Polar Shift nf-6 Page 15

  "How about a sneezing seagull?"

  "Look at it this way. Where would you rather be, behind your desk at NUMA or a place like this, where you've got a great ocean view?"

  "I'd like to be behind the wheel of my Corvette with a view of a lovely blonde."

  "I'll take that as a yes," Austin said. "I think I see a way in."

  Despite their playful badinage, both men were well aware of the chance they would take going belowdecks. But Zavala trusted Austin's judgment and instincts implicitly, and would have followed him into the gates of hell without hesitation. Austin made his way to a deck hatch, about three feet square, that his sharp eyes had picked out.

  He unlatched the cover, braced his feet and pulled back. The cover banged against its hinges, and a foul exhalation flowed from the opening and rocked them back on their heels. Austin undid the halogen flashlight clipped to his belt and pointed it into the opening. The intense beam reflected off the rungs of a metal ladder.

  They slipped off their flotation vests. The vests would only get in the way, and would be useless if the ship rolled over while they were belowdecks. Austin was the first down the ladder, which was sharply angled because of the ship's list. He descended twenty feet and felt a solid surface under his feet. The deck slanted sharply, and he held on to the ladder to steady himself.

  Zavala was right behind him. He glanced around and said, "It looks like a fun house."

  "Let's go have some fun," Austin said.

  Bracing himself against the lower wall, he made his way along a narrow passageway. After walking for about fifty feet, they came to a stairwell leading below. The prospect of descending deeper into the stricken ship was not an appetizing one, especially when they felt the deck list another few degrees. Both men knew that if the vessel capsized, they were dead. There would be no time to get out. But Austin was determined to pry out the secrets the ship held.

  "Feeling lucky today?" he said, his voice echoing off the walls of the passageway.

  Zavala smiled. "We just tangled with a giant whirlpool and won. I'm betting our luck is still holding."

  The stairs led down to another deck that was identical to the first. The passageway ended not in a stairwell but in an unlocked door, which they opened. As they stepped through the doorway, their noses told them there had been a change in their surroundings. Instead of the briny odor that had pervaded the passageways, the air had an electrical smell to it, as if they had stepped into a Radio Shack.

  Austin played the light around. They were standing on a balcony that overlooked a huge, central hold. The space contained four massive, cylindrical objects set in a line.

  "Looks like the electrical generating plant inside Hoover Dam," Austin said.

  "There's enough power here for a small city."

  "Or a big spark plug," Austin said, thinking about the ruined coil they had seen on the deck. He pointed the light upward. Dozens of thick electrical cables snaked down from the ceiling and ran to the generators.

  Creak.

  The deck beneath their feet tilted at a sharper angle.

  "I think that seagull you were worried about must have landed," Austin said.

  Zavala glanced upward. "Let's hope he doesn't have a cold."

  Austin was intrepid but not foolish. They retraced their steps through the door, up the stairs and along the passageway, until they were out in the open once more. The fresh air felt good after the claustrophobic darkness inside the ship. The vessel was definitely more tilted than it had been. Austin still wasn't satisfied. There was no foundation for a superstructure, but there had to be a control room. While Zavala called the Throckmorton with an update on their status, Austin made his way along the cockeyed deck toward the stern.

  He came across several more hatchways that provided access into the ship. He figured that any one of them would be a crapshoot, and that he would have to be very lucky to choose the right one. Then he found what he was looking for. Near a hatchway set into the middle of the deck at the aft end of the ship were some round insulators. He guessed that they might have been the bases for radio antennae blasted off in the whirlpool. He opened the hatch, and motioned for Zavala to follow him down the ladder.

  As before, the ladder led to a deck and a passageway, but the corridor was only about ten feet long, and it ended in a door. They opened the door and stepped inside.

  "I think we just found the crew," Zavala said.

