“Any burden we need to keep America safe.”
“Congresswoman Bledes paid that price.”
Finney cocked an eyebrow. “Congresswoman Bledes is dead?”
“Yes. She was shot while trying to escape the capital this morning.”
Finney paled. His hands twisted the rug covering his legs, looking flustered. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware. Congresswoman Bledes was a remarkable woman. She alone has done more than most for this country.” He paused, his gray eyes meeting Sam’s. “What about her two companions?”
“Who?”
“I thought she was with Congressman Grzonkowski and Carmichael today.”
Sam made a thin-lipped smile. For a retired Senator, he seemed well informed about the day to day itinerary of sitting members of Congress. “I’m sorry. I’ve no idea. I wasn’t informed who she was with. But as far as I know, Congresswoman Bledes was the only fatality we’ve had so far throughout this entire terrorist attack.”
Retired Senator Finney swung his wheel chair around toward the door. “You’d better get back to work Mr. Reilly. Someone needs to avenge her death, and you can’t do it while you’re in here.”
“I’ll try my best,” Sam assured him, and walked out the door.
Chapter Forty-Three
Sam Reilly made his way along K street toward Franklin Square.
The boulevard was silent. Mercenaries or terrorists – whatever you wanted to call them – lined the southern side, mostly ignoring him, while U.S. marines and armored tanks lined the opposite end. It looked like something out of an urban warzone in the Middle East, not the U.S. Capital.
At the far end of the street a hot air blimp was tethered by a rope above a building, with a large advertisement for some local law firm.
Sam stared at the image.
His heart pounded in his chest as he felt that awful sense of déjà vu. He knew exactly where he’d witnessed that identical scene before. It was impossible, and yet almost certain. What was more unexpected was the fact he knew, with the same certainty, that he wasn’t going to act on the knowledge, or inform the Secretary of Defense.
Not yet, anyway.
Sam still needed to complete his part in this evil game before it was over and he lost everything. He had to know what was hidden inside the scuttled wreck of the Clarion Call.
He kept walking east.
Sam unlocked his cell phone and dialed Elise’s number.
She answered on the first ring. “How did your meeting go with retired Senator Charles Finney?”
Sam smiled, and kept walking. “We got it wrong. It was Senator Finney’s brother, Joseph in the photograph.”
“His brother?” Elise said, “I didn’t find any record of a second Finney with matching facial features on the DMV for the past two decades.”
“You wouldn’t have. He disappeared, most likely dead, in 1996.”
“The same year the Clarion Call was scuttled.”
Sam swore. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? It can’t just be a coincidence. Everything keeps pointing back toward the scuttling of that ship – the Clarion Call.”
“What do you want to do?” Elise asked.
“Has Tom located the wreck yet?”
“No, but the Maria Helena’s not yet in position of the GPS coordinates your father gave him. Illegal or not, your grandfather kept records of the event.”
“Really?” Sam asked. “That seems like a strange thing to do if you were going to try and bury secrets.”
“The ship’s in 720 feet of water. I suppose he was fairly confident the secrets would remain buried,” Elise replied. “Besides, apparently the scuttling was all a big show.”
“A big show?”
“Yeah. Someone out of the 832nd Ordnance Battalion US Marine Corps out of Fort Lee provided the ordnance required to sink the ship.”
“Are you serious?”
“It gets better.”
Sam said, “Go on.”
“Who do you think was the officer in command during the scuttling blasts?”
“No idea. Who?”
“Major Roger Goodson. Alex’s father!”
“You’re kidding me! But Alex said he and his father had never really got along. Said he’d never learned why. His father was a military man – an Officer in the Marines to his core – while his grandfather opposed the military and had been a pacifist all his life.”
“That might justify why Alex’s grandfather and father never got along. They might both know the truth – whatever that is. One thing’s for certain. There’s something connecting the Goodsons with the Reillys.”
“Thanks, Elise. You’re the best.”
“I know,” she acknowledged, cheerfully.
Sam grinned. Cultural norms might prefer women to be modest, but Elise knew her value, and pretending wasn’t her thing.
“Now what do you want me to do about it?” she asked in the next breath.
“Tell Genevieve I need a lift. She can pick me up at the Shaw Recreational Center, corner of 11th Street and Rhode Island Ave, NW.” Sam grinned. “Because I’m coming diving with Tom. The Clarion Call holds a mystery I intend to personally pry out of her.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Sam took 11th Street NW out of the terrorist’s delineated hot zone section of the capital.
Stopping to search his phone for Alex Goodson’s number, he found it and pressed the call button. The phone rang out after several rings. Sam ended the call, then pressed the redial.
Alex picked up on the second ring this time. “Yo! Mr. Reilly. Did you find what you were looking for?”
“You mean, did I find the nuclear bomb hidden in Washington, D.C.?”
“Yeah, that.”
“No. But I found something else, which I’m hoping you might clear up for me.”
“Shoot.”
“There’s an old cargo ship which was sunk off the coast of Sandy Point State Park called the Clarion Call.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you heard of it?”
