the Silent Sea (2010) tof-7 Page 18

I'm not walking thirty miles across Antarctica, Mark griped.

  Linda tapped the front of the nearest snowcat. Neither am I.

  After making a radio call to their ship and fulfilling Dr. Huxley's request for tissue and blood samples from Andy Gangle and the mummy in the trunk, it took almost an hour to get one of the big vehicles fired up. Without electricity for the plug-in engine warmer, the oil had turned as viscous as tar. It had to be drained and warmed over a camp stove twice since the first time it cooled too quickly to crank the motor. Despite his nerd chic, Mark Murphy was a nimble mechanic.

  Heat from the snowcat's ventilators was a welcome breath, and only a few miles from Wilson/George it was warm enough for them to unzip their outer parkas and remove the heavy mittens over their Gore-Tex gloves. Linc drove, and Linda relinquished the shotgun seat to Murph.

  She decided they should circle out into the snowy expanse behind the base and approach the Argentine camp from the east. Compasses were useless this close to the South Pole, but the snowcat was equipped with satellite navigation. This, too, was a little spotty because the constellation of satellites used for triangulation was often hidden by the horizon. The system was not developed with polar navigation in mind. There were base relay stations to aid GPS, but most of them were on the other side of the continent where most of the research bases were located.

  The landscape was an unbroken vista of white. Even the distant mountains were still covered in winter ice. Some would melt as the spring thaw deepened to reveal gray granite slopes, but for now they towered under a mantle of frozen snow.

  Unlike other areas of Antarctica, where the ice was miles thick, there was little chance of driving into hidden crevasses here, so Linc drove fast, the crawler treads having little difficulty hauling them across the wind-scarred surface.

  It's believed, Mark said to cut the boredom, that the mountains to our left are a continuation of the Andes in South America. He stayed quiet when no one engaged him.

  Three hours of monotonous driving found them two miles behind the Argentine research station. Given the militaristic nature of the current regime in Buenos Aires, they expected there would be perimeter security of some kind, most likely patrols on snow machines. Linda judged two miles was close enough. From here, they would proceed on foot.

  Linda and Linc tightened up their arctic clothing. Mark was to remain with the snowcat so he could start the engine occasionally to keep it warm and also to be able to move it if trouble approached. They grabbed up their weapons and leapt to the ice. It was dark but the clouds had moved on, allowing the moon's glow to glitter off the snow.

  The night had an eerie stillness. It seemed the only sound in the world was their breathing and the crunch of their boots. It was as though they were walking on another, inhospitable planet. And in a sense they were, because without their protective suits they wouldn't last five minutes.

  Linda had pocketed a bunch of nuts and washers from a storage bin in the snowcat. She dropped one every fifty or so feet. The metal looked black against the ice and was easily seen. She carried a handheld GPS, but the little trail of metal bread crumbs was her low-tech backup.

  They'd gone a mile when Linc suddenly dropped flat. Linda threw herself to the ground and started scanning the horizon.

  I don't see anything, she whispered.

  Linc wiggled forward on his elbows. She matched him move for move and then she spotted what he'd seen. There were tracks in the ice from a snowmobile. They'd been right to be cautious. The Argentines did patrol around their base.

  Makes you wonder what they're protecting, Linc said.

  Let's find out.

  They got to their feet again and continued onward. As a former SEAL, Franklin Lincoln was always on guard, but he moved with even more vigilance than usual. His head turned side to side as he studied the barren terrain around them, and every couple of minutes he would pull down his parka's hood to listen for the telltale buzz of an approaching snowmobile.

  The back of the Argentine base was protected by low jagged hills. Here the snow and ice had been blown away in spots to reveal rocky crags as black as midnight. It wasn't a particularly difficult climb, but they moved with slow deliberation. Their thick boots weren't suited to the task, and they were on constant lookout for patrols.

  They reached the top and got their low-light binoculars ready before peering over the crest.

