The Silent Sea (Oregon Files 7)

The agents dumped them at the curb in front of the Jackson-Evers terminal. Juan hailed a taxi as soon as they’d pulled out of sight.

“I take it we’re not going to follow their advice?” Max asked.

“We are, but I don’t want to hear you grumble about flying commercial. There’s a charter service here.”

“Now we’re talking.”

Twenty minutes later, they were in the general-aviation terminal waiting for their plane to be fueled. Juan was using his laptop to act as a telephone. His first call was to Overholt.

“I take it you’re out?” the old CIA agent asked.

“Charter jet’s fueling as we speak. Max and I both owe you one. How’d you do it?”

“Suffice it to say, it’s done, and leave it at that. How could you possibly know about Argentina and China?”

Juan wanted to tell him about Tamara Wright’s abduction, but for now even someone as powerful as Overholt couldn’t do anything more than was already being done by local law enforcement and the FBI.

He explained what Linda Ross and her team had discovered when they checked into the Argentine research station. He also told him about the gruesome find at Wilson/George.

“Okay, so I understand your thinking that Argentina’s going to make a play for the peninsula; they’ve been rattling sabers over it for years, even before the current junta. But China? That caught the CIA, State Department, and the White House completely by surprise.”

“Here’s the thing. When I spoke to you last night, Max and I were with a woman named Tamara Wright—”

“The one they kidnapped?”

“You’ve read the police report?”

“Just bits and pieces. They’re taking it seriously, but there are no leads. The speedboat was discovered in Natchez, where a van was stolen from a plumber’s house. The APB is out, but so far no hits.”

“I figured it would be something like that. They’re smart. I bet that van will be found wherever they stole the cigarette boat. They’ll have their own set of wheels back and could be just about anywhere.”

“Agreed. China?” Overholt prompted.

“Dr. Wright told us about a Chinese expedition in the late 1400s that sent a fleet of three ships to South America.” Juan paused, expecting Overholt to question the validity of such a claim, but the wily case officer knew when to keep quiet. “One of the ships was afflicted by a disease that drove the crewmen insane. Sound familiar?”

“The guy at Wilson/George,” Langston breathed.

“They ate tainted food provided by island natives. I think it was human flesh, most likely brain, and they got a dose of prions. The ship was scuttled with the crew aboard, and the remaining two ships ventured northward and eventually back to China.

“Five hundred years later, along comes Andrew Gangle, who finds a mummy someplace near their base. It’s carrying gold and jade. Somehow, he gets infected, most likely he accidentally stabbed himself on a shard of bone. Now he’s got a prion disease rotting away his mind until he snaps and goes berserk.”

“That scuttled ship is off the coast of Antarctica? Dear God,” Overholt exclaimed as he made the intuitive leap that Cabrillo had had the night before. “If they can prove that Chinese explorers discovered Antarctica a couple hundred years before the first European, they . . .”

“Exactly,” Juan said. “They’ll lay claim over it, or at least the peninsula. But with Argentina already so well entrenched, the smart move for them is to partner up and share the spoils. I believe this has been in the works for some time, long before we got involved. I think the Argentines were courting the Chinese because they would need the protection of a superpower and the patronage of someone in the UN. It was the chance discovery of that blimp and the subsequent events, like getting their hands on tangible proof that the Chinese had visited South America, that cemented the deal.”

“Do the Argentines or Chinese know the location of the third ship?”

“Not yet, but they’ll be able to figure it out with enough research. Admiral Tsai’s drawing was pretty specific. A good computer program and Google Earth should do it. But here’s the thing: even if they don’t find it, they can still claim the ship visited Antarctica. Who’s to stop them?”

“We are.”

“What’s the official White House position?”

“Events are unfolding too fast. They haven’t said much, beyond the usual condemnation.”

“What does your gut tell you?”

“I honestly don’t know. China currently holds the lion’s share of our national debt, so they have us over a barrel in that respect. Also, logically, are we willing to go to war over a part of the world only a handful of people care about?”