Blue Gold

"I was pretty skeptical, too," Zavala replied. "But from what the reporter told me it's not that far-fetched. Gogstad's companies have legally taken over the privatization of the Colorado River. Water is going from public to private ownership on every continent. Gogstad has muscled out the competition. The re porter said that there have been deaths and disappearances worldwide over the past several years. The missing or dead were all people who competed with Gogstad or opposed Gogstad takeovers."

Gu

"That won't happen any time soon. The paper killed the Gogstad story for no reason. The other three members of the investigative team have disappeared, and my friend has gone into hiding."

"You're sure there's no mistake," Gu

Zavala slowly shook his head. There was silence in the room, then Gu

"There's obviously a pattern, then," he said. "Let me think about this." Gu

"What do you mean, Rudi?" Sandecker said.

"Their methodology has shifted gears. Let's assume that our basic premise is right and Gogstad is behind all this murder and mayhem. According to Joe, they have acted quietly. People quite simply vanished or were killed in so-called accidents. This changed with the murders of the Mexican and the crooked lawyer. I believe the word the admiral used to describe them was spectacular. "

Austin chuckled. "Those were love pats compared with the attack in Alaska. Joe and I had to contend with an all-out military assault."

"The attack on my house was on the heavy-handed side, too," Trout added.

"I think I see where you're headed with this, Rudi," Sandecker said. "Paul, how soon did word get out that Dr. Cabral was alive?"

"Almost immediately," Trout said. "Dr. Ramirez called Caracas from the helicopter that rescued us. The Venezuelan government lost no time making the news public. I would guess that CNN was broadcasting the story around the globe while we were still in the rain forest."

"Events accelerated shortly thereafter," Sandecker said. "The situation is clear to me. The catalyst was the news that Francesca Cabral was alive. Her emergence from the grave meant that her water-desalting process was again within the realm of possibility. With her expertise once more available, all that was needed was the rare substance that makes her process work. Dr. Cabral again pla

"Only this time they succeeded," Austin said.

"Okay, that explains Francesca's kidnapping," Trout said. "But why did they take Gamay?"

"This outfit does nothing at random," Austin replied. "Gamay may have been lucky. She might have been killed if they didn't have need of her. Is there anything else you can remember about the kidnapping, Paul?"

"I didn't see much after the first few minutes they were in the house. The leader, the guy in black leather, spoke with an ac cent I can't place. His pals had heavier accents."

Sandecker had been sitting back in his chair, fingers tented in front of him, listening to the conversational byplay. He snapped upright.

"These hoodlums are the small fry. We must go right to the top. We must find this woman with the Wagnerian name who runs Gogstad."

"She's a ghost," Austin said. "Nobody even knows where she lives."

"She and Gogstad are the key," Sandecker said firmly. "Do we know where their headquarters are?"

"They have offices in New York, Washington, and the West Coast. There must be a dozen scattered across Europe and Asia."

"Quite the hydra," Sandecker said.

"Even if we knew where their central office was, it wouldn't do much good. To outward appearances, Gogstad is a legitimate business. They'll deny any accusations we make."

Hiram Yaeger slipped quietly into the room and settled into a chair. "Sorry," he said. "I had to run some stuff off for the meeting." He looked expectantly at Austin, who took the cue.

"I was thinking about something Hiram showed me earlier. It was a hologram of a Viking ship. The same ship is the centerpiece of the Gogstad corporate logo. I reasoned that this ship must have some significance to be given such a prominent place. I asked Hiram to start playing around with Gogstad, to go beyond the scant corporate stuff Max dug up for us."

Yaeger nodded. "At Kurt's suggestion I asked Max to go back and brush over the historical and maritime links I had pretty much ignored before. Tons of material on the subject exist, as you might imagine. Kurt had said to look for a California co

"Who was the client?" Austin asked.

"The article didn't say. But it was easy to track down the Norwegian designer. I called him a few minutes ago and asked about the job. He had been sworn to secrecy, but it was years ago, and he didn't mind saying he built the replica for a big woman in a big house."

"Big woman?"

"He meant tall. A giantess."

"Sounds like a Scandinavian folktale. What's this about the house?"

"He said it was like a modern-day Viking compound on the shores of a large lake in California surrounded by mountains."

"Tahoe?"

"That was my conclusion."

"A big Viking house on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Already done. Max linked up to a commercial satellite." Yaeger passed around copies of the satellite photos. "There are some big places around the lake, trophy homes, resorts and hotels. But nothing like this."

The first picture showed the icy blue waters of Lake Tahoe viewed from a high altitude as if it were a puddle. In another photo the camera had zoomed down on a dot alongside the lake, enlarging the details so that the sprawling building and the nearby helicopter pad were clear.

"Does this hovel have an owner?" Austin said.

"I was able to tap into the local assessor's office and tax data base." Yaeger gri

"That doesn't give us much to go on."

"How about this, then? The trust is part of the Gogstad Corporation."

Sandecker looked up from the photos. He had kept his famous temper in control throughout the meeting, but he was furious at the kidnapping of one of his favored staffers and the wounding of another. He was enraged, too, after all she had suffered, at the abduction of the lovely Dr. Cabral. Once again a discovery with lifesaving implications was being kept from the world.

"Thank you, Hiram." He glanced around the table with cold, commanding blue eyes. "Well, gentlemen," he said with a voice as sharp-edged as a razor. "We know what we have to do."

Chapter 34

The men watching Francesca were either twins or some mad cloning experiment gone bad. The most terrifying thing was not their repulsiveness. It was their absolute silence. They sat a few yards away, one on either side, leaning on the backs of chairs that had been turned around. They were identical in every way, from their troll-like ugliness to their preference for black leather.