Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [82]
“Oh, dear me, did I do something to annoy you?” His smile widened and he leaned forward. “Tough.”
Annja looked around the area. The submarine was about half the size of a normal attack sub that she’d seen once in Groton, Connecticut, but still had an impressive array of electronics and instrumentation. If she’d known it would be this complicated to run, she might have insisted they take one of the mechanical sharks instead. “This is some sub.”
“You like it? I bought it from the same firm that makes unconventional platforms for special-operations commandos. I had them do a little custom job on it for my purposes. They did marvelous work.”
“I’m sure they’ll happily use your testimonial in their next sales brochure.”
Henderson frowned. “That might be difficult as it seems the entire company has ceased to exist. Someone planted a rather large bomb at their production facility on the same night their corporate offices endured a horrendous fire. Tragically, anyone connected with this submarine seems to have perished. One of those strange coincidences I guess. Shame about that.”
Annja didn’t waste time berating Henderson for killing anyone who could talk. He didn’t seem the type to give a damn. “So, since you’ve been in such a rush to meet me, suppose you tell me what this is all about. You can start by telling me why I was kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped?” Henderson chuckled. “You left me no alternative, my dear girl. After all, it seemed it was your intention to do battle with my creation. I couldn’t very well let you have your way with my shark and be able to maintain its terrifying characteristics, now could I?”
“Why have the sharks?”
“They serve a very concrete purpose. One I think you’ve seen in action over the past several days since you arrived.”
“Terror.”
“Indeed. There’s nothing like the prospect of coming face-to-face with a giant killer to keep people from doing what they set out to do. In this case, I needed you all on that boat of yours and not down in the water.”
“Why?”
“Because I have interests there, as well. And to be frank, your little treasure hunt was going to interfere. I couldn’t allow that. So I took steps to ensure you wouldn’t become a problem.”
“The shark attack on Jock.”
“Yes.”
“And Cole’s first encounter with it.”
“The cage was a marvelous idea, by the way,” Henderson said. “We had to reinforce the shark’s nose after we had that little run-in. We knew the cage would come back in the water and we wanted to get to it without giving ourselves away. Fortunately, we’ve got quite the ingenious workshop full of creative minds.”
Annja leaned against the hull. “So, where exactly are we?”
Henderson shrugged. “Where do you think you are, Annja? Have you figured it out yet?”
“I think we’re underwater. In some cavern that you’ve somehow managed to make habitable.”
He clapped his hands. “Marvelous. Tell me how you arrived at that conclusion.”
Annja frowned. “It wasn’t hard. You’ve got a plumbing issue here. There’s water everywhere.”
“Well, not everywhere. We’ve come light-years from where we were when we first located this place. The water level had to be reduced significantly before we could get people down here. But it’s all worked wonderfully. I think you’d agree that this is quite a technological achievement.”
“I guess. But to what end?” Annja looked around. “You’ve got a submarine and two mechanical sharks to keep people away from this place. But why? What are you up to?”
“I’m not here to steal your paltry little treasure wreck, I assure you,” Henderson said.
“That’s not what Sheila said.”
Henderson smiled. “Sheila told you exactly what she was supposed to tell you, Annja. As well as give you all some worry about sabotage when the screw was found. You see, it’s little things that are sometimes more effective than some grand statement like blowing you up. By planting small doubts, we distracted you just enough.”
“And the shark?”
“Insurance in case the little stuff didn’t work.”
Annja nodded. “And how is Sheila doing? Last I saw her, she had a broken wrist.”
“She’s fine. All