I know him well enough to recognize that's a sucker bet," Zavala said."A wise decision. Where did you get the plane?""You'd be surprised what you can lease these days if you've got deep pockets. It's the 200F freighter, a modified version of the pa.s.senger 747. It's got a capacity of nearly 250 thousand pounds. The main problem was to get all the hardware you see lying around into the plane without having to crack it open like a can of sardines. We tossed the problem around awhile with Hibbet and Barrett," Zavala said. "I had it in my mind that we'd have to go with ma.s.sive generators like the ones we saw on the transmitter s.h.i.+p. But Barrett said it wasn't necessary. We could use smaller generators, just more of them.""What about the coil?" Austin said."That gave us the biggest headache. I'll show you what we did."Zavala led the way to the nose of the giant plane. Two people in coveralls were bent over a dishlike structure set up on a platform. Al Hibbet smiled when he saw Austin and Zavala walking in his direction."h.e.l.lo, Al," Austin said. "Having fun yet?""The most fun I can remember since I got an electric motor for my Tinkertoy set. Karla has been a big help."The other worker looked up and revealed Karla's smiling face under a baseball cap. "What the professor means is that I'm a great help holding a screwdriver.""Not at all," Hibbet said. "Karla may not have a technical background, but she has an instinct for solving problems. She has obviously inherited her grandfather's genes.""Glad to hear you're working well together," Austin said. "Joe said you had a problem with the coil.""That's right," Hibbet said. "In the transmitter s.h.i.+ps, they dangled the antenna below the s.h.i.+p. We were going to sling it under the fuselage.""Would that be a problem during takeoff?""You hit on the problem. This is the radome for the newly designed antenna. I got the idea from some of the setups I've seen on early-warning aircraft. It was Karla's suggestion to redesign the cone to fit into the dome.""I used to have guppies in my fish tank," Karla said. "They have a pouch under their chin that gave me the idea."Hibbet whipped a plastic covering off a metal-and-wire construction about twenty feet across. The circular framework that sat in a wooden cradle was shaped like an inverted coolie hat. It was flat on top, with shallow sides coming to a point on the bottom."Ingenious," Austin said. "It looks like a squashed-down version of the cone antenna. Will it work as well?""Better, I hope," Hibbet said."That's good, because we've revised our schedule. We need everything ready to fly out by tomorrow morning. Can you a.s.semble the final stages while we're in the air?"Hibbet pinched his chin. "Yes," he said after a moment. "It's not the ideal way to do something this complex. We won't even have a chance to test the turbines. But we can start going down the punch list as soon as we mount the antenna and dome. We'd better ask Barrett for his opinion."They climbed a gangway into the 747's vast interior. A line of sixteen squat steel cylinders, s.p.a.ced evenly apart, ran nearly the entire 230-foot length of the airplane's cargo s.p.a.ce. A network of cables connected the cylinders and snaked off in dozens of different directions. Barrett was kneeling over a cable between two of the cylinders.He saw Austin and the others and got up to greet them.Austin glanced around at the complex arrangement taking up a good part of the plane's enormous interior. "Looks like you've got enough power capacity to light up the city of New York.""Almost," Barrett said. "It was a bit of a problem hooking up the power source, but we finally jury-rigged a system that should work okay.""I'm more curious about the dynamos. Where did you get so many at such short notice?""Special order from NUMA," Zavala said. "They were going to go into some new s.h.i.+ps before I borrowed them temporarily.""New power source. New antenna. Is it all going to come together?""I think so," Barrett said. "That is, I'm ninety-nine percent sure, according to the computer models I've done."Austin shook his head. "It's that one percent that worries me. Can we do it all by tomorrow morning?"Barrett chuckled, thinking Austin was joking. Then he noticed the serious expression in Austin's eyes. "Something going on?'Austin relayed Trout's account of the mysterious liner.Barrett slammed his fist into his palm. "I told Tris months ago about my idea of using a single s.h.i.+p to concentrate the transmission. I even gave him the plans for the switch. He said it would take too much time. Guess I shouldn't be surprised he was lying again.""About that schedule?" Austin said.Barrett's eyes blazed with anger. "We'll be ready," he said.Leaving Barrett to his work, Austin and the others climbed back down the plane's gangway. Austin asked where he could pitch in. Zavala ticked off a short list of last-minute supplies. Austin walked away from the activity where it was quieter and made his phone calls. In every instance, he was told that the material would be delivered quickly. He was walking back to the plane when he saw that Karla had followed him. She had evidently been watching as he made the calls."I've got a favor to ask," she said. "I want to go on the plane.""This is the part where the hero says, 'It could be dangerous,' " Austin said."I know. But it was also dangerous back on Ivory Island."Austin hesitated."Besides," Karla said. "What could be more risky than riding with you in a Stanley Steamer?"Austin would have to tie Karla up to keep her from boarding the plane. He smiled and said, "Neither of us is going anywhere unless we get back to work."She threw her arms around him and planted a warm kiss on his lips. Austin vowed to devote more time to pleasure after this job was done.As they made their way back to the plane, a car pulled up. A tall figure got out from behind the steering wheel and limped toward them. It was Schroeder."What are you doing here?" Karla said."I'm more curious about how you got past the gate," Austin said."The usual formula.A combination of bravado and false identification.""You're supposed to be resting in a hospital bed," Karla scolded."A hospital is not the same as a prison," Schroeder said. "They let you go if you sign a paper. Do you think I could stay in bed knowing you were doing this?" He