“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” Paul said, in his usual soft- spoken manner but with an unmistakable steeliness in his voice. “The folks out there are doing fine on their own.”

Throckmorton hesitated, then said to the crewman: “It's all right. I want to talk to the Trouts for a moment.”

After the others had shuffled back to their cabins, Throckmorton said, “Now if you wouldn't mind telling me, my friends, exactly what is going on?”

Gamay said to her husband, “I'll go get some coffee. It could be a long night.” Minutes later, she returned with three steaming mugs. “I found a bottle of whiskey and poured in a few shots,” she said. “I thought we might need it.”

Taking turns, they laid out their suspicions of the Oceanus plot, backing them up with evidence gleaned from several sources.

“These are grave charges,” Throckmorton said. “Do you have solid proof of this outrageous plan?”

“I'd say the proof is that thing in your lab cooler,” Gamay said. “Do you have any more questions?”

“Yes,” Throckmorton said after a moment. “Do you have any more whiskey?”

Gamay had thoughtfully stuck the pint in her pocket. After they refreshed his coffee and he had taken a sip, Throckmorton said, “Frederick's affiliations have always bothered me, but I had assumed, optimistically I suppose, that scientific reason would overrule his commercial interests in time.”

“Let me ask you a question about the premise we're operating under,” Gamay said. “Would it be possible to destroy the native fish populations and substitute these Frankenfish?”

“Entirely possible, and if anyone could do it, it would be Dr. Barker. This explains so much. It's still hard to believe Dr. Barker is with this bunch. But he has acted strangely.” He blinked like some- one coming out of a dream. “Those gunshots I heard. Someone tried to board our ship!”

“It would seem so,” Gamay said.

“Perhaps it would be better if we moved on and informed the au- thorities!”

“We don't know where that shore facility fits into the picture,” Gamay said, with a combination of feminine firmness and reassur- ance. “Kurt thinks it may be important and wants us to keep an eye on it until his mission is completed.”

“Isn't that dangerous to the people on board this ship?”

“Not necessarily,” Paul said. “Just as long as we keep watch. I'd suggest that you have the captain get the ship ready for a quick de- parture. But I doubt our friends will come back, now that we've spoiled the element of surprise.”

“All right,” Throckmorton said. He set his jaw in determination. “But is there anything else I can do?”

“Yes,” Paul said. He took the whiskey from Gamay and poured Throckmorton another shot to calm the professor's nerves. “You can wait.”

NUMA 4 - White Death

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