“No. Should I have?”
“I don’t know. It had some significant mechanical issues and was scuttled about five miles off the coast by your father in 1996.”
“That would make sense.”
“Really? Why?”
“My father was a Major with the 832nd Ordnance Battalion US Marine Corps out of Fort Lee. If the ship was scuttled off the coast of Sandy Point State Park, then it’s likely he would’ve been responsible for sinking it.”
“Do you know what year your grandfather and your father stopped speaking to each other?”
“How would I remember that? I was just a kid in 96.”
Sam grinned. Alex had answered his questions without actually answering his questions. “I read the FBI’s report on you. Apparently, you have an eidetic memory. You were very close to your grandfather, but far from close to your real father. I’m betting a hundred bucks a kid like that would remember when his father and grandfather had a falling out, and prevented you from seeing your grandfather.”
“May 22, 1996.” Alex sighed heavily. “I never found out what tore them apart. When was the Clarion Call scuttled?”
“May 21, 1996.”
“Mr. Reilly!”
“Yes?”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to dive the Clarion Call and see if I can find the connection. Then I’m going to pay you another visit.”
“Good, you do that.” Alex said. “Remember, about a million lives are counting on you.”
“Dammit, Alex!” Sam snapped. “I’m the only one here trying to help you. Maybe you should think about that.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Manhattan, New York
Alex hung up the phone and walked out onto his balcony. The city spread out in front of him, as busy as an anthill in the early afternoon. He was hungry. Ironically, he’d forgotten to eat. He glanced back at the building. It would be some time before he put the fini
shing touches on the building of his gamer haven.
Still, everything was coming along nicely.
His father’s death had changed his life.
The man who had never understood him and who had always seemed to find ways to tear him down had left this world. His death had taken a weight off his shoulders.
The two of them had never been on the same page.
One of the questions that lingered in Alex’s mind was, why? Why had his father always seemed to carry some type of grudge against him? Why had it taken his father’s death to unlock his grandfather’s bequest?
It felt like his father and grandfather had an inexplicable rivalry between them, as if they’d been arguing over the possession of Alex, the son, and the grandson.
His father had wanted Alex to become one thing, his grandfather another.
Neither of them had waited to discover what Alex wanted for himself.
When he was still alive, Alex’s grandfather openly demonstrated his love for him much more than his father did. Sometimes, his grandfather had sad eyes. He seemed filled with secret regrets, but essentially, he was a man who was satisfied with the way he’d lived his life.
Not so, his father.
He’d seemed consumed with anger from Alex’s earliest memories, until his relatively early death. What if he’d lived longer? What would he have done? What if William had left his fortune to Alex before his father’s death?
Would Sam Reilly’s dive reveal the truth?
He turned away from the balcony, switched his TV back on, and continued to play his game. The troops on both sides of the battle appeared restless.
There would not be a prolonged siege.
The invaders were already setting up their tanks and preparing to storm his fortress. The question of how many lives would be lost in the process remained to be seen.
He selected five of his soldiers. Into his gaming microphone he said, “Prepare the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge for demolition.”
“Sir?” the mercenary replied.
“Wire it up. I’m hoping we won’t have to use it. But right now, it looks likely.”
“Understood.”
Everything still depended on Sam Reilly’s next move.
Alex grinned.
At least he had chosen the right man to play his game.
Chapter Forty-Six
On Board the Maria Helena – Ten Miles East of Ocean City, Delaware
The Sea King helicopter hovered directly above the Maria Helena, as the ship swayed in four feet of gently rolling swell. At the pilot controls next to Sam, Genevieve adeptly maneuvered the large helicopter onto the small helipad to the aft of the vessel.
The familiar sight of his ship brought a smile to Sam’s face.
The helicopter’s skids touched down on the helipad and Genevieve powered down. Sam unclipped his harness, removed his headphones, and stepped out while the rotors continued to whine overhead.
Matthew, his skipper, greeted him with a firm handshake. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m all right,” Sam said, continuing his steady stride across the deck. “Better now that I have something to work on.”
Matthew raised a concerned eyebrow. “What are the odds? Do you think the terrorist will go through with the detonation?”
“No.”
“But you’re worried what you’ll find hidden inside the Clarion Call?”
Sam nodded. “Worse than that. I’m worried the terrorist might not be able to stop what he’s begun.”
“I can imagine that you have every agency in the United States working to assist you.” Matthew glanced at Genevieve, who was securing the Sea King to the helipad. “As you know, everyone on board is at your disposal – willing to do anything that you need to get the job done.”
“I had no doubts, but thank you anyway.” Sam stopped at a portal, ran his eyes across the deck, toward the bridge. “Where are you up to?”
Matthew said, “We’ve settled directly above the Clarion Call. Tom’s located her hull on the bathymetric sonar.”
Sam exhaled. He didn’t expect them to have trouble locating the ship, but it was still a relief. One less thing to go wrong. “Where are Tom and Veyron?”
“They’re both down below, preparing the two atmospheric diving suits for the dive.”