gazed with wonderment at the plane under its bright lights. "Ingenious. Do you really think you can neutralize the reversal from the air?""We're going to try," Karla said."We? You're not going on this mission? It might be dangerous.""You sound like Kurt. I'll tell you the same thing I told him. My family is responsible for this mess. It's my responsibility to help clean it up."Schroeder laughed. "You're Lazlo's granddaughter, without doubt. Stubborn, just like him." He turned to Austin. "Take good care of her.""I promise," Austin said.Schroeder glanced at the bustling activity in and around the plane. "When do you expect to leave?""Tomorrow morning," Austin said."This is one old dinosaur who knows when he's extinct," Schroeder said. "I'll be at the hospital waiting for your call. Good luck." He embraced Karla, shook hands with Austin and hobbled back to his car. They watched the car's taillights until they were out of sight, then Austin turned to Karla."We've got lots of work to do."She nodded. Walking arm in arm, they made their way toward the huge aircraft.WHILE AUSTIN'S NUMA crew was in a frantic race to achieve the impossible, Tris Margrave was having no doubts about the imminent success of his project. Doubt was something foreign to him, and would never have entered his mind.As the Polar Adventure plowed through the South Atlantic, he sat in his comfortable ergonomic chair behind a control panel built into the forward observation platform. His long fingers played over the controls like an organist in a great cathedral. He had started the dynamos as soon as the s.h.i.+p left port. Each generator was represented on the large computer monitor by a red symbol and number, which meant that it was active at a low level.Red lines ran from the dynamos to the image of a cone. The cone was green except for its red point, indicating that a minimum amount of power was flowing into the huge coil lodged deep in the s.h.i.+p's hold. Margrave thought of it as the equivalent of idling a car motor.On another screen, the console displayed a cutaway diagram of the earth that showed its layers. Special sensors in the s.h.i.+p's hull would be able to detect the electromagnetic penetration and the extent of ripple effect.Gant had been on a tour of the s.h.i.+p talking with his security people. Ever the perfectionist, Gant wanted to be sure that when Margrave had outlived his usefulness he would be quickly disposed of. As he entered the observation platform, Gant smiled and said, "Not much longer?"Margrave glanced at his GPS. "We'll be on target in the morning. It will take another hour to position the s.h.i.+p and deploy the coil. The sea is calm, so it might not be that long."Gant went over to the bar and poured two tall flutes of champagne. He gave one gla.s.s to Margrave."A toast would be appropriate.""Here's to the defeat of the Elites," Margrave said. "To a new world."Gant raised his gla.s.s. "And new world order."

41

ZAVALA LEFT THE 747's c.o.c.kpit and made his way back to the plane's abbreviated pa.s.senger section where Austin was working on a laptop computer. Zavala was smiling as if he had heard a joke."Pilots are funny people," Zavala said with a shake of his head. "The c.o.c.kpit crew would be pleased if you could tell them where to fly the plane.""I'll have a definite position soon," Austin said. "For now, you can tell them to head in the general direction of the mid-South Atlantic.""That narrows it down," Zavala said."This is the area we're looking at." Austin pointed to the glowing computer screen. "That's a NASA diagram showing data collected by the ROSAT s.p.a.cecraft. That blob you see extending from Brazil to South Africa is our hunting ground, the South Atlantic Anomaly." He tapped the keyboard and zoomed in on a cl.u.s.ter of rectangles. "This area has the most p.r.o.nounced dip in the magnetosphere.""Which means it would be the logical point to start a polar s.h.i.+ft," Zavala said."Yes and no. Here's where I think we should go." He tapped the screen at a different location. "The earth's crust is thinner here, allowing for maximum penetration with the Kovacs waves."Zavala puffed his cheeks out. "That's still a lot of ocean to cover. A couple of hundred square miles at least.""It's a start," Austin said.He c.o.c.ked his ear at the sound of an electrical hum coming from the cargo section. A moment later, Karla and Barrett came through the door. Karla's golden hair was in straggles, and she had dark circles under her large eyes. Barrett's hands and face were covered with grease.Austin thought that even in her disheveled state, Karla could put the most pampered fas.h.i.+on model to shame with her graceful beauty. She raised the screwdriver in her hand like the torch on the Statue of Liberty."Ta-dum!" she said. "Time for trumpets and drumroll. We're done.""The dynamos are all on track and running," Barrett said.Barrett had hauled the last cable in less than an hour before, and the plane was airborne within minutes of shutting the door. Al Hibbet had watched with a sad expression as the plane took off. He had wanted to join the mission, but Austin said they needed to leave someone with an intimate knowledge of the mission behind. Just in case.The humming increased in loudness. Karla acknowledged the congratulations that followed, then stretched out on some empty seats and promptly fell asleep. Austin removed the screwdriver from Karla's fingers and tucked it on the seat beside her."Thanks," Barrett said. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Following Karla's example, he yawned and crawled onto the next row of sets where he, too, stretched out and immediately fell asleep.Austin made a note of the longitude and lat.i.tude at the position on his computer, then went up to the c.o.c.kpit to give the plane's navigator the coordinates. He asked how long before they would be on-site and was told it would be approximately two hours. Austin looked out the c.o.c.kpit window at the layer of cottony clouds that stretched out as far as the eye could see.The crew was made up entirely of volunteers who were fully aware that they were flying on a dangerous mission. While the navigator laid out a flight plan, Austin and Zavala returned to the pa.s.senger cabin."From what you said in the c.o.c.kpit, we'll arrive on target about the same time as the s.h.i.