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  “Son of a bitch,” Carrie exclaimed, slapping her palm on the tabletop. “They’re covering their tracks! I should have taken a sample when we left.”

  “It’s not your fault, Carrie.” Abhi sipped his water. “It’s not like we had the time. Let’s just be glad we made it out of there alive. A lot of other people didn’t.”

  “But we’ve got no proof,” she argued. “I mean, what do we have, Abhi? We’ve got Paolo’s word of the conspiracy, our own experiences, the wreckage of Takenaka’s ship, and yes, maybe—maybe—we can prove the collapse was engineered, but there’s nothing to link it to Alpinus. They’ve got the egg, the remains of the creatures, and all of the data. This would never make it to court, let alone the nightly news.”

  “Unfortunately, you’re right,” Hank said. “We’d need concrete proof before we could ever air these allegations. I’m not saying I don’t believe you folks. I do. But the network is going to want this extensively corroborated and vetted. Otherwise, they’re just going to laugh at me and suggest you take the story to Infowars or one of the other conspiracy sites.”

  Carrie sighed in exasperation. “Maybe we’ll have to. Maybe we’ll take it to Alex Jones.”

  “You could,” Hank replied. “But you might find your story discredited just by appearing there.”

  “Then we’ll take it to Ben Swann, Jesse Ventura, Gardner Goldsmith—anybody who will listen.”

  “But, Carrie,” Jessamine cautioned. “Any legitimate news outlet, even amongst the alternative media, is going to need proof. And even if they didn’t require it, without documentation to back it up, Alpinus will sic their lawyers on them when they ask for comment. The story would get killed long before anybody saw it.

  Hank and Khem nodded in agreement.

  “So we’re screwed.” Carrie sounded close to tears.

  “Not yet,” Jessamine replied. “Not by a long shot. We just need to think. Is there another way to get the proof we need?”

  Carrie snapped her fingers. “The nest!”

  McBean frowned. “Um, a nest?”

  Carrie turned to Paolo. “When you stole the egg, were there others like it?”

  He nodded. “Yes. They were strung up like octopus eggs. But Alpinus would have destroyed them by now.”

  “Maybe,” Carrie agreed. “But maybe not. We’ve made them act fast. Whatever their original timetable was, our actions made them speed things up. They could have gotten careless as a result. If there are still more eggs in the Mouth of Hell, and we can get them, then that’s a good start at providing physical proof. And the remains of the creature Captain Takenaka killed might still be down there, as well. We could get samples from that.”

  “But it still wouldn’t tie things back to Alpinus Biofutures,” Jessamine insisted.

  “It might,” Brown said. “If you are correct about their use of nanotechnology, there might be certain identifiers that would indicate their involvement in the manufacturing of these robotic units. It would take time, and there is a possibility nothing could be determined, but it sounds to me as if your other options are slim.”

  There was a brief silence as all of them glanced around the room at each other. Eventually, all eyes settled on Carrie.

  “Well,” she sighed. “That settles it. I guess I’m diving back down there again.”

  “And here I thought we might finally get a few days off work,” Abhi complained.

  “No, you still get time off. You’re not going with me this time.”

  “Try to stop me, Carrie. I’ve followed you out there how many times now?”

  “We’d like to come along, too,” Hank said. “I can’t imagine the network vetoing that idea. We won’t get in the way.”

  “I’m not going out there,” Khem murmured. “Haven’t you been listening? There are monsters in that trench. People died! You heard what happened to those mercenaries.”

  “They’re dead,” Hank reminded him.

  “Then I’d better get paid double-time.”

  Hank rolled his eyes. “You’re salaried, Khem. You don’t get double-time.”

  “Well, then this would be an excellent time to discuss a raise.”

  “I hear GNN is hiring,” Hank quipped.

  Khem folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

  “Are you sure this is wise?” McBean asked. “If your allegations are correct then you’ll be marked targets the moment you step outside these walls. We can protect you here, in the embassy, or on Australian soil, but we can’t safeguard you out on the open water.”

