“I think what you’re looking for is right over there.”
Climbing over the ridge of spoil that rimmed the crater, the two men headed down the side twenty yards. The temperature grew hotter as they descended.
The man in the cowboy hat stopped. “This is the far edge of the crater,” he noted, wiping his brow with a bandana. “It’s always yielded the biggest chunks for me.”
Dwyer glanced around, located a likely spot, and began digging with the shovel.
AT THE SAME time that Dwyer started digging in Arizona, on the Oregon,in the sea off of Iceland, it was decidedly colder. Belowdecks in his office, Michael Halpert was staring at a printout from his computer. Halpert had been hard at work for hours, and his eyes were burning from staring at the computer screen. Punching commands into the keyboard, Halpert brought up the mission file and stared at Cabrillo’s notes again.
Glancing at the printout again, he gathered his notes and walked to the control room.
“Richard,” Hanley was saying as Halpert walked into the room, “have the Gulfstream fueled and ready. I’ll call you as soon as we need you.”
Hanging up the phone, Hanley turned to Halpert. “I take it you found something?”
Halpert handed Hanley the document and he read it quickly. “It might be significant,” Hanley said slowly, “and it might not. That is a large sum that Hickman donated to the university, but he might have a habit of bequests like that.”
“I checked,” Halpert said, “he does. And they are all archaeologically based.”
“Interesting,” Hanley said.
“Plus what the archaeologist said when he was dying,” Halpert added, “he bought and paid for the university.”
“I see what you’re getting at,” Hanley said, “plus, I thought it odd that Ackerman e-mailed Hickman first. He never even bothered to contact his department head with news of the find.”
“Maybe Hickman and Ackerman put that together,” Halpert said, “so Ackerman could be sure he grabbed the glory if anything was found—not his boss at the university.”
“That doesn’t explain how Hickman could be sure Ackerman would even find something,” Hanley said, “or the chance that it would turn out to be a meteorite that was composed of iridium.”
“Maybe Hickman’s involvement was altruistic at the beginning,” Halpert said slowly. “Ackerman makes his pitch and Hickman has an interest in Eric the Red so he decides to fund the expedition. Then, when the meteorite is discovered, he sees some opportunity.”
“We don’t even know Hickman is involved,” Hanley said, “but if he is, what opportunity could make a rich man kill and risk all he has?”
“It’s always one of two things,” Halpert said, “love or money.”
THE OUTLINE OF the Faeroe Islands was just coming into view through the haze when Hanley reached Cabrillo in the helicopter and explained what Halpert had discovered.
“Damn,” said Cabrillo, “that’s a twist out of left field. What are your thoughts?”
“I say we go with it,” Hanley told him.
The islands started growing in size in the windshield.
“Has Dick arrived in London?” Cabrillo asked.
“I just spoke to him a few minutes ago,” Hanley said. “The jet was being refueled, then he was going to a hotel in London to wait for our call.”
“And the Challenger is standing by in Aberdeen?”
“On the ground,” Hanley said, “fueled and waiting.”
“Then call Truitt and his crew and tell them we need to have them fly to Las Vegas to see what they can find out about Hickman.”
“Great minds think alike,” Hanley said.
Through the windshield of the helicopter, the port was becoming defined as Cabrillo disconnected and turned to Adams. “Let’s get on the ground, old buddy.”
Adams nodded and started his descent.
THE FREE ENTERPRISEwas just outside the breakwater as she slowed and stopped. A small open-deck fishing boat powered by a pair of 250-horsepower outboard motors pulled alongside. Pulling up next to the stairs that led to water level, the captain of the fishing boat slowed to a crawl, and one of his crew snagged the box from one of the Free Enterprise’s deckhands. The crewman slid the box into a fish hold as the captain steered away from the larger vessel and hit the gas.
Bouncing over the rough seas, the captain of the fishing boat steered his way into a small cove. The crewman climbed off the fishing boat and walked over to a road where a red van from a local package delivery service was waiting. Ten minutes later, the van had delivered the box to the airport.
There it sat awaiting transfer to a plane that was, at that instant, only a few miles away.
ADAMS TOPPED OFF both tanks and ran through his checklist. When that was finished he made notes in the log book. The helicopter had run fine on the trip in from the Oregon,so there was little to write—just flight times, weather conditions and a note of a tiny vibration. Adams was finishing just as Cabrillo drove up next to the helicopter in a tiny rental car. He pulled up next to Adams and rolled down the window.
“Hey, boss,” Adams said, “did you get half off on the rental car?”
“It’s called a Smart Car,” Cabrillo said, brushing off the joke. “This was all they had—it was either this or walk. Now bring the binoculars and locator and climb inside.”
From under the helicopter’s seat Adams retrieved a pair of binoculars and the metal box that read the signals from the bugs sprinkled on the meteorite. Then he stepped over to the Smart Car and climbed into the passenger seat. The binoculars went on the floor. The metal box he kept on his lap. As Cabrillo pulled away, Adams began to tune in the signal from the bugs.
“The box says that the object is very close,” Adams said.
Cabrillo crested a hill near the airport—the port was directly below.
In the other lane a red van approached, and the driver was flashing his headlights. Cabrillo realized he’d been driving on the right side of the road American-style, and he swerved over to the proper lane.
“Boss,” Adams said, “we’re right on it.”
Cabrillo glanced over as the van passed—the driver gave a friendly wag of his finger at him for his poor driving, then continued on in the direction of the airport. Cabrillo glanced down the hill at a large ship just about to dock.
“There,” he said, pointing. “That must be the vessel.”
The vessel had the lines of a private yacht, but it was as black as a stealth bomber. Cabrillo could easily see the deckhands standing by with lines as the captain moved the ship over to the pier with the thrusters.
“The signal is fading,” Adams said.
Cabrillo pulled over to the side of the road and watched the yacht through the binoculars as it was secured in its slip. The side nearest him had a stairway leading from the rear deck to almost the waterline. Then a revelation struck him.
He reached for his portable telephone and speed dialed the Oregon.
He put his hand over the mouthpiece while Hanley answered, and spoke to Adams.
“They made a switch at sea,” he said quickly. “I’m going to drop you back at the helicopter and then follow the signal.”
“Call Washington and ask them to have the Danish authorities impound the vessel that just docked.”
After Hanley got his orders, Cabrillo switched the telephone off, then turned the steering wheel to the locks and hit the gas. The Smart Car roared around in a U-turn and Cabrillo headed back up the road. Entering the airport grounds again, he pulled alongside the Robinson. Adams quickly climbed out, leaving the locator on the passenger seat.
“Get her airborne, George,” Cabrillo shouted. “I’ll call you.”
Then he hit the gas again and began following the signal.