+p," Zavala said."It's an even tighter squeeze. We'll be in the same neighborhood. When we get there, we'll have to launch a search pattern. I don't know how long it will take to find the transmitter s.h.i.+p.""Any delay could be fatal. That low cloud cover won't help.""I've been thinking about that. The Trouts reported that they saw a lot of electrical activity in the sky minutes before their boat was sucked into the whirlpool.""That's right. And Al said there were celestial fireworks when the U.S. and the Soviets were fooling around with electromagnetic warfare based on the Kovacs Theorems.""Then there's every reason to think that we'll see the same phenomenon when Margrave and Gant gear up their zapper. I think we should be looking at the sky rather than the sea. The clouds might actually help us find the s.h.i.+p.""Brilliant! I'll alert the crew to look for fireworks."Austin reluctantly awakened Karla and Barrett. He gave them a few minutes to rub the sleep out of their eyes. As the plane sped toward the South Atlantic Anomaly, he brought them up to date on the situation. They agreed to split up when the time came, with Karla on one side of the plane, Barrett on the other. Austin would alternate back and forth and serve as liaison with Zavala, who would keep watch from the c.o.c.kpit.Zavala's voice came over the speakers. He said the plane would pa.s.s over the outer limits of the search area in fifteen minutes. Austin could feel the growing tension in the cabin. The atmosphere grew even tenser when Zavala announced that they were in the hot zone. They took up their positions at the aircraft's windows. Ten minutes pa.s.sed, then twenty. Austin moved back and forth across the wide cabin, offering encouragement. It was hard to believe that a vast ocean lay below the thick layer of clouds.Austin had suggested that the plane fly a series of parallel runs back and forth across the search area. It was the same lawn mower pattern Austin would have used to search for a lost s.h.i.+p and would cover many square miles in a comparatively short time. They finished one run, then made another and were on their third when Austin began to wonder if he had made a mistake. He was checking his watch every few seconds.The plane had turned to make another run when Karla called out, "I see something. Around three o'clock."Austin and Barrett scrambled across the cabin to the other side of the plane and peered through the windows. The sun was low in the sky and its slanting rays had created blue shadows in the cloud cover.But off to the right, the sky pulsated with a golden-white radiance that was similar to the glow a thunderstorm would produce in the clouds. Austin grabbed a microphone connected to the c.o.c.kpit. Zavala replied over the speakers that he had seen the glow in the clouds as well.The plane banked into a turn and, like a moth attracted to a flame, began its long glide toward the light that bubbled in the distance like a giant witch's cauldron.

42

WITH TIME SHORT, it had been necessary to opt for simplicity in setting up the control panel in the s.p.a.cious cargo section. The console was a flat board that rested on supports raising it to waist level. The layout was deliberately uncomplicated, consisting of a main switch that controlled the flow of power to all the dynamos. Various dials and gauges kept tabs on different parts of the operating system.Zavala's voice came over the speakers. "We're going into the clouds."Austin felt a p.r.i.c.kling on his scalp and his hair stood on end, not because of fear, but from the sudden electrical charge that saturated the air. Karla's long blond tresses were standing on end like the hair on the Bride of Frankenstein. She reached up and patted her hair down, with limited success. With his shaved scalp, Barrett had no such problem, although the spider tattoo had goose b.u.mps.The electrical show was only beginning. Every surface of the cargo section began to glow an electrical blue like the Saint Elmo's fire that sailors used to see dancing in the rigging of their sailing s.h.i.+ps. The plane's interior lights blinked on and off, as if a child were playing with the switch. Then the lights went out completely.Stroboscopic flashes from outside lit up the rows of windows and illuminated the bewildered faces in the cargo section like dancers in a disco. The plane seemed to be in the midst of a lightning storm. But there was no thunder, only the muted roar of the jet engines. The relative silence heightened the eeriness of the scene.The intercom must have operated on a separate system, because Zavala's voice crackled over the speakers. His message was brief and to the point:"We've lost the c.o.c.kpit instruments."A second later, he relayed a message that was even more terrifying. "Oh h.e.l.l, the controls are gone too."Austin knew that a plane the size of a 747 wouldn't go into an instantaneous dive, but it wasn't built to soar on the updrafts like a glider. Once the aircraft discovered it was on its own, it would lapse into a tumble that would rip its wings off. He put his arm protectively around Karla's shoulders.Something was happening in the cargo area. The electrical display seemed less brilliant. The cold fire playing along the walls and ceiling seemed to be dying down. Dark spots appeared in the s.h.i.+mmer and dampened the ghostly blue light. There was one last, brilliant burp of radiance. The interior lights blinked on.A second later, Zavala's voice came over the speaker with a welcome announcement:"The instruments and controls are back on," he reported.Austin removed his arm from around Karla's shoulders and went over to check the control panel. He was worried that the surge of static electricity that had put on such a dramatic light display might have burned out the switches. To his relief, everything was in order.Karla had noticed a change in the light coming through the window and went to investigate. She pressed her nose against the Plexiglas and called the others over. Austin peered out a window and saw that they were through the overcast. Blue ocean was visible through the vaporous tatters of low-lying clouds. A flickering brilliance from above caught his eye. Instead of the underside of the cloud cover, he saw an aurora of swirling whites, blues and purple that formed a luminous canopy. The very