Blue Gold (NUMA Files 2)

“Make believe that the next thing you say may be your last words, and think very carefully about it.”

The guard knew that Austin would shoot him without hesitation.

“I’m not protecting those creeps,” he said.

“What are you talking about?”

“The Kradzik brothers. They had her taken to the Great Hall.”

“Who are these guys?”

“Couple of killers who do the boss’s dirty work,” he said with obvious disgust.

“Tell us how to get there.”

The guard gave them the directions. Austin told him to expect a return visit if he sent them on a wild goose chase. They left him in the room and locked the door, then bolted down the hall to the elevator. They didn’t know who the Kradzik brothers were, and they didn’t care. One thing they could be certain of. Whatever was planned for Gamay couldn’t be good.

38

THE FIFTY MEN gathered around the table on the deck of the Gogstad ship were dressed in dark business suits rather than cloaks and armor, but the scene could have been taken from a thousand-year-old pagan celebration. Torchlight glinted off the sharp metal edges of the medieval armaments lining the walls and cast flickering shadows on the men’s faces. The theatrical effect was not accidental. Brynhild had designed the entire chamber as an elaborate stage set with herself as director.

The Gogstad board of directors was made up of some of the most prominent individuals in the world. They came from many countries and every continent. Their ranks included the chief executives of multinational corporations, trade representatives whose secret negotiations gave them more power than some governments, and politicians, past and present, who owed their careers to the plutocracies that were the real ruling class in the countries they came from. The men represented every race and color, but despite the differences in their physical stature and skin complexion, they were bound together by a common denominator: their insatiable avarice. With every disdainful facial expression and gesture, they projected the same polished arrogance.

Brynhild stood on the deck of the Viking ship at the head of the table. “Welcome, gentlemen,” she said. “Thank you for coming on short notice. I know many of you traveled a long way, but I assure you, the journey will have been worth it.” She looked from face to face, glorying in the greed she saw lurking behind the practiced smiles and the knifing eyes. “We in this room represent the heart and soul of Gogstad, an invisible government more powerful than any the world has ever seen. You are more than a corporate elite; you are priests in a secret society, like the Knights Templar.”

“Pardon me for interrupting your stirring pep talk right at the start,” said a fish-eyed English arms dealer named Grimley. “You’re not telling us anything new. I hope I didn’t just fly six thousand miles to hear you tell us what an extraordinary group this is.”

Brynhild smiled. The directors were the only people on earth who could talk to her as equals.

“No, Lord Grimley, I called you together to inform you that our plans have been drastically accelerated.”

The Englishman was still unimpressed. His long nose sniffed the air as if he smelled an unpleasant odor. “You were originally talking of years to gain the monopoly on the world’s water supply. That has been changed to months, I take it?”

“No, Lord Grimley. I’m talking a target date of days.”

There was a low murmur around the table.

An unctuous smile crossed Grimley’s face. “Disregard my earlier comment,” he said. “Please go on.”

“I’d be happy to,” Brynhild said. “As you know from my monthly reports, our plans have been moving smoothly but slowly. Every day we have acquired another water source, but it has taken time to build up our tanker fleet. The huge storage bags that would be used to transpor

t water across oceans have been a problem. Only now has the technology to construct the bags been achieved. And most recently our project has elicited interest from the National Underwater and Marine Agency.”

An American real estate baron named Howes was the first to pounce on the significance of her last sentence. “NUMA? How did they come to know about us?”

“It’s a complicated story. You will all be provided with reports detailing NUMA’s interest. Suffice it to say for now that their people are very persistent and lucky.”

“This is serious,” said the American. “First the newspaper investigation, now this.”

“The newspaper will not be running the story, nor will anyone else. All the investigative records have been destroyed. In regard to NUMA, that situation, too, has been neutralized.”

“It’s still damned worrisome,” Howes said. “We’ve spent millions keeping our activities secret. This whole thing could unravel in no time.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Brynhild replied. “We have done everything possible to preserve our privacy, but an operation of this size and duration could not go undetected forever. The façade we erected to hide our activities from public view is beginning to crack. It was only a matter of time, so I’m not surprised, but it did suggest the need for haste.”

“Are you saying that you are rushing our plans because of NUMA?”

“No. Only that there has been a fortunate turn of events.”