The other man grinned.
‘It’s the only way to stop the white gold powder from quantum tunnelling its way out and into the atmosphere before we’re ready. We’re the first to create a weapon using this stuff – most people are more interested in converting it back into gold because it generates a higher yield. Both the British and American governments are trying to build aircraft which will use its anti-gravitational capabilities. Using it as a weapon probably hasn’t crossed anybody’s radar.’
He threw the pen on the desk and sat down opposite Pallisder and Petrov. He pointed at the sketch of the glass cylinder. ‘During those nine minutes, we instigate a chain reaction which will begin to turn the white gold powder back into metallic gold.’
Petrov looked at him and raised his eyebrow. ‘When I agreed to help fund this project of yours, I said I wanted to create a major impact – lining the streets with gold wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.’
Delaney chuckled. ‘We’re a long way off from achieving that on any great scale, so you don’t have to worry. When we tried to turn white powder gold back into metallic gold, it created radioactive material. Now we’ve just increased the quantities so when the two electrodes in the canister begin to burn…’
‘… you’ve got the equivalent of an atomic bomb,’ finished Pallisder.
Delaney nodded. ‘A small one compared with some, but it’ll get us the impact we’re after.’
Pallisder studied the drawing carefully. ‘What’s the radius of the blast?’
Delaney flicked through some notes. ‘Here you go – we added a bit more than the test device. I reckon you ought to hold fire buying any real estate within a twenty mile radius.’
Petrov laughed with Delaney. Neither man noticed Pallisder’s face go pale.
‘It’s the superconductivity created by this stuff that’s the threat to the coal, gas and oil industries,’ said Petrov. ‘If anyone works out how to generate power using this white gold stuff on a large scale, we’re finished.’
Delaney laughed and stood up, slapping the other man on the back. ‘I don’t think you need to worry there. By making an explosive device out of superconducted heated gold – white gold powder – we can derail any further research into its viability as an alternative energy for years – probably decades.’
Uli shuffled in his seat. ‘Yes, but will it have the effect we want?’
‘Absolutely. Remember the old black and white film footage of that airship disaster? That was decades ago and people still won’t reconsider hydrogen as an alternative fuel on a large scale. When people think of hydrogen, they immediately think of the Hindenberg or hydrogen bombs.’
Pallisder glanced out the window. The sun was high over the city, reflecting the river traffic onto the windows of the skyscraper opposite. He stood up and stretched, trying to appear relaxed in front of the other two men.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘You appear to have it all under control Morris. When do you think you’ll be able to give us another update?’
Delaney walked the two men to the reception area. Pallisder blinked in the bright open space. He could feel the beginning of a headache starting to pulse in his temples.
‘I’ll know more in a few days,’ smiled Delaney. ‘I’m just waiting for confirmation from a contact to make sure our plan is still safe, then I’ll let you know.’
Pallisder nodded and, shaking hands with the two men, headed for the elevator.
He stepped out through the atrium of the office block and walked across to the waiting limousine. The driver stood next to the passenger door, waited until Pallisder was ready, then opened the door for him. Pallisder climbed in and savoured the cool air-conditioning. It was proving to be a hot summer.
‘Take me home,’ he said, and settled back into the leather seat for the ride.
London, England
Dan turned as Sarah appeared in the doorway of David’s office, her face flushed. ‘Both of you – come and look at this.’
She disappeared again. Dan looked at David. They both shrugged and hurried to where Sarah sat at the spare desk, a series of printed documents in her hand.
‘Okay, sit down,’ she said. ‘I want to run a theory by you.’
Sarah waited until Dan and David gave her their full attention.
‘What have you got?’ asked Dan.
Sarah handed them each a copy of the paperwork. ‘I was just having a flick through the stories on one of the news wires, catching up, when I came across this one. There was a house invasion at the beginning of January in Ramsgate in Kent. Nothing was taken but the place was trashed – presumably to make it look like a burglary.’
Dan opened his mouth to interrupt but Sarah held up her hand.
‘Hang on. There was a woman in the house at the time. The police think there was more than one intruder. By the time they’d finished with her, there wasn’t much left intact.’ She shivered. ‘The police report states she probably died as a result of blood loss.’
Dan leaned forward. ‘What’s it got to do with us?’
Sarah looked at him, a grim expression on her face. ‘I did a bit of digging around,’ she explained. ‘It turns out the woman is, sorry was, married to the captain of a freighter called World’s End. She paused. ‘He and the ship haven’t been seen since it left Singapore in January.’
David frowned. ‘I hate coincidences. The ship should have a transponder fitted to it – we should be able to track its current location with that.’
Sarah nodded. ‘I already thought of that.’ She turned back to her laptop. Her hands flew over the keyboard, a staccato string of commands flowing into the computer. She brought up two websites, and spun the computer monitor to face the two men.