heavens seemed on fire; it was as if a hundred lightning storms were discharging simultaneous bolts.The plane had made it through the electrical barrier in one piece, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Although the electrical a.s.sault was fading, the farther they dropped below the clouds, the plane was being buffeted by gut-wrenching turbulence. Power-packed winds slammed into the 747 from every direction. Despite its ma.s.sive size, the plane pitched and yawed like a kite on a string.The buffeting was only a softening up. The plane was slammed like a boxer on the ropes by a series of head-on wind gusts. The cargo s.p.a.ce reverberated with loud bangs as the winds hammered the plane as if it were rolling along a road full of deep potholes. Just as it seemed that another pounding would pop every rivet in the plane, the blows became less violent and less frequent. Then they stopped completely."Are you all right back there?" Zavala said."We're fine, but you need a new set of shock absorbers.""I need a new set of teeth," Zavala said."Tell the pilot that was a nice save. Are the wings still attached?""He says thanks, and who needs wings anyhow?""That's rea.s.suring. Can you see the s.h.i.+p?""Not yet. Still a few clouds." There was a pause, and when Zavala's voice came back on Austin could hear the excitement in it. "Look to the port side, Kurt. Around nine o'clock."Austin looked out the window and saw the liner below. The s.h.i.+p looked like a toy boat in the ocean. There was no wake, which confirmed what Austin already knew from the turbulence and light show the plane had encountered. The s.h.i.+p was stationary, and the electromagnetic a.s.sault had begun.The s.h.i.+p was surrounded by a ring of waves that were moving away from the vessel in an expanding circle. Although it was hard to judge the size of the waves, the fact that their foamy crests were so clearly visible at the alt.i.tude the plane was flying meant that the seas were monstrous.Austin got on the intercom and asked the pilot to level out at ten thousand feet and to circle the s.h.i.+p, dropping one thousand feet with each circuit. He turned to Barrett, who was standing at the control panel, and told him to get ready. The scientist nodded and began to increase the power to the dynamos. An electrical hum like a thousand bee hives filled the plane's interior.Something was burning. Austin looked down the length of the cargo s.p.a.ce and saw a cloud of purple smoke and sparks coming from one of the dynamos. He yelled at Barrett to kill the power, and, with Karla right behind him, he dashed down the long length of the plane.Barrett had seen the gauge signifying a problem and had already hit the kill switch. Austin found the source of the sparks was a lead into one of the dynamos. The connection had come loose while the plane was being bounced around by the violent turbulence.He examined the connection for damage, found nothing serious and quickly reconnected the cable. Austin yelled at Barrett to power up. The humming of the bees began, and rose to a pitch where it drowned out the roar of the jet engines. Karla had joined Barrett at the control panel. Austin stood near the intercom where he could keep in close touch with the c.o.c.kpit."How does it look?" Austin asked.Barrett's eyes swept over the control panel and he smiled. "Everything is on track."Austin gave him the thumbs-up, and called to Zavala, "What's our alt.i.tude?""Eight thousand feet.""Good. Bring her down to four thousand, and then make a level pa.s.s directly over the s.h.i.+p. Let me know when we're starting the approach to the target.""Aye, aye, sir."As the plane dropped lower, the pilot had to contend with an unexpected burst of turbulence. He got the plane back on an even keel with some skillful flying. Zavala called to say that they were making their approach to the s.h.i.+p.Austin called out to Barrett to give it the juice. He hesitated with his hand over the power switch, and for a second Austin thought he hadn't understood. Then Barrett stepped aside and put Karla's hand on the switch."This is in honor of your grandfather."Karla replied with a broad grin and threw the switch. Power flowed into the antenna, where it was converted to pulses of electromagnetic energy. Austin had no precedent or experience to work with, so he was laying down a pattern of energy bursts in much the same way a sub hunter saturates the ocean with depth charges.They were over the s.h.i.+p an instant later. Austin ordered the pilot to repeat the procedure, coming in at another angle. The 747 wasn't built for strafing runs, and the big plane seemed to take forever as it banked around in a wide turn and started back to lay down another series of charges.Again Zavala yelled out the five-hundred-yard mark. Again Karla laid on the power.Another pa.s.s, another barrage of electromagnetic pulses flowed into the sea around the s.h.i.+p."How long do we need to do this?" Zavala said."Until we run out of fuel, and then some," Austin said with a steely determination in his voice.THE MOOD was euphoric on the observation platform of the Polar Explorer.Margrave and Gant gazed up through the gla.s.s-paneled ceiling, their faces bathed in the pulsating, multicolored light emanating from the aurora high above the s.h.i.+p. Margrave's strange face never looked more satanic."Spectacular!" Gant said in a rare show of emotion.Margrave stood behind the control consol. He had been gradually accelerating the dynamos to full power, and the console was lit up like a pinball machine."The aurora indicates we've reached critical ma.s.s," he said. "The electromagnetic waves have penetrated the ocean floor. They'll change the electromagnetic flux and nudge the pole over. Keep an eye on the compa.s.s for the big flip."Gant glanced at the compa.s.s dial, and then gazed out one of the big picture windows."Something is happening to the sea."The ruffled surface of the ocean immediately around the s.h.i.+p had gone flat."We're at the epicenter of the polar s.h.i.+ft," Margrave said. "A ring of giant waves will spin off from around the edge of an expanding circle. There will be some vortexes around the perimeter.""Glad we're not in the way," Gant said."It would be unfortunate if we were. The area of disturbance is pretty random. That's what sank our transmitter s.h.i.