Arctic Fire (29 page)

Pike nodded. “Is there any way to either shore
up or separate the towing towers so that if one side goes, it won’t
yank the other out and rip off the front of the berg?”

“I don’t know Mr. Pike, that’s not my field of
expertise.”

“How far out are we from New York Harbor?”

“Two to three days depending on how much speed
we can maintain.”

Pike frowned. “That’s not very much time to
recheck everything considering all the damage we took.” Pike
studied the screen for a moment longer, and then turned to Centers.
“Can you take me here?” He said, pointing to the first of the
flashing red censors.

Centers shook his head, “That’s buried behind
five feet of ice.”

Pike frowned, “How about this one?” pointing to
the other red light.”

“Ten feet.”

“You’re full of good news. How about here? The
bases of the support towers are on the decks of the ships
right?”

Centers smiled and nodded his head, “That I can
do.”

“Then lead on Macduff.” Pike said.

“Macduff?” Centers asked with a puzzled look on
his face.

“I’ll explain on the way. Captain, does Mr. Cain
know about all this?”

Gregory tried to stifle a yawn but wasn’t very
successful. “Sorry, it’s been a long night,” he said, taking a sip
of his coffee. “Mr. Cain was here earlier this morning and knows
the entire situation.”

“All right Captain, and thank you. If he calls,
please let him know where I’m going.”

“Will do.”

Pike and Centers left the bridge and headed for
the elevator to take them down to the ship decks. “Who is Macduff?”
Centers asked as they walked along.

Pike smiled, “kind of a hobby of mine, quotes
and where they come from. Lead on Macduff is actually a misquote.
It’s a line from Shakespeare’s,
Macbeth.
The real line is
‘Lay on, Mcaduff.’ It’s a fight scene where Macduff tells Macbeth
to give it his best shot as they fight to the death. I’ve tried to
find out why it’s so misquoted but I can’t find an answer
anywhere.”

“Interesting. Got any more?” Centers asked as
they reached the elevator and waited for the door to open.

Pike thought for a moment. “Sure. Have you heard
the expression, ‘Cut to the chase?’”

Centers nodded as the doors opened and they
entered.

“Back in the beginnings of the film industry
during silent movies, the chase scene was usually the most exciting
part of a film. People didn’t like watching all the boring stuff,
so they wanted the producers to cut, or edit the film to the best
part, usually the chase scene…thus ‘Cut to the chase,’ or as we use
it today, it means get to the point.”

The doors of the elevator opened and deposited
them on the forward ship, on the port side. The cavernous chamber
was humming with activity, as work crews were scurrying about the
decks and disappearing in the access tunnels like worker ants
attending their queen. Pike stood and marveled at the sight. Even
though he had seen it before, it still amazed him, not only the
size of the cavern but the sheer size of Cain’s project. Pike
followed Centers as they walked toward the bow and the first towing
support tower.

They reached the base of the two-foot diameter
steel pole where Pike began examining it closely.

The eight bolts that held the tower to the deck
were all in place and the deck level, with no signs of stress or
buckling. The shaft revealed no fractures and ran straight and true
as it disappeared into the ice ceiling. The ice around the shaft
where the two met was also solid, swallowing the pipe whole,
showing no signs of cracking or splintering, which was also another
very good sign.

Pike and Centers crossed the catwalk that linked
the two ships to reach the other support tower. He knew he would
find problems there, since it was this tower that was glowing with
the steady amber and flashing red lights on the service screen. He
just hoped it wasn’t too badly damaged.

From ten feet away, he could tell his hopes were
sunk. The steel decking at the base of the tower was bulging
slightly in places, showing where the stress had pulled on the
tower. One deck bolt was sheared off completely and two more were
twisted. There were also telltale streaks at the base of the pole,
indicating stress fractures. Above, it looked like a giant hand had
shaken the shaft, chipping and cracking the ice at the top where it
joined the pole, routing out a six-inch space between them.