  Linda didn't know what to expect. She assumed the Argentines would have something similar to Wilson/George, but what lay below them between the hills and the sea was astonishing. It wasn't an isolated little research station as had been claimed, but rather a sprawling town so cleverly camouflaged it was impossible to tell its size. There were dozens of buildings built on what at first looked like an ice shelf but was in fact an artificial construct made to look like ice. Because nature abhors a straight line, all the buildings were constructed with curved shapes to hide their outlines from satellite observation.

  Huge white tents hid even more of the base. She imagined these were made of Kevlar to withstand the elements. They had also constructed a large dock with several piers, again made to look like ice.

  The natural bay the facility abutted was ice-free, except for a dozen tall iceburgs. She zoomed in on one. Something wasn't right about it. It looked real enough, but it was too tall for its base. It should have toppled over during the latest storm. They all should have. That's when she realized they were artificial, too.

  Oil platforms. That's what they were small offshore oil-drilling rigs.

  Now that she understood the nature of what the Argentines had built here, she recognized that three odd hills near the pier were actually giant storage tanks that had been buried under earthworks redoubts. These weren't just exploratory wells out there. They were about to go into full-scale production. The dock may not be large enough for the latest-generation supertankers, but it could certainly handle a hundred-thousand-tonner.

  She knew what she was seeing flew in the face of one of the most important treaties in existence. Since the early 1960s, the Antarctic Treaty had maintained that the continent was a scientific preserve and that no nation could claim sovereignty over any part of it. The accord also stated that it was illegal for signatories to mine for raw materials or drill for oil, on land or offshore.

  Linc tapped her on the shoulder and pointed farther south. She saw what he was pointing at, a separate building away from the others, but she wasn't sure what piqued his interest. She shot him an inquiring glance.

  I think that's a missile battery.

  If he was right, that was another violation, she believed. She clicked off more than a dozen pictures with her camera, shooting through the night vision binoculars. They weren't the best pictures, but they were at least proof.

  Linc slithered back over the crest of the hill. What do you think? he asked when they were clear.

  I'd say the Argies have been busy. Did you notice the icebergs in the bay?

  Yeah. Oil derricks.

  Linda nodded. We've got to report this.

  A wind was starting to pick up. It wasn't enough to cause a whiteout, but visibility was down dramatically, and after so much time exposed Linda felt the cold starting to seep through her clothes. Remarkably, she could still see her trail of nuts and washers.

  Linc continued to scan all around them, so he was the one to spot the snowmobile. He pushed Linda to the ground hard enough to cause the air to explode from her lungs. They didn't know if they'd been spotted, and a tense few seconds passed as the machine's single headlamp bounced through the darkness.

  Time stretched, and it looked like the driver hadn't seen them moving, or, if he had, he though it was a trick of the wind. The sled's motor was a piercing whine, but he continued to angle away from them. At the last second, the sentry jerked the handlebars hard over and drove straight for the prone pair.

  Linc cursed, and brought his assault rifle to his shoulder.

  He couldn't see what the driver was doing beca
use of the glare of its headlamp, but the crack of a shot carried over the engine's beat. The shot went wild because the snowmobile was racing over rough terrain. The snowmobile was almost on them. Linc fumbled in his oversized mittens to flick off the safety, and when he realized he wouldn't have time he lurched to his feet and swung the rifle like a baseball bat.

  The gun hit the driver in the neck, and the kinetic energy of his forward motion coming against Linc's tremendous strength ripped him off the back of the machine and sent him sprawling across the ice.

  Without its driver, the snowmobile's engine automatically cut out when the safety key, which was tethered to the man's wrist, was ripped from the dash. It rolled onward for a few feet and came to a stop, its headlight reflecting flakes of snow drifting on the wind.

  Linda ran to the downed Argentine. He lay completely still. She peeled off his helmet. The way his head flopped when she did it told her his neck had been broken by the brutal impact. She stood.

  Dead?

  Yes.

