Arctic Drift Part 14

Pitt winked at her. "You are much too important to lose now," he said, brushing off his actions.

"It was a miracle," Loren said. "Dirk told me how devastated the lab was. It is amazing that no one in the building was killed."

"Dr. Maxwell stopped by earlier. He promised to buy me a new lab." She smiled. "Though he was a little disappointed that I didn't know what happened."

"You don't know what caused the explosion?" Loren asked.

"No. I thought it came from a neighboring lab."

"From what I saw of the damage, it appeared that the blast was centered in the room where I found you," Pitt said.

"Yes, that's what Dr. Maxwell told me. I'm not sure he believed me when I told him that there was nothing in my lab that could have caused that large of an explosion."

"It was a pretty powerful bang," Pitt agreed.

Lisa nodded. "I've sat here and pictured every element and piece of equipment in that lab. All of the materials we have been working with are inert. We have a number of gas tanks for the experiments, but Dr. Maxwell indicated that they were all found intact. The equipment is basically benevolent. There was simply nothing volatile I can think of that would have caused such a thing."

"Don't blame yourself," Loren said. "Maybe it was something with the building, an old gas line or something."

They were interrupted by a stern-faced nurse who came in and propped up Lisa's bed, then slid a tray of dinner in front of her.

"Guess we better be on our way so that you can enjoy the hospital's epicurean delights," Pitt said.

"I'm sure it won't compare to last night's crabs," Lisa said, struggling to laugh. Then her face turned to a frown. "By the way, Dr. Maxwell mentioned that an old car parked in front of the building was severely damaged by the explosion. The Auburn?"

Pitt nodded with a hurt look. "Afraid so," he said. "But don't worry. Like you, she can be rebuilt to as good as new."

There was a knock on the door behind them, then a lean man with a ragged beard entered the room.

"Bob," Lisa greeted. "I'm glad you're here. Come meet my friends," she said, introducing Loren and Pitt to her lab a.s.sistant Bob Hamilton.

"I still can't believe you made it out without a scratch," Lisa kidded him.

"Lucky for me I was in the cafeteria having lunch when the lab went boom," he said, eyeing Loren and Pitt with uncertainty.

"A fortunate thing," Loren agreed. "Are you as stumped as Lisa by what happened?"

"Completely. There could have been a leak in one of our pressure canisters that somehow ignited, but I think it was something in the building. A freak accident, whatever the source, and now all of Lisa's research is destroyed."

"Is that true?" Pitt asked.

"All the computers were destroyed, which contained the research databases," Bob replied.

"We should be able to piece it together once I get back to the lab ... if I still have a lab," Lisa said.

"I'll demand that the president of GWU ensure that it is safe before you step into that building again," Loren said.

She turned to Bob. "We were just leaving. Very nice to meet you, Bob." Then she leaned over and kissed Lisa again. "Take care, honey. I'll visit again tomorrow."

"What a terrible ordeal," Loren said to Pitt as they left the room and walked down the brightly lit hospital corridor to the elevator. "I'm so glad she is going to be all right."

When all she got from Pitt was a slight nod in reply, she looked into his green eyes. They had a faraway look, one she had seen on many occasions, usually when Pitt was struggling to track down a lost shipwreck or decipher the mystery of some ancient doc.u.ments.

"Where are you?" she finally prodded him.

"Lunch," he replied cryptically.

"Lunch? "

"What time do most people eat lunch?" he asked.

She looked at him oddly. "Eleven-thirty to one, I suppose, for whatever that is worth."

"I walked into the building just prior to the explosion. The time was ten-fifteen, and our friend Bob was already having lunch," he said with a skeptical tone. "And I'm pretty sure I saw him standing across the street looking like a spectator after the ambulance left with Lisa. He didn't seem to show much concern that his coworker might be dead."

"He was probably in a state of shock. You were probably in a state of shock, for that matter. And maybe he's one of those guys that goes to work at five in the morning, so he'd hungry for lunch by ten." She gave him a skeptical look. "You'll have to do better than that," she added, shaking her head.

"I suppose you are right," he said, grabbing her hand as they walked out of the hospital's front door. "Who am I to argue with a politician?"

17

ARTHUR JAMESON WAS TIDYING UP HIS MAHOGANY desk when an aide knocked on the open door and walked in. The s.p.a.cious but conservatively decorated office of the natural resources minister commanded an impressive view of Ottawa from its twenty-first-floor perch in the Sir William Logan Building, and the aide couldn't help but peek out the window as he approached the minister's desk. Seated in a high-back leather chair, Jameson peered from the aide to an antique grandfather clock that was ticking toward four o'clock. Hopes of escaping the bureaucracy early vanished with the aide's approaching footsteps.

"Yes, Steven," the minister said, welcoming the twenty-something aide who faintly resembled Jim Carrey. "What do you have to sour my weekend?"

"Don't worry, sir, no environmental disasters of note," the aide smiled. "Just a brief report from the Pacific Forestry Centre in British Columbia that I thought you should take a look at. One of our field ecologists has reported unusually high levels of acidity in the waters off Kitimat."

"Kitimat, you say?" the minister asked, suddenly stiffening.

"Yes. You were just there visiting a carbon waste facility, weren't you?"

Jameson nodded as he grabbed the file and quickly scanned the report. He visibly relaxed after studying a small map of the area. "The results were found some sixty miles from Kitimat, along the Inside Pa.s.sage. There are no industrial facilities anywhere near that area. It was probably an error in the sampling. You know how we get false reports all the time," he said with a rea.s.suring look. He calmly closed the file and slid it to the side of his desk without interest.

"Shouldn't we call the B.C. office and have them resample the water? "

Jameson exhaled slowly. "Yes, that would be the prudent thing to do," he said quietly. "Call them on Monday and request another test. No sense in getting excited unless they can duplicate the results."

The aide nodded in consent but stood rooted in front of the desk. Jameson gave him a fatherly look.

"Why don't you clear out of here, Steven? Go take that fiancee of yours out to dinner. I hear there's a great new bistro that just opened on the riverfront."

"You don't pay me enough to dine there," the aide grinned. "But I'll take you up on the early exit. Have a great weekend, sir, and I'll see you on Monday."

Jameson watched the aide leave his office and waited as the sound of his footsteps faded down the hallway. Then he grabbed the file and read through the report details. The acidity results didn't appear to have any correlation to Goyette's facility, but a feeling in Jameson's stomach told him otherwise. He was in too deep to get crossways with Goyette now, he thought, as the instinct for self-preservation took over. He picked up the telephone and quickly punched a number by memory, grinding his teeth in anxiety as the line rang three times. A woman's voice finally answered, her tone feminine but efficient.