Yaeger rubbed his temples for a moment before answering. Finally, he nodded. “You’re right, of course. They’re the best. If anyone can accomplish the impossible, it’s Pitt.”
“I’m delighted you agree,” Sandecker said gruffly. He looked at his watch again. “We’d better pay up and get rolling. I don’t want to keep Secretary General Kamil waiting. Not when I’m about to get down on my knees and beg like a lost soul.”
Hala Kamil, the Egyptian Secretary General of the United Nations, had the beauty and mystery of Nefertiti. Forty-seven years old, black eyes with a haunting quality, long ebony hair flowing slightly below her shoulders, delicate facial features enhanced by a flawless complexion, she kept her beauty and youthful look despite the heavy weight of her prestigious office. She was tall, and her shapely figure was apparent even under her conservative suit.
She rose and came from behind her desk as Sandecker and his friends were ushered into her office in the UN Headquarters Building. “Admiral Sandecker, how nice to see you again.”
“My pleasure, Madam Secretary.” Sandecker fairly beamed when in the presence of a beautiful woman. He returned her firm handshake and made a slight bow. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“You’re amazing, Admiral. You haven’t changed.”
“And you look even younger.”
She smiled a ravishing smile. “Compliments aside. We’ve both added a wrinkle or two. It has been a long time.”
“Almost five, years.” Then he turned and introduced Chapman and Yaeger.
Hala took little notice of Chapman’s size or Yaeger’s attire. She was too used to meeting multisized people from a hundred nations in a variety of dress. She held out a small hand in the direction of facing sofas. “Please be seated.”
“I’ll be brief,” Sandecker said without preamble. “I need your help in an urgent matter concerning an environmental disaster in the making that is threatening the very existence of the human race.”
Her dark eyes stared at him skeptically. “You’ve made a very weighty statement, Admiral. If this is another dire prediction of the greenhouse effect, I’ve become immune.”
“Something far worse,” Sandecker said seriously. “By the end of the year most of the world’s population will only be a memory.”
Hala looked at the faces of the men sitting across from her. Their faces were set and grim. She began to believe him. She didn’t exactly know why she believed him. But she knew Sandecker well enough to feel confident he was not a man given to fancy, nor would he run around claiming the sky was falling unless he had absolute, scientific proof.
“Please go on,” she said briefly.
Sandecker turned the meeting over to Chapman and Yaeger, who reported their findings on the mushrooming red tide. After about twenty minutes, Hala excused herself and pressed a button on a desk intercom. “Sarah, would you please call the ambassador of Peru and tell him an important matter has come up and ask him if it’s convenient for him to postpone our meeting until this time tomorrow.”