“Don’t be too tough on them, they’re only trying to keep you alive. I’ll pick up the tab.”
Kane jotted down a number where he could be reached. Austin watched Kane with careful eyes as he left the restaurant trailed by the two men. Then he signaled Stavros for the check.
LIEUTENANT CASEY WAS WAITING outside the restaurant in the navy SUV. Austin got in this time without an invitation.
“Nice to see you again, Lieutenant.”
Casey handed him a phone, and Sandecker’s voice crackled on the line.
“Dr. Kane fill you in on the situation, Kurt?”
“He told me about the blue medusa research and the missing lab.”
“Good. This thing is ready to blow up if we don’t find the lab and get hold of that vaccine. You’ve got to find Davy Jones’s Locker. I’ll put the whole damn U.S. Navy at your disposal.”
“How long do we have, Admiral?”
“The CDC computers say the virus will hit the major Chinese cities seventy-two hours from midnight. It will be raging around the world within weeks.”
“Then there is still time?”
“Not really. Once the virus goes beyond China’s borders, it will become unstoppable. The President is gearing up the National Guard so he can declare a state of emergency.”
“In that case, I’ll take whatever help you can give me, sir.”
“If you need more, give me or Casey a call directly. Don’t bother going through intermediaries.” His voice softened. “Good luck, Kurt. And keep an eye on that libidinous Mexican pal of yours.”
Austin handed the phone back.
“When do we leave, Lieutenant?”
“I’ll pick you up and we’ll be at the airport at three a.m.” He paused, then said, “Just to let you know, I have a wife and two kids, Kurt. I’m told that there will be no way to protect them once this thing spreads to the U.S.”
“Those are three good reasons to move quickly, then.”
Austin said he would see Casey in a few hours and got out of the SUV in front of the NUMA tower. He called Zavala’s number on his way to his office to retrieve the Pyramid file but got no response. He wasn’t surprised. His friend could have joined the surveillance team and might be unable to talk. Austin left him a message to call back as soon as he was clear.
Austin picked up the file, then got on the elevator and headed to the fifteenth floor. He followed a corridor to a door marked NUMASAT and stepped into a large, dimly lit space that had a wide, curving wall lined with glowing television screens. The screens displayed information from NUMA’s satellite system, a complex network that collected information about oceans from around the world for scientists and universities.
Presiding over the communications network was an eccentric genius named Jack Wilmut, who supervised the system from an elaborate console in the center of the room surrounded by workstations. From his perch, he could also keep track of every NUMA research project, ship, and staffer working in the field. He saw Austin approaching, and a smile crossed his plumpish face.
“What a surprise to find you here at headquarters, Kurt.”
Austin pulled a chair up to the console.
“Don’t kid me, Jack, you could figure out exactly where I am in a second. I’ve got a favor. I’ve lost contact with Joe. Can you find him?”
Wilmut patted down one side of his double comb-over.
“He’s probably in a Washington boudoir,”
he said. Seeing from Austin’s unsmiling face that he was deadly serious, he added, “I’ll do my best. What’s he got?”
“Transmitter in his Corvette, for one.”
“Easy,” Wilmut said.
He tapped the keyboard in front of him, and seconds later the screen displayed a blinking red star on a map of Falls Church. The location was displayed in a box next to the star.