Polar Shift (NUMA Files 6)

"We need your expertise in electromagnetism," Austin said. "It would be a great help if you could see from a technical point of view if these pipe dreams have any basis in reality. Where can we learn more about the Kovacs Theorems?"

"My best advice is to go right to the source. The research in this country was done in Los Alamos. There's even a Kovacs Society out there that's a repository for his work and documents. I've contacted them from time to time with questions."

Austin turned to Adler. "Could you work with Al and come up with a paper? Joe, building a fleet of floating power plants is a pretty big deal. Those dynamos were probably commercially built."

"I'll see if I can come up with a point of origin," Zavala said.

"We could be in New Mexico this afternoon and back here tomorrow," Gamay said.

Austin nodded. "Find out how far those experiments went and if they're still going on. We'll work up everything ever written about Kovacs. Maybe we'll find a nugget that will make it worth our while."

He thanked everyone for coming, and suggested they meet the same time the next day. He and Zavala would get together in a few hours at NUMA headquarters. On his way back into the house, Austin passed his bookcase and noticed the volume on Plato.

Shadows and echoes. Echoes and shadows.

He wondered what Plato would have made of this new enigma.

18

Karla lay in her sleeping bag and listened to the wail of the wind around the old fur trappers' shed. She was thinking about her reaction at seeing the baby mammoth. To say she was astonished would have been an understatement. She felt as if she had been hit by a bolt of lightning. She had forced herself to take long, even breaths. Her training had eventually kicked in, and she began to subject the specimen on the table to scientific analysis.

Measuring the creature with her eye, she guessed that it was about forty-five inches long and forty inches high. Weight was probably around two hundred pounds. The mammoth had all the characteristics that Stone Age artists had captured in their cave drawings, including the high-peaked head crowned with its hair-covered knob and the high shoulder hump.

The tusks were starting to curve, making it likely that the animal was a male. In an adult, they could be sixteen feet long. The ears were small and the trunk was stubby compared to the body. Even at full maturity, the trunk would be shorter than that of a modern-day elephant. The body was covered with chestnut-colored hair. From its size, she estimated the mammoth at seven or eight months of age.

Karla thought this could be the most perfectly preserved example of Mammuthus primigenius that had ever been discovered. Most mammoth remains consisted of chunks of meat and bone. This was a whole animal, and in far better condition than Effie, the partial carcass discovered at Fairbanks Creek, and the Russian specimens, Dima and Zharkov, or, the most famous one of all, the quick-frozen Beresovka carcass, whose flesh was still edible. The animal's stomach contained the buttercups it had eaten a short time before its death. Karla turned to the other scientists.

"It's marvelous," she said. "Where did you find it?"

"Babar was in the bank of an old riverbed," Maria said.

"Babar?"

"We had to name the poor little thing something," Maria said. "I once had a book about Babar, who was king of the elephants."

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"I think it's a wonderful name. Congratulations to all of you," Karla said with a smile. "This must be the scientific find of the century."

"Thank you," Maria said. "Unfortunately, this discovery presents something of a problem for our expedition."

"I don't understand."

"It's almost dinnertime," Arbatov said. "Let's discuss this around the table."

From the size of the belly hanging over Arbatov's belt, it was apparent that he didn't miss many dinners. They moved to the big tent. In the convivial surroundings, it was hard to believe they were on a remote Arctic island. The folding table was covered with a flowered, plastic tablecloth. The soft glow of lanterns contributed to the atmosphere with a warm, yellow glow. Gas heaters kept the interior of the tent warm and cozy, even though the fabric slapped from the cool breeze that had come up off the water.

The meal started with Ukrainian borscht, moved on to a hearty beef goulash, with ponchiki cookies for dessert. All washed down with tea, and followed with high-octane vodka that took the edge off the late-afternoon coolness. After sampling Maria's cooking, Karla understood that Sergei's girth may not have been all his own fault.

Karla downed her last cookie. "I'm amazed that you can turn out such great food under relatively primitive conditions."

"There is no need to starve, or eat freeze-dried food like the Americans like to do," Maria said. "As long as I have fire, a pot and the right ingredients, I can cook as well as the finest Moscow restaurant."

Karla raised her glass of vodka. "I want to congratulate you again on your find. You must be very happy."

Dr. Sato's Japanese ear for subtlety picked up on Karla's oblique attempt to introduce a touchy subject into the dinner conversation.

"Thank you," he said. "As we indicated earlier, it is a bit of a problem." He glanced at Arbatov.