"I'm a great believer in Darwin."
The butler arrived carrying a tray with two drinks. Gant handed one glass to Margrave, and took the sixteen-year-old, double-matured scotch whisky on the rocks for himself. Margrave sipped his drink. "Perfect martini," he said. "You know exactly what I drink. I'm impressed."
"You forget that I'm in a business where deals are often lubricated with alcohol," Gant said. "Nothing makes a favorable impression like remembering someone's particular poison." He settled into a comfortable chair, and gestured for Margrave to take a seat. "What's the latest on our project?"
"On schedule. But I'm worried about Spider. I haven't heard from him since he left the island a few days ago."
"Barrett is a big boy," Gant said. "He can take care of himself."
"I don't care about his health; it's his mouth I'm concerned about. He's had an acute attack of conscience. I don't want to see him on 60 Minutes telling Mike Wallace about our project."
"You said he agreed to stay with the project until you made contact with Karla Janos."
"That's right. He wanted a fail-safe option that could shut the project down in a hurry."
"Then you have nothing to worry about. Barrett is probably off sulking somewhere. The main question is whether the project can proceed without him."
"That's not a problem. Spider has already laid the groundwork that made him indispensable. We don't need him anymore. All is proceeding according to plan. I worked up this presentation for you."
Margrave opened a carrying case and pulled out a portable DVD player, which he set up on a mahogany desk. He pressed the on button and the schematic profile of a ship appeared on the screen.
"This is one of the transmitter ships as originally designed. Here are the power plants in the hold leading to the electromagnetic low-frequency antenna, which can be lowered into the sea." He forwarded the picture. "This is the new ship that will do the work of our four experimental vessels."
"A small ocean liner. Ingenious. How soon will it be on-site?"
"The old transmitter vessels have left the Mississippi shipyard and are on their way to the debarkation point in Rio. They can still be useful as decoys for insurance. The name of the liner is the Polar Adventure. She'll be in Rio as well, but no one will suspect she is carrying the payload."
"You've made a final choice of a target site, then."
Margrave pressed a key on the player. A map of the Southern Hemisphere appeared on the screen. The map showed a reddish patch shaped like a flattened sphere that covered a good portion of the ocean between the coast of Brazil and South Africa.
"The South Atlantic Anomaly."
Margrave nodded. "As you know, the anomaly is a region where the earth's geomagnetic field flows the wrong way. Some scientists describe it as a 'pothole,' or a dip, in the field. There are sections where the field is completely reversed and weakened. Magsat discovered a North Polar region and a spot below South Africa where the magnetism has been growing extremely weak. Exploiting the weakness in the south ocean magnetic field will cause a similar reaction in the north pole region."
Gant chuckled. "That's the beauty of this whole scheme. We're not precipitating the event as much as we're hastening its arrival."
"True. The north and south magnetic poles have reversed themselves in the past without help, and the earth's electromagnetic field started collapsing on its own about a hundred and fifty years ago. Some experts say a shift is overdue. The earth's magnetism is already affected by the vortices in the molten layer under its crust. Stir up some additional turbulence and only a nudge will be needed to cause a shift. As you say, we're just helping the process along."
"Fascinating," Gant said. "I take it that there has been no change in our original expectations of the impact of this little flip."
"The computer models still hold. The main magnetic fields will weaken, and then almost vanish. For three days or so, there will virtually be no magnetic poles. Then they will return with opposite polarity. Compass needles that normally point north will point south. The electromagnetic battering will knock out power grids and satellites, confuse birds and mammals, send polar auroras flashing around the equator and widen ozone holes. That will be the period of optimum danger. The collapse of the field will temporarily eliminate the earth's defense against solar storms. In the longer term, there will be an increase in the number of people who develop skin cancer."
"Unfortunate collateral damage," Gant said without sympathy. "There's an extensive shelter under this house. You've taken similar precautions, I understand."
"The ship is shielded for radiation to protect us on the return trip. I've got a comfortable shelter under the lighthouse. I could live there in great comfort for a hundred years, although the period of danger should lessen after the initial bursts."
"Will the other members of Lucifer be keeping you company on the island?"
"Only a select few. Anarchists are good at creating chaos, but they don't have a clue about what to do once they're done smashing windows. The others will have served their purpose by then and are on their own."
"You're going to abandon Lucifer's Legion to a possibly painful death?" Gant said.
"You can invite them to your shelter," Margrave said with a sardonic smile.
"I need room for my horses," Gant said.
"Understandable. What are your plans for the period following the big flash?"