“It's only a replica. Don't worry about it.” Pitt checked the car for damage, and, seeing none, said, “Not everyone owns a car that was in the third battle of Bull Run.”

Austin's cell phone started playing the blues. He excused himself and put the phone up to his ear. Barrett was calling, and he sounded excited. There was a muffled engine roar in the background.

“I can barely hear you,” Austin said. “What's that noise?”

“I always think better when I'm riding. I think I've got it.”

“Got what?”

“The nursery rhyme. It was code. I've got the formula for the antidote.”

Austin couldn't believe his ears. “Say that again.”

“The antidote,” Barrett yelled, thinking Austin was simply not hearing over the noise of the motorcycle. “I've got Lazlo Kovacs's antidote for polar shift.”

NUMA 6 - Polar Shift

37

SHORTLY AFTER THE HOT Brazilian sun dropped below the mountains, the handsome, 350-foot-long expedition vessel Polar Adventure slipped out of Rio de Janeiro harbor and headed on a southerly course toward the open waters of the Atlantic at its cruising speed of fifteen knots.

The Polar Adventure had been built by Danish shipbuilders in the late 1990s, and had enjoyed a busy schedule that took it to the Mediterranean, Europe, Greenland and most recently on Antarctic cruises. The ship had been purchased from its owners by a straw company set up expressly for that purpose by Gant's foundation.

The acquisition was purely an accounting device. On the books, the millions of dollars spent to acquire and refurbish the ship had been earmarked to build a factory in Santiago, Chile. The Adventure had been designed as a smaller version of the great ocean liners. The builders had lavishly decorated the decks and cabins with varnished wood and brass. Passengers could enjoy their voyage from the comfort of the outside cabins, the window-lined dining room, lounge, observation and covered promenade decks, or from an observation platform below the bridge.

As the ship plowed through the South Atlantic, Gant and Margrave stood on a balcony deep in the heart of the vessel. It overlooked a vast open space. A tall, cone-shaped metal structure, supported by extensive framework, rose from the center point of the space. Thick cables snaked out from the cone to four massive dynamos, two on either side of the structure. A covered moon pool below the cone allowed it to be lowered into the ocean.

“We essentially gutted every nonessential space below the main deck to make room for this setup,” Margrave said with a sweep of his hand. “After our initial crude experiments, we decided that we didn't need four ships. One vessel, properly outfitted, could produce enough power to get the job done. We had been concentrating the low-frequency transmissions to a central point from the four ships.”