  “You won’t need to safeguard them,” Paolo said quietly. “I can offer proof.”

  “Your testimony carries some weight,” Brown agreed, “but it’s ultimately hearsay so we’ll need solid proof to act on this. This is a criminal investigation. Right now, it’s just your word against theirs. For all a court knows, you’re simply a disgruntled employee with an axe to grind, making up incredible allegations that have no basis in truth.”

  “Oh, I’m certainly that.” Paolo’s laughter sounded cynical. He folded his hands on the table in front of him. “A disgruntled employee, that is. But as for proof, what if I told you there are two hard drives containing data that would verify our story?”

  Carrie and Abhi glanced at each other in surprise.

  “What sort of data?” Brown asked, intrigued.

  “I’d like to know that, as well,” Jessamine murmured.

  “Everything,” Paolo said. “Scientific data on myself, the fetal specimen we brought ashore, and the remains of the mutated creatures. Analysis of the hypoxia zone. Background on the mercenaries Alpinus hired. Log entries by Ochse and the other security goons. Phone records and e-mails. Videos. Those are what I know is on there. I assume there is much more to be found, once your people go over them.”

  Brown appeared intrigued. “And you have access to these hard drives?”

  Paolo hesitated. “I do.”

  Carrie sat up straight. “You’ve got fucking hard drives and proof? How the hell did you get them? What did you do—sneak them into the embassy inside your hospital gown?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “No,” Carrie retorted. “You didn’t say much of anything, did you, Paolo?”

  “I’m sorry, Carrie.”

  “How do we know you’re not lying to us again now? If you had these hard drives all along, then why did you let us sit here and waste our breath thinking of another way to get proof?”

  Before Paolo could respond to her, Brown cleared his throat.

  “I would like to see them at once,” he said.

  “So would I,” Jessamine said. “If they contain what you say they do, we can blow this story wide open!”

  “I’m afraid that’s out of the question, Miss Wheatley.” Brown shook his head. “This is a matter of national security, and we’ll need access to the data first. Before we started, you agreed that anything said during this meeting was off the record. That applies to the information contained on these hard drives.”

  “We can share,” she replied. “How about that? I vote we share.”

  “This isn’t a democracy, Miss Wheatley.”

  “Really?” Jessamine arched an eyebrow. “Are you, a high-ranking official from ASIS, telling me that Australia isn’t a democracy?”

  “You know very well what I mean. Don’t try to twist my words. I’m afraid I must insist that we have access to these hard drives first.”

  “Okay.” Jessamine shrugged. “Then I’ll just go on the news tonight and talk about what I know.”

  Brown flinched at the threat and cleared his throat.

  “You won’t do that,” McBean challenged. “Do I really need to remind you again that when we started this conversation, I told you it was off the record? Without the data on the hard drives, all you’d be reporting on is allegations.”

  Jessamine didn’t back down. “And need I remind you, Ambassador, that I clarified what was off the record and what wasn’t? All I’m d
oing is reporting the outrageous and shocking claims made by a world-class free diver and her fellow co-workers against their former employer, who just happens to be one of the biggest companies in the world.”

  McBean sputtered in exasperation. “But if you do that, you simply give Alpinus more time to conceal the truth, and further hamper this investigation.”

  Jessamine nodded, smiling. “All the more reason, then, for you to share the information on the hard drives with us. You want to stop the bad guys, don’t you?”

  “I think you had better leave, Miss Wheatley. Immediately.”

  “On the contrary, I think I have every right to be here. I am an Australian citizen and this is a news story. I’m doing my job.”

  “I’ve had enough of this.” McBean stood up. “I’m going to have you removed from the grounds at once.”

  Jessamine smiled. “You don’t want to do that.”

  “Watch me.”

  “Jessamine,” Hank whispered. “What are you doing?”