+p. It's like the calm at the eye of a hurricane. We'll be fine here except for a slight mounding of the water."Gant stared out at the rising sea. He had never felt so powerful in his entire life.AUSTIN'S MIND-SET was the opposite of Gant's. He was like a doctor trying to bring a flatlining patient back to life, only in this case the lives of millions lay on the table. He peered out the window as the plane banked for another pa.s.s, unable to tell whether the antidote was working or not.Then he noticed a circular area immediately around the s.h.i.+p where the water seemed to go dull, as if it were being flattened by a helicopter downdraft. He could see striations on the surface of the sea like the grooves made by a strong current. Moments later, the water began moving in an unmistakable swirl with the s.h.i.+p at its center. Within seconds, the area of disturbed water was at least a mile across, bordered by a ring of foam on its perimeter. As the current's speed picked up, the sea within the circle became lower than the surface around it.Austin was witnessing the birth of a giant whirlpool.THE Polar Adventure only rose around six feet above the surrounding sea level before it began to settle again.Gant noticed that a depression seemed to be forming in the ocean around the s.h.i.+p. "Is this another side effect?" he said."No," Margrave said. His puzzlement changed to concern when the surface became even more radically dish-shaped. White-foamed rips indicated the clash of strong currents. He s.n.a.t.c.hed up the microphone connecting him to the bridge. "Full engine power. We're sinking into a whirlpool."Margrave shut down the dynamos."What are you doing?" Gant said."Something's not right. There shouldn't be this kind of reaction."The ocean hollow was deepening and swirling currents had begun to form, but the s.h.i.+p was under power by then, and moving toward the side of the vortex. Its bow was slightly elevated, and it had to fight against the currents that wanted to drag it sideways, but the s.h.i.+p was making slow headway.The maelstrom was expanding at the same time, however. Margrave screamed at the bridge to give the engines more power, but the s.h.i.+p seemed destined to lose the race, not really moving from the center of the vortex.Then the character of the water changed again. The currents weakened, and the surface began to rise back to sea level. It was mounding again."What happened?" Gant said."A slight diversion," Margrave said. He wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead, and he smiled as he again powered up the dynamos.As the s.h.i.+p rose higher in the air, the water around the vessel began to boil. The ocean liner was twenty feet in the air, then thirty."Stop this from happening," Gant said.Margrave killed power again but the s.h.i.+p continued to rise.Fifty feet."You fool! What have you done?""The computer models-""d.a.m.n the computer models!"Margrave left the control panel and rushed to one of the big windows wrapped around the observation platform. Her stared with horror at the sea.The s.h.i.+p was at the top of a huge, fast-rising column of water.AUSTIN HAD seen the whirlpool grow until it was around ten miles wide. Now he watched in fascination as the vortex leveled out, changed into a seething pool of white steamy water, and began to mound into a watery cyclone.The mountainous ma.s.s sprouting from the center of the vortex grew in height and width as it spun like a whirling dervish.The plane was coming around for another pa.s.s. Austin dashed up to the c.o.c.kpit."Bring us up as fast and as high as you can. Get away from this area."The pilot put the 747 into a steep climb.The water column reminded Austin of photos he had seen of the nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific.A panicked voice was crackling over the radio. "Mayday! Mayday! Come in, anyone! Mayday!"Austin borrowed the radio microphone. "Mayday received.""This is Gant on the Polar Adventure." He had to shout to be heard over the rumbling in the background."Looks like you're in for a roller-coaster ride," Austin said."Who is this? Where are you?""Kurt Austin. We're a couple of thousand feet above your head. Take a quick look because we won't be around much longer. Dr. Kovacs sends his regards, though."After a pause, Gant said, "What the h.e.l.l is going on, Austin?""We've given you a dose of the polar s.h.i.+ft antidote. I'd say that you and your partner are all washed up."Gant's angry reply was unintelligible, lost in a thundering clamor.Austin peered out the c.o.c.kpit window. The s.h.i.+p was at the top of the water column, where it spun like a top. Austin could only imagine the panicked scene on board. But he had no sympathy for Margrave and Gant, who had sown the seeds of their own destruction.As the plane altered course and began to bear off from its target like a great lumbering whale, it encountered turbulence generated by the powerful forces that had been unleashed, but it was nothing compared to the earlier wind blasts. The plane continued to climb without incident to around twenty-five thousand feet, where it leveled off.Karla had her face glued to the window even though there was nothing to see other than the normal cloud cover. She turned to Austin, a dazed look in her eyes."What happened back there?" she said."Your grandfather was right on the money with his calculations.""But what was that thing, that incredible waterspout?"Austin wasn't sure what was happening but suspected that the push-pull of electromagnetic pulses from the s.h.i.+p and the plane had set into motion unimaginable forces."Nature doesn't like being messed around with. The combination of the antidote and the initial transmissions created a strong reaction." He smiled. "It's like taking something for an upset stomach. There's always a last eruption or two before things settle down for the better.""Then it's over, finally.""I hope so." Austin called the c.o.c.kpit, and asked, "How's the compa.s.s doing?""Normal," Zavala said. "Still pointing to the north pole, more or less."Barrett hadn't moved from behind the control panel. When he heard Zavala's report, he slapped his hands together. He came over and gave Karla and Austin big hugs."We did it," he said. "By G.o.d, we did it."Austin replied with a weary grin. "So we did," he said. "So we did."

