Arctic Fire

by Paul Byers

  Chapter Nineteen

  Pike arrived at Mallory’s office the next morning at 9:00 am sharp. He was greeted by Mallory who took him into a side conference room where he was met with four stacks of papers on the table that were large enough to be icebergs themselves.

  “What’s all this?” Pike asked.

  “I knew you would want to do a thorough job so here are all the files we were talking about last night. I’ll have some coffee and pastries brought in, in a little while.”

  “I did ask for this didn’t I?”

  “Yup.” Mallory replied then closed the door behind her.

  At 12:30, the door to the conference room opened and a blurry-eyed Pike stepped out.

  “Well, look what the cat dragged in.” Mallory joked as she was putting a file away in the cabinet.

  “Remind me next time to just take your word for it that everything is in order.” Pike said as he stretched. He threw his head side to side and rubbed the back of his neck. “One question-does Cain even know this thing exists?”

  Mallory looked at him funny. “What do you mean?”

  “You signed literally every piece of paper that had anything to do with this project. I found Cain’s signature on only one piece of paper, the one authorizing you to oversee the construction of this place. Heck, you could have bought a villa in the south of France and Cain wouldn’t have known. He must really trust you.”

  “Thank you, and he does. I’ve worked for Nigel for a long time but don’t let that fool you. Even though you don’t see Nigel’s signature anywhere, you can bet he knew what was going on. And besides, I prefer the Australian outback to the French coast.”

  Pike tipped his head in thought and nodded slightly. “Yeah, you know what? I think I can see that. Anyway, I’m going to go to the diner and grab some lunch then go on deck to clear my head, do you wanna come?”

  Mallory shook her head. “No, but thank you. I have a meeting with Nigel in half an hour concerning our conversation last night.”

  Pike lowered his head a bit, as if embarrassed. “I really appreciate it. I know it may seem childish and petty but the man irks me.”

  Mallory grew a big smile. “You are the great righter of wrongs.” Mallory teased. “After I briefly ran your idea by Nigel, he instantly fell in love with it. We reviewed all the tapes we could find and we saw you were right. You know Nigel, he sees this as one of his cause and effects things he’s so fond of. But remember, you have your part to do too. Be in Nigel’s office at 3:00 this afternoon.”

  “You can count on it. Thanks again.” Pike said as he left her office.

  “This is Tabatha Amies reporting to you live from the Cain iceberg. Some call this floating deep freeze a modern miracle and hail it as an instrument that will save thousands of lives. Others call it a colossal waste of time and money, just another publicity stunt by a bored billionaire.” The scene changed from the close up of the reporter to an outside view of the iceberg.

  “This reporter has been granted an exclusive first time look into the bowels of this frozen beast. Later in the program I will have an exclusive interview with the visionary billionaire himself, Nigel Cain and a rare chat with the man who has jumped to the forefront of the national media attention with his crime stopping prowess, Gabriel Pike, better known to millions as The Blast from the Past.”

  The view changed again to a stock shot of Cain in a business suit flashing to Pike standing in front of the Yankee Clipper.

  “We’ll begin tonight’s segment with a press conference that took place earlier today on board Nigel Cain’s iceberg.” The image again changed to a view of a conference room crowded with reporters with Cain standing in the front behind a podium.

  “Okay, here it comes.” Mallory said, almost giggling like a teenager.

  Cain, Mallory and Pike were in Cain’s office sitting in front of the billionaire’s 52 inch LCD big screen. Mallory was still in her business suit from the press conference but Cain had changed into a Catalyst T-shirt, a pair of faded Levi’s and Converse tennis shoes. Pike was wearing his khaki pants and leather jacket from his interview. Mallory handed each of them a bowl of popcorn then she sat down at the end of the couch.

  They were watching the special news report that had been recorded earlier that day. The screen went from the close up shot of the woman reporter to Cain standing at the podium in the room where Pike had spent the morning sifting through papers. Cain fielded several questions with the camera panning back and forth between Cain and the reporters asking the questions.