  Him, her, us, Linc said with a career soldier's fatalism.

  He lifted the body and brought it closer to the snowmobile. He set the corpse gently on the ice and took hold of the handlebars. Bracing his legs, he flexed his muscles and threw the five-hundred-pound machine on its side as if it were no more than a toy. He adjusted the body to fit what would look like a tragic accident.

  Wish we could take it and ride it back to the snowcat, Linda said, although she knew they couldn't.

  Walk will do you good, Franklin Lincoln grinned.

  First, I need meat on my bones, and now you say I need exercise. Which one is it?

  Linc knew that answering that was a trap, even if she was teasing, so he wisely said nothing and continued the long slog to Murph and their warm ride back to Wilson/George.

  The Silent Sea

  Chapter SIXTEEN

  IN BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, THE ONLY REQUIREMENT Juan and Max had for their hotel was that it have an Internet connection because Cabrillo wanted to transmit the pictures he'd taken in the pit to Eddie Seng aboard the Oregon and get a translation as quickly as possible.

  By the time they'd finished stuffing themselves on Wallapa Bay oysters and Dungeness crab at a nearby restaurant, Eddie had a preliminary report for them.

  Seng was another former CIA agent and had been with the Corporation almost since its inception. Ironically, though they had served at the same time, he and Cabrillo had never met in the halls of Langley. Born in New York's Chinatown, Eddie was fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin.

  He regarded the world through heavy-lidded dark eyes, and in them Juan could see Eddie had discovered something interesting. Behind the Corporation's chief of shore operations, Juan could see the back of the op center, so he figured his image was on the main display above the helm and weapons stations.

  You were right, it is Mandarin, but an older form. It reminded me of having to read Shakespeare back in high school.

  So what is it?

  Are you familiar with Admiral Zheng He?

  Some kind of Chinese explorer in the 1400s. He sailed as far west as Africa and as far south as Australia.

  New Zealand, actually. He went on seven voyages between 1405 and 1433 in what would be the largest ships built until the eighteenth century. He had over two hundred of them in what they called the Treasure Fleet, and twenty-eight thousand men.

  Are you saying that the Chinese discovered America seventy years before Columbus?

  No. Zheng didn't place that writing in the pit. But the Admiral who did had been inspired by Zheng and embarked on a remarkable voyage of his own. There were three ships, and they left China in 1495 headed east. In command was Tsai Song. Admiral Tsai had been commissioned by the Emperor to trade as far and wide as he could. And because Zheng had found a continent to the west, Africa, he was convinced the earth had symmetry and there would be another to the east.

  So they reached North America, but it was already a couple of years after Columbus did, Max said, relieved that they wouldn't have to rewrite the history books.

  Actually, from what I can tell, they landed in South America first. But there was a problem. As Tsai writes, one of the ships was cursed while they were in a 'yhellishly cold cove.' I assume Tierra del Fuego.

  What happened?

  The crew was overcome by evil. That's what Tsai writes. An evil so powerful that he felt it necessary to order the vessel destroyed and the stricken crew left to die. They sank it with an explosive charge placed against the hull.

  Hanley asked, How big were these ships?

  Over three hundred feet, with a crew of four hundred.

  Max gave a low whistle, impressed with medieval Chinese naval architecture.

  Does he say the nature of this evil?

  No. The whole purpose of the pit, though, was to give a clue as to the ship's location. He wrote that the evil surrounding it should never be approached, but he was also a pragmatist. There were untold riches aboard her, treasure they had planned to barter with any natives they came across.

  Tsai left two markers, one honoring the gods of the underworld the one in the pit and another to honor the gods in heaven.

  Something underground and something above, Juan mused aloud. What is the second marker?

  Tsai only writes that it can be seen from the heavens. And that they left it two hundred days from the Treasure Pit.

  Two hundred days? Max groused. What the hell is that?

