"How do you know that just from watching ninety seconds of footage?" she asked, incredulous.
"First of all, isn't that one reason you love me? I'm observant. Secondly, that kind of masonry work doesn't occur in the areas with a high Arabic architectural and engineering influence. It's European, probably an Eastern Bloc country, somewhere wet."
"Why is that?"
"The line of water streaming down the cinder blocks behind the woman. It's either a very damp place, or there's been a lot of rain there lately. In both cases, that probably eliminates a lot of the dryer climates."
Her lips parted into a thin smile. "Impressive."
"Thank you. And I know."
"That narrows it down to only a few million possibilities. And according to the man in the ski mask on the video, they're going to kill her in three days."
Sean pushed on, in spite of her cynical response. "Check the weather across all of Europe to start. Look for anywhere that has been rainy for the last day or two. That should help narrow the search field a little. It’s not much but it’s a start. Last I checked it hasn't been a particularly wet beginning to summer."
Emily nodded. "Makes sense. Anything’s better than nothing at this point."
"Also, what was it that she was working on? It seems odd that a group of terrorists would put out a video, claiming what they would do to the hostage without asking for something in exchange. Doesn't that strike you as strange?"
"It does," Emily agreed. "And they did ask for something. From what we know, Dr. Ott was working on something in the field of quantum gravity, something to do with big magnets and a bunch of physics stuff that I don't understand. What I was able to glean from the briefing is that her research could lead to extraordinary advancements in the fields of deep space exploration, cloaking, and any number of other things. It seems they’re interested in something she has or had in her possession. We’re not sure. They sent an encrypted message with the video, low level, nothing anyone else would see. They’re demanding we recover whatever it is she’s hiding. Problem is, we don’t know what she’s hiding or where it might be."
It was Sean's turn to be confused. "Sounds like heavy stuff. You said one of the implications could be cloaking. As in, invisibility?"
"Maybe. I would guess it has more to do with radar and sonar than anything else. A kind of stealth technology, if you will."
Sean snorted. "Stealth has been around for a while."
"Not like this. Her work would effectively make any object, small or large, impossible to detect with standard instrumentation. If terrorists were able to get their hands on something like that, it could mean big trouble."
Sean considered the possibilities. A device of that kind would mean anyone could fly a plane right into any airspace they wanted. They could steer a ship right into the Hudson, park it next to Wall Street, and blow the whole thing up. He still had questions, though.
"One, is that even possible? I'm no expert in physics, but I've dabbled in it. How would something like that work? And two, not to repeat this, but why in the world are the terrorists broadcasting that? If I were them, I'd keep a lid on this one as much as I could."
"Maybe they're trying to make a statement. When was the last time a terrorist did something that actually made any sense?"
"Good point."
"But yes, they are acting differently than most known cells. As to the facts behind those weird, science fiction things I mentioned, our experts are suggesting that she was on the edge of a breakthrough that would change what we know about physics forever. It might have even brought about a unified field theory between classical physics and quantum mechanics."
Sean's eyebrows rose involuntarily. "That's impressive."
"Considering no one has been able to do that so far, not even some of the brightest minds in the world, yes, I would say that's an impressive accomplishment."
The car went silent for a minute. Off to the right, the downtown area of Frankfurt passed by, a powerful reminder that German commerce and economic power still had a strong foothold in the region.
"It's well within the character of Black Ring to do something like this," Emily said finally. "To flaunt the fact that they have a scientist that could change the world for the better and potentially take humanity to the very far reaches of space is a huge power play for them. They're taunting the Western world."
"They want to sell that technology for their own, greedy devices." Sean said. "That's the only thing that makes sense. They're going to have that scientist create something like what you described. With that, they can sell it to anyone in the world. They'll make billions, maybe more if they sell to China."
"Or worse," Emily added.
Sean grimaced at the comment. "True. There is the other communist country." He paused for a second and then asked, "What's my play?"
"I'm taking you to Lucerne and dropping you there. You'll need to go through Dr. Ott's research, her personal things, her apartment, anything that might give you a clue as to what specific project drew the interest of Black Ring."
"Okay," he said after a minute of contemplation. "I assume I’ll be able to use whatever resources I deem necessary."
"This mission is highly classified. So long as you don't blab your mouth about who you're working for, I don't care how you get the job done."
"Good enough," he said. "Oh, and by the way, that video has had over ten million views on YouTube, so the mission isn't really that classified."
She shook her head at him with a smug grin. “They don’t know about you. No one does but me.” The car went silent, save for the hum of the tires on the pavement beneath. For several minutes, neither of them said a word.
In the distance, a castle loomed on top of a hill, a shattered and ruined remnant of its former might. Villages sprang up seemingly everywhere. Some of them had been homes to people of this area for nearly a thousand years. Thick forests of lush, green trees stretched out between the farms. A few massive windmills dotted the landscape, providing power to the growers, their white blades swinging around in slow, wide circles.
Sean spoke up, breaking the long silence. "It could prove difficult to find this…Dr. Ott, Emily. I might be a bit rusty."
"You'll be fine," she said quickly, brushing aside any doubts he may have had. "And you will find her. You're the best. That's why I chose you for this mission. No one else I know of has the mind of a detective and is capable of…" She stopped herself midsentence.
"Killing the way I do?" he finished the sentence for her. "Em, I admit I'm good at it, but there are others out there who are better than me."
"Surviving the way you do,” she corrected. “Like I said, no one has the combination you have. And besides, you're one of the only people on this planet I can trust."
The words hung heavy in the cabin for a minute before he responded. "You can always trust me, Em. And you know I'll do whatever I can to get that woman back."
"I know you will." She took a deep breath, shrugging off any emotions she might have been feeling. "You have less than seventy-two hours. The terrorist said they would kill Dr. Ott in three days. That was over twelve hours ago. So you're on the clock. No pressure. Oh," she caught herself before she finished what she was saying. "If I had to guess, I’d say wherever you go, they’ll likely follow."
"Always nice to have fans.”
"The terrorists are looking for something they don't know how to find. They believe that Dr. Ott can tell them where it is. Up until this point, she has evidently refused. If she continues to hold out, at least they’ll have plan B in play. That's you." She jerked a thumb in his direction. "If it has anything to do with something historical, they might know that you would be a perfect answer for the problem. Your reputation, after all, does precede you. That means you'll need to watch your back. It's highly plausible that the leaders of Black Ring know about your exploits and want to use you for their efforts. Once you find what they're looking for, they'll execute you."