“But can you find it?” she asked.
“Sure we can. We’ve found things much harder than a moving submarine before. It’s just going to take time. And our nuclear submarines are well designed to be hard to find.”
The Secretary of Defense looked at him hard. “I’m afraid time’s something we don’t have.”
Sam nodded. “We might get lucky. Would you like to tell me why they just abducted Alexis, ma’am?”
“Because Robert needs her to complete his Project.”
“Why?” Sam stared at the sonar monitor.
“Because he’s a religious man. Did you know he became a scientist to discredit the origins of Christianity?”
“No. What happened?”
“He found a closer relationship between God and Science,” she said. “We think he’s working on the belief that the book is telling him to return us to the times of Eden. He believes that if man can’t learn to play nicely with each other, then we may as well just go back to fighting with sticks.”
“I thought no one had anything powerful enough to produce the type of EMP required to destroy all electricity on the planet?”
The Secretary of Defense shrugged. “Sure we do. We have more nuclear armaments than a kind fool like you could imagine. But we’re safe in that we know he won’t be using a standard nuclear weapon.”
“Why not?”
“To produce that sort of EMP you would need a rocket several times larger than anything ever built. In short, he doesn’t have the resources.”
“So why is Alexis dangerous?”
“Because she’s the world leading expert on subatomic particles.”
“And you think she knows how to produce something more powerful than a nuclear bomb using a particle accelerator?”
“Robert Cassidy thinks so,” she replied. “And Cassidy’s many things, but he’s not stupid. If he thinks she has the ability, then I’m willing to be terrified. Christ, if we thought we could get him by nuking Antarctica now, we would, just to be certain.”
“Holy shit!” Sam said. “I think I know where they’re going.”
“Where?” she asked.
“To a massive hadron collider that the scientists from Pegasus found beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet.”
“They’ve already built one?” The Secretary of Defense stared hard at him with her piercing eyes.
“It would appear so,” Sam said.
“Then time’s already run out.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
Sam looked at the topographic map. The opening to the ice tunnels leading to the Massive Hadron Collider was marked with a red asterisk. He measured the corresponding distance between the Dumont d'Urville Sea and their destination — it was just under a hundred miles. There was plenty of room to reach it by helicopter and make the return trip on a single tank of aviation fuel.
He looked up at the Secretary of Defense. “We’ll take the Sikorsky.”
She stared at him; her face unreadable. “It’s going to be dangerous.”
“It’s always dangerous. What makes this any worse?”
“Robert Cassidy.”
Sam smiled. “I’ve never seen you so openly concerned, ma’am.”
“I’ve never had so much reason to be afraid.” She straightened her military dress uniform. “Robert Cassidy may be insane, but he’s one of the brightest minds to ever come out of the American education system. You’ve already seen how he can block radio channels by superimposing alternative radio waves over all frequencies, and you know what he’s planning on doing — but you have to understand he has technologies that can confuse your electrical systems.”
“Is that why they were using an old de-Havilland Tiger Moth — because it started with a hand starter and then required no electrical input to fly?”
“How did you know they used an old Tiger-Moth?” She snapped. Her voice was quick and sharp.
“Yesterday, when Alexis and I were inside the Taylor Valley, and returning from the Pegasus, we were attacked by a yellow Tiger-Moth. I shot the pilot and the aircraft incinerated shortly after crashing.”
“That confirms Robert Cassidy is behind this.”
“You’ve seen them before?” Sam asked.
“Yes. When he first started on The Island we gave him four de-Havilland Tiger Moths. As you pointed out before, they were uniquely fitting for his research because they required no electronics to fly. Of course, they carried instruments to take a number of readings for his research, but there was no risk his research was going to cause them to crash.” Through her glasses her dark green eyes confronted him. “Your Sikorsky helicopter, I’m afraid, has no such protection.”
Sam sighed as realization dawned. “The hovercraft’s lying dead in the Taylor Valley, so unless you have a better idea we’re going to have to take the risk.”
The Secretary of Defense remained silent.
“In that case,” Sam said. “We’ll take the Sikorsky.”
Chapter Sixty-Five
Unable to locate the submarine, and with time running out, the Maria Helena gave up the hunt and returned to the Antarctic Solace. Tom met them at the makeshift dock and lithely stepped onto the deck of the Maria Helena.
Sam shook his hand. “Good to see you, Tom. Where’s Elise?”
“She moved to the Texas.”
Sam turned to the Secretary of Defense. “What have you got Elise doing on board your anachronistic battleship?”
“She’s searching for the island using satellite imaging,” she replied, stepping off the Maria Helena.
“I thought you said it was impossible because Robert Cassidy has a system which confuses the satellites by sending signals to make cloud cover larger or smaller in order to block the view of the island?”
“So did I,” she said. “Robert Cassidy’s a very smart man. Few people get to beat him.”
“Then what’s Elise trying to do?” Sam persisted.
“It turns out Elise might be smarter. She’s programmed the satellites to compare meteorological data, such as synoptic charts, wave height buoys, and sea water temperatures with the images of clouds seen by the satellites.”
“Okay. So what does that achieve?” Sam asked.
“Cassidy can create make believe clouds over his island as much as he likes, but when Elise compares the two types of data, his island is going to stand out like a neon light.”
“Where are you going?” Sam asked.
“Back to the Texas — to hunt for The Island.”
“What about the massive hadron collider? I thought you were going to join me with a team of SEALs to secure it.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Why would I do that?”
“Isn’t that where they’re taking Alexis?”
“No,” the Secretary of Defense said. “My guess is they already have whatever subatomic particle they need. Right now, what they need is for Alexis to help make sense of it.”
“But you said I should go to the location we found in the journal?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “You and Tom should. Be quick. Get in undetected and get out. Perhaps they’ve left something that might show us where The Island is.”
“What about your men?”
“The SEALs?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re going to prepare for the worst and secure the bays. The island was here. You confirmed that for me. Cassidy’s hiding it somewhere nearby, and my men are going to find out where. I’ll stay on board the Texas and continue hunting.”
“That’s why you brought out the last relic from the steam powered battleship era of Dreadnoughts.”
“Yes. Cassidy has worked on a number of low powered EMP devices that can stop a ship, or a helicopter dead in its tracks. We’re going to get him this time. There’s nothing essential to the running of the USS Texas that requires electricity to function.”