"A simple but reasonably accurate description. But flow, do you know all this?"
"My friend and I penetrated the underground storage chamber and saw the nuclear waste containers."
"Dr. Hopper told us you were captured at the project."
"In your opinion, Mr. Monteux, could Massarde have built a beneficial and reliable project at Fort Foureau to dispose of all the waste that comes in?"°
"Absolutely," Monteux said decisively. "If Massarde had excavated waste storage chambers 2 kilometers deep in stable rock formations immune to seismic activity, he would have been raised to sainthood. But he is a miserly, ruthless businessman interested only in profit and gain. Massarde is a sick man, addicted to power and money that he siphons to a secret hoard somewhere."
"Did you know that it was chemical waste that leaked into the underground water?" Pitt asked.
"A chemical?"
"My understanding is that the compound responsible for thousands of deaths throughout this section of the desert is made up from a synthetic amino acid and cobalt."
"We heard nothing after we arrived at Tebezza," said Monteux. He visibly shuddered. "God, it's already become more horrible than I ever imagined. But the worst has yet to come. Massarde has used inferior canisters to store the nuclear and toxic wastes. It is only a question of time before the whole storage chamber and the land for miles around is swimming in liquid death."
"Something else you don't know," said Pitt. "The compound is seeping through underground streams to the Niger River where it is carried downstream into the ocean. There, it is causing an explosion of the red tides that is consuming all life and oxygen in the water."
Monteux rubbed his face with his hands in saddened shock at the news. "What have we done? If wed only known that Massarde was out to build a cheap and dangerous operation, none of us would have allowed it."
Pitt looked at Monteux. "You must have figured Massarde's scheme early in the construction."
Monteux shook his head. "Those of us imprisoned in Tebezza were all outside consultants and contractors. We were only involved in the design and construction of the photovoltaic array and thermal reactor. We paid little attention to the excavation. That was an altogether separate project under Massarde Enterprises."
"When did your suspicions become aroused?"
"Not at first. If anyone questioned Massarde's workers out of simple curiosity, they were told that the excavation was for temporary storage of incoming waste before detoxification. No one was allowed near the area except the underground construction crew. Only near completion of the project did we begin to see through the lie."
"What finally gave Massarde away?" asked Pitt.
"We all assumed the underground storage chamber was, fully completed about the time the thermal reactor was successfully tested for full operation. At that point the toxic materials began arriving on the railroad Massarde had built with cheap labor provided by General Kazim. One evening an engineer, who had been assembling the parabolic solar collectors, slipped into the storage chamber by stealing an entry badge. He discovered the digging had never ceased and was an ongoing project after he saw excavated dirt being secretly shipped out in the cargo containers that carried in the toxic waste. He also found caverns holding canisters filled with nuclear waste"
Pitt nodded. "My friend and I stumbled on those secrets too, unaware we were on Massarde's security video show."
"The engineer escaped back to our living quarters and spread the word before he could be stopped," Monteux explained. "Shortly after, all of us who were non-Massarde Enterprises consultants and our families were forcibly rounded up and sent to Tebezza to keep the secret from getting back to France."
"How did he cover up your sudden disappearance?"
"A phony story about a disaster at the project, a fire that killed us all. The French government insisted on a full inquiry, but Kazim refused to allow foreign inspectors into Mali, claiming his government would conduct the investigation. Of course, none took place and our supposed cremated bodies were reported as scattered over the desert after a proper ceremony."
The green in Pitt's eyes deepened. "Massarde is a thorough man. But he made a series of mistakes."
"Mistakes?" Monteux said curiously.
"He let too many people live."
"When you were captured, did you meet him?"
Pitt raised his hand and touched one of the scabs that cut across his cheeks. "He also has a nasty disposition…"
Monteux smiled. "Consider yourself lucky that is your only gift from him. When we were assembled and given our death sentence as slave labor in the mines, one woman resisted and spat in Massarde's face. He calmly shot her between the eyes right in front of her husband and ten-year-old daughter."
"The more I hear about the man," Pitt said, his tone cold, "the less he endears himself to me."
"The commandos say we will attempt to capture a train, and then escape into Mauritania tonight."
Pitt nodded. "That's the plan if we're not discovered by Malian military forces before dark."
"We have talked between ourselves," said Monteux solemnly. "None will go back to Tebezza. All would rather die. We have made a pact to kill our wives and children rather than allow them to suffer in the mines again."
Pitt stared at Monteux and then at the women and children resting on the stone floor of the arsenal. His craggy and weathered face took on a look of sorrow tinged with anger. Then he said softly, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Eva was too tired to sleep. She looked up into Pitt's eyes. "A walk under the morning sun with me?"
"No one is allowed to wander in the open. The fort has to appear abandoned to passing trains and any aircraft that might fly over."
"We traveled all last night and I've been locked up underground for nearly two weeks. Isn't there some way I can see the sun?" she implored him.
He said nothing but gave her his best buccaneer grin as he swept her in his arms and carried her up the stairs onto the parade ground. Not stopping, he climbed to the platform that stretched around the fort's ramparts before lightly setting her on her feet.
The sun blinded Eva for a few moments, and she didn't see the approach of a female commando who was on duty as a lookout. "You must stay below out of sight," the guard ordered. "Colonel Levant's orders."
"A couple of minutes," Pitt pleaded. "The lady hasn't seen blue sky for quite a while."
The tactical team fighter may have looked tough as nails in her combat suit, bristling with ammo and weapons, but she possessed twice the compassion and understanding of any man. One look at the wasted woman leaning against Pitt, and her expression softened. "Two minutes," she smiled ever so slightly. "Then you'll have to get back undercover."
"Thank you," said Eva. "I'm very grateful to you."
The scorching temperatures were still an hour away as Pitt and Eva looked out from their vantage point across the nearby railroad tracks toward the endless, unbroken terrain to the north. Strangely, it was Pitt and not the woman who saw a magnificence in the parched and hostile landscape, despite the fact that it had almost killed him:
"I can't wait to see the ocean again," she said:
"Do you dive?" he asked.
"I've always loved water, but never got beyond the snorkel stage.
"Varied sea life abounds around Monterey. Beautiful fish among the kelp forests, and incredible rock formations, especially down the coast past Carmel toward Big Sur. When we get there, I'll give you scuba lessons and take you diving,"