Polar Shift (NUMA Files 6)

"That's the understatement of the century," Margrave said, roaring with laughter. "You should have seen the look on that cop's face when his name was plastered all over Times Square and Broadway."

"Wish I c

ould have been there in person, but it was easy enough to do from my house. The locator you carried in your recorder did its job. The big question is whether our demonstration put us anywhere nearer our goal."

A cloud seemed to pass over Margrave's brow. "I've been checking the media reports," he said with a shake of his head. "The spin machine is going full steam. The Elites are saying it was a fluke that the disruptions coincided with the world economic meeting. They're worried, but the fools haven't taken our warning seriously."

"Time for another shot across the bow?"

Margrave got up and went over to the table. He came back with the laptop computer, settled in his chair again and tapped on the keys. The sole blank wall glowed and displayed a huge electronic map of the oceans and continents.

The global composite image was made from data fed into it from orbiting satellites, ocean buoys and dozens of ground stations around the world. Continents were silhouetted in black against the bluish green of the sea. Numbers from 1 to 4 blinked in the Atlantic Ocean; two were above the equator, two below it. A similar pattern was displayed for the Pacific Ocean.

"The numbers show where we made experimental probes of the ocean floor. The computer modeling I've programmed indicates that if we bring all our resources to bear in this area of the South Atlantic, we'll get the desired effect. The time for warnings is past. The Elites are either too dumb or too arrogant. In either case, we should go for the big enchilada."

"How soon are you talking about?"

"As soon as we can get things set up. The only language that the Elites understand is money. We've got to hit them hard in their pocketbooks."

Barrett removed his sunglasses and stared into space, apparently deep in thought.

"What's going on, Spider?"

"I think we should call the whole thing off," Barrett said.

Margrave's face underwent an amazing transformation. The V-shaped eyebrows and mouth deepened. The expression of devilish mischief was gone. In its place was a look of pure malevolence. "You've apparently got some issues."

"We're not talking college pranks, Tris. You know the potential for damage if this thing gets out of hand. Millions could die. There would be huge economic and natural disruptions that the world might not recover from for decades."

"How could it get out of control? You said you had a handle on it."

Barrett seemed to sink into himself.

"I was kidding myself. It's always been a crapshoot. After that business with the cargo ship on Site Two, I went back to the drawing board. I tested a miniaturized version of the equipment in Puget Sound. The orcas went crazy. They attacked a whole bunch of kids. They would have eaten one guy if I hadn't pulled him out of the water."

"Someone saw the zapper?"

"Yeah, a guy named Kurt Austin. I read about him in the paper. Works for NUMA, and was leading the kayak race that got busted up. He only saw the setup for a second. He wouldn't have known what it was for."

A dark cloud seemed to pass over Margrave's face. "I hope you're right. Otherwise, we'd have to eliminate Mr. Austin."

Barrett looked horrified. "You're kidding!"

Margrave smiled. "Of course I was just joking, old pal. I saw the reports of the orca attack. What are you telling me, Spider, that orcas are predators?"

"No, I'm saying that my experiment messed with their sensory abilities because I was unable to control the electromagnetic field."

"So what?" Margrave said. "No one got hurt."

"Have you forgotten that we lost one of our own ships?"

"It was a skeleton crew. They knew the dangers involved. They were well paid to take the risk."

"What about the Southern Belle? Those people weren't paid to take part in our experiments."

"Ancient history. It was an accident, my friend."

"Hell, I know that. But we're responsible for their deaths."