The Rising Sea (NUMA Files 15)

“Rudi Gunn sent me a message. He asked me to hear you out. He implored me to listen based on our previous contacts during the Nighthawk catastrophe. You two were part of that also, if I’m not mistaken.”

Paul and Gamay both nodded.

The General sat on the edge of his desk. “I spoke to many people in your government that night. Most of them were arrogant, combative and pigheaded. But Rudi gained my respect. He spoke facts instead of positions. He sought results instead of posturing for leverage. For that reason, I’ve agreed to hear you out. But I warn you, that’s all I’ve agreed to.”

Understanding the connection between Rudi and Zhang gave Paul more confidence. “Rudi told you how to defuse the bomb that had been placed aboard the Chinese aircraft. Gamay and I risked our lives to get that information to Rudi in the first place.”

“Admirable,” Zhang said, “but irrelevant to me. You were trying to save your own cities at the time.”

“There’s truth to that as well,” Gamay said.

Zhang waved toward the seats near his desk. “Down to business,” he said. “Tell me, what could possibly be worth violating my country’s sovereignty and risking your lives over?”

“Better if we show you,” Paul said. He reached for the laptop. “May I?”

Zhang handed it over and Paul began the presentation. He went through the data methodically, explaining step by step how they’d discovered and measured the accelerating rise in the sea levels; how they’d traced it to the East China Sea and then to the deepwater mining operation. Finally, he explained the science that led them to the fissures cutting through the continental plate and the unfathomable amounts of water held in the layer of ringwoodite down below.

General Zhang watched the presentation calmly, interrupting with an occasional question but otherwise waiting patiently for Paul to finish.

“You make it sound so plausible,” he then said. “But why would the water still be rising to the surface if the mining operation has been abandoned for a year?”

“We don’t know,” Paul admitted. “But have your geologists look at the data. Have them run any test or experiment they want. They’ll come to the same conclusion.”

“And I’m supposed to believe this isn’t a desperate ploy to make us reveal the nature of the subsurface operation?”

He spoke with great sarcasm in his voice, but Paul sensed it was a perfunctory question. While he considered how to respond, Gamay took it upon herself to reply.

“General,” she said politely. “Do you really think we’d throw our freedom away on a lie? If we’re wrong, you’ll put us in prison for years until a trade is worked out. We’re not spies and we’re not pawns. We came here of our own free will, looking for answers. It was only when we were cornered and threatened that we went on the run. You asked what would compel us to risk our lives and violate China’s border. The answer is simple: to avert disaster. The same reason Rudi contacted you a year ago when your agents stole the containment unit from the Nighthawk.”

Zhang remained quiet. He seemed to be considering everything that was said.

Paul added a few thoughts. “As a high-ranking member of the Chinese security service, you might already know everything we’ve told you. In which case, the only decision you have to make is what to do with us. But if this is news, then you’re either wondering how it all transpired beneath your nose or if perhaps we’re making it up. Assuming that’s the case, might I suggest you check on our story? There are plenty of ways to verify what we’ve told you. The simplest of which is to send an ROV to the canyon and get the truth for yourself. You might also pull a file on Walter Han and see what he’s been up to.”

The General narrowed his gaze. “Walter Han? The industrialist?”

“Yes,” Paul said. “We have reason to believe the half-buried robot on the video is one of his. And we know for a fact that he’s been running around Japan attempting to prevent us and our colleagues from investigating since we arrived there.”

The General looked down and

tugged at the crease in his slacks. This news seemed to bother him more than anything else he’d been told. He turned to the windows that didn’t open and stared out through them, much as Paul had earlier.

“I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong man,” he said finally. “If Walter Han is involved, then these events are being directed from a position far above mine.”

“And whose position might that be?” Gamay asked.

General Zhang didn’t answer.

Paul stepped forward. A reluctant ally was better than a smiling enemy and he sensed that’s what they’d found. “It’s your job to protect China, is it not?”

“Of course,” Zhang said.

“Then consider this,” Paul said. “What we’ve shown you will become obvious to the rest of the world before too long. The sea level is rising and the pace of that rise is accelerating. The cause is almost certainly the mining operation at the bottom of the East China Sea. That truth is going to come out whether you want it to or not. At this moment, and not for very much longer, you and you alone have the ability to control how that truth is revealed.”

Zhang was listening. “Go on.”

“There are two possibilities,” Paul said. “This event can be a massive ecological disaster caused by the Chinese government. Or it can be the result of a rogue industrialist putting the world in danger through his own arrogance and lust for wealth.”

“Blame it on Han,” the General said. “Find a scapegoat. That’s what you’re suggesting.”