Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler Page B

rather attached to her.”
    â€œPlease continue,” Seagram said.
    â€œI raised the north island of Novaya Zemlya late in the afternoon of the second day. I had been at the helm for over forty hours, dozing off and on, and I began to find it impossible to keep my eyes open. Thank God for the aquavit. After a few swigs, my stomach was burning like an out-of-control forest fire and suddenly I was wide awake.”
    â€œYou sighted no other boats?”
    â€œNone ever showed on the horizon,” Koplin answered. Then he went on, “The coast proved to be a seemingly unending stretch of rocky cliffs. I saw no point in attempting a landing—it was beginning to get dark. So I turned out to sea, hove to, and sneaked a few hours sleep. In the morning I skirted the cliffs until I picked out a small sheltered cover and then went in on the auxiliary diesel.”
    â€œDid you use your boat for a base camp?”
    â€œFor the next twelve days. I made two, sometimes three field trips a day on cross-country skis, prospecting before returning for a hot meal and a good night’s rest in a warm bunk.”
    â€œUp to now, you had seen no one?”
    â€œI kept well clear of the Kelva missile station and the Kama security post. I saw no sign of the Russians until the final day of the mission.”
    â€œHow were you discovered?”
    â€œA Russian soldier on patrol; his dog must have crossed my trail and picked up my scent. Small wonder. I hadn’t bathed in almost three weeks.”
    Seagram dropped a smile. Donner picked up the questioning more coldly, aggressively “Let’s get back to your field trips. What did you find?”
    â€œI couldn’t cover the whole island on cross-country skis, so I concentrated on the promising areas that had been pinpointed by the satellite computer printouts.” He stared at the ceiling. “The north island; the outer continuation of the Ural and Yugorski mountain chains, a few rolling plains, plateaus, and mountains—most of which are under a permanent ice sheet. Violent winds much of the time. The chill factor is murderous. I found no vegetation other than some rock lichen. If there were any warm-blooded animals, they kept to themselves.”
    â€œLet’s stick to the prospecting,” Donner said, “and save the travel lecture for another time.”
    â€œJust laying the groundwork.” Koplin shot Donner a disapproving stare, his tone icy. “If I may continue without interruption—”
    â€œOf course,” Seagram said. He pulled his chair strategically between the bed and Donner. “It’s your game, Sid. We’ll play by your rules.”
    â€œThank you.” Koplin shifted his body. “Geographically, the island is quite interesting. A description of the faulting and uplifting of rocks that were once sediments formed under an ancient sea could fill several textbooks. Mineralogically, the magmatic paragenesis is barren.”
    â€œWould you mind translating that?”
    Koplin grinned. “The origin and geological occurrence of a mineral is called its paragenesis. Magma, on the other hand, is the source of all matter; a liquid rock heated under pressure which turns solid to form igneous rock, perhaps better known as basalt or granite.”
    â€œFascinating,” Donner said dryly. “Then what you’re stating is that Novaya Zemlya is void of minerals.”
    â€œYou are singularly perceptive, Mr. Donner,” Koplin said.
    â€œBut how did you find traces of byzanium?” Seagram asked.
    â€œOn the thirteenth day, I was poking around the north slope of Bednaya Mountain and ran into a waste dump.”
    â€œWaste dump?”
    â€œA pile of rocks that had been removed during the excavation of a mine shaft. This particular dump happened to have minute traces of byzanium ore.”
    The expressions on his interrogators’ faces suddenly went sober.
    â€œThe shaft entrance