  “It’s right after this question.” Mallory said with glee, tossing popcorn into her mouth. The camera went from Cain to a reporter sitting in the back row with his hand raised. When Cain called his name, the man stood slowly. Just as he did, a waiter walked by with a large silver platter containing wineglasses. The reporter’s head hit the platter and the whole thing came tumbling down with a loud crash.

  The camera zoomed in on the reporter who had a swirling combination of horror, anger, surprise and embarrassment etched on his face. At first, he stood there frozen with indecision, not knowing whether to ignore the disaster and continue on with his question or to simply get out of Dodge. The decision was made for him as Cain called out his name again. The reporter whirled back around and faced the podium. Putting on his best, the show must go on face, he salvaged what dignity he had left then asked his question.

  Pike burst out in laughter as did Mallory and Cain. “I’m sorry.” Pike said, “That wasn’t very nice but it sure was funny. That looked like a Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd scene from Saturday Night Live.”

  “Oh it gets better.” Cain replied. “Elizabeth, can you get me something to drink please?”

  “Sure thing.” Malory reached over and took the lid off the champagne cooler, but instead of a chilled bottle of expensive champagne, she pulled out a can of beer and tossed it to her boss. Pike just looked at Cain for a moment and thought how odd it seemed to see one of the richest men in the world in jeans and a T-shirt, looking like an everyday Joe drinking a beer.

  The press conference continued as several more reporters asked questions. The same reporter in the back raised his hand again and Cain called on him. This time the man cautiously looked around before he stood. Satisfied he wasn’t going to be ambushed; he stood and asked his question.

  As he sat back down, the same waiter came walking behind him with a towel folded over his arm. Just as the reporter sat down, his head hit the waiter’s arm. The downward motion caught his hair on the towel. The man sat down, but his hair, his toupee, stayed on the waiter’s towel; for a moment it looked like the waiter was carrying a small cat.

  The cameraman filming the news conference was the first to pick up on the bizarre accident and immediately zoomed in on the man’s bald head. Suddenly the room erupted in laughter again. This time there was no saving face as Toupee Man shot out of his seat, grabbed his hair and stormed out of the room.

  “I don’t know what to say.” Pike managed to get out between bursts of laughter. He looked over and his companions were laughing hard as well.

  “That was classic.” Mallory said. She snorted when she said it, froze in embarrassment as she looked at Cain and Pike, then all three laughed even harder. Pike had been laughing so hard his side was beginning to hurt. Finally the laughter subsided As Mallory wiped tears from her eyes.

  “Thanks Nigel.” Pike said. “That was worth every minute of enduring my hardship as the Blast from the Past just to see that. I know it’s mean of me but I hope everyone in America will see that.”

  “Don’t worry, they will.” Mallory said. “I up loaded it to YouTube and it’s already gone viral.”

  “I’d like to shake that waiters hand if I could.” Pike said.

  Cain clicked the remote and turned off the TV. “Well you’d better hurry. Your Toupee Man, as you like to call him, demanded from his network that the man be fired for embarrassing him like that.”

  Suddenly the smile ran a
way from Pike’s face and he felt his stomach twist. “No. Please don’t tell me you fired him because of what I wanted?”

  “I had to fire him to avert any suspicion from the network, but don’t worry. He’ll take a little vacation, paid of course, then go to work in one of my California spas.”

  Pike let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know.”

  Mallory stood up and headed for the door. “I’ve got a couple of things to take care of then I’m going to give Tom a call.”

  “Thank you, Elizabeth.” Cain said. “I’ll see you in the morning, and give Tom my best.”

  “Thanks. Good night.”

  “If you will excuse me too, Mr. Cain, I need to finish up my reports from this morning. Tomorrow I’ll start my hands-on inspection.” Pike got up and had reached the door when Cain called him.

  “Thank you, Gabriel.”

