The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. Omar Bradley, General As Niro navigated the ship to Skagway, Harrington kept a vigilant eye on him while maintaining radio contact with the Coast Guard, which was monitoring the craft on radar.
Sean was quiet and pensive. He was beginning to regret having abandoned Julie and his mission. "She's right; what am I doing? What am I trying to prove?" he asked himself.
"We're glad you could join us Mr. Ryan," said Harrington, his expression stern. "We could use your help. We're very close to finding the location of this terrorist group and we'll need your experience in penetrating the compound."
"Well, I'm glad to help, but it's unfortunate that there's no way to get the OK from Washington. But I guess you have to get help any way you can get it," answered Sean, with a gleam in his eye. He was happy to be back where he belonged. He was high on adrenaline and he could not wait to be part of the "action."
"I know your work, and frankly I don't want to take the chance that the front office will deny us this resource. You don't have to come with us, you know, but we are short-handed and we think you can help us. Everyone thinks Alaska is a pristine wilderness frontier without any crime, so there's no money for more agents," said Harrington, letting his frustration show in his tone.
"How long have you been on this case, agent Harrington?"
"We've been trailing these groups for four years. We recently heard of this new operation, dealing in red mercury, plutonium and enriched uranium. We believe they process low-grade uranium into higher-grade, more dangerous fissionable material and sell it to the highest bidder. They also manufacture nuclear missiles, 'dirty bombs' and much more. We haven't been able to pinpoint their location, because they have been scrupulously strict about dumping their wastes out at sea, using payoffs and threatening sea captains of cruisers, cargo ships, and others. Otherwise, the trail of radioactive groundwater would have led us to them long ago. Because aerial photographs have been unable to pinpoint a manufacturing facility, we believe the operation may be underground. This is a smart and dangerous group."
About an hour went by while both men gazed out at the calm sea. Daylight was beginning to break over the horizon; the moon was no longer visible. The sky was clear. It had been several hours since Niro's ship had picked up Sean and Juliana from the lifeboat. Sean was uneasy, glancing often at Juliana's bag containing her testing equipment and a scarf she had left on the seat. He picked up the scarf, placed it around his neck, and walked out to the deck.
