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"They began a year ago," replied Hilda. "They've increased in frequency until now they come less than an hour apart."
"They've also amplified in intensity," added Claus. "According to Dr. Honoma, some unexplained phenomenon beneath the mountain has caused its surface to shift."
Pitt nodded at Giordino. "The fourth tunnel runs under the base of the volcano."
Giordino merely nodded in agreement.
"Did Honoma have a prediction as to when the shift will occur?" Pitt inquired.
"He thought the final slip might take place at any time."
"What would be the consequences?" Giordino asked.
"If Dr. Honoma is correct," replied Claus, "a devastating flank collapse would unleash a cubic mile of rock, sending it sliding down the mountain slope toward the lake at speeds up to eighty miles an hour."
"That would trigger massive waves once it hit water," said Pitt.
"Yes, the waves could easily wipe out every town and village surrounding the lake."
"What about the Odyssey facility?"
"Since it covers a good part of the volcano's slope, the entire works would be swept away and buried." Claus paused and then he added grimly, "And everybody with it."
"Isn't Odyssey management aware of the threat?"
"They called in their own geologists, who argued that flank collapses are quite rare and only happen somewhere in the world every ten thousand years. My understanding is that word came down from Mr. Specter that there was no threat and to ignore it."
"Specter isn't noted for being considerate of his employees' welfare," said Pitt, recalling the incident on board the Ocean Wanderer.
Suddenly, everyone stiffened and stared up into star-peppered sky toward the unmistakable sound of a helicopter coming in from the air terminal. From the floodlights on the ground the lavender color was clearly visible. They all stood immobile, pressed against the wall of a building, as the rotor blades pounded the night air toward them.
"They're looking for us," rasped a frightened Claus Lowenhardt, clutching his wife around her shoulders.
"Not likely," Pitt asserted. "The pilot isn't circling in a search pattern. They're not onto us yet."
The craft flew directly over them, not more than two hundred feet above. Giordino felt as if he could have hit it with a well-thrown rock. Any second the landing lights would come on and target them like rats in a barn under a dozen flashlights. Then Dame Fortune smiled. The pilot didn't flick on his landing lights until the craft had passed safely beyond where they stood. It banked sharply toward the roof of what looked like a glass-walled office building, hovered and then settled.
Pitt took the binoculars from Giordino and trained them on the aircraft as it landed and the rotor blades slowly swung to a stop. The door came open and several figures in lavender jumpsuits crowded around the steps, as a woman stepped down, wearing a gold jumpsuit. He gently rotated the adjustment until he had a sharp definition. He couldn't be absolutely positive, but he would have bet a year's pay that the person who climbed from the helicopter was the woman who called herself Rita Anderson.
His face tightened with anger as he passed the binoculars back to Giordino. "Look closely at the queen in the gold jumpsuit."
Giordino studied the woman closely and watched as she and her retinue walked toward the elevator that led down from the roof. "Our pal from the yacht," he spoke, in a voice low and vicious. "The one who murdered Renee. My kingdom for a sniper rifle."
"Nothing we can do about her," Pitt said regretfully. "Our number one priority is to get the Lowenhardts to Washington in one piece."
"And speaking of one piece, how are we getting past an electric fence, three Dobermans and two heavily armed security guards?"
"Not through," Pitt
said quietly, as his mind calculated the odds on a long shot, "but over.'"
The Lowenhardts stood quietly, not quite knowing what to make of the conversation. Giordino followed Pitt's gaze toward the helicopter on the top of the office building a block away, his expression cool and focused. Wordlessly, silently, a plan took root between them. Pitt lifted the binoculars and studied the building.
"The headquarters office of the facility," he said. "It looks unguarded."
"No reason for them to lock people inside. All the workers are loyal employees of Odyssey."
"And no paranoia about unwanted guests entering through the front doors." Pitt tilted the glasses. The pilots followed Rita into the elevator, leaving the helicopter seemingly deserted. "We'll never have a better opportunity."
