Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (42 page)

C
hapter
4
4

I
got to my office and
saw
my
e-mail
inbox indicator flashing on my computer screen. I opened my
e-mail
to find
Toronto Mining Conference
confirmations from Wally. He
’
d also booked us rooms at
a
h
otel
adjoin
ing
the
c
onvention
c
ente
r
.

I noted he
’
d copied
the
e-mail
to
Jim Lee
.
I rocked in my
desk chair
,
thinking for a moment
,
t
hen I picked up the phone and called Cyrus.

“
Cyrus, Trace here.
”

“
Hey, Trace
. A
ny more gold assays?
”

“
A tad eager, are we?
”
I replied
,
with a laugh.
“
W
e just shipped a load of cores to the lab. We
’
ll
have some new assays in a few days.
”

“
Good deal. I know uranium
’
s the play
,
but I still get
a hard-on when it comes to
gold.
”

“
I know the feeling, Cyrus. There is something mystical and powerful about that damned yellow metal.
”

“
It
’
s the history, Trace. Men have been fighting and dying over gold since time began.
It doesn
’
t corrode. It can be melted down and re
-
cast time and time again. Hell
,
the gold i
n
some damn bankers
Rolex
may have been mined by some poor Egyptian slave a
millennia ago. It is a mystical metal
.
”

“
Listen, Cyrus, gold aside for a minute, I
’
m going to
the Toronto Mining Convention in
a couple weeks. Wally
’
s going too
. Will
’
s going to stick around in case there
’
s any problems at the
mine. A
nd I was wondering if you were planning on attending
.
”

“
I am planning on attending. Probably not for the whole four days but at least for a couple. Why do you ask?
”

“
Well, I have a hunch our Chinese investors will be attending and will want to meet. I
f they pitch some kind of deal, I
’
d like you there to discuss it
with
me, Wally
,
and Jim.
Counting me, there
’
ll be three of our four directors there. B
etween
our little group,
including you,
we represent
the controlling interest in Montana Creek Mining.
”

“
Sure, Trace
,
be glad to.
Just give me a call on my cell anytime you want to meet. I
’
ll be attending several presentations, but I
’
ll make time.
”

“
Okay,
thanks, Cyrus. It
’
ll be interesting to see if the
Chinese
seek you out. I
’
m sure they
’
d love to acquire your block of shares.
”

“
Trace,
a
t some point it
’
s going to come down to a m
ajor
company
coming after Montana Creek. We don
’
t have the financing or infrastructure to put the Sullivan Mine into production.
”

“
I know that, Cyrus
, b
ut I want the best company possible
tendering for our s
tockholders
’
shares.
”

“
You also know, Jim Lee and IUC aside, it
’
s going to come down to you, me, Wally
,
and Will
tendering
our shares
to make any deal work
.
”

“
Yeah, I do, Cyrus. Sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad,
”
I
said with a
chuckle
.

C
hapter
4
5

M
alcolm walked out to his plane just as the fuel truck was finishing topping off his tanks.

“
Good to go?
”
Malcolm asked.

“
Yes,
sir
. Topped off with high test,
”
the fuel truck attendant
replied
.
“
Hell of a nice plane,
sir
. I hear they
’
ll cruise at over three hundred miles per hour.
”

“
Ye
p
, she
’
s fast a
l
l
right and very, very
,
responsive.
”

The attendant laughed
.
“
I guess those
damn
DEA Cessna
’
s won
’
t have a chance of catching this bird.
”

“
You
’
re right about that
, b
ut I don
’
t ferry contraband.
”

“
Didn
’
t mean anything
by it
,
sir
. Just nice to see a plane that can give them a run for their money
.
If
you ever want to sell your plane
,
just let me know,
”
the attendant said, handing Malcolm one of his business cards.
“
I
know some people who’d
be very interested.
”

Malcolm took the man
’
s card and put it in his shirt pocket
.
“
Thanks,
I
’
ll keep it in mind
,
if I ever decide to sell
.
”

Malcolm did a walk around the aircraft while the attendant finished loading his hoses and drove off. He
’
d checked the oil
,
and
tires
,
and
drained
gas
from each fuel tank sump into a glass vial to check for water in the fuel.

Satisfied
the fuel was good
, Malcolm removed the wing tethers, pulled the wheel chocks
,
and climbed into the cockpit. He
strapped into the pilot
’
s seat and took a
look around
the cabin.
E
ver
y
thing seemed in order. After his pre
-
flight check, he contacted Houston Hobby departure and was cleared to taxi to the same runway he
’
d landed on
, 12L/30R
.

He held while a Citation and a Cessna 210 landed.