43

DOYLE WAS GLAD THAT this would be his last trip to the lighthouse island. He had never liked the place. He had grown up in the city, and the remote beauty was lost on him. He would be even happier once he had disposed of Lucifer's Legion and left the island forever.He landed his plane near the island, tied up to a mooring buoy and rowed to the dock where one of the Lucifer creeps was waiting to greet him. He could never remember their names and told them apart by hair color. This was the red-haired guy who, because he most resembled Margrave, seemed to have an elevated status in the group, although he was short of being a leader, anathema to the pure anarchists."Haven't seen you since our car chase outside Was.h.i.+ngton," the man said in a soft-spoken voice that sounded like the rustle of a snake in dry leaves. "Too bad your friends got away.""There's always another time," Doyle said. "We'll tend to Austin and his friends once we take care of the Elites.""I'll look forward to it. You should have let us know you were coming," the man said.Doyle hefted a canvas bag he was carrying. "Tris wanted to surprise you."The answer seemed to satisfy the legionnaire. He nodded, and accompanied Doyle to the elevator that whisked them to the top of the cliff.The other Lucifers were waiting on the lighthouse bluff, and when Doyle repeated his reason for coming to the island they gave him that unnerving grin. They all headed for the keeper's house. Doyle led the way to Margrave's kitchen. He got six gla.s.ses and a beer and placed them on the table.He pulled a bottle of champagne from the bag and poured it around. Then he opened the can of beer and held it high."Here's to the imminent destruction of the Elites."The red-haired man laughed. "You've been hanging around with us anarchist types too long, Doyle. You're starting to sound as crazy as the rest of us."Doyle gave him a friendly wink. "Must be catching. Cheers."He upended his beer and drank half the contents of the can. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, watching with pleasure as the Lucifers tossed down their champagne as if it were water."By the way, Margrave wanted me to give this to you."The package had come the day before. With it was a note, signed by Gant.The note said: "Plans for PS postponed until next week. Please give this gift to our friends in Maine after you share a special bottle of champagne with them. Say it's a gift from Margrave. Very important to wait until they drink their champagne."The red-haired Lucifer opened the package. It was a DVD disk. He shrugged and slipped it into the DVD player. A few seconds later, a still picture of Gant's face appeared on the screen."I want Lucifer's Legion disposed of," Gant's voice said."And how do you propose we go about doing that?"Impossible. It was the conversation he and Gant had after the foxhunt."Go up to Margave's island in Maine, tell them that you have a gift for them. Say it's from Margrave. Send them to h.e.l.l, where they belong, with a gla.s.s of the bubbly."All eyes in the room were on Doyle."It's not what you think," he said, brandis.h.i.+ng his most charming Irish smile.Doyle never had a chance. He'd been doomed the moment he got the disk. He would never know that disk came from Barrett, not Gant. And that the bug Austin had planted under the garden table had done its work well, picking up Gant's instructions to murder the Lucifiers.He got up and tried to make a break for the door, but one of the Lucifers tripped him and he fell to the floor. He got to his feet, grabbing for the gun in an ankle holster, but he was pushed back to the floor and relieved of his weapon. He stared up at the six satanic faces ringed around him.He couldn't figure it. The Lucifers knew he had poisoned them, yet they were smiling. Doyle would never understand that the opportunity to kill surpa.s.sed all other emotions, even fear of their imminent death.He heard the knife drawer slide open, and then they came for him.EPILOGUETWO HUNDRED MILES EAST of Norfolk, Virginia, the NUMA research vessel Peter Throckmorton and the NOAA survey s.h.i.+p Benjamin Franklin cut their way side by side through the gla.s.sy green seas like a pair of modern-day corsairs.While the bows hissed through the water and the decks became soaked by flying spume, the atmosphere was subdued in the Throckmorton's dimly lit remote-sensing control room. Spider Barrett sat with his eyes riveted to the Mercator projection of the world displayed on the screen in front of him. Although the center was air-conditioned, perspiration gleamed on Barrett's tattooed head.Watching Barrett's fingers fly over the keyboard were Joe Zavala, Al Hibbet and Jerry Adler, the wave expert Joe and Austin first met aboard the Throckmorton. Several of the s.h.i.+p's technicians were gathered in the room as well.Barrett stopped and rubbed his eyes, as if he were about to admit defeat. Then his hands moved over the keys like those of a concert pianist. Blinking red dots began to appear on the world's oceans. He leaned back in his chair with a wide grin on his face. "Gentlemen," he said grandly, "we have liftoff."The center echoed with applause."Remarkable!" said Dr. Adler. "I can't believe that there are so many breeding grounds for rogue waves."Barrett clicked the cursor on a dot. A display of statistics appeared, representing sea, weather and current conditions at that particular location. The most important information that appeared was a threat a.s.sessment detailing the potential and probable size of a giant wave.The exercise brought forth another round of applause.Zavala took a phone out of his pocket and called the Benjamin Franklin. Gamay was waiting with Paul for his call in a similar control center aboard the NOAA s.h.i.