Leviathan Page 16

  Kelly froze, didn’t know what to tell him. “Actually that isn’t possible. We’re still working out the kinks on the prototype.” She remained vague and hoped the billionaire chose not to further pursue the topic.

  Wright set down his silverware and reclined in the chair, a dubious look on his face. “What really happened to it?”

  “It’s not operational at the moment. Which projects the Institute funds is up to — ”

  “Wasn’t it destroyed?” Wright said. “Eaten, if I’m not mistaken.”

  Both Evan and Kelly were stunned. Neither of them comprehended how the old man could know about their business. “That — that’s one way to describe it,” she said. “How did you hear about that? It happened only recently.”

  “Interesting how tightlipped you were a few moments ago, yet how quick to query you are now.”

  “Don’t sidestep the question,” she said.

  “The same goes for you,” Wright countered. “Y’see, money buys a lot of friends around the world. And because news travels across the globe at the click of a mouse, no secrets are safe anymore.”

  Across the table Evan detected a slight smile on Edgar’s lips.

  “I suppose honesty’s the best policy,” Evan said. “In the spirit of openness, we’d like to know the real reason you’re out here too.”

  Oscar Wright wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “We needn’t be rivals. In fact I’m willing to make a generous contribution to your organization,” he said, “if you agree to help me.”

  “Help you do what?” Kelly asked.

  He didn’t answer her question. “What’s the annual operating budget for your facility?”

  “Ten million, give or take.” The marine biologist was wary of the billionaire’s newfound interest in her affairs.

  “I can have that amount wired to your corporate account by noon tomorrow. How’s that sound? I’ll personally finance your Institute for the next year, and all you have to do is work for me this week.”

  “I’m not clear how we could be of assistance,” Evan said.

  “I believe we have the same goal in mind.”

  “What would that be?” Edgar asked. None of this conversation made sense to him.

  “We each want the thing that ate your equipment, the same thing I had cornered this afternoon before you let it escape.”

  Kelly said, “What do you know about the creature?”

  “That I almost had it as a trophy. Working together, your knowledge paired with my financial backing, we’ll be certain to trap the beast.”

  “What are you planning to do with it? Those explosives — ”

  “Weren’t meant to kill, only ambush it.”

  “Is that what I saw today?” Kelly asked. “That black mass in the water.”

  “The very same,” the old man said.

  “Once it’s in your possession, then what?”

  “I’m going to slay it,” he said. The frankness in his tone frightened her.

  “No deal,” she said through gritted teeth. Kelly wouldn’t support such actions, regardless of monetary gain.

  “Well, what do you propose?” Wright said. “I’m sure you want to analyze the animal. Once I’m done with it, I’ll donate the carcass to the Institute so you can perform an autopsy. Science has much to learn about this being.”

  “It has more to benefit by keeping it alive,” Evan said. “A tag-and-release approach is the most valuable tactic.”

  “We won’t allow you to kill this specimen. We don’t even know what it is yet,” Kelly said.

  “I do,” Wright said nonchalantly. “Are you familiar with the Leviathan?”

  Evan said, “From the Bible?”

  “Yes, the Book of Job.”

  “You can’t take that literally. Biblical scholars will tell you the Leviathan’s a metaphor for chaos in the universe. Not a tangible, living creature.”

  “This is an undocumented life form. To discover something that size these days is unprecedented,” Kelly said. “Why murder it?”

  “Miss Andrews, do you have any children?” It was an innocent enough question.

  “What business is that of yours?” she said.

  “Don’t doubt my motives.” The old man pushed away his half-eaten dinner. He’d suddenly lost his appetite, having to deal with these insufferable scientists. “It’s a complicated subject. Many years ago I had everything I could wish for.”

  “You don’t now?” Edgar asked.

  “I had a beautiful wife, Brenda. She was the type of woman who made life bearable simply because she was at my side.”

  “Did you chase her away too?” Kelly asked. The shrillness in her voice made the remark sound harsher than she intended.

  Wright shook his head. “She died.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “What does this have to do with the Leviathan?” Evan tried tactfully to breach the touchy topic.

  “God took something from me, and I aim to pay Him back.”

  “By killing the creature? How is that fair?” Kelly said.

  Oscar Wright pounded a fist on the wooden table. “How is life fair?”

  Evan cleared his throat and said, “May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.”

  “This animal’s far too valuable to science,” Kelly said. “I won’t let you get away with it. We’ll report you to the authorities.”

  “With my level of wealth, I do as I please. The law can’t touch me.”

  “We’ll take it back to the Institute then,” she said, “instead of releasing it. That’ll keep you from getting at it.”

  “Assuming you catch it first.”

  Evan said, “It’s no longer in the area?”

  “Not anymore, thanks to your meddling,” the old man said.

  “You’re out of your depth here.”

  “That’s where my associate Mister Thorpe comes in. He’s an expert in these matters.”

  “This is the only time I’ll say this,” Evan warned, “turn back now. We’re the ones best capable of dealing with this creature.”

  The old man wasn’t impressed. “That’s a point on which we’ll agree to disagree.”

