Bolcke slid Pablo a smaller envelope.
“The phone number of our man in Washington. Contact him when you get in and he will arrange a meeting with the contractors. All other arrangements are in place, so you simply need to make the acquisition and delivery.”
“It will be done.”
“The company jet will be standing by tomorrow to take you into the country. Any questions?”
“This female investigator and the people from NUMA—are they a problem?”
“The woman is of no concern.” Bolcke sat back in his chair and further contemplated the question. “I don’t know about the NUMA personnel. Perhaps they are worth monitoring.” He gazed back at Pablo. “I will take care of it. Proceed with the plan. I will be in Beijing waiting for your confirmation.”
His eyes grew darker as he leaned forward. “I have been working toward this moment for many years. Everything is in place. Do not fail me, Pablo.”
Pablo puffed out his chest. “Do not worry, Jefe. It will be like taking sweets from a baby.”
31
ANN HIT THE OFFICE RUNNING AT SEVEN IN THE morning, inspired to investigate Pitt’s potential link with the ship hijacking. Her first stop was Joe Eberson’s replacement as the DARPA director of Sea Platforms Technology, Dr. Roald Oswald. She had met the scientist a few days earlier and wasn’t surprised to find him already at his desk, working on a status report.
She poked her head through the doorway. “May I intrude on your morning silence?”
“Of course, Miss Bennett. I could use a diversion from the depressing state of our new submarine’s delivery schedule.”
“Please, call me Ann. Will there be a launch without the supercavitation device?”
“That’s our dilemma. The collective loss of Eberson and Heiland has put us back months—if not years. The vessel’s capabilities are cut to the bone without the device. There will still be merit in testing the propulsion system, I suppose, if we can ever complete the final assembly.”
“What’s holding you up?”
“Critical material delays, I’m told.”
“Would any of those materials include rare earth elements?”
Oswald took a draw from his coffee and probed Ann with his pale blue eyes. “I don’t have enough information here to answer that. But, yes, certain rare earth elements play a significant part in the Sea Arrow’s design—especially in the propulsion system and some of the sonar and electronic systems. Why do you ask?”
“I’m exploring a possible link between Dr. Heiland’s death and a hijacked shipment of monazite ore containing high concentrations of neodymium and lanthanum. How important are those elements to the Sea Arrow?”
“Very. Our propulsion system relies upon a pair of highly advanced electric motors, which in turn power two external jet pumps, as well as the rest of the vessel’s operating systems. Both components contain rare earth elements, but especially the motors.” Oswald took another sip of coffee. “They utilize permanent high-intensity magnets to achieve a multigenerational leap in efficiency and output. These magnets are produced under exacting standards at the Ames National Laboratory, and they contain a mixture of several rare earths, most certainly including neodymium.” He hesitated a moment. “We believe that Heiland’s supercavitation system relies on some rare earth components as well. I suspect you may be onto something.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The Sea Arrow’s motors have yet to be installed. The first motor was just completed at the Naval Re
search Lab at Chesapeake Bay and is ready for shipment to Groton. The second has been delayed due to a disruption in the materials’ supply chain. I haven’t caught up with all the information, but I understand that a shortage of rare earth elements is holding us up.”
“Could you find out exactly which materials are involved?”
“I’ll make some calls and let you know.” He sat back in his chair with a look of introspection. “Joe Eberson was a friend of mine. We used to go fishing in Canada every summer. He was a good man. Make sure you find his killers.”
Ann nodded solemnly. “I intend to.”
She had been back at her desk for only a few minutes when Oswald called with an alphabet soup list of elements whose short supplies were delaying the Sea Arrow: gadolinium, praseodymium, samarium, and dysprosium. At the top of the list was neodymium, the very element in Pitt’s monazite sample from Chile.
A quick online search revealed the market prices for those elements had recently skyrocketed. Commodity analysts cited two factors for the increase. One was a fire that had devastated the facilities at Mountain Pass, California, the site of the only active rare earth mine in the U.S. The second was something Ann already knew, an announcement by the owners of Australia’s Mount Weld Mine that they would temporarily cease production to modernize and expand the mine.
As she digested all this, Ann picked up the sheet Fowler had left on her desk. It was the file of biographies for all the nonmilitary personnel who had toured the Sea Arrow. Skipping those who worked at DARPA and ONR, she studied the remaining names. Her eyes widened when she scanned the bio of White House aide Tom Cerny. She reviewed it a second time, jotted down some notes, and printed the entire file.
Fowler appeared at the door and stepped into her office with a donut and coffee. “You’re rustling the leaves early. Where is the hunt taking you today?”