  “Mr. Ambassador,” Paolo said, his voice firm. “Please sit down.”

  McBean slowly complied. His ears and cheeks were red with anger. Jessamine sat quietly, demurely folding her hands on the table in front of her, and tried to suppress another smile. Hank and Khem shifted nervously in their seats. Carrie and Abhi stared at each other, still stunned by this latest turn of events.

  “First of all,” Paolo continued after he had everyone’s attention, “I haven’t turned over the hard drives to anyone yet. None of you even know their current location, so there is no sense arguing about it right now. I haven’t said if they’re on embassy grounds. For all you know, I hid them in the jungle.”

  Brown pointed at him. “If you’re willfully concealing evidence of a crime—”

  “I’m doing no such thing,” Paolo interrupted. “I just told you that I’m willing to turn them over. But both of the hard drives are encrypted and partitioned. I know the ASIS is good, but so is Alpinus. It might take you weeks, or even months, to break the encryption. That’s time that frankly, we don’t have. Not unless we want to live like fugitives. And while your people are struggling to decrypt the data, Alpinus will be furthering the cover-up, and this crisis would continue to spread throughout the ocean. What I’m offering instead is a way to get Alpinus Biofutures to implicate themselves. A way for you to catch them in the act, so to speak. And a way to do it quickly.”

  “Go on,” McBean urged.

  “We all want to expose what has happened here. Jessamine wants her news story. You want to arrest these criminals. And we want to live, and not have to look over our shoulders, wondering if there’s a sniper scope trained on our heads or a bomb beneath our car. What I’m proposing is a way to achieve all of these things. We set up a data handoff in Perth.”

  “Why Perth,” Carrie asked. “Why not right here in Mauritius?”

  Paolo turned to the intelligence head. “You can’t act unless everything is in the hands of the Australian government, right?”

  “That is correct,” Brown replied. “But you’ll never get Alpinus to come here to the embassy, and our authorities can’t act beyond these walls.”

  “That’s why I propose we fly to Perth. Would that work?”

  Brown nodded. “Yes. You could make initial contact with the official at Alpinus and offer them the data in exchange for money.”

  “Great,” Paolo agreed. “Then Carrie and Abhi will dead drop the hard drives at a pre-appointed location.”

  “Wait a minute,” Abhi said. “Me and Carrie? How did we get drafted into this?”

  “Because Alpinus wants both of you, as well as the data. The two of you are witnesses.”

  “So are you,” Carrie said.

  “Yes, but I can convince them that I’m still loyal. Still working for them. In their minds, I can be controlled. They can’t say the same about the two of you.”

  “So you’re sending us to our deaths?” Abhi sputtered.

  “Not at all,” Paolo said.

  “We can have authorities waiting to arrest them at the second location,” Brown said.

  Paolo nodded. “You show up to make the dead drop. Before they can react, ASIS swoops in and arrests them. At that point, Mr. Brown has the guilty parties, the money, and the hard drives, and Jessamine has her news story, and no harm comes to you or Carrie. Everybody wins.”

  The room was silent for a moment.

  McBean turned to Brown. “What do you think?”

  “I think it might work.” Brown rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. “Yes, I think it might work, provided he can convince the guilty parties to go for it.”

  “I’m in,” Jessamine confirmed. “We can sit on the story if it leads to this. But I still want assurances that we’ll get access to the data.”

  “Something can be arranged,” McBean assured her.

  “I’d like some assurances, as well,” Carrie said. “I mean, the way I see it, Abhi and I are the ones taking the biggest risk here. How do we know they won’t shoot us in the head as soon as we make the drop?”

  “We’ll have people watching you the entire time,” Brown said. “If they even twitch, we’ll be on them. I give you my word that no harm will come to either of you.”

  “And what if Alpinus gets a whiff of it? What if they spot your people before we spot them?”

