“Okay, so I understand your thinking that Argentina’s going to make a play for the peninsula; they’ve been rattling sabers over it for years, even before the current junta. But China? That caught the CIA, State Department, and the White House completely by surprise.”

“Here’s the thing. When I spoke to you last night, Max and I were with a woman named Tamara Wright—”

“The one they kidnapped?”

“You’ve read the police report?”

“Just bits and pieces. They’re taking it seriously, but there are no leads. The speedboat was discovered in Natchez, where a van was stolen from a plumber’s house. The APB is out, but so far no hits.”

“I figured it would be something like that. They’re smart. I bet that van will be found wherever they stole the cigarette boat. They’ll have their own set of wheels back and could be just about anywhere.”

“Agreed. China?” Overholt prompted.

“Dr. Wright told us about a Chinese expedition in the late 1400s that sent a fleet of three ships to South America.” Juan paused, expecting Overholt to question the validity of such a claim, but the wily case officer knew when to keep quiet. “One of the ships was afflicted by a disease that drove the crewmen insane. Sound familiar?”

“The guy at Wilson/George,” Langston breathed.

“They ate tainted food provided by island natives. I think it was human flesh, most likely brain, and they got a dose of prions. The ship was scuttled with the crew aboard, and the remaining two ships ventured northward and eventually back to China.

“Five hundred years later, along comes Andrew Gangle, who finds a mummy someplace near their base. It’s carrying gold and jade. Somehow, he gets infected, most likely he accidentally stabbed himself on a shard of bone. Now he’s got a prion disease rotting away his mind until he snaps and goes berserk.”

“That scuttled ship is off the coast of Antarctica? Dear God,” Overholt exclaimed as he made the intuitive leap that Cabrillo had had the night before. “If they can prove that Chinese explorers discovered Antarctica a couple hundred years before the first European, they . . .”

“Exactly,” Juan said. “They’ll lay claim over it, or at least the peninsula. But with Argentina already so well entrenched, the smart move for them is to partner up and share the spoils. I believe this has been in the works for some time, long before we got involved. I think the Argentines were courting the Chinese because they would need the protection of a superpower and the patronage of someone in the UN. It was the chance discovery of that blimp and the subsequent events, like getting their hands on tangible proof that the Chinese had visited South America, that cemented the deal.”

“Do the Argentines or Chinese know the location of the third ship?”