Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

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    â€œWe have everything we need. We’re sitting right on a continental shelf. The San Andreas Fault runs right along this coast, right? In fact, we’re the triple junction where three tectonic plates come together.†Ty said. “Isn’t the standing joke that the next earthquake is going to take us al out?â€
    Ilya scowled at him. “Bite your tongue. We don’t want to give Gratsos any ideas.â€
    â€œYou can’t trigger an earthquake, Damon,†Jonas objected. “What do you want to do? Create a tsunami and drown the bastard?
    You’l take Sea Haven with you.â€
    â€œNo, I don’t want a wave, even a rogue one. I agree that’s far too dangerous. We have something much better. Methane clathrate, of which we have significant deposits on the ocean floor. These hydrates only form in the continental shelves and so typical y are in shal ower depths. In other words, in our reach.†Damon looked pleased with himself. He beamed at the men and waved his arm as if he’d just performed a magic trick.

    There was a smal silence. Matt cleared his throat. “Methane gas? We’re going to bomb him? Stink him out? What? Where are you going with this?â€
    Damon looked at Ty and raised his eyebrow. “I told you, we’re going to sink his yacht. Didn’t I explain that to you? We’re going to give everyone a legitimate scientific puzzle.â€
    Jackson swung a chair around and straddled it. “Lay it out for us, Damon.â€
    â€œWhat we’re going to do is quite simple. We’l be celebrating on the beach, and up in the sky, everyone wil start seeing strange anomalies like those associated with the Bermuda Triangle. We’l give them everything we can find that’s been reported down through the years. Flames in the sky, the water turning color, and lights, whatever we come up with. I’ve got Inez working on that for me.â€
    â€œInez?†Jackson snapped. “You can’t involve her in this.â€
    â€œShe’s sharp, Jackson. She came to me and said she was certain you had a plan and whatever it was, not to let you do it and to come up with a better one.â€
    Jonas laughed and punched Jackson in his shoulder. “Smart old lady knows your brain capacity, bro.â€
    Jackson rubbed his hand over his face. “This would be a whole hel of a lot cleaner if I just took the bastard out with a rifle.â€
    â€œHe’s a bil ionaire, Jackson. You don’t think a few people might notice?†Damon said. His look said he agreed with El e and Hannah—that Jackson was a hot-head.
    Jonas straddled a chair beside Jackson and pul ed the map around. “Tel us how this is done, Damon.†Jackson was liable to go the sniper route if he didn’t think this was going to end the threat to El e, and Jonas wasn’t about to arrest his best friend for murder. “How do we sink a ship?â€
    Damon exchanged a gleeful look with Ty and even rubbed his hands together. “You give them the explanation, Ty.â€
    Tyson nodded. “There are a couple of ways to sink a ship.â€
    â€œBlow it up,†Matt muttered under his breath.
    â€œ Without touching it,†Damon reiterated. “Al of you are obsessed with explosives and weapons.â€
    â€œThere’s nothing more satisfying than a good explosion,†Matt agreed. “But I’m listening. This is starting to intrigue me.â€
    â€œNow that I have your attention.†Ty scowled at him. “Try to stay with me. The easiest way to think about this is to picture a submarine. In simplest terms, it’s fil ed with air and it stays on top of the water because it’s lighter than the water, right? When it wants to sink, they remove some of the air and let in some water and down she goes, because now she’s heavier than the water.â€
    â€œSo we’re going to blow a hole in her and let in water,†Jackson said.
    Jonas frowned. “I suppose we could use one of the dolphins to plant the charge but Abbey might get upset and balk at that.â€
    â€œOh for God’s sake,†Damon burst out. “We’re not blowing up the damn boat. Get over it. We’re not setting charges, we’re going to do this in a scientific manner and make it appear a physics anomaly, a natural phenomenon that occasional y