Arctic Drift Part 44

"What about these Athabasca escort ships?" Pitt asked.

"By Canadian law, all commercial traffic through ice-clogged sections of the Northwest Pa.s.sage requires an icebreaker escort," Stenseth said. "A private firm, Athabasca Shipping, handles the escort duty. They operate a number of large icebreaker tugs, which are also used to haul their fleet of oceangoing barges. We saw one towing a string of enormous liquid-natural-gas barges pa.s.sing through the Bering Strait a few weeks ago."

Pitt's eyes lit up. He opened a briefcase and pulled out a photograph of a ma.s.sive barge under construction in New Orleans. He handed the picture to Stenseth.

"Any resemblance to this one?" Pitt asked.

Stenseth looked at the photo and nodded. "Yes, it's positively the same type. You don't see barges of that size very often. What's the significance?"

Pitt briefed the men on his hunt for the ruthenium, its trail to the Arctic, and Mitch.e.l.l Goyette's possible involvement. He checked some additional papers that Yaeger had provided, which confirmed that the Athabasca Shipping Company was owned by one of Goyette's holding companies.

"If Goyette is shipping gas and oil from the Arctic, his environmental posturing is certainly fraudulent," Giordino noted.

"A dockworker I met at a bar told me someone was shipping the Chinese ma.s.sive quant.i.ties of oil sands, or bitumen, out of Kugluktuk," Dahlgren said. "He said they were bypa.s.sing the government's shutdown of refineries in Alberta due to greenhouse gas emissions."

"A good bet it's on Goyette's barges," Pitt said. "Maybe it's even his oil sands."

"It would seem that this Goyette might have a powerful incentive to obtain the ruthenium source," Stenseth said. "How do you propose beating him to it?"

"By finding a one-hundred-and-eighty-five-year-old ship," Pitt replied. He then shared Perlmutter's findings and the clues linking the mineral to Franklin's expedition ship Erebus.

"We know the ships were initially abandoned northwest of King William Island. The Inuit account places the Erebus farther south, so it is possible that a shifting ice sheet drove the ships in that direction before they sank."

Stenseth excused himself to run to the bridge, while Dahlgren asked Pitt what he hoped to find.

"Providing that the ice didn't completely crush the ships, there's a good chance the vessels are intact and in an excellent state of preservation due to the frigid water."

Stenseth returned to the lounge with an armful of maps and photographs. He opened a nautical chart that showed the area around King William Island, then produced a high-alt.i.tude photo of the same region.

"Satellite photo of Victoria Strait. We've got updates for the entire pa.s.sage. Some areas north of here are still encased in sea ice, but the waters around King William have already broken up due to an early melt off this year." He laid the photograph on the table for all to see. "The seas are essentially clear in the area where Franklin became icebound one hundred and sixty-five years ago. A bit of drift ice still remains, but nothing that should impede a search effort."

While Pitt nodded with satisfaction, Dahlgren was shaking his head.

"Aren't we forgetting one mighty important tidbit? " he asked. "The Canadians have expelled us from their waters. The only reason we have been able to remain in Tuktoyaktuk so long is because we feigned problems with our rudder."

"With your arrival, those problems have now been rectified," Stenseth said to Pitt with a wily smile.

Pitt turned to Giordino. "Al, I believe you were tasked with proposing a strategy to address Jack's concern."

"Well, as Jack can attest, we have taken the opportunity to befriend the small Canadian Coast Guard contingent stationed here in Tuk," Giordino said, using the local's abbreviation for the town's Inuit name. "And while this has personally cost me a number of high bar tabs, in addition to a hangover or two for Jack, I believe I have made commendable progress."

He opened one of the captain's charts that showed the western portion of the pa.s.sage, then searched the coastline with his finger.

"Cape Bathurst, here, is about two hundred miles to the east of us. The Canadians have a radar station on the point, which they use to pick up all eastbound traffic through the pa.s.sage. They can radio ahead to Kugluktuk, where a pair of vessels are stationed, or call back here to Tuk, where a small cutter is berthed. Fortunately for us, the Canadians have posted most of their intercept vessels on the other end of the pa.s.sage, snaring the bulk of the traffic entering via Baffin Bay."

"Last time I checked, we didn't have stealth capabilities on our research ships," Pitt said.

"We don't necessarily need it," Giordino continued. "As luck would have it, there's a Korean freighter here in port that struggled in with engine problems. The harbormaster told me the repairs have been completed and that they'll be departing later today. The ship is only going as far as Kugluktuk with a load of oil drilling repair parts, so it'll be sailing without an icebreaker escort."

"You're suggesting that we shadow her?" Pitt asked.

"Precisely. If we can hold tight to her port flank while we pa.s.s Bathurst, they might not pick us up."

"What about the Canadian picket vessels?" Dahlgren asked.

"The Tuk cutter just came into port this morning, so she likely won't put to sea again right away," Giordino said. "That leaves the two vessels in Kugluktuk. I'd bet one of them is probably hanging around the Polar Dawn, which was taken there. So that likely leaves just one vessel that we'd have to slide past."

"I'd say those are odds worth taking," Pitt stated.

"What about air surveillance? Can't we count on the Canadian Air Force to do an occasional flyby?" Dahlgren asked.

Stenseth pulled out another sheet from his pile. "Mother Nature will lend us a hand there. The weather forecast for the next week is pretty dismal. If we set sail today, we'll probably accompany a slow-moving low-pressure front that's forecast to roll through the archipelago."

"Stormy weather," Giordino said. "We'll know why there's no plane up in the sky."

Pitt looked around the table, eyeing the others with confidence. They were men of unquestioned loyalty that he could trust in difficult times.

"It's settled, then," he said. "We'll give the freighter a couple of hours head start, then shove off ourselves. Make it look like we are headed back to Alaska. Once safely offsh.o.r.e, we'll circle back and catch the freighter well before Bathurst."

"Won't be a problem," Stenseth said. "We've got at least eight or ten knots on her."

"One more thing," Pitt said. "Until the politicians resolve the Polar Dawn situation, we are on our own. And there's a reasonable chance we could end up with the same fate. I want only a skeleton crew of volunteers aboard. Every scientist and nonessential crew member is to disembark here as quietly as possible. Do what you can to book them rooms and flights out of here. If anyone asks, tell them they are oil company employees who have been rea.s.signed."

"It will be taken care of," Stenseth promised.

Pitt set down his coffee and stared across the table with sudden unease. A painting hung on the opposite bulkhead, depicting a nineteenth-century sailing ship caught in a harrowing gale, its sails shredded and masts falling. A jagged cl.u.s.ter of rocks rose in its path, ready to bash the ship to bits.

Stormy weather indeed, he thought.

51

A THICK PLUME OF BLACK SMOKE SIFTED OUT THE funnel of the freighter as its lines were cast and the blue-hulled ship churned slowly away from the dock. Standing on the Narwhal 's bridge, Bill Stenseth watched as the Korean ship steamed out of Tuktoyaktuk's small harbor and entered the Beaufort Sea. Picking up a shipboard phone, Stenseth dialed the number to a cabin belowdecks.

"Pitt here," came the response after a single ring.

"The Korean freighter is on her way."

"What's our crew status?"

"All nonessential personnel are off the ship. I think we filled up every hotel in town. Of course, there are only two hotels in town. Flights to Whitehorse have been arranged for everyone. They'll have an easy time getting to Alaska from there, or even Vancouver. We're left with a total of fourteen men aboard."

"That's a slim contingent. When can we leave?"

"I was preparing to cast off in another two hours so as not to raise suspicion."