“I'll instruct my receptionist to send your person right in,” the president said. He turned to Sparkman. “You're the mining man, Sid. You know anything about this methane hydrate?”

Sparkman, who had been quiet throughout the presentation looked as if he were having acid indigestion. “Yes, Mr. President. It's basically frozen natural gas. Some people call it fire ice.”

“Let's get back to specifics, Dr. Jenkins. What could we expect off the U.S. coast?”

Jenkins looked preoccupied, as if another thought had occurred to him. “Damage depends on the shallowness of water near shore, the shape of the bay, whether there is a river where the wave concentrates its energy.” He took a deep breath. “It's possible that a wave might reach a height of one hundred feet after it hits the shore.”

The president looked shocked. “That could cause unimaginable damage.”

“Unfortunately, there are worse things than tsunamis,” Jenkins said quietly.

“What could be worse than a giant wave hitting a metropolitan area?” the president said.

Jenkins took another deep breath. “Mr. President... a massive release of methane could trigger large-scale global warming.”

“What? How could that happen? I thought it was just man-made causes we had to worry about.”

“That, too, but - look, let me give you an example. Back in the eleventh century, there was a huge 'burp' of methane that released a giant amount of methane into the atmosphere and started a worldwide warming trend. The tropics advanced as far north as England and the sea may have extended as far as Arizona.”

The room was silent.

“Razov must know about the possibility,” Sparkman said, at last. “Why would he do such a thing?”

Reed offered an explanation. “The Russians have always wanted to warm the northern wastes of their country. It's an incredibly rich, but very harsh land. There was serious talk at one time of warming the waters off the Arctic with atomic energy to accomplish the goal. A temperate climate would allow vast development and settlement. At the same time, some people speculate that global warning would turn America's interior into a dust bowl.”

“My advisors have filled me in on global warming,” the president said. “It's a very complex process, as I understand it. There's no guarantee it would turn out the way Razov wants it to.”

“Apparently, Razov is willing to take that chance,” Reed said.

“Good God!” the president said. “That would be a disaster of unimaginable proportions.”

“It would be worse than that,” Sandecker observed. “With his huge methane hydrate mining ships and a weakened U.S., Razov would be in a position to control the world's future energy supply. He could be the closest thing to a global dictator we've ever seen.”

“This man must be stopped,” the president said.

“A squadron of fighter planes would make short work of Mr. Razov,” the vice president said.