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MOUNT VERNON AIRPORT:
Bett does her pre-flight check and warms up the engine while Alex returns the rental car, and when he climbs into the co-pilot seat, she takes off immediately. “I radioed the Mystic to stop so they won’t get outta my range.”
Alex notices she’s busily chewing gum again. “The other helicopter didn’t have any problem.”
“This here’s my baby. She’s good, but she ain’t got the range. The Mystic with her twin turbine generators and water jet pumps can cruise at seventy-eight knots and was already sixty-miles from shore when Mike called.”
“Are you usually on the Mystic?”
“Yeah, I do short distance reconnaissance or ship to shore transport. Once I’m back on board, I can refuel, but we still need to get there on a tank of gas. They didn’t need me for two weeks, so I’ve been visiting friends up in Canada. Mike called this morning and asked me back to work. Said I was supposed to pick up a professor. You ain’t what I expected.”
Alex can’t quite pinpoint her accent. Somewhere from the southwest. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, but it was important.”
“Not a problem.”
They fly past the Islands, and Alex notices the air flowing into the helicopter smells cleaner. “How long have you been with the crew?”
“I came aboard the Mystic just after she passed her sea trials six months ago and got to know everybody soon as they was hired.”
Alex turns and looks back between the front seats into the rear section of the helicopter where an open area separates the rear seat from the cockpit. Attachment points in the floor indicate another seat can be installed if needed for a total capacity of six people, including the pilot. As he turns to look forward again, he notices Bett is still rapidly chewing away. At least she isn’t popping the gum as she chews.
Something about Dieter still bothers him and he needs information. “Where did Mister Mike find all these people?”
“Dieter and the skinny kid were already onboard when Mike hired Josh and me. Don’t know a lot about them, except they came from Sweden, or Switzerland, or something.” She smiles and looks at Alex. “Mike got a two for one when he found out I could fly a helicopter. Hell, me and Josh have been together since high school. Old man Harrison and little Lisa came aboard a week later in Seattle, and then two months ago, Okana came aboard. He’s a hunk. You ain’t bad yourself, professor. The next day, Rita shows up, and man did she take a liking to Okana! Mike’s a city-raised good old boy. He don’t care about money. Last year he spent thirty-million dollars U.S. for some kind of research with seaweed. Supposed to kill cancer or something.”
Alex looks out the front window. He’s beginning to like Bett. He likes Josh, too. It’s an interesting combination. In the distance, he sees the outline of the Mystic, glistening in the evening sun on the horizon. He scans the surrounding waters, and she’s alone on the vast Pacific Ocean.
Five minutes later, Alex sees a crowd standing inside the bridge awaiting his arrival. Bett sets the helicopter down lightly on the stern and shuts down the engines. He climbs out and walks around to get his bag from storage while the others come down from the bridge deck. Bett nearly knocks him to the ground as she runs past him, jumps into Josh’s waiting arms, and gives him a passionate kiss.
Bartram climbs up the side of the helicopter and folds the blades back along the tail, while Harrison pushes a U-shaped hydraulic lift under the helicopter. Bartram jumps down, and together they jack the helicopter up an inch above the deck, pull it forward, then set it back down and attach the tie down straps.
Lisa is not sure what to do. She desperately wants to throw her arms around Alex’s neck and squeeze him tightly, and it takes all her willpower to resist.
***
Dieter stares down at Cave through the rear window of the bridge and folds his arms across his chest. Dealing with Okana later will be hard enough. Now that Cave will be onboard on this trip, things could get ugly when the time comes. He turns to look at Harrison as the man walks into the bridge. “Let’s get underway.”
***
Alex follows Okana down the steps to the lower level, then along a hallway in the center of the ship. Several doors on both sides are labeled with numbers and Okana shows him the co-bathroom with a shower. Walking back the way they came, Okana stops to open the last cabin door on the left, near the bottom of the stairs. “This is yours, Alex.”
Alex hears the soft whine of the turbine engines and feels the Mystic gaining speed. He stares at Okana, his eyebrows forming an unasked question.
“I know it’s a little noisy, Alex, but it’s the only one left.”
Alex is immensely grateful he’s not alone on this quest. Okana is the only person he trusts, and he knows they’ll have each other’s backs if something goes wrong.
He steps into the cabin and the light coming through the two-foot-wide window directly ahead glistens on the varnished light wood paneling. On his left is a small four drawer oak dresser with a mirror, next to a tall matching double door closet. A tan, short nap carpet covers the five-foot space from the dresser to the bed on the right, with sheets, pillows, and blankets stacked on one end of the mattress.
Alex tosses his bag onto the bed, steps out of the room, and closes the door. “We need to talk.”
They climb the stairs to the main deck, turning left past the low wall at the top separating the kitchen from the companionway. No one is in the lounge, and Alex takes a closer look around while Okana goes to the refrigerator. Josh had explained when the Mystic was built, Mike spared no expense for the state-of-the-art electronic control system. His desk in the corner is set up with a wireless keypad and a small monitor and connected to the entire ship.
