One corner of Vincent’s mouth hiked up. “No, but enviro-activists do. The whalers these days tend to have extra armor plating at the bow, and shielding over the prop-shafts to cut through cables dropped by protestors.” He tapped the iron of the wheel mounting. “These babies are the Mack trucks of the seas. Frankly, if you have to be on the water with a giant shark, then this thing is probably the safest place to be. Long as it comes to the surface, we have a chance.”

Sonya grunted her agreement. “It will come.” She turned to Regina. “And that magnificent odor you can smell is a twenty-foot minke whale carcass ripening down in the hold. Once we get into the waters we want, we’ll drop and drag it.”

Mironov raised an eyebrow. “What shark can resist a dead whale, hmm?”

Regina’s brow furrowed. “Is that legal?”

“I doubt it.” The Russian billionaire turned away.

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 36

Annabel Van Horten bounced into the control room, computer table held aloft. “Oh my god. This is so unbelievable.” She slapped the tablet down, and used thumb and forefinger to enlarge the image. “Look, there’s a Russian whaler, the Slava, heading into our waters. It’s now just two hundred miles to our north.”

Captain Olander Blomgren’s brows went up, and he looked down over Annabel’s shoulder. Other young crewmembers crowded around, all wearing the matching red hooded jackets with the Earthpeace muscled penguin logo on its breast.

“What the hell is a fucking Russian whaler doing this far south, man?” A young man, barely old enough to shave, shouted while looking agitated.

Olander patted his shoulder. “Easy there, Nathanial. Maybe they’re illegally tracking a pod. These guys have a habit of not following anyone’s rules but their own. I think I know the Slava; it’s responsible for the murder of nearly a thousand cetacean beings. These guys are criminals, and now they’re trying to sneak into our jurisdiction.”

Olander stroked a perfectly manicured white beard, and turned away for a moment. From the bridge window the azure blue ocean stretched before him. On the foredeck a few of his crew sunbathed. They’d just come from the coast of Mexico and were heading back to Californian waters to engage net fishers who were competing with the native seal colonies for food. The Slava’s intrusion might be a useful diversion, and very newsworthy.