White Death (NUMA Files 4)

After Zavala left the NUMA building, he drove his 1961 Corvette convertible to his home in Arlington, Virginia. While the upstairs was spotless, as would be expected of someone who routinely dealt in microscopic tolerances, Zavala's basement looked like a cross be- tween Captain Nemo's workshop and a redneck gas station. It was crammed with models of undersea craft, metal-cutting tools and piles of diagrams marked with greasy fingerprints.

The one exception to the jumble was a locked metal cabinet where Zavala kept his collection of weaponry. Technically, Zavala was a marine engineer, but his duties on the Special Assignments Team sometimes required firepower. Unlike Austin, who favored a custom-made Bowen revolver, Zavala employed whatever weapon was handy, usually with deadly efficiency. He eyed the collection of firearms in the cabinet-wondering what, short of a neutron bomb, would be effective against a ruthless multinational organization with its own private army-and reached for an Ithaca Model 37 repeat- ins shotgun, the primary weapon used by the SEALs in Vietnam. He liked the idea that the shotgun could be fired almost like an automatic weapon.

Zavala carefully packed the shotgun and an ample supply of am- munition into a case, and before long he was on his way to Dulles Air- port. He drove with the top down, savoring the ride because he knew it would be his last in the 'Vette until his assignment was over. He pulled up to a hangar in an out-of-the-way corner of the airport where a crew of mechanics was doing last-minute checks on a NUMA executive jet. He kissed the Corvette's fender and said a sad good-bye, then climbed aboard the plane.

Zavala was going over his flight plan when Austin arrived a short time later with Ben Nighthawk in tow. Austin introduced the young Indian to Zavala. Nighthawk glanced around as if he were looking for something.

"Don't worry," Austin said, noting the expression of consternation on Nighthawk's face. "Joe just looks like a bandit. He really does know how to fly a plane."

"That's right," Zavala said, looking up from his clipboard. "I've passed a correspondence course, all except for the part about the landing."

The last thing Austin wanted was to have Ben bolt from the plane in fright. "Joe likes to kid around," he said.

"I wasn't worried about that, it's-well, is this all there is? I mean just?"

Zavala's lips turned up in a smile. "We hear a lot of that sort of thing," he said, recalling Becker's skepticism when he and Austin had

arrived to rescue the Danish sailors. "I'm starting to get an inferior- ity complex."

"This isn't a suicide squadron," Austin said. "We'll pick up some extra muscle on the way. In the meantime, make yourself comfort- able. There's coffee in that carafe. I'll assist Joe in the cockpit."

They were quickly cleared for takeoff, and the plane headed north. At a cruising speed of five hundred miles an hour, they were over the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in a little over three hours. They touched down at a small coastal airport. Rudi Gunn had checked earlier and found that there was a NUMA survey ship working in the gulf. The way had been smooth through Canadian customs, and before long Austin, Zavala and Ben were climbing aboard the ship, which had come into port. By previous arrangement, the Navarra was waiting ten miles offshore.

As they approached the yacht, Zavala eyed the long, sleek vessel with appreciation. "Pretty," he said. "And from her lines, I'd say she's fast, too, but she doesn't look tough enough to take on Oceanus."

"Wait," Austin said, with a knowing smile.

The Navarra sent over a launch to pick them up. Aguirrez was waiting on deck, his black beret, as usual, perched at a jaunty angle on his head. By his side were the two brawny men who had escorted

Austin after he was plucked from the waters outside the Mermaid's Gate.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Austin," Aguirrez said, pumping Kurt's hand. "Glad you and your friends could make it aboard. These are my two sons, Diego and Pablo."

It was the first time Austin had seen the two men smile, and he noted the resemblance to their father. He introduced Zavala and Nighthawk. The yacht was already underway by that time, and he and the others followed Aguirrez to his grand salon. Aguirrez mo- tioned for the men to take a seat, and a steward appeared with hot drinks and sandwiches. Aguirrez asked them about their trip and waited patiently for them to finish their lunch before he picked up a remote control. At a click of a button, a section of wall slid up to re- veal a giant screen. Another click, and an aerial photograph filled the space. The photograph showed forest and water.

Nighthawk sucked in his breath. "That's my lake, and my vil- lage."

"I used the coordinates Mr. Austin gave me and fed them into a commercial satellite," Aguirrez said. "I'm puzzled, however. As you can see, there is no sign of this airship building that you mentioned."

"We had the same problem with the satellite photos we looked at," Austin said. "But our computer model indicates that this is the place."

Nighthawk rose and walked over to the screen. He pointed to a section of forest bordering the lake. "It's here, I fnow it is. Look, you can see where the woods have been cleared, and there's the pier." His confusion was evident. "But there's nothing but trees here where the blimp hangar should be."

"Tell us again what you saw that night," Austin said.

"The dome was huge, but we didn't see it until the airship ap- peared. The surface was covered with panels."

"Panels?" Zavala said.

"Yes, what you see on a geodesic dome, like the one they bu

ilt for the Olympics in Montreal. Hundreds of sections."

Zavala nodded. "I didn't think that adaptive camouflage technol- ogy was that far advanced."

"Sounds more like invisibility we're talking about," Austin said, gesturing toward the screen.

"Not a bad guess. Adaptive camouflage is a new technique. The surface that you want to hide is blanketed with flat panels, which sense the scenery and changing light. Then what the sensors see is dis- played on the panels. If you were standing at ground level looking at this thing, all you would see is trees, so the dome would blend into the local forest. Someone obviously took satellite imaging into account. It would be a simple matter to project treetops on the roof panels."