+p. "Tell Paul that the eagle has landed," Zavala told her. "Details to follow."He clicked off and walked to a corner of the room where he had left a rucksack. He opened the rucksack and pulled out a couple of bottles of tequila and a stack of paper cups. He poured a round of tequila, and raised his cup in the air."Here's to Lazlo Kovacs," he said."And to Spider Barrett," Hibbet joined in. "Spider has made a force for destruction into something good. His work will save the lives of hundreds and possibly thousands of mariners."Barrett had put his mind to work on the flight back from the South Atlantic Anomaly after he had seen the uncontrollable power that had been unleashed. He was trying to think of a way to use the Kovacs Theorems for beneficial purposes. After the plane touched down in Was.h.i.+ngton, he vanished for several days, then he showed up unexpectedly at NUMA headquarters and ran his idea by Al Hibbet.What he proposed to Hibbet was breathtaking in its imagination and scope, yet remarkably simple. His plan was to use watered-down versions of the Kovacs electromagnetic waves to detect anomalies below the ocean floor that were suspected of causing surface disturbances. Every oceangoing vessel of a certain size would be outfitted with a Kovacs sensor mounted on the prow. The sensors would constantly broadcast information, which would be compiled with satellite observations and global electromagnetic field readings.The data were fed into computers, a.n.a.lyzed and rebroadcast as warnings of breeding areas for giant waves. s.h.i.+ps could then chart courses around dangerous breeder areas. It was decided to conduct sea tests in the vicinity of the giant waves that had sunk the Southern Belle. Because of its interest in ocean eddies, NOAA was asked to partic.i.p.ate, which got the Trouts involved.The two s.h.i.+ps rendezvoused over the site of the sunken Southern Belle. A wreath was dropped into the water in remembrance of the s.h.i.+p's crew. Then the field tests began over a period of several days. The tests uncovered several glitches, which were quickly remedied. Now, with the system an obvious success, the mood in the control room had become downright raucous-especially after it had been lubricated with generous shots of tequila.At one point, an ebullient and slightly inebriated Al Hibbet turned to Zavala and said, "It's a shame Kurt can't be here. He's missing all the fun."Zavala smiled knowingly. "I'm sure he's doing fine."KARLA JANOS came out of the tunnel blinking like a mole. Her face was dirty, and her one-piece jump suit was covered with dust. She shook her head in wonder, still impressed by the scene that confronted her eyes. A temporary village had sprung up on the gra.s.sy bowl at the bottom of the caldera. At least two dozen large tents housing facilities for sleeping, cooking and research were laid out in neat rows. Several helicopters were parked nearby.The area around the tents bustled with activity. Access to the crystal city had been improved by drilling a tunnel and clearing away the rocky debris that was in the way. Cables snaked into the tunnel from gas-powered electrical generators. A steady stream of scientists and a.s.sistants was moving in and out of the city.Karla was elated and exhausted at the same time. The scientific crews had been working twenty-four hours a day on three s.h.i.+fts. Some, like Karla, had become so involved in their work that they had worked more than one s.h.i.+ft. She tilted her chin back and gulped several breaths of fresh air. In the blue-gray light, she saw a speck come into view over the rim and begin a descent into the valley.As the object neared, she could see that it was a large, colorful canopy with a human dangling below. It couldn't be. Hoping against hope, she walked away from the tents to a clear area and madly waved her baseball cap in the air.The paraglider had been descending in a spiral, but it turned in her direction, swooped in low and landed only yards away. Kurt Austin unbuckled himself from the harness and rolled up the canopy. He walked over with a grin on his face and said, "Good morning."She had thought about Austin a lot in the past few weeks. Their encounter had been short and sweet. Then she was off to Siberia. But there were many times she wished that she had gotten to know the handsome NUMA man better."What are you doing here?" Karla asked with a combination of joy and awe."I've come to take you to lunch."She glanced at her watch. "It's three o'clock in the morning.""It's lunchtime somewhere. I didn't come all this way to have my invitation rejected."She shook her head in disbelief. "You're crazy."Austin's blue eyes sparkled with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Insanity is part of the NUMA job description." He took her hand. "As the old Sinatra song goes, 'Come fly with me.' "She brushed a strand of blond hair out of her eyes. "I've been working all night. I'm a mess.""There's no dress code at the joint I have in mind," Austin said. Come on.He asked her to help him carry his new paraglider to an open area, where he gave Karla a quick lesson. They spread the canopy on the ground, buckled themselves into the tandem seat, inflated the canopy with the prop wash and jumped into the wind. Karla was a natural flier, and the takeoff was far smoother than the first one he had made with Zavala. Once they were airborne, Austin circled above the tent village and put the paraglider into an ascent."Quite the change in scenery in a few weeks," Austin said as the earth slipped away below them."It's hard to believe that the world's leading paleontologists, archaeologists and biologists are down there working on the scientific discovery of the century.""A discovery you can claim credit for.""There were others involved, but thanks anyhow. And thank you for the ride. This is marvelous.""Yes, it is," Austin said for entirely different and very male reasons. He was in close proximity to a beautiful and intelligent young woman, and he could feel the warmth of her body close to his.The paraglider and its two pa.s.sengers rose out of the caldera. Austin gave Karla some quick landing instructions, and he steered toward a relatively flat area on the rim. The landing was slightly rough but not bad. Karla slipped out of the harness and went over to where a checkered red tablecloth was spread out on the ground, anch.o.r.ed at each corner with a rock. In