  “Sir?”

  “Sometimes I forget.”

  “Forget what?”

  “To have fun in life. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

  “You’re welcome,” Pike said nodding his head. “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Pike dotted the last “i” and crossed the last “t” then clicked the save button and pushed away from the desk, his report done. He yawned then stood and stretched and looked at his watch. He was tired but at 8:30, it was still too early for bed. He decided to take a walk and go up to the observation deck, take in the view, then come back and do a little conspiracy surfing.

  The observation deck was a bubble sitting on top of the casino affording a 360-degree view of the floating palace. When he got there, he found the observation deck deserted except for one couple who were more interested in the view on the inside rather than the outside. As soon as they saw Pike, they acted like a couple of teenagers getting caught in the back seat of their father’s car at make-out point. They straightened up their clothing and headed for the door, saying goodnight in passing, never looking him in the eye. He laughed to himself as they left; they were both in their forties.

  Alone now, Pike watched as the sun hesitated on the horizon for a moment, then slowly began to sink. It cast out great rays of light, reflecting off the water as if trying to hold itself up, but the ocean would not be denied as it pulled the sun farther and farther into its depths. The last rays of light lashed out, hitting the iceberg and setting it ablaze in an orange hue as if lighting a signal fire so it could find its way back in the morning. The remaining flickers of light vanished as a dark, heavy night sky pushed the reluctant sun below the horizon.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

  Surprised, Pike turned around.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” The woman had shoulder-length blonde hair and was wearing a navy blue pantsuit that was business like yet very stylish.

  “Hi, Ms. Amies, I didn’t know anyone else was up here and yes it is.” He turned back around as the last rays vanished. “I don’t think I have ever watched a sunset from sea before.”

  “I have a couple of times, and it never gets old. The last time was from the deck of a navy frigate, I was doing a story on modern pirates. Trust me, the view this time is much more pleasant.”

  “You must lead an exciting life going all over the world on assignments.”

  “Trust me, it’s not all glitz and glamour. It’s a lot of hard work and the competition is ruthless out there. You have your major networks, local people, and anyone and everyone with a cell phone camera all scrambling to get the story. But when a gig like this one comes along, it makes it all worthwhile.”

  “Yeah, I bet the food on this trip is a little bit better than navy chow.”

  She smiled, “I just wanted to say thank you for what you did today but that it wasn’t necessary.’

  “All I did was give you an interview, nothing special about that.”

  She frowned at him. “I’m a reporter; it’s my job to know things.”

  “Know things? Like what?” Pike asked, starting to feel like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar and hearing mom’s footsteps.

  “Things like it was you who arranged for me to have the exclusive interview with Mr. Cain and the first look inside this giant ice cube. And things like it was your idea to get back at the Toupee Man, as you call him, for the things he did to me. Thank you for the interview but I can take care of myself and this in no way will get you any special privileges with me or a break on the way I cover the story, good or bad.”

  Pike was red-faced at being caught red-handed, embarrassed that the cat was now out of the bag. But there was something about her last statement that didn’t sound right and then he realized what it was.

  “Listen Ms. Amies, I think there has been a misunderstanding here. None of this was set up to curry your favor, personal or professional. Call me a chauvinist pig, but I didn’t do this for you or to get to you. I asked Mr. Cain to arrange something that would put Toupee Man in his place so to speak. I was tired of seeing him do whatever he wanted.”

  “Chauvinist pig?” She said, a small smile curving her lips.

  “Sorry, a dated term. You probably don’t know what it means.”

  “You’re not that old and I’m not that young. I know what it means.”

  “I’m not doing too well here am I?”

  “It depends.”

  “I’m not trying to impress you so you’ll feel obligated to me in anyway; I just hate pushy people who think they are better than everyone else, that’s all.” Pike paused and took a deep breath. “Can we move on to something else now…please?”

