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of a thermal detoxification center."
"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."
