“We do have that satellite number that Linda used to call Jin,” Juan said. “Did you have Eric, Murph, and Sylvia see if they could trace it?”
“They tried but hit a dead end. The signal is routed through a dozen satellites, completely masking where the end user is.”
“Don’t worry,” Juan said. “If I know MacD, he’s talking Polk’s ears off right now with some wild story. Sooner or later, they’ll be calling us.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
MARWOOD ISLAND, QUEENSLAND
As she brought the Marauder into its home port, Jin was glad to finally be back at the base Lu had chosen for the trimaran. Not only would she be able to finish repairs to the plasma cannon they had begun at sea, but she would also be able to see her husband, who had arrived with their prisoner the day before.
Located near the Whitsunday archipelago off the central coast of Queensland, Marwood was home to an abandoned World War II naval base that Lu refurbished when he bought the property. The island was shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head, with a circular harbor where the mouth would be and a narrow opening to the ocean at the chin.
The setting was ideal because of the fair weather year-round and the calm seas protected by the Great Barrier Reef. Although most of the island was mountainous, there was enough space for the restored runway that ran through some high hills on Mickey’s left cheek. One end stopped at the sea, the other near the dock. A cluster of concrete buildings at Mickey’s nose served as the base quarters and facilities. The ears were peaks covered with eucalyptus trees and hoop pines.
The Gulfstream was chocked at the end of the runway, and men on ATVs towed equipment to the dock to complete the repairs on the trimaran.
After she had tied up the Marauder, she asked where she could find Polk. She was directed to the main office building.
He was inside at a desk, looking at a laptop with his back to her. She leaned against the doorway.
“So busy you couldn’t come to greet your own wife on her triumphant return?”
He turned and smiled at the sight of her, bounding over to give her a kiss.
“I was just checking the weather in Sydney for tomorrow night. Hot and dry. Perfect for the operation.”
“Is Rathman in place?”
“The Centaurus is on schedule to arrive this evening.”
“I hope you take some Enervum gas grenades with you this time, just in case.” They’d tested the grenades on the scientists back at the Nhulunbuy factory and found them effective.
“Those definitely would have come in handy at Christmas Island,” Polk said. “I’ll put some on the plane. What do you think Lu’s plan is to get the Australians to ship in a million Chinese so quickly?”
“He’s probably got more triggers set up to react to the news stories of the attack. But that’s someone else’s problem.”
“I wonder how the attacks have impacted Lu’s financial worth.”
“Let’s take a look.”
They’d both memorized the password, but the account number was so long that Polk had to copy it from the notepad app on his phone. He typed the info into the cryptocurrency’s online platform.
“The balance is up to nine hundred and eighty million,” Polk said.
“It might even go up in value after the attack,” Jin said. “People take their money out of the stock market after terrorist incidents and they’ve got to put it somewhere.”
“And if not, we’ve got the antidote in the Gulfstream as a backup.”
“This MacD. Did you find out anything about him?” Jin asked.
“I was able to verify that he really was a U.S. Army Ranger.”
“I want to talk to him before we give his Chairman a call.”
“He’s down in the bomb shelter. I’ll have him brought up.” Polk called for two of their men to retrieve him.
“When do you leave for Sydney?” Jin asked.