  There were six decomposed corpses in the control room. They were piled in the lower end of the room. Austin was reluctant to violate the crew's tomb, but he knew it was important to learn as much about the ship as possible. With Zavala a step behind, Austin entered the room and glanced at the large control panel. With dozens of gauges and switches, it was far more complicated than any he had ever seen. He made an educated guess that the dynamos belowdecks were controlled from this compact space. He was examining the controls when the ship suddenly creaked, then seemed to moan.

  Zavala said, "Kurt!"

  Austin knew that if they stayed with the crew a second longer they would be joining the bloated corpses.

  "I think we're done here." He pointed to the door.

  With Zavala leading, they pounded down the corridor and practically vaulted up the ladder onto the deck and into the sunlight.

  Austin had tried keeping track in his head of the seconds that had elapsed since they heard the noise, but in their rush he had lost count. There was no time to get in the boat, start the motor and cast off. Not stopping to snatch their flotation vests, they ran for the lower side of the ship and launched their bodies off the side.

  When they came up, they swam as fast as they could. The ship would create suction as it sank, and they didn't want to get caught in it. They were well away from the vessel when they stopped swimming and looked back.

  The lower rail had dropped so that it was entirely under water. The ship itself was poised at a dangerous angle, with the deck almost perpendicular to the surface of the sea. Zavala's sneezing seagull must have landed, because the ship suddenly reached the tipping point and rolled over. It floated for several minutes, looking like the shiny wet back of a gigantic turtle. As water flowed into the hold, the ship sank lower, until only a small circle of the hull was visible. Then that, too, disappeared, and was replaced by a frothy mound of bubbles.

  The sea had taken back its own.

  16

  Pleased to meet YOU, Professor Kurtz," said Harold Mum-ford, a professor of zooarchaeology. "Is Earl Grey tea all right?"

  "My favorite," said the man seated in Mumford's office at the University of Alaska's Fairbanks campus. He had a long face, with a prominent jaw and light blue eyes. His brown hair was going gray.

  Mumford poured two cups of tea and handed one to his guest. "You've had a long journey. Fairbanks is quite a distance from Berlin."

  "Yes, Germany is many miles from here, Dr. Mumford. But I've always wanted to come to Alaska. It is the last frontier."

  "That's changing fast," said Mumford, a portly, middle-aged man who had a face like a friendly walrus. "Hell, we've even got a Wal-Mart in town. But with very little effort, you can get into some pretty rugged country, full of grizzly bears and moose. I hope you make it to the park at Denali."

  "Oh yes. That's on my agenda. I'm very excited about the prospect."

  "It's an all-day trip but well worth the time. I'm sorry you missed Karla Janos. As I mentioned on the phone, she left on a field trip a few days ago."

  "It was a last-minute decision to come here," Schroeder said. "I had some unexpected time to spare, and decided to drop by the university on a whim. It's quite nice of you to see me on such short notice."

  "Not at all. I don't blame you for wanting to meet Karla. She's a brilliant as well as lovely young woman. She worked on the Gerstle River Quarry site about seventy miles from here. That's where we found some carved mammoth tusks. It was very exciting. Her paper on the exploitation of the mammoth by early hunters was one of the best expositions I'
ve seen on the subject. I know she'd be eager to meet someone with your academic background."

  Schroeder had found his academic credentials at a Kinko's printshop in Anchorage. The business cards he had made up identified him as Herman Kurtz, professor of anthropology at Berlin University. He had borrowed the last name from the enigmatic character in Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

  Throughout his shadowy career, it had never failed to surprise him how powerful words on a sheet of paper were when combined with an air of confidence. The hardest part of the masquerade was faking an Austrian accent after all the years he'd been speaking western 'Merican.

  "I read that paper," Schroeder lied. "As you say, very impressive. I also read the article stating her thesis about the demise of the mammoth."

  "That was typical of Karla. After she concluded that man had only a negligible impact on the mammoth's extinction, she made the great leap to a catastrophic event being the cause. You can imagine the controversy."

  "Yes, it's rather an innovative theory, but I liked the boldness with which she put it forth. Does her extinction theory have anything to do with her field trip?"

