White Death

17

THE SENSE OF foreboding continued to haunt Austin even after he stepped outside Jorgensen's office building into the bright Danish sunlight. Several times during the cab ride back to the hotel, he found himself glancing through the rear window. He gave up finally and sat back to enjoy the ride. If danger were stalk- ing him, he would never see it with all the traffic.

Austin stopped at the clothing store to pick up his purchases. He carried the neatly tied boxes to his room and called Therri. It was 5:30. "I have a room one floor below yours. I think I can hear you singing in joyful anticipation of our dinner."

"Then you must have also heard me dancing as well." "It's amazing how my charm affects women," Austin said. "I'll meet you in the lobby. We could make believe that we're old lovers encountering each other by chance."

"You're a surprising romantic, Mr. Austin."

"I've been called worse things. You'll know me by the red carna- tion in my lapel."

When the elevator doors opened, Therri stepped out as if she were on stage and immediately caught the attention of every male in the vicinity, including Austin. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she glided across the lobby. Therri's chestnut hair tumbled down to the thin straps other white ankle-length lace dress that clung to her slim waist and thighs.

Her warm smile showed that Therri approved other date as well. She surveyed the European-styled single-breasted jacket of dove gray whose slightly pinched waist emphasized Austin's shoulders like a military uniform. The blue shirt and white silk tie set off his deep tan, coral-colored eyes and pale hair. Pinned to his lapel was a red carna- tion.

She extended her hand, which Austin kissed lightly. "What a lovely surprise," she said in an upper-class British accent. "I haven't seen you since-"

"Biarritz. Or was it Casablanca?"

Therri put her wrist to her forehead. "Oh, who can say? One place blends with the other over time, don't you agree?"

Austin leaned close to her ear and whispered, "We'll always have Marrakech."

Then he hooked her arm in his, and they strolled out the door as if they had known each other for ages. They walked across the busy square toward Tivoli, the famed nineteenth-century amusement park known for its rides and entertainment. The lively park was ablaze with neon and filled with visitors taking in the theater, dance and symphony music. They stopped to watch a folk-dance troupe for a few minutes. Therri suggested that they have dinner at a restaurant with an outdoor terrace, and they were seated at a table that had a view of the Ferris wheel.

Austin picked up the menu. "Since you chose the restaurant, I'll make the dinner selections, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I've been subsisting onsmorrebrod sandwiches." When the waiter came over, Austin ordered tiny fjord shrimps as an appetizer. For the main course, he ordered flaelesteg, roast pork served with crackling and cabbage, for himself, and morbradbof, small pork fillets in mushroom sauce, for Therri. Then for drinks, he picked Carlsberg pilsner beer rather than wine.

"You placed that order rather deftly," Therri said admiringly. "I cheated. I came to this same restaurant the last time I was in

Copenhagen on a NUMA assignment."

"Great minds, as they say." They toasted each other with their foamy glasses and sipped the cool, crisp beer. The shrimp came. Therri closed her eyes with pleas- ure after the first bite. "This is wonderful."

"The secret of cooking fish is to never let the flavoring drown out the subtle taste. This is flavored with lime and spiced with fresh pepper."

"One more thing to add to my thank-you list."

"Your good mood seems to go beyond the food. Your meeting with Becker went well, I take it."

"Your friend Mr. Becker was actually quite charming. He can't speak highly enough of you and was very impressed with the photos you took of the Sea Sentinel. At my urging, they checked out the Sen- tinel for themselves and found it had been sabotaged exactly as you described. We came to terms. They agreed to drop the charges against Marcus."

"Congratulations. No strings attached?"

"A whole ball of twine. Marcus and anyone associated with SOS, including yours truly, must be out of Denmark within the next forty- eight hours. We're booked to fly home on the Concorde tomorrow."

"The Concorde? SOS doesn't stint when it comes to travel, does it?" She shrugged. "The people who contribute millions to SOS don't seem to mind it, as long as the oceans are protected."

"I'll try that line with the NUMA bean counters who keep an eye on the travel budget. You'll be having lunch at Kinkaid's while I'm dining on rubber chicken at thirty-five thousand feet. Tell me, what other conditions did Becker impose?"

"No press conferences allowed on Danish soil. There can be no at- tempts to salvage the Sea Sentinel. And the only way we will ever step foot in Denmark is if we smuggle ourselves in as guest workers. Again, I can't thank you enough for all you've done."

"Everything comes with a price. Tell me all you know about Oceanus."

"Of course, I'll be glad to. As I said last time, Oceanus is a multi- national corporation dealing in fish products and transport. It oper- ates fleets of fishing boats and transport vessels around the world."

"That could describe a dozen corporations." Austin smiled. "Why do I have the feeling you're hiding something?"

Therri looked shocked. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to someone who's used to dealing with people who think that telling some of the truth gets them off the hook for all of it."

She frowned and said, "I deserved that. It's an old lawyer habit. We attorneys like to keep something in reserve. SOS is very much in your debt. What would you like to know?"

"Who owns the company, for starters?"

"SOS asked itself the same question. We ran into a thicket of in- tertwining shadow corporations, paper companies and murky trusts. One name kept coming up: Toonook."

"Huh. That name reminds me of a film I saw when I was a kid, an old documentary called Nanoo/ of the North. Is he an Eskimo?" "That's my guess. We can't confirm it, but we dug up some cir- cumstantial evidence pointing in that direction. It took an incredible amount of research. We learned that he's a Canadian citizen, and that he's very good at keeping his face hidden. That's all I can tell you about him, and that's the whole truth."

Austin nodded, thinking about the swarthy dark-skinned guards who'd shot at him. "Let's go back to Oceanus. What first brought them to the attention of SOS?"

