Clive Cussler - Shock Wave

Pitt stared back with unconcealed contempt. “What I’m aware of is the current glut of uncut stones being held in warehouses throughout South Africa, Russia and Australia to inflate false values. I also know the cartel, essentially a monopoly directed by De Beers, fixes the price. So how is it possible for one man to challenge the entire syndicate and cause a sudden, drastic drop of prices on the diamond market?”

“The cartel will play right into my hands,” said Dorsett contemptuously. “Historically, whenever a diamond-producing mining company or nation tried to go around them and merchandise their stones on the open market, the cartel slashed prices. The maverick, failing to compete and finding itself in a no-win situation, eventually returned to the fold. I’m counting on the cartel to repeat their act. By the time they realize that I’m dumping millions of diamonds at two cents on the dollar with no regard for earnings, it will be too late for them to react. The market will have collapsed.”

“What percentage is there in dominating a depressed market?”

“I’m not interested in dominating the market, Mr. Pitt. I want to kill it for all time.”

Pitt noticed that Dorsett didn’t gaze right at him but fixed his eyes impassively on a point behind Pitt’s head as if seeing a vision only he could see. “If I read you correctly, you’re cutting your own throat.”

“It sounds that way, doesn’t it?” Dorsett lifted a finger at Pitt. “Exactly what I wanted everyone to think, even my closest associates and my own daughters. The truth of the matter is that I expect to make a great sum of money.”

“How?” Pitt asked, his interest aroused.

Dorsett allowed a satanic grin to display his grotesque teeth. “The answer lies not in diamonds but in the colored gemstone market.”

“My God, I see what this is all about,” said Maeve as if witnessing a revelation. “You’re out to corner the market on colored stones.”

She began to shiver from her wet clothing and a swearing dread. Pitt removed his soggy leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders.

Dorsett nodded. “Yes, Daughter. During the last twenty years, your wise old father has stockpiled his diamond production while quietly buying up claims to the major colored gemstone mines around the world. Through a complex formation of front corporations I now secretly control eighty percent of the market.”

“By colored gemstones,” said Pitt, “I assume you mean rubies and emeralds.”

“Indeed, and a host of other precious stones, including sapphire, topaz, tourmaline and amethyst. Almost all are far more scarce than diamonds. The deposits of tsavorite, red beryl or red emerald, and the Mexican fire opal, for example, are becoming increasingly difficult to find. A number of colored gemstones are so rare they are sought by collectors and are very seldom made into jewelry.”

“Why haven’t the prices of colored stones matched that of diamonds?” asked Pitt.

“Because the diamond cartel has always managed to push color into the shadows,” Dorsett told him with the fervor of a zealot. “For decades, De Beers has spent enormous sums of money in high-powered research to study and survey international markets. Millions were spent advertising diamonds and creating an image of eternal value. To keep prices fixed, De Beers created a demand for diamonds to keep pace with the mushrooming supply. And so the web of imagery capturing a man showing his love for a woman through the gift of a diamond was spun through a shrewd advertising campaign that reached its peak with the slogan, ‘Diamonds are forever.’” He began to pace the room, gesturing with his hands for effect. “Because colored gemstone production is fragmented by thousands of independent producers, all competing and selling against each other, there has been no unified organization to promote colored stones. The trade has suffered from a lack of consumer awareness. I intend to change all that after the price of diamonds plunges.”

“So you’ve jumped in with both feet.”

“Not only will I produce colored stones from the mines,” declared Dorsett, “but unlike De Beers, I will cut and merchandise them through the House of Dorsett, my chain of stores on the retail market. Sapphires, emeralds and rubies may not be eternal, but when I’m through, they will make any woman who wears them feel like a goddess. Jewelry will have achieved a new splendor. Even the famous Renaissance goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini proclaimed the ruby and emerald more glorious than diamonds.”

It was a staggering concept, and Pitt carefully considered the possibilities before he asked, “For decades women have bought the idea that diamonds have an undeniable tie to courtship and a lifetime relationship. Do you really think you can switch their desire from diamonds to colored stones?”

“Why not?” Dorsett was surprised that Pitt could express doubt. “The notion of a diamond engagement ring did not take hold until the late 1800s. All it takes is a strategy to revamp social attitudes. I have a top creative advertising agency with offices in thirty countries ready to launch an international promotional campaign in unison with my operation to send the cartel down the drain. When I’m finished, colored stones will be the prestige gems for jewelry. Diamonds will merely be used for background settings.”

Pitt ’s gaze traveled from Boudicca to Deirdre and then Maeve. “Like most men, I’m a poor judge of women’s inner thoughts and emotions, but I know it won’t be easy convincing them that diamonds are not a girl’s best friend.”

Dorsett laughed dryly. “It’s the men who’ buy precious stones for women. And as much as they want to impress their true love, men have a higher regard for value. Sell them on the fact that rubies and emeralds are fifty times more rare than diamonds, and they’ll buy them.”

“Is that true?” Pitt was skeptical. “That an emerald is fifty times more rare than a comparable diamond?”

Dorsett nodded solemnly. “As the deposits of emeralds dry up, and they will in time, the gap will become much higher. Actually, it could safely be said of the red emerald, which comes only from one or two mines in the state of Utah, that it is over a million times as rare.”

“Cornering one market while destroying another, there has to be more in it for you than mere profit.”

“Not `mere profit,’ my dear Pitt. Profits on a level unheard of in history. We’re talking tens of billions of dollars.”

Pitt was incredulous at the staggering sum. “You couldn’t achieve that kind of money unless you doubled the price of colored gemstones.”

“Quadrupled would be closer to the truth. Of course, the raise would not take place overnight, but in graduated price hikes over a period of years.”

Pitt moved until he was standing directly in front of Dorsett, peering up closely at the taller man. “I have no quarrel with your desire to play King Midas,” he said with quiet steadiness. “Do what you will with the price of diamonds. But for God’s sake shut down the ultrasonic excavation of your mines. Call your superintendents and order them to stop all operations. Do it now before another life is lost.”

There came a strange stillness. Every pair of eye, turned toward Dorsett in expectation of an outburst of wrath at being challenged. He stared at Pitt for long seconds before turning to Maeve.

“Your friend is impatient. He does not know me, does not recognize my determination.” Then he again faced Pitt. “The assault on the diamond cartel is set for February twenty-second, twenty-one days from now. To make it work I need every gram, every carat, my mines can produce until then. Worldwide press coverage, advertising space in newspapers and time on television is purchased and scheduled. There can be no change, there will be no change in plans. If a few rabble die, so be it.”