Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt 16)

"There is evidence that links them with the burning of the Emerald Dolphin."

Surprisingly, Thomas did not appear shocked. "I would not put it past them," he said evenly. "The man who owns and controls the company will stop at nothing to protect his interests, even if it meant burning a cruise ship along with every man, woman and child on board."

"He doesn't sound like somebody you'd want as an enemy. What about stockholders? Don't they have a clue about what's going on under the table?"

"Why should they care, when they're pocketing enormous returns on their investments? Besides, they had little to say about anything. Curtis Merlin Zale, the man at the top of the empire, owns eighty percent of the stock."

"A terrible thing for a giant American corporation to murder for company profit."

"More of it goes on than you might suspect, Mr. Pitt. I can give you the names of men who were connected with the Cerberus Corporation and who, for whatever reasons, have disappeared or been found dead in what were called accidental circumstances. Some supposedly committed suicide."

"How strange the government hasn't investigated their criminal operations."

"Cerberus has its claws into every agency in the state and federal government. They think nothing of paying a million dollars to a minor official to work undercover for them, relaying useful information of importance. Any politician who toes the line in behalf of Cerberus will find himself very wealthy, with a fortune in an offshore bank account, when he retires from politics." Thomas paused to pour himself another glass of wine. "And don't kid yourself into thinking someone might turn informer if they think they've been slighted or suddenly feel a desire to go honest. Cerberus has a program to prevent their dirty laundry from going public. The informer's family might be threatened by bodily harm, and that'd be backed up by a son or daughter suffering a broken arm or leg in what would look like an innocent accident. If that didn't keep the informer silent, he or she would simply become a suicide. Or maybe he'd succumb to a fatal disease injected into his body unknowingly in a crowded situation. You'd be surprised at how many news media investigations were called off by the heads of the newspapers or television networks after meetings with Cerberus directors. One who threw them out of his office came into the fold when one of his daughters was found badly beaten in a supposed mugging. Believe me, Mr. Pitt. These are not nice men."

"Whom do they hire to do their dirty work?"

"A covert organization called the Vipers. They only take their orders from Zale personally. I know this because Elmore was secretly told by an old friend in the Vipers who warned him that he and I were on the murder list."

"What happened to the old friend?"

"He disappeared," Thomas answered offhandedly, as if it was a foregone conclusion.

Something tugged in the back of Pitt's mind. "The tail of Cerberus, the guardian of Hades."

Thomas looked at Pitt, intrigued. "You know about the three-headed dog."

"The corporation logo. The end of the dog's tail is the head of a snake."

"It's become a corporate icon," said Thomas.

"What is morale like among the employees?" Pitt asked.

"From the day they come on the job, they are indoctrinated like recruits in a cult. The company goes out of its way to provide a four-day workweek, large year-end bonuses, perks that go far and above what other corporations provide. It's almost as if they've been enslaved and don't know it."

"Cerberus has no problems with the unions?"

"Unions have never made a dent in Cerberus. If union officials make an appeal, word quickly goes out that anyone who wants to unionize will not be fired, but lose their bonus and fringe benefits, which as I've said are considerable. When an old employee dies or retires, his job usually goes to his children; it's that hard to break into the company infrastructure. The relationships from the top on down to the janitors are like parishioners in a church. Adoration of the company has become a religion. In the workers' eyes, Cerberus can do no wrong."

"How is it you and

Dr. Egan survived for so long after leaving the company?"

"Because the man who directs corporate operations left us alone, planning to steal the formula for the oil and the designs for Elmore's magnetohydrodynamic engine designs at his convenience."

"But why wait until Dr. Egan's engines were perfected and installed in the Emerald Dolphin?"

"So they could destroy the ship and blame the cause on the engines," replied Thomas. "If they ruined the engines' reputation for reliability, it'd discourage buyers and they could snatch up the patents for a song."

"But the fire did not start in the engine room."

"I was not aware of that," answered Thomas in bewilderment. "If what you say is correct, my only guess is that the operation to burn the ship somehow miscarried, didn't go as planned. But that's only a guess."

"Perhaps a good one," Pitt said in agreement. "We found incendiary devices in the ship's chapel where the crew said the fire started. A string of them was probably timed to go off in sequence, beginning in the engine room and traveling to the upper decks until the last one ignited in the ship's chapel. But as you suggest, something went wrong."

Pitt did not say it, but he realized that failing to condemn the MHD engines for the disaster was another reason for the ship to be sunk before an official investigation.

Thomas dropped his voice, speaking softly. Pitt could barely hear him. "I only hope and pray they don't attempt the same criminal act on the Golden Marlin."