“That’s not good.” Pike said, straining his
neck. “If we have another storm, this shaft will either twist
itself out of the deck or cause a stress fracture in the ice that
could split this section in two, or both.” Pike glanced at his
watch. “Do me favor will you?” He said looking at Centers. “Find
Miles and see if he knows about the problem with this shaft and
find out what other problems he’s come across in his travels. As
long as the weather holds, I don’t think we’re in any immediate
danger but we still have a lot of checking to do before we can pass
muster and enter New York harbor.”

“Pass muster, now that one I have heard before.”
Centers smiled.

Pike chuckled. “Thanks Brian. I would like to
meet with you and Dean in his office tomorrow morning, say
8:30?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Great.” Pike looked at his watch again. “I
gotta run. See you in the morning.” He bounded back across the
catwalk and vanished into the elevator.

Chapter Thirty
One

Pike slowed to catch his breath as he entered
the casino; he didn’t want to be panting or appear over eager when
he sat down with Tabatha. He looked around at the busy, brightly
lit room that was nearly full of happy gamblers. Gone were any
signs of the struggles from the previous night’s storm. Now, their
biggest concern was whether to keep the money Cain had given them
the night before or to simply blow it all since it was free.

He moved past the row of slots and the craps
tables toward the restaurant. He had on a navy blue sports coat,
light blue button-down shirt and khaki pants. He thought about
wearing a tie but decided against it, wanting to keep their dinner
and interview casual. Walking past the Crystal Palace’s entrance;
he grabbed a flower from one of the arrangements to give to
Tabatha. He’d seen them do that in the movies and had always wanted
to do it himself. Now he sort of wished he had worn his James Bond
tuxedo.

He was met at the door by the maître d’ who
greeted him by name and escorted him to his table. He wouldn’t
admit it, but he was getting used to all the special attention and
he knew he would miss it a little when he got back home. As soon as
he saw Tabatha, he
knew
he should have worn the tuxedo. She
was wearing a dark blue evening gown that accented her pearl
necklace and matching earrings. She wore her hair down to her
shoulders.

“Wow, you look beautiful,” Pike said as he sat
down. “Sorry I’m late.”

Tabatha smiled. “That’s alright. I know you had
a lot of work to do down below.”

“How did you…” he started to say, then stopped.
“I know: you’re a reporter.”

She smiled and tipped her wineglass at him.
“That’s right.” She took a sip then set it down. “Is that for me?”
she said pointing at the flower, “or did you just pick up a snack
to eat later?”

“Oh yes. Sorry.” Pike replied, feeling his face
flush. Just as he started to hand it to her, the maître d’ walked
up with a small vase, filled with greenery. He took the flower and
placed it in the vase then set in on the table in front of them.
When Tabatha wasn’t looking, Pike mouthed the words, “thank you,”
to him and the maître d’ replied with a slight tilt of his head and
a quick wink.

“Since you already know what I did today,
there’s no need for an interview. Have you ordered for us already
as well?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Ah, I see; a modern woman. Confident,
self-assured, one knows what she wants and how to get it, yet not
afraid to show that she’s still a woman,” he said, complimenting
her on her dress. “Let’s see how good you really are.
Appetizers?”

“Calamari.”

“Good choice. Soup?”

“New England clam chowder.”

“A seafood theme going here. Salad?”

“None. Need to save room for the main
course.”

“Which is?”

“Southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes with
gravy and corn on the cob.

“Bold, unpredicted. So simple a choice for a
floating five star restaurant.” Pike nodded his head slowly,
thinking. “I like it. Now for the crucial choice. Dessert?”

A sly smile crept to her lips. “The basics are
always the best. A simple, double chocolate fudge cake topped with
vanilla ice cream.”

Pike held his hands out in submission and
lowered his head. “I bow to the master.”

“Now there’s an interesting picture.”

Pike spun around faster than a turnstile in a
New York subway. “K.D.?” He stood, nearly knocking his chair over
as he did.

“Am I interrupting?”

