Krista hid a long sigh of relief, but she was also confused. “Second tier?”
“To begin cleaning house in preparation for the endgame.”
“Sir?”
“Echelon has met and reevaluated the coming scenarios. In the end, there seems little need for a continuing relationship with Viatus. We find Ivar Karlsen growing quickly into more of a liability. Especially after some strange events this past night at his research facility. His best use now is as a scapegoat, someone to draw fire away from us.”
Krista let her mind go cold, recalibrating her role.
The man continued. “We have all the pertinent research. What Ivar Karlsen has set in motion cannot be reversed and will serve us in the end, with or without him.”
“What am I to do?”
“You’ll accompany him to Svalbard as planned and await further orders. I understand he’s opted to leave earlier than expected.”
“Another storm is rolling in faster than predicted. He wants to make sure it doesn’t interrupt his plans.”
“Very wise. Because a storm is definitely brewing out there.” The man’s voice faded. “You have your orders.”
The line went dead.
Krista lowered the phone and clutched it between her palms. She shifted closer to the fire but found no warmth. She stood there unmoving, losing track of time. Her breathing grew harder.
Finally, a voice spoke behind her.
“Are you coming to bed, Krista?”
She glanced over her shoulder. Ivar Karlsen stood naked in the doorway to his bedroom. At his age, he remained solid, his belly flat, his legs strong and muscular. And more important, he needed no pill to perform.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“Couldn’t be better.”
She turned fully to face him. Dropping her phone into a pocket, she undid the sash of her robe and let the garment slither off her shoulders to pile atop the fur rug. She stood with her back to the flames, all too aware of the fire, all too aware of the icy chill of the castle room.
She stood where she belonged.
Between ice and fire.
THIRD
SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION
18
October 13, 8:43 A.M.
Airborne over the Norwegian Sea
The sun remained low in the sky as the private jet soared over the Arctic Circle. During the late autumn months, there was little daylight where they were headed. The archipelago of Svalbard lay halfway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. With over half of its land-mass buried under glaciers, it was home to little besides reindeer and polar bears.
Even Saint Nick would have a hard time calling this place home.
But for the moment, Painter enjoyed the leather and mahogany cabin of the private jet, a Citation Sovereign wangled by Kat. She also had their flight manifest altered to show that they were executives of a coal consortium. It was a decent cover. The major industry of the archipelago was coal mining.
The jet’s cabin sat seven, so there was plenty of room for the four of them to stretch out. They had all managed to get a little sleep, needing it after the long night, but they’d be landing in less than an hour at Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on the Svalbard islands.
Painter leaned back in his leather captain’s chair. He sat across a table from Senator Gorman. Monk and Creed shared a neighboring couch. It was time to lay all their respective cards on the table, to firm up the tentative game plan for the coming confrontation.
Painter knew they would have to move fast, to jump as soon as their tires hit the tarmac. They had fled Oslo knowing two things. First, that with Painter’s cover blown and the senator being hunted, the place had grown too hot. Second, that their major suspect had already abandoned the city and was headed to the same frozen islands. It was their best chance to corner Karlsen and get some real answers.
The CEO of Viatus was leading a group of summit leaders to view the famous Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It was the Noah’s Ark for seeds, meant to protect its precious cargo—over three hundred thousand seed species—against wars, pestilence, nuclear attack, earthquakes, even drastic climate changes. Designed to last for twenty thousand years, this Doomsday Vault was buried five hundred feet under a mountain, in what was considered to be the most remotely populated place on earth.
If they wanted a private conversation with Karlsen, far from prying eyes, this was the place for it. But such a meeting wasn’t without significant risk.
“Senator,” Painter pressed one last time, “I still think it might be best if you stayed in Longyearbyen. If we need you, we can pull you into the investigation.”
Painter continued to maintain the ruse that the three of them were from the office of the Inspector General, working for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. They even had the badges to prove it.
“I’m going with you,” Senator Gorman said, nursing a cup of coffee.
Painter had noted that he’d spiked it with some brandy from the stocked bar. Not that Painter blamed the guy. Gorman had taken a series of hard blows in the past few hours. He had been a close associate, bordering on friends, with Karlsen.
Gorman’s voice hardened. “If Ivar truly had a hand in the death of my son…”
“We still don’t know how much ties directly back to him,” Painter offered thinly.
The senator wasn’t buying it.
“He f**king shook my hand.” Gorman slammed a fist on the table, rattling the coffee cups and saucers. He glared across the table. Plainly the senator would not be swayed from coming. Painter could only imagine the pain of his loss, followed by such a betrayal, but at the moment Painter didn’t need someone flying off half-cocked.
Still, the man had one solid argument and stated it again. “You’ll need me to get close to Ivar.”
Painter folded his hands in his lap, recognizing the truth. Karlsen had left an hour before them, racing ahead of a storm blowing in from the pole. He would likely already be at the seed vault by the time they landed. And security there was tight, especially with the arriving dignitaries from the summit.
Senator Gorman continued. “To get inside, you’ll need both me and my ID pass. Even your badges won’t get you past security. With my invitation, I can get at least one of you into the vault.”
It had already been decided that Painter would be that one. Monk and Creed would maintain a defensive perimeter outside and offer backup.
Painter had also reviewed the security at the seed vault. The place was sealed behind steel-reinforced doors, monitored by a sophisticated video-surveillance system, not to mention patrolled by the couple of thousand polar bears that roamed the island. Additionally, for this event, a contingent of the Norwegian army would be on hand to bolster security.