  Kelly had enough. She stood and said, “Tell Rafe we’re leaving.”

  Edgar set aside his meal. “It was nice meeting you, Mister — ”

  “Edgar,” she said. The attorney pushed away from the table and the three of them quietly filed out of the dining room.

  Oscar Wright returned to his dinner. Claude entered soon thereafter, not surprised to find the old man supping alone. Wright took a bite of the sturgeon and remarked to the chef, “What a bunch of assholes.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  KELLY STORMED ACROSS the gangway and disengaged the boardwalk after her group boarded the Aurora. None of the men spoke, for fear of drawing her ire. “I cannot believe the nerve of that man. ‘I’m so rich I can get away with anything.’ How narcissistic is that?”

  “Calm down,” Evan told her. “Push Oscar Wright out of your head.”

  “Did you hear what he said?”

  “I heard, I heard. There’s no excuse for his etiquette.”

  “That animal is the most significant biological discovery of our time — and he wants to kill it.”

  “I don’t see what’s wrong,” Edgar said. “He offered to donate the body. You can still get a lot of information from that.”

  The marine biologist glared at the lawyer. “Of course you’d agree with him,” she said. The venom in her voice could’ve poisoned a pit viper.

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It’s fascinating how well you two got along. Especially since Wright apparently has a mole working at the Institute.”

  “What are you implying, that I’m a spy?”

  “Not implying,” she said, “I’m outright saying it.”

  Edgar took offense to the accusation. “I never met Wright before tonight.”

  “People don
’t have to meet these days. A simple phone call, an innocent email — ”

  “Mister Hamilton would love to hear about this.”

  “Sure, run to Daddy and tattle on me. He should write you up for being a total — ”

  “You best watch your words,” Edgar cautioned. “It’s a slippery slope between anger and slander.”

  Evan intervened before passions spun out of control. “There’s no need for name calling or lawsuits,” he said. Then to the attorney: “You don’t want to be here right now.”

  Edgar nodded and took Rafe with him as they retired to their shared sleeping quarters.

  “Don’t start with me,” Kelly said once they were alone. “I don’t need lectured.”

  Bart started the ship’s engines, and the research vessel pulled away from the yacht.

  Evan said, “I’m not here to lecture, but you’re out of line. Get your emotions in check. If you wanna beat Oscar Wright, you need to be as detached and calculated as he is.” The advice was solid, and the ranger knew he too should heed it. “Let your feelings get in the way, and he’ll steal the Leviathan from us.”

  * * * * *

  Night on the open ocean reminded Kelly of the dark vacuum of space. She sat on a lawn chair atop the Aurora’s weather deck, an ice chest filled with chilled beer cans between her feet. She had one beverage in hand now, two crushed empties beside the lounger. It was after one in the morning, and she’d come outside for fresh air after being unable to sleep.

  The lack of moonlight brought total darkness to the sea, cast it in impenetrable blackness. Even the stars hid behind a thick layer of clouds. The deck lights above her were the sole source of illumination; beyond the bulwark was abject nothingness. She couldn’t differentiate between the black water and the sable sky. Out here she felt like the only person in the universe.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” a voice said. Kelly glanced over to see Evan standing beside her.

  “You’ll have to pay me more than that.”

  He took a penny from his pocket, flipped the coin into her lap. “Then here’s your change from my two cents earlier.”

  She wanted to be alone and hoped he would leave. Evan wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I don’t have another seat,” she said.

  “Don’t need one.” He leaned against the side rail and said, “I suppose you couldn’t sleep either.”

  “Too hot in my bunk. Your excuse?”

  “Lumpy mattress. What’s on your mind?”

  “Wright.”

  “Wrong,” he said. “Try again.”

  She dug around the cooler for another beer, tossed one to him. “I’ve been thinking about my father too. I need to give him a call. He would’ve loved a voyage like this.”

  “Is he a scientist?”

  She nodded. “Retired now.”

  “You should’ve brought him along,” Evan said. “Father and daughter working side by side.”

  “Dunno whether we’d make a great team or end up strangling each other,” she said. “He worked on the Calypso with Cousteau.”

  “Really? He must have some stories to tell.”

  “Not much anymore. He had an embolism a couple years back.”

  “I’m sorry,” Evan said.

  “His rehabilitation was rough, and the physical therapy nearly finished what the stroke started. But he worked his way back from the brink. He uses a cane to get around nowadays, and he does well enough to live by himself. I try to check on him when I can.”

  “Though not as often as you’d like.” Evan picked up on the guilt in her voice.

  “Not as often as I should.”

  Evan sensed her unease and shifted subjects. “Did he also work on Marathon?”

  “That damn project,” Kelly said. “It took him away from his family for years when I was a kid. By the time he returned from overseas, I was a teenager and wanted nothing to do with him.”

  Marathon II had been conceived by Jacques Cousteau to be the world’s first underwater biosphere, an oceanic laboratory and training ground for deep-sea divers. The mission was plagued by misfortune and financial constraints from the onset. It never became the success Cousteau envisioned, a failure that haunted him for the rest of his career.

  “I didn’t get along with my parents when I was that age either.”

