Devil's Gate (NUMA Files 9)

“Yes, Mrs. Trout,” Brinks replied. “Early this morning a body was recovered two miles south of the spot where Kurt and Joe were rescued.”

Brinks nodded to an aide, who brought photos out that were passed to Kurt and Joe.

“Recognize him?” Brinks asked.

The water had bloated the man’s face, but it wasn’t enough to hide his identity.

“Key master,” Joe whispered.

Kurt nodded. “This guy was with Andras,” he said. “What happened to him?”

“Twenty-two, Old West style,” Brinks said. “Right between the eyes. Any idea why?”

“He was alive when we went down,” Kurt said. He put the photo away. “Who is he?”

“He’s been identified as a citizen of Sierra Leone,” Brinks said. “A former major in their armed forces, perhaps even a bodyguard for the president, Djemma Garand.”

“Sierra Leone,” Kurt said. This was the second time that nation’s name had popped up.

Brinks nodded. “As odd as it sounds, the links are starting to point to a connection with that country. We know the superconducting ore was transferred in Freetown, but until now we thought it was the work of a group of mercenaries manning the docks. Your friend Andras may have been one of them.”

Kurt didn’t like hearing Andras referred to as his friend, however facetiously. Beyond that, something sounded odd about this assessment. “Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world. They can barely feed and clothe their people. You’re telling me they have the wherewithal to create a particle accelerator using advanced superconductors?”

“We have this man’s body to prove a link,” Brinks said, not looking particularly thrilled to have questions coming at him. “We have other intelligence suggesting there may be a connection, including some odd military mobilizations of late.”

“Okay, so what are we doing about it?” Kurt asked, unable to take any more preamble.

Brinks retrained his gaze on Kurt. “To begin with, greater surveillance of the nation is beginning. Until now we haven’t much reason to keep a close eye upon them. But we’re starting to.”

“What else?”

“Believe it or not,” Brinks said, “we still think your initial guess is correct. These people undoubtedly have to be operating from a submarine. Portuguese divers have been all over that rock tower and they’ve found hidden tunnels designed to funnel the current through turbines, banks of batteries, and powerful electromagnetic coils. All designed to create the appearance of a magnetic anomaly. The construction would have required extensive use of submersibles.”

Kurt felt a small amount of vindication, but he’d still been wrong in a highly costly manner.

“And?” he asked.

“And the three of you are to be assigned to a Navy task force charged with finding this submarine,” Brinks said. “Mrs. Trout will work with the Navy acoustics team in trying to refine the signature left on the sonar tapes from the attack on the Grouper.”

“And what are we going to do?” Kurt asked, growing aggravated at what looked like a giant detour.

“Because of your experience in salvage operations and construction of submersibles, you two will be assigned to ASW teams that will be sent out looking for this sub.”

Kurt wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “Looking for it?” Kurt said. “You mean wandering around the ocean, listening to hydrophones and hoping to pick up something more than whales making out?”

Neither Brinks nor Admiral Farnsworth reacted.

“Are you kidding me?” Kurt continued. “There’s forty million square miles of ocean out there. And that’s if these idiots are still sailing around, waiting to get caught. More likely they’ve parked that thing under a shed somewhere and are on to the next step in their plan.”

“Our ASW teams are the best in the world, Mr. Austin,” the admiral said.

“I know they are, Admiral, but how many are you going to spare?”

“Seven frigates and twenty aircraft,” he said. “We’ll also be using both the SOSUS line and other listening stations in the South Atlantic.”

That was better than Kurt had expected, but paltry in comparison to the need. And unless Kurt had missed something, they didn’t even know what they were looking for yet.

“Did we pick up anything on the SOSUS during any of the incidents?” he asked.