Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

He looked embarrassed. ‘Yes, of course. But at the time, it seemed a good bet. So we arranged an expedition. Augustine was a nobody at the time, starting out in business with just one ship. We hired it to use for our dives.’

‘Laura would have come with us,’ Mikkelsson told Nina, ‘but then she met your father, and after reading his work she dismissed Santorini as a possible location. So she did not join us. A great shame.’

‘I became friends with Augustine,’ Lonmore went on. ‘In a way, I’m responsible for his success, as I gave him tips on how to run a business, and put him in touch with people who could help him—’

‘And look how he repaid you,’ Olivia interrupted, her tone caustic. ‘He tried to kill Nina, and he stole the Crucible!’

‘What’s he going to do with it, though?’ Eddie asked. ‘The Midas Cave’s now the Midas Rockpile. It’d take months to dig back into it, if you even could. Unless he’s got a nuclear reactor in his back garden, the most he can use the big Crucible for is a hot tub.’

‘Actually,’ said Mikkelsson, ‘that is not true. The Crucible would not need a nuclear reactor to create gold from mercury. A particle accelerator would also work. The source of the neutrons needed to produce nuclear transmutation does not matter; the effect will be the same.’

‘Well, he’s not going to have a particle accelerator in his back garden either, is he?’ Eddie scoffed. ‘Unless he lives next to the Large Hardon Collider.’ Nina held in a laugh.

‘That is “Hadron”,’ Mikkelsson corrected.

‘I know, but my version’s funnier.’

The diplomat did not appreciate his joke. ‘Do you know how many particle accelerators there are in the world, Mr Chase?’

‘Twenty, thirty? I dunno.’

‘I know they’re not all as big as the Large Hadron Collider,’ said Nina, enunciating the word carefully. ‘Two hundred, maybe?’

Mikkelsson allowed himself a little smile. ‘Over thirty thousand.’ At the couple’s surprise, he went on: ‘And that is only counting the high-powered ones. There are many more that are smaller. They are used for physics research, but also by industry and the medical profession, for all kinds of purposes. The technology is simple; even an old cathode-ray tube television is technically a particle accelerator. Scaling it up to the size of the LHC is when it becomes difficult and expensive.’

‘So does Trakas have a particle accelerator?’ Olivia demanded of Lonmore.

‘How would I know?’ he shot back. ‘He has all kinds of business interests. I don’t have a list.’

‘Perhaps you should ask him,’ said Mikkelsson.

‘What, you’re suggesting I go to Greece and accuse my friend of stealing something that doesn’t actually belong to us, but that he ought to hand over anyway? That would mean revealing the Legacy’s existence!’

‘I think that bird has already flown, Spencer,’ said Olivia. ‘Although I have another proposal.’ She turned to her granddaughter. ‘Nina should see him.’

‘What?’ Nina said, taken aback.

Eddie was also far from enthusiastic. ‘Are you kidding? He tried to kill us!’

‘I still can’t believe that he would do that,’ said Lonmore, shaking his head.

‘I can,’ Nina told him scathingly, before responding to Olivia. ‘Why me? Eddie’s right: the last person I want to go see is someone who sent a gang of mercenaries after me!’

‘Because you can offer him both a carrot and a stick,’ said the elderly lady. ‘The carrot is simple enough: a share of the gold created by the Crucibles. As for the stick, the threat of the IHA and international law enforcement coming down upon him ought to convince him to see sense.’

Anastasia’s expression was one of sour disapproval. ‘So you’re saying we should cut him in on the Legacy? Give him a quarter of everything we have as a reward for what he’s done?’

‘Not the Legacy, no,’ Olivia replied. ‘The promise of an equal share of any new gold, though? Augustine is a businessman, after all. A quarter of something is better than all of nothing — or a spell in jail.’

‘Or,’ said Eddie, ‘he might just try to make sure we never tell anyone.’

‘I don’t think he will,’ said Lonmore. ‘Not if… if I go with you. He is my friend, after all. If I’m there, I’m sure I can convince him. An extra carrot, so to speak.’

‘Some kind of vegetable, certainly,’ Anastasia said under her breath. Lonmore, across the table, did not hear her, but Nina did — as did Mikkelsson, his mouth twitching into a small smile.

‘This isn’t our problem,’ Eddie objected. ‘We went to Nepal to find this thing — which I was against doing from the start,’ he reminded his wife, ‘and almost died doing it. But we got it, so I think we should hand it over to the IHA.’

The proposal aroused varying degrees of outrage from around the table. Anastasia was the most vocal. ‘You can’t do that!’ she cried, half rising from her chair.

‘Yeah, we can,’ said Eddie, noticing De Klerx’s fingers flexing as if about to draw six-guns from imaginary holsters. He gave the Dutchman a warning look. ‘Unless someone’s going to try to stop us?’

‘Of course not,’ said Mikkelsson. De Klerx retreated, hands stiffening. ‘That decision is Nina’s. But I would hope you will hear us out,’ he continued, addressing the redhead.

‘Remember what I said, Nina.’ Olivia turned to her. ‘This isn’t just about the six of us here. It’s about you too — your family, your legacy. And your mother’s legacy. That was once her seat; it’s yours now, if you’re willing to take it. You said that the monks entrusted the Crucible to you? We’re also entrusting something to you: our future.’

Before Nina could answer, a small voice caught her attention. ‘Mommy, what’s going on?’ Macy joined her parents, regarding their hosts with concern. ‘Why is everybody angry with you?’

‘Nobody’s angry, honey,’ said Nina. ‘These people just have… some differences of opinion, that’s all. They want me to do one thing, and your daddy wants me to do something else.’

‘What thing?’

‘It doesn’t matter. Because I already decided what I’m going to do.’

The others almost unconsciously leaned forward, anxious to hear her decision. Nina faced them again. ‘I’m going to go back to New York and turn the Crucible over to the IHA. Like I should have done in the first place.’ She raised her voice over the protestations. ‘They can work with Interpol to investigate Trakas and find out if he really has got the other Crucible, and if he has, then the international courts can deal with him. But Eddie’s right: this isn’t my problem. And I don’t want to discuss it any more. After everything I’ve been through, I just want to go home and be with my family.’

‘By turning your back on another part of your family?’ said Anastasia, indicating Olivia.

‘It’s not the decision I was hoping she would make,’ said the old lady, downcast. ‘But it is her decision. We can’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.’

‘Thank you,’ Nina said.

‘Are we going home?’ Macy asked. ‘But we only just got here!’

Mikkelsson spoke in Icelandic to the clearly angry Anastasia, who drew in a frustrated breath, then he turned to Nina. ‘It would be a shame if you were to leave so soon. You are welcome to enjoy the hospitality of the hotel.’

‘Thanks for the offer, but it’d be better if we left,’ Nina replied. She knew that if they stayed, she would be subjected to non-stop pressure to change her mind.

Macy tugged at her sleeve. ‘Mommy, I don’t want to go yet. I want to play in the snow.’