“All right,” Sam said. “I’ll join them there and we’ll dive as soon as the suits are ready.”
“Understood.” Matthew paused. “Any idea what you’re hoping to find down there?”
Sam grinned. “Answers.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Sam quickly stepped down the two flights of stairs into the dive room, which was housed between the Maria Helena’s large twin hulls. Built into the Maria Helena’s hull the moon pool looked more like something out of an old James Bond movie. Aside from looking cool, it served a much more useful purpose. It allowed for an easy – all weather – dive platform from which to launch a variety of high tech submersibles and SCUBA missions.
To the western edge of the moon pool, stood two large atmospheric diving suits. To Sam’s mind, they more closely resembled space suits out of a 1960s science fiction movie, than the highly practical deep-sea diving machines they were.
Veyron removed his diagnostic tools from the internal computer, and looked up to greet him. “Welcome back, Sam.”
“Thanks. Where are you at?”
“They’re both right to go.”
“Great,” Sam said. “Where’s Tom?”
“He’s just having a bite to eat. He’ll be down in a minute.”
“Ah.” Sam grinned. “Everything’s normal. Washington D.C. is under threat of a nuclear bomb and Tom’s worried about his stomach.”
Tom entered the room holding two sandwiches. “It’s about keeping my energy up, so we can continue to fight the good fight,” he said, walking the steps. He held up two wrapped sandwiches. “I thought you might be hungry, too. You want one?”
“Thanks, Tom. Come to mention it, I haven’t eaten in twelve hours.”
Ravenous, Sam took the sandwich, devouring it quickly.
His eyes turned to the giant atmospheric diving suits. The new suits were a recent acquisition for the company to replace their previous, older model diving suits. They were custom made by Nuytco Research Ltd in Vancouver, and based on their Exosuit model. The two Exosuits were designed to match Sam and Tom’s individual body shapes. Tom’s Exosuit was nearly seven-foot-eight inches in height, while Sam’s was a little closer to six-foot-four.
Each one provided an articulated submersible of anthropomorphic form which resembled a suit of armor, with elaborate pressure joints to allow freedom of movement while maintaining an internal pressure of one atmosphere. They could be used for very deep dives of up to 1000 feet. Unlike the standard product, these were designed to work autonomously, without an umbilical.
The suits eliminated the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep-sea diving. The occupant need not decompress, there is no need for special gas mixtures, and there is no danger of decompression sickness or nitrogen narcosis.
To be classified as an A1 submersible, the life support systems must last at least 72 hr. Nuytco timed the Exosuit’s duration at over 85 hr.
The suit keeps pressure from getting to its occupant with a combination of rigidity and flexibility. The Exosuit is covered in an A356-T6 aluminum alloy skin cast to an average thickness of 0.375 in. Thicker ribs support high-stress areas of the suit. The suit is cast into molds that can also accommodate titanium alloys that withstand greater working depths.
The suit’s automatic life support system was fully self-contained. It even provided the occupant with food, water and the ability to excrete bodily waste through a system comparable to that used by astronauts. Additionally, the integrated quad thruster system allowed the pilot to navigate easily underwater, while the hydraulic powered limbs allowed equal maneuverability and strength while out of the water.
In other words,
they were cutting edge awesome.
Behind the two behemoth diving suits, lay a small hyperbaric chamber – a solemn and constant reminder of the risks faced with deep sea diving.
Sam finished his sandwich and glanced at Tom, who’d not only consumed his meal, but had also managed to down a large bottle of water in the process.
“All right,” Sam said. “Are you good to go?”
“Always,” Tom confirmed.
Sam looked at Veyron – who maintained their array of submersible machines. “Are you happy?”
“To let you and Tom out for a play with my two babies?” Veyron asked. “Never. But they’re fully prepared to dive. Just don’t forget they cost the company a little over half a million dollars apiece.”
Sam laughed. “Hey, I signed the check. I doubt I’ll forget.”
Tom said, “Do you have any idea where we should be looking?”
“Yeah, according to my father, the Clarion Call’s secret smuggler’s compartment would have been located amidships, well below the water-line. The idea was that the secret compartment would be filled with whatever contraband was intended to be shipped while the ship was empty and rode high in the water. Then, after she was loaded with her legal cargo, that compartment would rest beneath the waterline.”
Tom smiled. “And the water pressure would in turn, seal this hidden hatch, so that no amount of force could cajole it to open until the main cargo was offloaded. At that point, the ship was high enough that the compartment was above the waterline again.”
“Exactly.”
It took nearly twenty minutes for each of them to climb inside their respective diving suits, secure their harnesses, lock their watertight seals, and run-through the start-up procedure using a check-list that made piloting a helicopter seem simple.
Then, one by one, Veyron lowered each of the advanced atmospheric diving machines into the water.
Sam watched as the seawater rushed over the dome-shaped viewing port. A moment later, he released the tether, and took control of his submersible.
Chapter Forty-Eight
The Heisenberg Legacy Page 16
