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"Kunghit Island? Then I can kill two stones with one bird."
"You're just full of pathetic clichés this morning."
"What does the yacht look like?"
"Unlike any boat you've ever seen before. Strictly a space-age design."
"I'll keep an eye out for it," Pitt promised.
"I know it's a waste of breath saying this," Giordino said cynically, "but stay out of trouble."
"I'll wire if I need money." Pitt laughed as he hung up, thankful that he had a caring friend like Albert Cassius Giordino.
After landing and renting a car, Pitt took the bridge across the Rideau River into Ottawa, the Canadian capital city. The weather was colder than the inside of a refrigerator, and the landscape appeared ugly and barren without leaves on the trees. The only havens of color that sprang from a thick sheet of snow covering the ground were scattered stands of green pines. He glanced over the railing at the river below.
The river, which ran into the Ottawa River and thence to the mighty St. Lawrence, was flowing under a coating of ice. Canada was an incredibly beautiful country, thought Pitt, but its harsh winters should be sent far to the north, never to return.
As he drove across the bridge over the Ottawa River and into the small city of Hull, he glanced at his map and memorized the streets leading to a group of three upscale buildings that housed several government offices. The one he was looking for was Environment Canada, a department of the government that corresponded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.
A security guard at a gatehous
e gave him directions and waved him through. Pitt slipped the car into a slot in the visitors' parking lot and entered the building. A quick glance at the building directory, and he was into the elevator and on his way up to Environment Canada's offices.
A receptionist nearing retirement looked up and forced a thin smile. "May I help you?"
"My name is Pitt. I have an appointment with Mr. Edward Posey."
"One moment." She dialed a number, announced his arrival and then nodded. "Please take the hallway down to the doorway at the end."
Pitt thanked her and did as he was told. A pretty redhaired secretary met him at the door and ushered him into Posey's office.
A short man with glasses and a beard rose from his chair, leaned over the desk and pressed Pitt's extended hand. "A pleasure to see you again, Dirk. How long has it been?"
"Eleven years ago, during the spring of 1989."
"Yes, the Doodlebug Project. We met at the conference when you gave a report on your discovery of the oil field near Baffin Island."
"I need a favor, Ed."
Posey nodded to a chair. "Sit down, sit down. What exactly can I do for you?"
"I'd like your permission to investigate the mining activities being conducted at Kunghit Island."
"You talking about Dorsett Consolidated's operations?"
Pitt nodded. "The same. NUMA has reason to believe their excavating technology is having a devastating effect on sea life as far away as the Antarctic."
Posey gave him a thoughtful look. "This have anything to do with that Australian cruise ship and its dead passengers?"
"Any connection is purely circumstantial at this date."
"But you have your suspicions?" Posey inquired.
"We do."
"Natural Resources Canada is who you should talk to."
"I don't think so. If your government operates anything like mine, it would take an act of Parliament to allow an investigation onto land that is legally leased by a mining company. Even then, Arthur Dorsett is too powerful to allow that to happen."