“No. What? How?” He stammered. “I don’t
understand. How did you get here? I mean I know you got here by
helicopter,” Pike rambled, “but what are you doing here?” Pike
nervously realized he was stuck between a rock and a hard place and
all the while not understanding why he felt like this. He hadn’t
done anything wrong, but then in his forty-some years of life, one
thing he had learned was that when it came to women, you didn’t
necessarily have to do anything wrong to get into trouble.

K.D. looked at her coworker and could tell by
the confusion in his eyes that his answer was sincere but a quick
glance at the woman in the stunning blue dress said that she
was
interrupting. Suddenly she felt confused herself. Seeing
Gabe standing there all flustered was amusing, but there was
something more to it now. She had always liked Gabe, as a friend,
but seeing him with this other woman, something changed. It took
her a moment before she realized that she was jealous. Jealous? How
could that be? Was it that she wanted him now simply for the fact
that he was with someone else? Was the old saying really true: you
don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone? Her world was
beginning to reel and it wasn’t because the iceberg was being
tossed by the waves either.

Pike took a deep breath and was just starting to
gain some measure of composure when he saw Marilyn walk in. She
walked by K.D. as if she didn’t exist and gave Pike a long, warm
hug and kiss on the left cheek, which was on the side facing
Tabatha. As Marilyn kissed his cheek, she looked over and stared at
Tabatha and then slid up the side of his face and nibbled on his
ear.

“You really hate him don’t you?” Mallory said to
Cain. They were in the back of the restaurant watching the scene
unfold. “Bet you never saw this coming with your butterfly thing.”
She continued.

“I had no idea.” Cain replied spellbound.

“Yeah, sure.”

“This is better than any soap opera. Poor
Gabriel, stuck in the middle of three woman. I wish I had the power
to read minds because I would give half my fortune to know what’s
going through his head right now.”

Suddenly Cain felt Mallory grip his arm.
“What?”

“Oh no; she’s not.”

“Not what?”

“She’s going to, I don’t believe it.”

“Who’s doing what? Tell me?” Cain half pleaded,
half demanded. Just then they saw Pike jump.

“What was that?” Cain asked. “What did she do to
him?”

“When she kissed Gabe on the cheek, she looked
over at the reporter then took a nibble on his ear. She just pissed
on the lawn, marking her territory.”

“Really? You saw all that?”

“Watch and learn.” Mallory replied. “See his
coworker there, I think her name is K.D. Crooks. Did you see the
way she walked up to Pike and Tabatha? Very calm, very casual, but
look at her now. She is standing stiff legged and her arms are
almost glued to her side because she doesn’t know what to do. She’s
always liked Gabe as a friend but thought nothing more of it until
now. Seeing him with Tabatha, especially dressed like that has made
her suddenly rethink things and she’s confused. We always tend to
want what we can’t have. It’s like when a woman is trying to decide
which dress to buy in the store, the red one or the blue one. She
likes them both but can’t make up her mind until someone comes
along and grabs the red one. All of a sudden she wants the red one
because she can’t have it.

“Take our reporter friend there. She is
interested in our boy but she’s not quite sure if it’s personal or
just to get a good story. She’s done her homework and knows that
Gabe doesn’t sleep around so she’s trying to catch him off guard by
hitting him with her best shot right out of the gate with her
slinky blue dress, just to make sure. And Marilyn Talbot, the
boss’s wife, well, she’s just a plain old man-killer. She’s just in
it for the challenge and thrill of the hunt. She’ll chew him up and
spit him out then step on what’s left of him as she walks out the
door.”

Cain looked at Mallory in amazement. “In just
these few minutes you read all that? Wow, I am truly impressed. I
see I’m going to have to bring you with me to board meetings more
often.”

“Trust me, women understand these things.”

“Maybe women do but poor Gabriel is clueless in
Seattle right now.”

“You know you really should go over there and
rescue him.”

“Not a chance.” Cain said with a mischievous
laugh. “He’s the Blast from the Past; let’s see how he gets out of
this situation. Oh look, I think the reporter is going to get up.
This is about to get real interesting.”

“Gabe won’t do you any good if he’s dead.”
Mallory shook her head. “If you want anything done right, you have
to do it yourself.”