White Death (NUMA Files 4)

"You can pull out if you want to," Ryan had said. "Chuck and I can go it alone, but we've got to move fast because the plane's wait- ing for us." Therri barely had time to pack before Ryan picked her up. Before long, they were piling into the SOS executive jet with Chuck Mercer, the former first mate of the Sea Sentinel. With his ship on the bottom, Mercer was eager to see action.

Therri would have been more enthusiastic if she didn't think Ryan was making up his strategy as he went along. Thanks to the infor- mation from Ben, Ryan knew where to go. Ben had told him the name and location of the lake. It was Ben, too, who had given him Bear's name.

The bush pilot used to be a drug smuggler and was known to work with no questions asked, if the money was right. He hadn't even blinked when Marcus had spun a cock-and-bull tale about doing a documentary film on native culture and wanting to observe Ben's village without being seen.

Bear was usually discreet, but he had become careless living in a community where everyone was aware of his past. He'd let a few Words slip about his job for SOS while he was fueling up the plane. He could not have known that sharp ears were listening, or that un- friendly eyes were watching as his plane took off and headed into the interior.

The lake loomed up suddenly. Therri glimpsed water shimmer- ing in the slanting rays of the late afternoon sun. Seconds later, the plane dropped as if it had hit a downdraft. She felt her heart in her mouth, then the plane bottomed out and slid into a gradually angled trajectory. The floats skimmed the lake's surface a short distance be- fore the plane settled into the water and slowed.

Bear taxied close to shore. When the plane neared a sharply banked beach a few yards wide, he climbed out of the cockpit onto a float and jumped feetfirst into water up to his waist. He tied an an- chor line onto a strut, pulled the other end over his shoulder and towed the plane closer to shore. He tied up to a stump, then helped the others unload a large package and several smaller ones. They untied the largest bundle, and with the help of a CO capsule, quickly pumped up an inflatable boat about eight feet long. Bear watched with interest, hands on hips, as Ryan tested a quiet, battery-operated outboard motor.

"I'll be back tomorrow/' he said. "You've got the radio if you need me. Watch your ass."

The plane taxied to one end of the lake, took off and headed back the way it had come. Therri went over to where Ryan and Mercer were checking through the pack. Mercer unwrapped a block ofC-4 explosives and examined the detonators.

He smiled and said, "Just like the old days."

"Sure you're up for this, Chuck?"

"You're talking to the guy who sank an Icelandic whaling ship practically single-handed."

"That was a few years ago. We're a lot older now."

Mercer fingered a detonator. "Doesn't take much energy to push a button," he said. "I owe these bastards for our ship." Mercer had been steaming since he'd learned that Oceanus's ships were serviced at the same Shetlands boatyard where the Sea Sentinel could have been sabotaged.

"We can't forget Josh, either," Ryan said. "I haven't forgotten Josh. But are you sure there's no other way?" Therri said.

"I wish there were," Ryan said. "We've got to play hardball."

"I'm not arguing with the need to do something, but the means. What about Ben's people? You're risking their lives."

"We can't be diverted from our prime goal. We know from our contacts on Senator Graham's staff that Oceanus continued the trans- gendered fish experiments that were halted in New Zealand. We've got to stop this abomination before it is unleashed."

Abomination? You're scaring me, Marcus. You're talking like a Biblical prophet."

Ryan's face flushed, but he held his temper. "I have no intention of making Ben's people collateral damage. Oceanus will be too busy dealing with our little gifts to do anything. In any case, we'll call the authorities as soon as we're finished here."

"It would only take a few bursts from an automatic weapon to kill

Ben's people. Why not call in outside help now?"

"Because it would take time we don't have. We're talking search warrants and legal process. The villagers could be dead by the time the Mounties decide to investigate." He paused. "Remember, I tried to bring NUMA in on this, and Austin refused."

Therri bit her lower lip in frustration. Her loyalty toward Ryan was intense but not uncritical.

"Don't turn your sights on Kurt. If it weren't for him, you'd be eat- ing sardines in a Danish prison cell."

Ryan beamed his lighthouse smile. "You're right. I'm out of line.

But there's still time to call Bear and have him take you out of here."

"Not on your life, Ryan."

Mercer had finished organizing their backpacks. He strapped on a pistol belt and handed one to Ryan. Therri refused a weapon. They piled their supplies into the inflatable, shoved it off the beach and started the engine. It ran with a low hum and pushed them through the water at a slow but respectable speed. They hugged the shoreline even after they had passed through the channel into the larger lake.

Ryan was using a topographic map with notations based on Ben's information. He stopped the boat at one point and peered through his binoculars at the opposite side of the lake. He could make out a pier and several boats, but no structure matching Nighthawk's de- scription.

"That's funny, I don't see any dome. Ben said it rose above the trees.