“You think Oceanus could have arranged this whole thing?”

“Oh, I don't know, Kurt. They would have the resources, though. And, just maybe, the motive.”

“Where was their fish farm located?”

“Not far from here, near a place called Skaalshavn. Marcus planned to run the Sea Sentinel back and forth in front of the farm for the benefit of the cameras.” Therri glanced at her watch. “That reminds me... I should be going. I've got a lot of work to do.”

They shook hands, vowing to get together again. Therri made her way across the dining room and stopped briefly to throw him a coquettish glance over her shoulder. The gesture was probably meant to be reassuring, but it only made Austin sadder.

NUMA 4 - White Death

9

PROFESSOR JORGENSEN HAD politely watched for sev- eral minutes as Austin tried to navigate his way through the in- comprehensible courses listed on the menu, but finally he could bear it no longer. He leaned across the table and said, “If you'd like to try a Faroese specialty, I'd recommend the fried puffin or the pilot-whale steak.”

Austin pictured himself gnawing on a drumstick from one of the stubby little birds with the parrot beak and passed on the puffin. After hearing the bloody way in which pilot whales met their demise in the Faroes, he decided he would rather eat shark snout, but he set- tled for thes/yrpily'ot, well-aged mutton. After one bite, he wished he had gone for the puffin.

“How's your mutton?” Jorgensen said.

“Not quite as tough as shoe leather,” Austin replied, working his jaw.

94

CLIVE CUSSLER

“Oh my, I should have advised you to get the boiled mutton, as I did. They dry slerpifyot in the wind. It's usually prepared at Christ- mas and served the rest of the year. It's a bit over the hill, as they say.” He brightened at a new thought. “The life expectancy in the Faroes is quite high, so it must be good for you.”

Austin sawed off a small bite and managed to swallow it. Then he put his knife and fork down while he gave his jaw muscles a rest. “What brings you to the Faroes, Dr. Jorgensen? It can't be the food.”

The professor's eyes danced with amusement. "I've been looking into reports of diminishing fish stocks in the islands. It's a real mys- tery!

“In what way?”

“I thought at first that the cause of the vanishing fish might be pol- lution, but the waters are amazingly pure around the Faroes. I can only do so much testing on-site, so I'm heading back to Copenhagen tomorrow to run some water samples through the computer. There may be small traces of chemicals that might have a bearing on the problem.”

“Any theories as to the source of the chemicals?” “It's strange,” he said, tugging at one of his tufts of hair. "I'm sure