  “Miss Anderson, we’re the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. Unlike our American counterparts, we don’t make mistakes. And if they do spot us, we’ll make the arrests early. At that point, even without the exchange, we have them for conspiracy, weapons charges, and a host of other things we can use for leverage.”

  “Well, then,” McBean said, “if there are no more objections, I’ll arrange for your travel to Perth. Miss Wheatley, I trust you won’t inform your superiors at the network about this yet?”

  “We were supposed to be going to Australia anyway,” she replied. “I’ll let them know we’re working on something, but I can’t say what it is yet. Fair enough?”

  “I suppose so, as long as they don’t start asking questions.”

  “I can convince them not to,” Hank said. “They trust us when it comes to things like this. They may nickle and dime us on the budget, but at the end of the day, they give us enough room to do our jobs.”

  “Very well.” McBean turned to Carrie and Abhi. “Do either of you have anything to add?”

  Abhi shrugged and shook his head.

  “Okay,” Carrie said. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get on with our lives.”

  McBean nodded. “Very good. I have some calls to make. I’m sure Mr. Brown has some to make, as well.”

  * * *

  “I don’t know about this,” Carrie said later. “I think maybe I agreed to it too quick.”

  She and Paolo were seated in the embassy lounge, having dinner. A candle flickered on their table, casting dancing shadows in the dim light. Soft music played in the background. Abhi, Hank, and Khem were at the bar, watching a soccer match on television and working their way through the embassy’s stock of tequila. Jessamine had retired to her room.

  “You are worrying too much, Gatito,” Paolo said. “You heard what the man said. There will be agents everywhere. You and Abhi will be safe.”

  “Yes, but something could still go wrong. There are a lot of variables in play here, Paolo.”

  He stifled a yawn.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Are my concerns boring you?”

  “No,” he protested. “It’s not that at all. I am just very tired.”

  “We both are. And that’s why I’m having second thoughts. I think we rushed into this plan without thinking it through.”

  Paolo shrugged. “If it will make you feel more at ease, when I make the arrangements, I’ll tell them they don’t get my encryption key until after you and Abhi are safe. That assures nothing will happen to you.”

  Carrie paused, her wine glass half-raised. “Your encryption key?”

 
“Yes. Remember, the hard drives are encrypted and partitioned. They are useless to Alpinus without my key.”

  “I’m sure they could crack them in time. You said so yourself during the meeting.”

  “Yes, perhaps, but they may not have enough time. I am betting they will not want to take that chance. Not after everything else that has happened. Time will be of the essence to them.”

  “I hope you’re right.” She sipped her wine slowly.

  “Are you okay, Carrie? You seem … troubled. I know this is all very upsetting, but is there something else on your mind?”

  “No…” She hesitated. “Like I said, I’m just tired, Paolo. I feel like we’ve been on the run for weeks. I’ve been in and out of hospitals, seen people die, suffered from the bends, been in a boat wreck. I’m exhausted. I just want to sleep for a week.”

  “I sympathize,” Paolo replied. “I am tired, as well. I will be glad when this is all over.”

  “What will you do? When this is over? What are your plans?”

  “Well, I guess that depends on you. We still need to finish our discussion, yes?”

  The candlelight twinkled in his eyes, warm and inviting. Carrie smiled, and took another sip of wine.

  “Yes, we do, at some point. But not tonight. I don’t want to think about that tonight.”

  “Okay, then. What do you want for tonight?”

  “You know what I want? More than anything right now?” She drained the rest of her wine in one gulp and set the empty glass on the table. “I want you to come back to my room.”

  “Oh?” Paolo’s eyes widened in surprise. “I would be delighted.”

  “Don’t get the wrong idea,” she cautioned. “Nothing is going to happen. At least, not yet. I’m not ready for that, Paolo. You’ll need to give me time. But we’re both exhausted, and I thought it might be nice if we just slept together. You know, like actual sleep? I’d like somebody to hold me, and I’d like that somebody to be you.”