  "Everything. She's hoping to find evidence to support her theory on a remote island in Siberia."

  Schroeder puffed his cheeks out. "Siberia is a long way from here. How does one go about getting there?"

  "In Karla's case, she flew to Wrangel Island, and then hopped aboard an icebreaker that took her to the New Siberian Islands. The boat will pick her up in two weeks, and she'll be back in Fairbanks a few days after that. Will you still be in Alaska?"

  "Unfortunately, no. But I'm quite envious of her adventure. I'd drop everything and follow in her tracks in a minute, if I could."

  Mumford leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. "Ivory Island must be the new Cancun," he said with a grin.

  "Pardon?" Schroeder said.

  "Ivory Island is where Karla is working. A guy from the Discovery Channel came into my office yesterday and said he was with a crew in Alaska to do a special on Mount McKinley. Guess he heard about Karla's work. He seemed extremely interested when I told him about Ivory Island. Talked about making a side trip. Asked all about the project. I guess nothing's an obstacle when you've got a fat checkbook."

  "What was his name?" Schroeder said. "Perhaps I've come across him in my travels."

  "Hunter," he said. "Scott Hunter. Big, muscular guy."

  Schroeder smiled, but there was contempt in his eyes for the thinly veiled wordplay behind the fake name. "Can't say I know him. Of course, you informed him of the difficulties of getting to Ivory Island?"

  "I sent him to the airport to talk to Joe Harper. He's a former bush pilot who operates a company called PoleStar Air. They run packaged adventure tours into Russia."

  Schroeder gulped down the rest of his tea even though it burned his throat. He thanked Mumford for his hospitality, and drove his rental car to the Fairbanks airport. The airport's location near the Arctic Circle made it a convenient refueling stop for big cargo planes flying the circle route between the Far East and America. Schroeder saw a 747 taking off as he parked. The airport itself was relatively small, and it took only one inquiry to find the office for PoleStar Air.

  The receptionist gave Schroeder a pleasant smile and said Mr. Harper would be free as soon as he got off the phone. Harper came out after a few minutes. He looked as if he had been picked for the role of a bush pilot by central casting. He was a lean man with alert eyes and a strong set to his mouth, and, judging from his appearance, he was still making the transition from bush pilot to tour operator.

  His beard was neatly trimmed, but his hair was shaggy and over the ears. His shirt was new and pressed and tucked into a pair of faded jeans that were at about the stage when they get comfortable. He projected a professional capability, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes. He leaned close to his receptionist's ear and whispered something about a fuel bill, then ushered Schroeder into his office.

  The work space was barely big enough for a desk and computer. Any excess space was taken up by stacks of files.

  Harper was acutely aware of the disarray. "Pardon the mess. PoleStar is still a family operation, and I'm doing a lot of the paperwork myself. In fact, I do almost everything with the help of my wife out there."

  "I understand you've been flying a long time," Schroeder said. Harper's face brightened. "I came up here in '84. Had a Cessna, flew that for years. Expanded into a fleet of puddle jumpers. I sold them all to buy the little corporate jet you see out on the tarmac. It's the blue one with the stars all over it. The high-end clients like their adventure tours fast and first-class."

  "How's it going?"

  "Business is coming along okay, I guess. Can't say the same for myself." Harper picked up a pile of papers and dropped it back on his desk. "I'm stuck doing this stuff until we get big enough to hire someone. But that's my problem. What's yours?"

  "I talked to Dr. Mumford at the university a little while ago. He told me that you're taking a television crew to an island in Siberia."

  "Oh yeah, the Discovery people. They're taking a plane that will hook up with a fishing boat at Wrangel."

  Schroeder handed Harper one of his newly minted business cards. "I'd like to get to the New Siberian Islands. You don't suppose I could hitch a ride with them."

  "Okay by me. There's plenty of room on the plane. All you'd need is the price of admission. Unfortunately, they've reserved all the seats on the plane and boat."