“
TurboAire
,
whisky mike two
niner
five
,
you are cleared for depa
r
ture.
”

“
Roger
, Houston
departure
.
TurboAire
whisky mike t
wo
niner
five is rolling.
”

Once airborne, Malcolm climbed to
twenty-four thousand
feet on a heading of 126 degrees. He set his GPS system
’
s lat
/
long for Grand Cayman and engaged the auto
-
pilot. At
three hundred
miles per hour
,
assuming no significant head
-
winds, he should make George Town in about three hours and forty
-
five minutes.

About an hour into the flight, Malcolm
stomach started growling.
He
checked the auto
-
pilot and
did a visual check for traffic
. S
eeing none
,
he climbed out of the pilot seat and eased his way toward the back of the plane. He
’
d stashed
a box of Little Debbie
peanut
butter
cheese
crackers in one of the duffel bags.
Opening the bottom duffel,
he immediately spotted the first
-
aid kit.

“
What the hell
?
”
he said
, aloud
.
“
Who the hell put that in there?
”

Carefully he opened
the plastic first
-
aid kit.
When saw the contents, a
n
icy chill ran down his spine
.

“
Holy shit,
”
he whispered
.
“
I
t
’
s a bomb
,
”

Malcolm
looked at the timing device
. It
appeared to be
set to go off in twenty minutes. Very carefully
he
closed the first
-
aid kit and reached forward
,
placing it in the
co
-
pilot
’
s seat.
He then c
arefully climbed back in
-
to the left seat
and clicked his mike
.

“
Houston
co
ntrol
,
TurboAire
,
whiskey mike two
niner
five.
”

“
TurboAire
,
whiskey mike two
niner
five, Houston
c
ontrol.
”

“
Houston control,
TurboAire
,
whiskey mike two
niner
five. I need to declare an emergency.
”

“
TurboAire
,
whiskey mike two
niner
f
ive, please
change frequency to
one twenty point two
.
”

Malcolm switched to the emergency frequency.

“
Houston control,
TurboAire
,
whiskey mike two
niner
five
on
one twenty point zero
.
”

“
Roger,
TurboAire
, you may dispense with your call sign from here on.
What is your emergency?
”

“
Houston control
,
I have a bomb on board. It
has
a timing device and is set to detonate in approximately twenty minutes.
I
’
m sixty minutes from any landfall.
”

“
Understood
.
Do you wish to ditch
,
or are you able to jettison the bomb?
”

“
Houston control, I would like to descend to
ten
thousand
feet and eject the device over the Gulf.
”

“
Understood
. W
ait one.
”

Malcolm waited. He knew Houston control was checking for
any
aircraft
below his
flight level.
They
’
d also be contacting the C
oast Guard for shipping in his vicinity.
After what seemed like an eternity
,
but less than five minutes
later
, Houston control was back.

“
TurboAire
, y
ou are cleared to descend and maintain
ten thousand
feet. Contact control once the explosive device has be
en
jettisoned
.
”

“
Houston control
, r
oger that
, a
nd thanks.
”

Malcolm
reduced speed, lowered the plane
’
s nose
,
and began rapidly descending.
At ten
thousand feet he
would
depressurize,
level off, crack
open the
pilot
’
s side
window
,
and toss the bomb.

“
Houston control
,
TurboAire
, j
ust passing
fifteen thousand
one
hund
. . .
”

At fifteen thousand feet, a second
bomb
,
taped to the bottom of the co-pilot’s seat, and
set to explode when the plane dropped below fifteen thousand feet, detonated.

“
TurboAire,
s
ay again. Your transmission broke up.
”

But there was only static.

Air
t
raffic
c
ontrol
had
los
t
radar contact with
the
TurboAire
.

When Malcolm
’
s plane failed to show up
at the George Town airport, Lisa Miller
called Cyrus.

“
Cyrus, Lisa. Hey, was there a delay in Mr. Trueblood
’
s flight?
”

“
No, not that I know of. He hasn
’
t shown up yet?
”

“
No. No sign of him
. H
is
e-mail
said he
’d
b
e
wheels dry around noon. It
’
s nearly three p.m. here.
”

“
Okay, check with the local air traffic guys and see if he had a mechanical problem and returned to Houston. I
’
ll call Houston Hobby and see what I can find out.
”

About an hour later, Cyrus called Lisa back.

“
Lisa,
h
i, it
’
s me.
”

“
It
’
s not good
,
is it, Cyrus?
”

“
No,
I
’
m afraid
not. His plane was about an hour
out
from Hobby when he declared an emergency
,
and then disappeared off radar
. They won
’
t tell me the nature of the emergency
or what happened to Malcolm. All they would tell me is the Coast Guard is investigating.
Anything on your end?
”

“
About the same. He
’
d
declared an emergency and requested to descend to ten thousand feet.
”

“
That means he wanted to get below where he
’
d need oxygen.
”

“
You think the plane lost pressurization?
”

“
Could be, but knowing Malcolm, I think he
’
d have descended immediately and asked for permission later.
”

“
What now?
”