Sea of Fire

concept Darwin would never have imagined. A mixture of natural selection and mass extinction.

Footsteps echoed along an adjoining corridor. A few seconds later, Andrew stepped through the door connecting the mansion with the wing that housed Darling's collection of Ice Age fossils.

'Mr. Darling, Captain Kannaday is coming up the walk,' the executive secretary informed him.

'Bring him to the kitchen,' Darling said.

'Yes, sir,' Andrew replied.

There was no hesitation in Andrew's voice. If Darling had instructed his aide to escort Kannaday to his private observatory, to the garage, or to a guest-room closet, Andrew would have done so without question. Descended from people who lived here during the Ice Age, Andrew Juta Graham was one of the few people whom Darling trusted absolutely.

Darling followed his secretary into the hallway of the 30,000-square-foot estate. This was the east wing, which held the public area of Darling's home. The museum, the dining hall, the ballroom, the screening room, the gym, the indoor and outdoor swimming pools. He made his way through the dining area to the kitchen. He asked the cook and her assistant if they would mind waiting in their quarters for a few minutes. They left at once. Darling went to one of the three refrigerators and removed a large bottle of sparkling water. He leaned against a butcher- block counter and faced the picture window. He opened the water and took a swallow as he stared off at rolling grounds. He wondered suddenly if the dinosaurs ever drank from sparkling springs. They probably did. And did they notice a difference?

Of course, he decided. But it would not have meant anything to them. They did not have the brainpower to look past the initial stimulation. In that respect the dinosaurs were like the terrorists Darling was dealing with now. Locked into narrow patterns of information processing. Impulsive instead of reflective. What made them dangerous also made them easy to manipulate.

A door opened behind him. It was the door that led from the rear of the estate through the servants' quarters. Darling set the water on the countertop and turned. His back was to the window as Andrew left and Kannaday made his way through the appliances. Spotlights from an outdoor patio shone outside the window. Crisp white light washed over the skipper. He was dressed in a black pull-over and khakis. Even though Kannaday walked briskly, with his shoulders pulled back, he looked tired. He extended his big right hand. Darling shook the hand and held it.

'Your palm feels warm,' Darling said.

'I was on deck, in the sun, Mr. Darling,' Kannaday said.

'Palms up?'

'I'm like a solar battery, sir,' Kannaday said. 'Sunlight hits a spot and shuttles all around me.'

'Ah. Would you like a cold beverage?' Darling asked.

'Thank you, no,' Kannaday replied.

Darling released Kannaday's hand slowly. 'Wine,' he said.

'No, thank you.'

'I wasn't offering,' Darling said, laughing. 'I was just wondering if grapes ever fermented in prehistory.'

'I would imagine they did,' Kannaday said. He seemed stung by having rejected an offer that had not been made.

'Quite right,' Darling said. 'The liquid may have collected in a pool. A dinosaur might have lapped at it. Perhaps he even became a little inebriated. Quite a thought, wouldn't you say?'

'It is,' Kannaday replied.

'I wonder what a prehistoric vintage would demand in the Mahogany Auction Room,' Darling said. 'An unthinkable sum, I would imagine. Can't you just picture it? Scientists bidding against connoisseurs to buy a mud- crusted and fossilized puddle.'

Darling chuckled at the thought. Kannaday smiled uncomfortably. The man has no imagination, Darling thought. Then again, he was at something of a disadvantage here. Because Darling was silhouetted by the patio lights, Kannaday could not see him clearly. He could not tell from Darling's expression whether he was joking or being serious. That was how Darling wanted it. He wanted his guest off balance and open. Vulnerable.

Darling crossed his arms and regarded the captain. 'I understand that replacement gear is being sent over to the yacht.'

'Yes, sir.'

'I want you back at sea as soon as possible.'

'Of course,' Kannaday said.

'Before you go, though, I'd like an explanation,' Darling said.

'First, I promise that nothing like this will happen again,' Kannaday said. 'We should have foreseen it. Your security chief agrees.'

'Hawke agrees?'

'Absolutely,' Kannaday said.

'And how will you guard against future attacks?' Darling demanded. His mood soured quickly. 'A sampan full of sea rats drew close enough to put a hole in the side of your vessel! How did that happen?'

'Sir, the men in the sampan did not cause the explosion,' Kannaday said. 'We did.'

'How?'

'By accident. We hit the pirates hard, fast, and decisively,' Kannaday told him. 'The attack triggered explosives that were on board the other vessel.'

'Why did you let them get so close?' Darling asked. 'You have a good radar system on board.'

'The sampan did not create a blip that was distinguishable from porpoises or flotsam,' Kannaday said. 'We failed to identify it until the security camera picked it up. By then it was nearly upon us. At that point we decided not to strike until we were certain that we were facing an enemy,' Kannaday replied.

'Why?' Darling asked.

The question seemed to surprise Captain Kannaday. 'Sir, are you suggesting we should have attacked what may have been an innocent vessel?'

'Preemptive strikes reduce risk,' Darling told him.

'I would have thought that a stealthy passage was more important,' Kannaday replied.

'The best way to assure a low profile is to eliminate potential witnesses,' Darling pointed out. 'Now, you say Mr. Hawke agrees that adequate security precautions were in place?'

'He does,' Kannaday said.

'Or am I hearing a case of 'You watch my back, I'll watch yours'?' Darling said.

'Excuse me?' Kannaday asked.

'I don't know Mr. Hawke very well,' Darling said. 'I doubt anyone does. A good security chief does not share his thoughts. But I cannot believe Hawke would agree that a disastrous operation was, in fact, a competent one. It is an indefensible position.'

'Sir, forgive me for repeating myself, but what happened was unforeseeable,' Kannaday insisted.

'And I say that what happened was preventable!' Darling yelled.

Kannaday said nothing.

'As for Mr. Hawke, you would not misrepresent what he said. That would be easy to check. So we have a contradiction.'

'Mr. Darling, you've lost me,' the captain said helplessly.

'Hawke has apparently agreed to back your explanation, that this was a freak occurrence,' Darling said. 'Why?'

'Because it was.'

'Do you like Mr. Hawke?' Darling asked.

'No, sir. I don't.'

'You do not like him, you did not hire him,' Darling said. 'This was your chance to blame him and get rid of him. Why hasn't that happened?'

Darling watched Kannaday's face. The blanket glow of the spotlight left nothing in shadow. The captain did not break eye contact or move his mouth. It was unnatural.

Kannaday was concealing something.