Страница 33 из 88
She found that China had a long history of stealing and imitating technology from foreign powers, primarily the Russians. Copycat artillery systems, antiaircraft missiles, and even Navy destroyers had long upset the Kremlin brass. But the Russians weren’t the only target. Several items in the Chinese arsenal bore strong similarities to American weapons. Aviation experts found a suspicious resemblance between China’s J-20 stealth fighter jet and the American F-22A Raptor. The country had recently a
Engrossed in her work, A
“Hi, A
“Yes, chipping away. How are you?”
“Just fine. Say, I was wondering if you could meet me for di
“Tomorrow? Yes, that would be fine. Is it something important?”
“Could be,” Pitt said, hesitating. “I’d like to know if you’d go on a cruise with me.”
29
ANN CAUGHT SEVERAL MEN STARING AT HER AS she swept through the dining room of the Bombay Club with only a slight limp. Dressed in a saffron linen dress that clung to her curves, she resembled a runway model more than a criminal investigator. She ignored the looks as she stepped through the restaurant onto an elegant patio that overlooked Lafayette Park. She quickly spotted Pitt at a corner table.
He was seated next to a tall, attractive woman who looked vaguely familiar. With a touch of unease, A
Pitt rose and greeted her warmly. “No more crutches?”
“No, the ankle is much better, I’m happy to say.”
“A
Loren sprang to her feet and gave A
Whatever instinctive resentment A
“That sounds like no coincidence,” Pitt said, concern etched on his face.
“More like blatant espionage,” Loren said. “We need to get some high-powered resources involved.”
“There’s already at least three FBI teams assigned to the case,” A
“Careful, you’ll blow her cover,” Pitt said with a laugh.
“I thought you looked familiar,” A
Loren shook her head. “They were just some minor changes that should have been enacted long ago. Seriously, though, if there are any chains that I can rattle at Homeland Security to help your case, just say the word.”
“Thank you. We’ve got the support of the Vice President as well as the White House, so I think the resources are in place. We just need a break or two so we can find out who these people are.”
A waiter arrived and they each ordered a curry dish for di
“How long have you two been married?” A
“Just a few years,” Loren said. “With both our travel schedules, it often seems we’re two ships passing in the night, but we make it work.”
“The trick,” Pitt said, “is making sure the ships collide on a regular basis.”
Loren turned to A
“No, I’m happily unattached at the moment.”
Their entrees arrived, all spicy enough to mandate a second bottle of wine.
“This shrimp curry is withering my tongue, but I can’t stop eating it,” A
Later A
“Can I help it if she has good taste in men?” he said with a grin.
“No, but if you get any ideas, I’ll cut out your spleen with a rusty butter knife.”
Pitt laughed, then gave Loren a long kiss.
“Not to worry. I’m quite attached to my spleen—and prefer to keep it that way.”
When A
“One lump and not two?” Loren said.
“It’s a souvenir from Chile,” Pitt said. “I think it may have something to do with the Heiland case.”
“What exactly is it?” A
“One of our NUMA geologists identified it as a mineral called monazite. I found it aboard an abandoned freighter that was barreling toward Valparaiso.”
“I heard about that,” A
“More or less,” Pitt said. “The mystery is, what happened to the ship’s crew? And why did the ship end up thousands of miles off course?”
“Was it hijacked?”
“It was a bulk carrier, supposedly loaded with bauxite from a mine in Australia. By all appearances, the cargo was of limited value. We discovered that of the ship’s five holds, three contained bauxite, but the two aft were empty.” Pitt picked up the rock. “I found this chunk of monazite by one of the empty holds.”
“You think the monazite was stolen from the ship?” A
“I do.”
“Why would someone steal that and not the bauxite?” Loren asked.
“I had the rock assayed, and the results were quite interesting. This particular monazite contains a high concentration of neodymium and lanthanum.”
Loren smiled. “Sounds like a disease.”
“They are actually two of the seventeen elements known as rare earth metals, several of which are in very high demand by industry.”
“Of course,” Loren said. “We held a congressional hearing on the limited supply of rare earth elements. They’re used in a large number of high-tech products, including hybrid cars and wind turbines.”
“And a few key defense technologies,” Pitt said.
“As I recall,” Loren said, “China is the dominant producer of rare earth elements. In fact, there’s only a handful of other active mines around the world.”
“Russia, India, Australia, and our own mine in California round out the bulk of global production,” Pitt said.
A
“It may have absolutely nothing to do with it,” Pitt said, “but there are two interesting coincidences. The first is that clump of monazite in your hands. The neodymium it contains happens to be a key material in the Sea Arrow’s propulsion motors.”
“How could you possibly know that?” A
“My information systems manager at NUMA found that several rare earth elements were critical components in the propulsion system of the new Zumwalt class of Navy destroyer. Some additional digging and guesswork led us to conclude they would be even more important to the Sea Arrow’s electric motors.”
“I’d have to verify that, but I don’t doubt that’s true,” A
“Maybe not,” Pitt said, “yet there is a second curious link—the DARPA scientist killed on the Cuttlefish, Joe Eberson. I’ll wager that he didn’t die by drowning but was killed by an acute dose of electromagnetic radiation.”