About two thousand feet below the sea bottom, they had been told to seek out a huge liquid bed the size of Lake Baikal. And now, the specialised ship was already penetrating the sea floor, its tungsten-tipped drill pushing through the hundreds of feet of ancient mud that had been laid down many millions of years before, and then on into the super-hard matrix that lay below it.

Blowout collars and numerous seals protected the drill shaft, as the liquid they expected to encounter would be under extreme pressure, and the risk of leakage was high. So far, the presence of the Viktor Dubynin raised no eyebrows, even so close to the Baker-Shevardnadze Line, as these roving ships either explored, sampled, or drilled on the shelf of their own continent every month of the year.

Gorkin pulled open the door, entering the warmth of the cabin. The subterranean liquid bed would soon be breached. The drill ship’s crew of fifty men and women were confident they would be ready to accept the object within the next few days – provided it was in the right place. The entire operation would eventually cost many, many millions, but the promised bonuses would be huge.

Gorkin smiled; everything was going to plan, and the only thing left to consider was how to spend his money.

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

Baranof Island, Granger Base Camp

Cate finally felt that her ass was coming back into shape after several hours on the unforgiving seat of the helicopter. She stretched her back again and looked out over the swarms of people, tents, and furiously-working machinery. It was hard to believe this was the site of the conversation they’d had with Freddie only a few months back. Now it more resembled a circus, complete with its own big-top – a gigantic, hundred foot tent-like structure erected over the hole that was being cut, drilled, and excavated down to the huge cavern she knew existed below them.

Getting approval to excavate, let alone be here, was something Cate hadn’t even thought about. And when she did, she assumed it would be impossible to achieve. But Valery Mironov had contacts, and his assistant, Sonya Borashev, had the ideas. It turned out that getting an exploration license for geothermals was relatively easy – you tell the Alaskan government you’re looking for oil, they’ll tell you to go to hell. You tell them you’re looking for a cheap, renewable energy resource, and they’ll invite you to dinner.

She smiled as she watched the workers move about quickly and efficiently, all in bright red high-visibility coveralls, looking like some sort of gigantic swarm of army ants crawling over their nest.

Cate was the last of the team in. Valery Mironov, his specialist, Sonya, Greg and Abby, plus the two submersible engineers were already onsite… somewhere.