The large open room has windows on the right side, starting at the kitchen near the stern, and along the dining and recreation area on the far side of the shuffleboard table. The entertainment center is mounted on the forward wall, separating Mike’s office and living quarters in the bow.
Alex turns when Okana walks up and hands him a cool brown bottle. He looks at the label before he removes the cap, then takes a small sip. “Mike has good taste.”
“Hey, I brought the beer.”
Alex looks at the shuffleboard table for a moment, then walks over and picks up the chromed steel disk with a colored plastic top. When he holds it flat between his thumb and first finger, it resembles something he has seen before. He holds it out for Okana to see. “Remember this shape and let’s go outside so we can talk without interruption.”
Outside on the stern near the hoist post, Alex tells Okana about the Dead Energy operation. “These devices were never meant to be in the water. I just hope we can retrieve them before it’s too late.”
“Mike left the Discovery in place after he talked to Donner. He told him he will have his experts on the Discovery by late this morning, so they’re probably there by now.”
Alex looks out over the water, admiring the setting sun painting the clouds in beautiful pastel colors. “Do you know how many stops we’ll make along the way?”
“No. I didn’t think about it, but I can find out easy enough.”
Alex turns away from the water. “I smell food.”
“Josh is making something special for his girl. Let’s go inside and we can ask Mike about where we’ll stop for supplies.”
Alex thinks about how much he should tell everyone. “We need to play dumb about where the devices came from. For now, all anyone needs to know is they must be recovered.”
“I’m with you.”
Alex and Okana enter the lounge and the only person missing is Harrison, who is on the bridge monitoring the automated controls. The dinner conversations are lighthearted and Bartram gulps down a mountain of food before leaving to relieve Harrison on the bridge. After the delicious meal and clean up, Bett and Josh disappear, and Alex and Okana stay at the table with Mike, Lisa, Dieter, and Rita, to discuss the trip. A moment later, Harrison walks in to join them.
Alex explains his plan. “I have a contact at the CHARS station in Northeast Canada trying to give me a location for the search. That’s why I asked for your assistance, Mike. We may need your sub to look under the ice.”
“Ah, shit!” Harrison exclaims as he carries a plate of food to the table and sits down. “I hate the cold.”
Mike looks around the table. “Then our first stop is Seward, Alaska. I need you to come ashore so I can buy you some cold weather gear.” He looks at Dieter. “What do you think, John?”
“We should stop in Prince Rupert, Canada instead. Seward will take us too far north, and we could be in Rupert early tomorrow morning. We will top off our fuel and supplies, and from there, we can make it through the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea. We can top off the fuel again in Burrow, Alaska, if necessary.”
Alex stands. “I appreciate this, Mike. I need to make a few calls.”
Alex leaves the room and descends the stairs to his cabin. This far from shore his cellphone is useless, so he grabs the satellite phone from his bag and carries it up to the stern of the ship.
His first call is to retrieve messages from his smart-phone voicemail. The only message is from Wesley, and he’s worried about something. He enters the speed dial number, and Wesley answers on the second ring.
“Hi, Wesley. This is Alex.”
“Hey, Alex, I didn’t recognize the number, but I figured it was you. I’m glad you called. That lady from the park contacted me a little while ago. My mountain is showing more activity.”
“How bad?”
“A new hot spring in one of the campgrounds. I’ll look around tomorrow.”
“Okay. You’ll have to use this number for a while. Tomorrow I’ll be in Prince Rupert. We’re going to pick up supplies then leave for the Arctic, so I won’t have cellphone service.”
“Any chance you can get me some current satellite images of Mount Baker?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks. How’d it go in Nevada?”
“It’s not good. There are four devices. So far, only two have been activated that we know about. The only way to stop them is to get one to the surface. Hopefully, the one in the Pacific will remain dormant until they recover it.”
“And the one in the Arctic?”
“It will be impossible to find unless Sonja and her team can get a more precise location.”
“I see. Until tomorrow then.”
Alex makes a call to a friend at NASA and arranges to have current satellite images of Mount Baker faxed to Wesley. He turns off the phone and puts it in his pocket, then stares across the water. He’s worried about Derek and Kristy, and his father, of course. Derek is a smart young man, and he’s confident he will take care of his family. Still, he hopes the activity on the mountain will not get any worse and put Derek in a precarious situation. He feels exhausted and decides to call it a night.
***
Dieter stares down at Cave from the bridge and waits until he walks inside, then grabs the satellite phone from its storage bracket and enters a number. He’s alone on watch and listens carefully for someone coming up the inside stairs to the bridge. A moment later, someone answers the phone. “This is Dieter. I had to change the plan. We will be in Prince Rupert tomorrow morning, so find out where Blacktooth would like to meet. I will meet you at your shop first, so have the money ready.” He sets the phone in its storage bracket and stares through the front window. You are making things very complicated for me, Professor.