Ice Station - Matthew Reilly [17]
‘Example?’ Munro said.
‘Did you know that it was France who was the driving force behind the establishment of the European Union?’
‘Well, no. I thought it was –’
‘Did you know that it was France who was the driving force behind the establishment of a European Defence Charter?’
A pause.
‘No,’ Munro said.
‘Did you know that it is France who subsidises the European Space Agency so that the ESA can charge vastly cheaper prices for taking commercial satellites up into orbit than NASA can?’
‘No, I didn’t know that.’
‘Son, for the last ten years, France has been trying to unite Europe like never before and sell it to the rest of the world. They call it regional pride. We call it an attempt to tell European nations that they don’t need America anymore.’
‘Does Europe need America anymore?’ Munro asked quickly. A loaded question.
Homes gave his young aide a crooked smile. ‘Until Europe can match us weapon-for-weapon, yes, they do need us. What frustrates France most about us is our defence technology. They can’t match it. We’re too far ahead of them. It infuriates them.
‘And as long as we stay ahead of them, they know that they’ve got no option but to follow us. But,’ Holmes held up a finger, ‘once they get their hands on something new, once they develop something that tops our technology, then I think things may be different.
‘This isn’t 1966 anymore. Things have changed. The world has changed. If France walked out of NATO now, I think half of the other European nations in the Organisation would walk out with her –’
At that moment, the doors to the meeting room opened and the French delegation, led by Pierre Dufresne, came back into the room.
As the French delegates returned to their seats, Holmes leaned close to Munro. ‘What worries me most, though, is that the French may be closer to that new discovery than we think. Look at them today. They’ve recessed this meeting four times already. Four times. Do you know what that means?’
‘What?’
‘They’re stalling the meeting. Drawing it out. You only stall like that when you’re waiting for information. That’s why they keep recessing – so they can talk with their intelligence people and get an update on whatever it is they’re up to. And by the looks of things, whatever that is, it could be the difference between the continued existence of NATO and its complete destruction.’
The sleek black head broke the surface without a sound. It was a sinister head, with two dark, lifeless eyes on either side of a glistening, snub-nosed snout.
A few moments later, a second, identical head appeared next to the first, and the two animals curiously observed the activity taking place on E-deck.
The two killer whales in the pool of Wilkes Ice Station were rather small specimens, despite the fact that they each weighed close to five tons. From tip to tail, they were each at least fifteen feet long.
Having evaluated and dismissed the activity taking place on the deck around them – where Lieutenant Schofield was busy getting a couple of divers suited up – the two killer whales began to circle the pool, gliding around the diving bell which sat half-submerged in the very centre of the pool.
Their movements seemed odd, almost co-ordinated. As one killer would look one way, the other would look in the opposite direction. It was almost as if they were searching for something, searching for something in particular . . .
‘They’re looking for Wendy,’ Kirsty said, looking down at the two killers from the C-deck catwalk. Her voice was flat, cold – unusually harsh for a twelve-year-old girl.
It had