  Schroeder pondered his answer. "Maybe I can talk your clients into letting me tag along."

  "You're welcome to try. They're staying at the Westmark Hotel."

  "What is your estimated time of departure?"

  He checked his watch. "Two hours and twenty-one minutes from now."

  "I'll go talk to them."

  Schroeder got directions to the hotel, and inquired at the desk about the Discovery crew. The desk clerk said he had seen them go into the bar a few minutes earlier. Schroeder thanked him and went to the lounge, which was only half full, mostly singles and couples. The only group sat at a corner table, talking with their heads close together. There were four of them.

  Schroeder bought a newspaper in the lobby, took a nearby table in the lounge and ordered a club soda with lime. A couple of the men glanced briefly in his direction and went back to their conversation. One advantage to getting old is invisibility, he mused. Younger people simply stop seeing you.

  He decided to put his suspicions to the test. He watched one of the men leave his table to go to the restroom. Timing it just right, he rose from his table and deliberately bumped into the man on his way back. Schroeder apologized profusely, but the man only swore, and cut him dead with a fierce glance.

  The encounter told him two things. That his new appearance, with his shaved beard and dyed hair, was working, and that the television man was carrying a gun in a shoulder holster. He decided to press the matter further.

  After emerging from the restroom, he approached the group's table. "Hello," he said in his western accent. "I understand you folks are from the Discovery Channel. Mr. Hunter?"

  A large man who seemed to be the leader examined him through narrowed eyes. "Yeah. I'm Hunter. How'd you know my name?"

  "It's all over the hotel. We don't often get celebrities here," Schroeder said, provoking grins around the table. "I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the show you did on the ancient Hittites several months ago."

  A puzzled expression crossed the big man's face. "Thanks," he said, regarding Schroeder with hard eyes. "We've got some business to take care of, so if you'll excuse us."

  Schroeder apologized for taking their time and went back to his table. He could hear the men laughing. He had made up the Hittite reference as a test. He watched the Discovery Channel constantly. There had never been any program on that subject in the last six months. The crew was phony.

  He pondered a course of action while he finished his club soda and decid
ed to take the most direct route. He went out to his car, and from under the seat retrieved a pistol with a sound suppressor attached to the barrel.

  He was relieved to see that the men were still in the bar when he returned to the hotel. He was just in time. They had paid their bill and risen from the table. He followed them to the elevator. He rode up with them to the third floor, chatting like an old fool, enduring the smirks and hard looks. He got off on the same floor, mumbled something about a coincidence. He ambled down the hallway, acting confused, as if he had forgotten where he was, but when the group broke up and went into their rooms he noted the room numbers.

  He waited a minute, then went over to one room. Holding the pistol behind his back, he glanced up and down the hallway to make sure he was alone, then knocked. The door opened a moment later. The man scowled when he saw Schroeder standing there. It was the man he had jostled. He had taken off his jacket, and, as Schroeder had suspected, he was wearing a shoulder holster with a handgun in it.

  "What the hell do you want?"

  "I seem to have lost my room key. I was wondering if I could use your phone."

  "I'm busy." He put his hand on the holster. "Go bother someone else."

  The man started to close the door. Schroeder quickly brought the pistol around and snapped off a shot between the eyes. The man crumpled to the floor with a look of abject surprise on his otherwise unmarked face. Glancing up and down the corridor, Schroeder stepped over the body and dragged it just inside the room.

  Schroeder followed the same routine, with slight variations but similar results. In one case, he rushed his first shot and had to fire twice. In another, he heard the elevator door open just as he pulled the body into the room. But when it was over, he had killed four men in less than five minutes.

  He felt no remorse, dispatching them with the cold, murderous efficiency of his old days. They were simply violent thugs, no different from many he had encountered, even worked with. Worse, they were sloppy and careless. The team must have been assembled in a hurry. They were not the first men he had killed. Nor were they likely the last.