the center of the tablecloth was a miniature vase with a wildflower in it, and a waist pack.Austin made a sweep of his hand. "Table with a view, mademoiselle."She shook her head. "You are crazy. But in a very nice way."Austin opened the pack and lined up several jars, cans and bottles. "Courtesy of Captain Ivanov. Mosliak mushroom appetizer, beef tushonka and red caviar on rye bread for dessert. All washed down with a good Georgian red wine.""How did you get here?" she said."I heard that Captain Ivanov was bringing in a batch of scientists, including some from NUMA. I hitched a ride with them on the Kotelny. Austin opened the jars and cans, and poured two gla.s.ses of wine. "Now that you've had a chance to study things, what's your take on the crystal city?""It will be decades of study before we know the whole story, but I think the city was built during the Stone Age in the magma chamber after the volcano had been long dead.""Why go underground?""The usual reasons.For defense, or because of climate changes. They used mammoths for beasts of burden, which allowed them to move the cyclopean blocks.""What happened to the inhabitants?""Climate changes could have dried up their ability to grow food. A polar s.h.i.+ft could have caused a flood or earthquake that created the partial collapse of the chamber roof, giving the caldera its odd shape. That road up the side of the mountain indicates that the usual city access might have been blocked for one reason or another.""Have you figured out how the mammoths managed to survive?""Sheer adaptability. As the food source diminished, they became smaller to adjust to the change in environment. They seem to have the capability to hibernate during the coldest part of the year.""What about the city's inhabitants? Who were they?""An enigma. It could take decades of research before we figure out who they were and what happened to them.""How are the little woollies doing?""The mammoths?Just fine. They seem content in the corral we built for them as long as we feed them. Maria Arbatov is in charge. The hardest part will be protecting them from the outside world. We're getting lots of press attention as you can imagine, and we're trying to control it."He swept the island with his eyes. "I hope this all survives our aggressive inquiry.""I think it will. These seem to be purer research endeavors than trying to clone mammoths.""What next?""I'll spend a few weeks here, and then head back to see Uncle Karl in Montana. I'll be coming to Was.h.i.+ngton next month to give a speech at the Smithsonian.""That's good news. When you get to Was.h.i.+ngton, how about getting together for c.o.c.ktails, dinner and whatever?"The smoky gray eyes gazed over the gla.s.s. "I'm particularly intrigued over the whatever!''"Then it's a date. I think it's time to propose a toast. Ladies first."She only had to think about it for a second."To Uncle Karl. If he hadn't saved my grandfather, none of this would have been possible.""I'll drink to that. Without Uncle Karl, you would not have been possible."She gave Austin a smile full of promise. Then, in the light of the arctic dusk, they raised their gla.s.ses high and toasted each other.ALTHOUGH DEATH had been a close companion for much of his life, Schroeder couldn't remember the last time he had gone to a funeral. He wanted to bury Schatsky in fine style. The little dachshund who'd been killed by one of Gant's gunmen had been a great companion. Luckily, the temperature at his mountain log cabin had stayed low so Schatsky's body had been preserved while he'd been away.He took the stiff little body, washed the blood away as best he could and wrapped the dog in its favorite blanket. Using the dog's bed as its casket, he carried it out to the woods behind his house. He dug a deep hole, wrapped the dog and its bed in a canvas, and then buried it with a box of dog bones and Schatsky's favorite chew toys.Schroeder marked the grave with a boulder. He went back into the cabin and lugged a wooden crate back to the woods and dug another hole not far from the dog's grave. He dumped the load of automatic and semi-automatic weapons into the hole and covered them up. He had kept a shotgun back at the cabin, just in case, but he no longer needed the deadly weapons he had kept hidden under his floor.It was his way of marking an end to one chapter of his life. There was always a chance that something unpleasant from out of the past would catch up with him, but that would become less likely as he grew older. Karla would be coming to visit soon, and he had plenty of work to do getting kayaks and canoes ready for his guide business. But without the little dog padding around after him the cabin seemed very lonely.He got into his pickup truck and drove off the mountain to his usual watering hole. It was still early in the day, and the bar was relatively quiet. Without some of the regulars to greet him, he felt even lonelier.What the h.e.l.l. He sat at the near-empty bar and ordered a beer. Then another. He was feeling sorry for himself when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and saw a woman, probably in her sixties, standing behind him. She had long, silvery hair, large brown eyes, and her tanned skin was barely wrinkled.She introduced herself as an artist who had moved to Montana from New York. She had a bright smile and infectious laugh and a keen sense of humor, which she displayed in describing the cultural differences between the two places. Schroeder was so taken with her that he forgot to introduce himself."I detect a slight accent," she said.Schroeder was about to go into his usual reply, that he was a Swede named Arne Svensen, but he stopped himself. There would have to come a time when he began to trust other human beings, and it might as well be now. "You have a good ear. I am Austrian. My name is Karl Schroeder.""Nice to meet you, Karl," she said with a demure smile. "I'd like to go trout fis.h.i.+ng, but I don't know where. Could you recommend a reliable guide?"Schroeder gave her a big-toothed grin."Yes," he said. "I know just the man for you."