Luke laughed. “Don’t think I missed the irony. I get it. And at the end of the day, I won’t lie — I wanted to make some real money, too.”
“Okay, so you went to bed with an arms dealer. Never a good idea to begin with, but you came good with the research, so where did it go wrong?”
“When we failed to produce the weapon.”
Chapter Ninety Two
Sam stood up. “You failed to produce the weapon?”
“Yeah. More irony, hey?” Luke replied. “We could get the plankton to raise and lower its height in the water, but we had no way of controlling the direction of the water once it fell. In fact, when we tried, it simply splashed back down gently, barely creating a ripple. Like I said, these were simple machines. Nothing like the science fiction movies.”
“So what did you tell your backer?” Sam asked.
“I told them what they wanted to hear. We needed more time. We were making great leaps of progress but it would take time and money.” Luke’s eyes then widened as he appeared to recall something fantastic. “And then the magic started.”
“What magic?”
“We spent so much time working on the weapon, we ceased researching energy solutions. Then one day we noticed a single metallic sphere.”
“Like the millions we found inside the cavern?” Sam asked. His interest picking up.
“Yes.”
“So, what’s with those small metallic balls? There must have been millions of them.”
The wonder disappeared from Luke’s eyes. “Those are what caused all this trouble in the first place.”
“Little metallic balls?” Sam was incredulous.
“We called them Elixir Eight. It was a play on a number of things really. They’re batteries built out of thorium. Like a shrine to their ancestors, they’re produced every time the plankton’s lifecycle of eight days is over. The nanobots seem to like producing them. I don’t know why. I can’t see any purpose for them. And the nanobots certainly don’t seem to use them. But, all the same they produce them and stockpile them here.”
“Tiny batteries?” Sam confirmed.
“Those are the most powerful batteries the world has ever seen. One of those spheres would power your submarine for its lifetime.” Luke sighed. “Don’t you see? That’s what this is all about. Someone came to us from the oil companies to make an offer to buy the research. They wanted to purchase the research lines and quash them from ever being used. I was very nearly tempted by the offer, too. It was to the tune of 20 billion dollars! That’s a lot of money for someone like me. Even for someone like you.”
Sam smiled at the attack. His father was one of the richest men alive. “Okay, so why didn’t you just accept their offer.”
“I was going to. Really, you have no idea how close I was. The technology was worth ten times that much if we could harness it. But research takes time. Politics come into play and the next thing you know you’ve blown the remainder of your life trying to achieve something that will serve only to make your grandchildren rich.”
“And stop the human race from destroying itself.”
“Well, there is that, too.”
“So what did stop you?”
“It was the person they sent to negotiate on their behalf that made me change my mind. I was so insulted by their boldness. In the end, I couldn’t live with myself if I accepted. Of course, I couldn’t do that without it being obvious that I would go to the media about it. And if I did that, this person’s world was going to change. This person represented a conglomerate of oil tycoons from around the world. Powerful and protected, this person convinced the other members of my team to use my own creation to kill me.”
“All right. Who’s the person?” Sam asked.
Luke shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Not until I have the final piece of evidence. Once I have that I will tell you everything. Then we can make them pay.”
“So what are you doing here?” Luke asked.
“We came to destroy the colony. What are you doing here?”
“I came to see if my creation had returned.”
“Returned?” Sam looked confused. “You knew about this place?”
“Of course I did. I had it built four years ago, to protect my colony.”
Chapter Ninety Three
Sam walked into the bridge. Elise took one look at him. “I’ve just had a hit for another rogue wave forming.”
“Where?” Sam stood behind her.
“Three miles north of here.”
“Matthew, any ships in the area?”
Matthew looked at the IAS log of ships within twenty miles on his GPS. “Only one. A Coast Guard cutter. And it has Senator Croft on board.”
“Holy shit, they’re trying to kill her!”
He looked at Luke.
Luke said, “Go. Save her life, I have to get some more proof, and then I’ll see you in Washington in a few days.”
Tom sat in the pilot seat of the Sea King and flicked the main power switch on.
Sam climbed into the copilot’s seat. “One more question.”
“Shoot,” Luke replied.
“Who was your marine biologist?”
“Who?” Luke looked slightly flustered, as though Sam had caught him out on a lie.
“To make a symbiotic relationship between plankton and nanobots, you must have had a marine biologist. I just wanted to know who?”
“You’re correct, there were four of us who worked on the project. Each of us were leaders in our own field, who came together to make this work. But the fourth person I must keep as a secret until I have evidence. It’s a matter of life and death that I get this right while THEY still believe I’m dead.”
“Why did he call himself Peter Flaherty?”
“I can’t say. Not yet, anyway.”
“Do you want to come with me to Washington? I’m about to go see the Secretary of Defense. Come with me, let’s spill the beans about all of it.”
“Okay, but first I have to talk to someone and grab some old documents. Once I’m done I’ll meet you there. I need proof before I can say who made the offer. I know it was on behalf of big oil, but there’s more to it than that. Much more. I could have accepted big oil would be behind this, but this goes much deeper than simple financial corruption.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in two days, in Washington.”
Chapter Ninety Four
Senator Croft watched as the Captain of the Coast Guard vessel received the radio message from the Maria Helena. Another rogue wave? And it was a direct collision course with them. For the first time in years, she didn’t know what to say.
“Senator Croft, you have to take off. There’s a report of another large rogue wave approaching. We should be able to ride it out, but can’t risk you getting killed.”
There was no need to tell her twice to save her own skin. “Of course.”
She climbed back into the military helicopter. The pilot flicked some switches and the engine hummed. Thirty seconds later, the large rotary blades began turning. Slowly at first. Then a little bit faster.
In the distance, where the dark horizon had been moments earlier, she spotted the glowing light. It was green. It stifled her breath. She knew exactly what it was.
She unclasped her seatbelt and tapped the pilot on his shoulder. “That thing’s coming for us. Get us in the air. Now!”
The pilot turned his head. Spotted the glowing wave moving towards them at a slow and tantalizing pace. As though it were toying with them. “I’ll do my best Ma’am.”