  “Are they still alive?” she asked.

  “They both live in Phoenix. Neither of them took an interest in my life. After a point I stopped pretending that I cared about theirs. I haven’t spoken to my mother in . . . five years? Six? Talked with my father on his most recent birthday though.”

  “Do you and your mom not get along?”

  “She never approved of the women I brought home.”

  “I see,” Kelly said. She finished her third beer, decided against opening a fourth. “And what type of woman is that?” she asked. At once she regretted the phrasing, as it made her sound like she was flirting with him.

  “Apparently the wrong type,” Evan said. “I used to figure I’d get married eventually. The older I get, the less likely that seems. People call that a ‘normal’ life, but I think it’s boring. A life of normalcy is what my parents had. I never wanted that, and I suspect it’s one of the reasons why we avoid each other.”

  “This way of life isn’t for everyone,” Kelly agreed. It took a special kind of person who was willing to forsake civilization for weeks or months at a stretch.

  “What about you?” Evan asked. “Is your husband a regular guy?” He nodded at the ring on her right hand.

  “Oh, I’m not married. This just keeps the wolves at bay. I was engaged once, many moons ago,” she said. “At least I got to keep the diamond.”

  “I haven’t even made it that far yet.”

  Kelly giggled at the remark. She wouldn’t have otherwise, but the alcohol had dulled her own senses while sharpening the humor of anyone around her. She inadvertently snorted, an embarrassing habit that occurred when she laughed too hard.

  Evan broke a smile. The marine biologist was clearly tipsy, and he might have taken advantage of that fact if she’d been any other woman. Their work here was too important to jeopardize in an effort to get laid. He changed the topic again before poor judgment bested his libido. “What are we gonna do about Wright?” he asked. “I doubt he’ll back down.”

  “We’ll have to catch whatever’s out there before he gets to it.”

  “The Leviathan.”

  “Call it what you want. I’m not ready to name it yet.”

  “We have no clue where it is, let alone how to trap it.”

  “Leave that to me.”

  “Why, what are you hiding?”

  “I got something to show you,” she said.

  Evan followed her to the aft deck. “It’s on loan to the Institute from NOAA.” The scientists walked to an oversized, sun-faded tarpaulin. Kelly untied the ends of the tarp, then she threw back the canvas to reveal what was concealed underneath.

  “Alvin?” Evan said.

  “Not quite.”

  The craft was a miniature submarine, eight feet high and fourteen feet long, a robotic arm on the prow. “This is the Simon. There’s a third one the government built after Alvin, the Theodore.” Evan stared blankly at her. “Named after the cartoon chipmunks.”

  He had no idea what she was talking about. “How much does it weigh?”

  “Five tons, excluding personnel.”

  “Does it seat two?” he asked. Evan walked around the contraption, struck by its craftsmanship.

  “Very snugly.”

  “Have you used it before?”

  “Once with Hamilton. It has a depth limit of fifteen hundred meters.”

  “Lucas is letting you use this even after the incident with the camera?”

  “What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him,” she said.

  “Except it can hurt his career. Not to mention yours. You don’t think Edgar will tell the Board of Trustees when he finds out?”

  �
�I can handle Edgar.”

  The gravity of Kelly’s plan hit the ranger. “You want to get in the water with that thing?”

  “I don’t want to, but what choice do I have?”

  “You saw what it did to your equipment. You’re willing to risk that happening to the sub, especially if you’re inside?”

  Kelly rapped her knuckles on the Simon’s titanium hull. “This is built like a tank.”

  “The creature’s at least twice as big as this. You saw the size of its teeth alone, and you still believe this is the best idea?”

  “You got anything better?” she asked. “This is a helluva lot safer than getting in the water with regular dive gear.”

  “How ‘bout not getting in. At all. We can tempt the Leviathan to the surface and capture it here.”

  “How?”

  “We’ll figure out something.”

  “That’s exactly why I need to get down there. We don’t know anything about this animal. Don’t you want to study it in its natural environment? Once we have more information, we’ll be able to formulate an informed plan. Think of it as a fact-finding mission.”

  The notion didn’t thrill Evan. It seemed too precarious and foolish. “What if the Leviathan decides you look pretty tasty?”

  “You know better than that,” she said. “Animals don’t attack unless provoked.”

  “Theoretically. Look, this is a serious predator that’s exhibited aggressive behavior in the past. We don’t know how it’ll react to a given situation.”

  “Well it’s too late to head back to shore.”

  “So instead you wanna go in its domain, where it has every advantage? Do you realize how insane that sounds? You’ve had too much to drink.”

  “If we don’t take risks, we may lose it forever. That rich bastard’s plotting at this very moment. Do you want him to get it first?”

  “I don’t feel comfortable getting into the water yet.”

  “I didn’t ask you to come,” Kelly said.

  “Who else is there?”

  “The Simon can be piloted solo.”

  “That’s even more ridiculous. There’s no way you’re going down alone. It’s a two-person sub, for chrissakes.” Evan was adamant against letting the marine biologist embark on such a perilous trip. Yet in the short time he’d known Kelly Andrews, he realized it would be futile to dissuade her.