Bradshaw shook his head. “As in rip the continent in two.”
Kurt studied Bradshaw’s face. There was nothing to suggest he was joking or delusional. “Come again?”
“That’s where the worm turns,” Bradshaw said. “Like any form of energy, there are beneficial uses and harmful uses for this one. Thero claims he’s finally succeeded in his quest and unlocked the secret to limitless energy. He insists that he would have used it for the benefit of the world, but because the world rejected him and brutalized his children, he’ll now use this newfound power for revenge, beginning by ripping this island in half.”
“Even with some type of energy source I’ve never heard of, that sounds a little absurd,” Kurt said. “A thousand nuclear bombs couldn’t split Australia in half.”
“No,” Bradshaw agreed, “but plate tectonics can.”
“Why don’t you cut to the chase here? What are you telling me?”
“I’ll let Hayley explain the details, but Thero claims he can use this zero-point energy to unleash earthquakes and affect the movement of continental plates.”
Kurt had seen a study some years back, suggesting such a thing might be possible on a minor scale. High pressure, deep-well injections of certain chemicals were known to lubricate fault lines and cause minor tremors in places. But for the most part, these were quakes felt only on the readouts of seismic monitors, not in the streets of cities and towns high above.
Then again, this zero-point energy was like nothing Kurt had ever heard of before.
“Thero’s already proven it to us,” Bradshaw said. “In the letter detailing his threat, he promised to unleash an earthquake exactly two months from the date of his signature. He insisted it would occur somewhere between Adelaide on the southern coast and Alice Springs, where we are now.”
“There was an earthquake last month,” Kurt said, recalling the news. “A big one.”
“Six-point-nine,” Bradshaw said. “One hundred and twenty miles north-northwest of Adelaide. It hit on the exact date Thero promised. Largest quake we’ve had in years.”
“But there are no fault lines here,” Kurt said, remembering his geology. “Australia sits in the middle of a plate, not on the boundary like California or Japan.”
“So I’ve been told,” Bradshaw said. “Thero insists he can change all that. That when he’s done, Australia will be cleaved down the middle and there will be, in effect, two smaller plates where there is currently one.”
Kurt’s mind reeled. Was it really possible?
“Is there any way it could be coincidence?” he asked. “A lucky guess that just happened to come true? Even an educated prediction based on some new sensing device he created?”
Bradshaw shrugged. “Even Hayley isn’t sure. But we can’t exactly wait around to find out.”
No, Kurt thought, there was no way they could do that. Not when they were dealing with a madman looking for poetic justice who’d already lost everything of importance.
“Why is Hayley still involved?” he asked. “She’s no agent. She sounded like a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown the other night. Why do you have her meeting with these couriers?”
Bradshaw sighed. “I told you, we have an informant, an unknown person inside Thero’s organization who’s been feeding us data. He or she contacted Hayley out of the blue shortly after the threat first came to light. Whoever this person inside Thero’s organization is, he or she is willing to deal with us only if Hayley acts as the go-between.”
Kurt could see Bradshaw’s dilemma. “She’s a brave woman,” he said, ?
?too brave for her own good. You should put her in protective custody somewhere.”
“There is no protective custody from what Thero is about to unleash. Not down here anyway. And since she won’t travel, that kind of limits the options. Besides, she wants to keep helping. And if you take this on, you’re going to need her. She’s the only one who understands what we’re really dealing with.”
Kurt could see that Bradshaw was right, but he didn’t like the idea. Bad things happened to civilians that got tangled up in a mess like this.
Bradshaw pointed to a sealed manila envelope on the desk. It looked to contain a thick file. “That’s everything we know. Read it, talk to your people, and let me know your decision as soon as you can. You’ll get your rugby tickets either way.”
Kurt smiled. Bradshaw was a good soul, tough as nails and gutting out the pain so he could pass the torch and yet still able to crack a joke. Kurt figured he deserved some more happy juice so he could fade off to dreamland for a while. The thought reminded him of another mystery.
“What happened out there?” he asked. “How’d those guys get the drop on you?”
Bradshaw shook his head. “One minute, I was getting ready to make a radio call. The next thing I know, I was on the ground, and someone was shooting.”
“Did you see a flash?”
Bradshaw paused.