"Don't you know who heads up the Senate committee for oil exploration on government lands?"
"Certainly, it's. . ." Jessie's voice trailed off and her composure melted away.
"Dirk's father," Oates finished. "Senator George Pitt of California. Without his backing and the blessing of NUMA on environmental issues, you don't stand a prayer of winning the drilling rights."
"It would appear," Fawcett said sardonically, "your inside track just washed out."
Thirty minutes later, Pitt rolled the Daimler into his parking stall in front of the tall, solar-glassed building that housed NUMA headquarters. He signed in at the security desk and took the elevator to the tenth floor. When the doors opened, he stepped into a vast electronic maze, comprising the communications and information network of the marine agency.
Hiram Yaeger looked up from behind a horseshoe-shaped desk, whose surface lay unseen beneath a jungle of computer hardware, and smiled. "Hullo, Dirk. All dressed up and no place to go?"
"The party's hostess decided I was persona non grata and made me walk the plank."
"Anybody I know?"
It was Pitt's turn to smile. He looked down at Yaeger. The computer wizard was a throwback to the hippie days of the early seventies. He wore his blond hair long and tied in a ponytail. His beard was untrimmed and kinky with uncontrolled curls. And his standard uniform for work and play was Levi jacket and pants stuffed into scruffy cowboy boots.
Pitt said, "I can't picture you and Jessie LeBaron traveling in the same social circles."
Yaeger gave out a low whistle. "You got booted from a Jessie LeBaron bash? Man, you're some kind of hero to the downtrodden."
"Are you in the mood for an excavation?"
"On her?"
"On him."
"Her husband? The one who's missing?"
"Raymond LeBaron."
"Another moonlight operation?"
"Whatever you want to call it."
"Dirk," Yaeger said, peering over the rims of his granny glasses, "you are a nosy bastard, but I love you just the same. I'm hired to build a world-class computer network and amass an archive on marine science and history, but every time I belch you turn up, wanting to use my creation for shady purposes.
Why do I go along? Okay, I'll tell you why. Larceny flows faster in my veins than yours. Now, how deep do you want me to dig?"
"To the bottom of his past. Where he came from. What was the money base for his empire?"
"Raymond LeBaron was pretty secretive about his private life. He may have covered his trail."
"I realize that, but you've pulled skeletons out of the closet before."
Yaeger nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, the Bougainville shipping family a few months ago. A neat little caper, if I do say so."
"One more thing."
"Lay it on me."
"A ship called the Cyclops. Could you pull her history for me?"
"No sweat. Anything else?"
"That should do it," Pitt answered.