  Amies stood and sized Pike up for a moment, deciding if he was telling the truth or just another really good liar. “I’m sorry, Mr. Pike. It’s just that in my business, I hear every line there is. Everybody is always trying to get something, trying to get an angle. It’s hard to take what someone says at face value.”

  “You’re so young to be so jaded…wait, I forgot, you’re not that young.”

  She smiled. “Okay, I deserve that one. So tell me, Mr. Pike, are you always in the habit of rescuing young damsels in distress?”

  “Only if there are dragons to be slain.” They both laughed.

  “Well, Mr. Pike.”

  “Gabriel, please.”

  “Tabatha. Well, Gabriel, like I said, life as a correspondent is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Like when you have a morning show to do, 3:00 am comes far too early. Perhaps we can have dinner sometime if you can find the time between slaying dragons.”

  “I have an ogre scheduled in the morning and a small Cyclops late afternoon, so I can’t make any promises, but I think we can definitely work something out. Until then, fair maiden.” Pike reached down and kissed her hand then bowed low with a sweeping motion.

  Tabatha curtsied, nodded in approval, then left. Pike watched her as she disappeared down the stairs. This could turn out to be an interesting trip after all. When this whole thing started with Toupee Man he had no idea it would lead to a date with a TV personality. He smiled to himself as he returned to his room. He wondered if this was one of Cain’s Butterfly Effects.

  Chapter Twenty One

  “Good morning Dean,” Pike said as he stepped into the office in the Hoth cave.

  “Good morning Gabe. What can I do for you today?” Dean Miles replied with a smile.

  “I went over all the plans and the ordering manifests, so with the paperwork out of the way I thought I’d start with the physical inspection.”

  Miles nodded. “Sounds good. Where would you like to start?”

  Pike unslung the map tube that hung on his shoulder like a quiver and drew out a

  large schematic like an arrow and unrolled it on the work table. “I have to check from stem to stern so I thought I’d work on the outlying access and service tunnels first then work my way in.”

  “Mr. Cain is sure going to get his money’s worth out of you.” Miles said smiling as he walked over to his desk. He opened the top drawer
and pulled out an electronic notebook. “Here, take this,” Miles said as he handed it to him.

  Pike’s eyes lit up like a Broadway marquee when he saw it. “This is cool. It looks kind of like an iPad only a little different and a bit bigger. How’s that for a technical description from an engineer?”

  Miles laughed. “It’s a prototype, not yet released to the public. There are advantages to having the richest man in the world as your boss. It’s got more apps than Carter has pills. Here, let me show you.” Miles took it back and walked Pike through the simple set up routine. “And this is how you access the plans to the barge.”

  He tapped a few more icons and the plans for the iceberg came up. The first screen showed a two dimensional view of the plans like one would see looking down on a piece of paper. “Watch this,” Miles said, “this is really cool.” He tapped another icon and the screen switched to a three-dimensional side view. Pike’s smile grew even bigger.

  “And check this out.” Miles tapped again and a small green dot appeared on the screen. “Your own personal GPS guide of the barge showing your exact location at any given time. And watch this.” Miles typed in the word ENGINE ROOM ONE. As soon as he touched the enter key, a flashing red line appeared, emanating from the green dot, blinking through the different levels to show the most direct route.”

  “I gotta get me one of these things.” Pike beamed.

  “So I guess you don’t want to take your paper maps with you then?”

  Pike just frowned at him.

  “I didn’t think so,” Miles said as he went back to his desk and picked up the phone. “Brian, would you come in here please?” Miles hung up then took a cell phone out of his desk drawer. “These are walkie-talkie phones.” He said as he handed one to Pike. Keep it with you at all times when you’re below decks. I usually have the guys turn them in at the end of their shifts but I don’t see you as a nine-to-five guy, so just keep it.”

  Just then the door opened and a young man about twenty-two walked in. He had short curly blonde hair and bright, blue eyes that seemed to have a little apprehension in them. Pike thought he had the look of a kid being hauled into the principal’s office.