"They were one of the few companies that ignored our Faroes

boycott. We'd been aware offish-farming as an environmental issue, but it was the company's attempts to hide its operations that got Mar- cus interested. When he learned about the fish farm in the Faroes, he thought that he might stir things up if he focused the spotlight on the operation."

"There are two ships on the bottom of the ocean that prove he was right.

"Let me ask you something," Therri said, leveling her gaze. "What do you know about Oceanus that you haven't told me?"

"Fair enough. While you were negotiating with Mr. Becker, I poked into an Oceanus fish farm in the Faroes."

"Did you learn anything?"

Austin felt a twinge of pain in his chest wound. "I learned that they don't like people poking into their business. I'd advise you and your friends to give them a wide berth."

"Now who's the evasive one?"

Austin only smiled. As much as he wanted to trust Therri, he did not know the extent of her loyalty to SOS and its leader. "I've told you enough to keep you out of trouble."

"You must know that throwing me a tidbit of information is only going to stir up my curiosity."

"Just remember that curiosity killed the cat. I wouldn't want to see you suffer a similar fate."

"Thanks for the warning." She smiled her beguiling smile.

"You're welcome. Maybe we can continue this conversation when we get back to Washington."

"I can think of any number of hotel lobbies that would be conducive to an accidental rendezvous. We can pledge not to talk business."

"Let's begin now." Austin signaled the waiter and ordered two Peter Heering cherry liqueurs.

"What would you like to talk about, then?" Therri said. "Tell me about SOS."

"That could be construed as business."

"Okay, I'll ask you a personal question. How did you come to be involved with the Sentinels?"

"Fate," she said with a smile. "Before I became a whale-hugger, I was a tree-hugger. My future was ordained from the moment of birth. My folks named me Thoreau after Henry David."

"I wondered where the Therri came from."

"I suppose I was lucky they didn't name me Henry. My father was an environmental activist before there was such a thing. My mother was from an old Yankee family that got rich on slaves and rum. When I graduated from Harvard Law School, it was expected that

I go into the family guilt business. My turn now. How did you get Into NUMA?"

Austin gave Therri the Cliffs Notes version of his career.

"There's an unaccountable gap in time in your life history," she said.

"You're much too alert. I worked for the CIA during that period.

My division was disbanded after the Cold War ended. Can't tell you more than that."

"That's all right," she said. "An air of mystery adds to your at- tractiveness."

Austin felt like an outfielder about to catch an easy pop fly. Therri had moved the conversation to a slightly more intimate level, and he was about to respond in kind when he noticed her looking over his shoulder. He turned and saw Marcus Ryan making his way toward their table.

"Therri!" Ryan said, with his matinee-idol smile. "What a nice surprise."

"Hello, Marcus. You remember Kurt Austin from the hearing in Torshavn."

"Of course! Mr. Austin gave the only unbiased testimony during that whole fiasco."

"Why don't you join us?" Therri said. "You don't mind, do you, Kurt?"

Austin minded very much. The encounter smelled strongly of a staged meeting, but he was curious about the reason for the setup. He motioned to a chair and shook hands with Ryan. The grip was sur- prisingly firm.

"Only for a minute," Ryan said. "I don't want to intrude on your dinner, but I'm glad for the opportunity to thank Mr. Austin for helping SOS."

"Your appreciation is misdirected. I didn't do it to help SOS. It was a personal favor for Miss Weld. She's the one who persuaded me to take a close look at your boat."

"I don't know of many people who can resist her persuasiveness, and she deserves a lot of credit. Nevertheless, you did a great service for the creatures of the sea."

"Spare me the hearts and flowers, Mr. Ryan. I gave Therri the ev- idence of sabotage because it was the right thing to do, not because I believe in your cause."

"Then you know I had no responsibility for that collision." "I know that you purposely ratcheted up the tension, hoping some- thing would happen so you could get it on the TV cameras."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. From what I know about NUMA, your organization isn't above using unorthodox methods to achieve its goals."

"There's a big difference. Every one of us, right up to Admiral Sandecker, is ready to bear responsibility for our actions. We don't take refuge behind posters of puppy-faced little harp seals."

Ryan's face turned the color of a cooked beet. "I've always been willing to take the consequences for my actions."

"Sure, as long as you knew there was a way out."

Ryan smiled over his anger. "You're a difficult man, Mr. Austin."

"I try to be."

The waiter arrived just then with their dinners.

"Well, I won't spoil your evening," Ryan said. "It was fun talking to you, Mr. Austin. I'll give you a call later, Them."

With a jaunty wave, he joined the throngs moving past the restau- rant.

Austin watched Ryan depart and said, "Your friend takes an ex- alted view of himself. I thought the oceans already had a god. Nep- tune or Poseidon, depending on your language of choice."

He expected Therri to defend Ryan, but she laughed instead. "Congratulations, Kurt. It's nice to know that Marcus isn't the only one who has a talent for irritating people."

"It comes naturally to me. You should tell him that the next time you set up an accidental meeting."

She glanced at the Ferris wheel, avoiding his steady gaze, then toyed with her fork before answering. "Was it that transparent?"

"Any more transparent and it would be invisible."

She sighed heavily. "Sorry for the clumsy attempt to deceive you. You didn't deserve it. Marcus wanted to meet you so he could thank you. He was sincere about that. I didn't expect you to get into a spit- ting match. Please accept my apology."

"Only if you'll have a nightcap in the Palace lounge after we take a long walk around the neighborhood." "You drive a hard bargain." Austin gave her a devilish grin. "As your friend Mr. Ryan said, I'm a difficult man."