  I assume, Eddie said evenly, ignoring Max's sarcasm, that it means two hundred days' sailing south of Pine Island. Obviously, the Ronish brothers thought it was around the twenty-fifth parallel.

  Hold on a second, Juan said. If they were looking for a marker left by a Chinese Admiral, what were they doing so far inland? Whatever the marker was, surely it would be near the coast.

  I don't know.

  We need to work on those papers you found at the crash site, Max suggested. The answer could be in their log.

  We need to learn more about this Admiral Tsai. This came from Eric Stone, who had been sitting at the helm station but had walked around the op center so that he stood behind Eddie. And what was aboard his ship. This could be a significant archaeological find.

  Actually, Max said, we need to ask ourselves if this is worth pursuing further. What's this to us, anyway?

  I think the answer is pretty clear, Stone replied. This is something of interest to the Argentine government, a regime currently at odds with the United States. Whatever their agenda, it can't be good.

  I agree, the Chairman said. The Generalissimos have an interest in this thing, and until we know their angle we should keep at it. What about the drawing of that cove or inlet?

  That is the outline of the area where their ship was sunk, and, before you ask, I've already got Eric here running a computer match of South America's coastline, including all couple hundred islands that make up Tierra del Fuego. It's going to take some time.

  Okay. What's the latest on Linda and her team?

  They're still in the snowcat. You're not going to believe what they found. What was supposed to be a small Argentine research station turns out to be a full-blown oil field.

  A what?

  You heard me. They're drilling for oil off the Antarctic Peninsula.

  The news rocked Cabrillo, and he blurted stupidly, But that's illegal.

  Well, yeah. Apparently they don't care.

  Have you reported this to Overholt?

  Not yet. Linda said she snapped some pictures. She wants to include them with her report.

  This is getting weirder and weirder, Max said. They're taking a hell of a risk pulling a stunt like that.

  Not really, Eric Stone countered. They're already an international pariah, so what's a little more bad will?

  Bad will, my butt. The U.S. is going to send an armada down there. It'll be like the Falklands War all over again.

  Are you sure? Stone asked, one eyebrow arched.

  Hanley opened his m
outh to reply but thought better of it because he wasn't sure. With the U.S. military spread thin around the world and the current occupant of the White House more focused on domestic issues, it was possible that the government's response would be weak protests and another round of UN sanctions.

  Now we have to ask ourselves if a six-hundred-year-old Chinese ship has anything to do with current global events, Eric said.

  If things hold true to form, Juan replied, we can count on it.

  Eddie asked, What do you want us to do once Linda returns? Should we stay down here or start heading north?

  Cabrillo considered the options and came to a quick decision. Get the ship out of there. We have no idea what the Argentines are planning in Antarctica, but if the balloon goes up and war breaks out I want the Oregon clear. Also, we need to get into position for the Kuwaiti Emir's visit to South Africa. He's hired us as additional security, and that's one lucrative contract.

  You got it, Eddie said. They should be back in a couple of hours and then we'll head northward again.

  Call me when they're back. I want to hear Linda's full r eport.

  Juan killed the connection and brought up his electronic Rolodex. There were more than a thousand names listed, from the direct lines of heads of state to some of the most shadowy characters in the world. He thought it ironic that when listed alphabetically, Langston Overholt's entry was next to a French pimp who also trafficked in information.

  It was three hours earlier on the East Coast, so he wasn't worried about the time difference. A deep baritone answered on the second ring. Hello?

  Mr. Perlmutter, this is Juan Cabrillo.

  The infamous Chairman. How are you?

  Though the two had never met and had spoken on the phone only once, each was well aware of the other's reputation. St. Julian Perlmutter was a living encyclopedia of all things maritime and owned the largest private collection of books, manuscripts, and folios about the history of ships and shipping. His Georgetown home was quite literally packed to the rafters with his well-thumbed trove.

  It had been one of Perlmutter's research projects a few months back that eventually sent the crew of the Oregon to Libya and led to the rescue of the Secretary of State, Fiona Katamora.