“Where are they?” asked Paul.
“Right behind me,” Dirk said, motioning toward the arched doorway.
They all turned toward the doorway as Kurt walked in with Joe, and Leilani a step behind. The women embraced. The men shook hands, hugged one another and kissed the ladies on the cheek.
“We have a head start on you,” Paul said, motioning a waiter to the table. “What will be your pleasure?”
Dirk ordered a Don Julio Blanco Tequila on the rocks with lime and salt. Joe took a Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. Leilani preferred a Kettle One Cosmopolitan while Kurt asked for a Bombay Sapphire Gin Gibson straight up—a martini with onions instead of olives.
“Well, now,” Dirk said to Joe. “Since you’re the man of the hour, with a gold star on your chart, show us your Egyptian medal.”
Joe flushed with embarrassment. “It’s been seen for the last time.”
“What did you do with it?”
“It’s in my sock drawer.”
Gamay laughed. “Now, there’s a modest man.”
Paul held out a newspaper. It was pink. The Financial Times, printed in the UK.
He read a list of possible consequences had the tragedy not been averted. It included a million dead, starvation, anarchy and even all-out war in the Middle East had the blame mistakenly been foisted on Israel instead of being traced back to Jinn and his group in Yemen.
At this point he almost looked chagrinned. “But Joe is not going to like this part,” he said, then read on. “All of this and more was averted due to heroic efforts of the dam’s operations team, the military force, including Major Edo and an unnamed American who is now being hailed as an Egyptian hero and who will receive the coveted Order of the Nile medal.”
Gamay shook her head. “That’s not fair.”
“At least he got a medal for it,” Dirk said grinning.
“That’s the best the government could do for Joe saving a million lives?”
Leilani joined in. “I know him well enough now to have learned Joe doesn’t like being the center of attention unless of course he’s surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous women.”
Joe laughed. “You’ve just given me a reason to return to Egypt.”
“All joking aside,” said Dirk, “if not for Joe risking his own life on an intrepid mission to stop the flow coming through Aswan Dam, a million lives along the river would have been lost.”
“Do they have a count?” Rudi Gunn asked.
“At least ten thousand,” Pitt replied slowly.
Joe looked like he’d crawled into a shell of embarrassment. “I’d like another Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. A double this time.”
For a few moments they sipped their drinks in a silence that was finally broken by Paul. “How do we stand with Jinn’s underground factory?”
Dirk checked the orange dial of his Doxa dive watch. “It was blown into a scrap yard forty minutes ago, allowing for the time differential.”
“Would bombs from the air penetrate deep enough into the mountain to destroy the factory?” Gamay inquired.
“They can and they did,” revealed Pitt. “A heavy drone fired two missiles. An initial impulse invisible from the ground accelerated them to three hundred miles per hour straight down. Their main boosters erupted and they accelerated to well over two thousand miles per hour. Crashing and blasting a twenty-foot crater, but not strong enough to burst into Jinn’s vast subterranean factory.
“So five minutes later a different kind of ordinance was launched at the deep caverns. Four B-2 bombers flew over Yemen carrying what were known as MOPs, a military acronym for Massive Ordinance Penetrators. Thirty-thousand-pound GPU-57s, the most powerful nonnuclear bunker-busting weapon in the world. The bombs carry over five thousand pounds of explosives packed in a twenty-five-thousand-pound metal casing. They strike with such momentum, they can punch through four hundred feet of dirt and rock. When the dust settled, the entire mountain was gone. All that remained was a pile of sand and rubble. The equipment and material for creating the microbots are gone.”
“What about Jinn’s right-hand man, Sabah?” Kurt asked, checking his own watch and glad to have it back, even at the cost of a new, top-of-the-line scooter.
“Blown to the size of microbots,” Pitt said caustically.
Dinner was finally served in a festivity directed by the executive chef, beginning with Black Sea spiced King Olaf salmon. The next course was smoked sturgeon, followed by goose foie gras and a selection of pork pâtés and duck terrine.
The main course was St. Louis–style baby back ribs accompanied with lobster ravioli and braised leeks with fried eggs.
Dessert was a crepe stuffed with guava and mascarpone. The red wine was Purple Angel Carménère and the white Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc.
Sated with good food, delightful wine, and exhilarating company, they all bid their farewells and began drifting from the restaurant, eventually congregating in a stretch limousine Dirk had provided for his friends so they would all reach their homes safely.
Leilani was staying in the city at a hotel and Kurt promised to see her home.
Dirk looked at him for a long moment. “You may hold your booze, but if a cop stops you, it’s the slam with a DUI. I strongly suggest you take a cab.”
“I shall do so,” said Kurt.
After the rest had left in the limo, a cab pulled up to the restaurant. Kurt and Leilani settled into the backseat on the way to her hotel.
“Have you decided on taking the job at NUMA that Dirk offered you in the marine biology department?” he asked.
She almost looked sad. “Washington isn’t for me. I’m going back to Hawaii and the biological institute on Maui.”
Kurt squeezed her hand. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too,” she said. “I hope you understand.”
Kurt smiled. “What’s his name?”
Her eyes widened for a moment and then she smiled back. “His name is Kale Luka.”
Kurt smiled again. “I’m glad you won’t be alone.”
The cab arrived at her hotel. She opened the door and paused.
“Good-bye, Leilani,” Kurt spoke softly. “I’ll think of you often.”
“And I of you.” She leaned over and gave him a light kiss on the lips. Then the door closed and she was gone.
• • •
For a complete list of this author’s books click here or visit penguin.com/cusslerchecklist.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62