Savage Bay by Christopher Forrest Read Free Book Online

much progress had been made by Titan Global’s research scientists.
    The Armory was a nickname for the Advanced Research Projects Facility located on Deck Three of the Alamiranta . CatherineCaine started the Armory several years ago with scientists who formerly worked at DARPA — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — an agency of the United States Defense Department responsible for the development of new technology for use by the American military.
    In its prime, DARPA had attracted many of the best and brightest minds from MIT, Stanford, and CalTech. But now the first choice for many ambitious graduates in various cutting-edge fields of science was a position at the Armory, widely known as the most advanced private defense research program in the world.
    “Do you think Pyro’s ready to learn the truth?” asked Caine.
    Hawkeye nodded. “I think Pyro’s been waiting for this moment for years.”

Chapter 6
     
    NINE HOURS BEFORE THE SAVAGE BAY HALO JUMP
    OPS CENTER
     
    Armed guards escorted Catherine Caine and Isabella Cruz down to Deck Six of the Alamiranta . The opulence and style of the ship’s upper decks was replaced by a high-tech, functional design. After a few minutes, they reached a large door at the end of a corridor that dead-ended in the center of the ship.       
    “This is the Ops Center,” said Caine. As they approached the door, the Alamiranta’ s security system scanned an RFID chip implanted in Caine’s shoulder. Cameras mounted in the corridor captured Caine’s image, and the system confirmed her identity. The door slid open with a hydraulic hiss.
    Cruz followed Caine through the doorway into a square, empty room with glass walls. Beneath her feet, Cruz saw a hydraulic mechanism below the transparent floor.
    “Is this -- ”
    Before Cruz could finish her question, the entire glass room began to slowly descend into the lower levels of the Alamiranta.
    “ -- an elevator,” said Cruz, finishing her question.
    They descended two levels before stopping in the Ops Center. The glass door of the elevator platform slid open and Caine led Cruz into the Command and Control Center of Titan Global.
    The Ops Center was a large, round room with a blue-grey marble floor and a ring of workstations encircling a raised platform in the center. The workstations, filled with computers and video displays, were manned by uniformed Titan Global technicians staring intently at their screens, their faces illuminated by flickering images.
    High overhead, xenon lights cast a faint bluish glow over the room. An elevated observation catwalk ran around the perimeter of the Ops Center one floor above. The air smelled faintly of hot electronics and ozone.
    Mounted flat-panel screens covered the walls displaying video and data feeds from around the globe. On one screen, satellite imagery showed Es Vedra Island off the coast of Spain. A communications feed scrolled down another. Other screens were dark.
    Cruz’s attention was drawn to the large, circular platform in the middle of the Ops Center. Floating above the platform was a semi-transparent, 3-D image of Es Vedra Island that slowly rotated on a horizontal axis. The central mountain ridge of the island rose above sheer cliffs and narrow coves. Small flickering waves crashed against the virtual rocky isle.  
    “A holographic display,” said Caine. “Computer-generated. It creates a virtual real-time display compiled from satellite imagery and data feeds.” 
    Two other persons were seated in the room: an older, bearded gentleman, and a young man dressed in jeans and a T-shirt,
    “From the Ops Center,” said Caine, “we observe and guide the Titan Global teams during field operations. Titan Six is our elite unit. We will be monitoring Titan Six on the ground during the operation and will provide command and control support. But we are much more integrated with the ops team than a traditional military unit. Each member of Titan Six wears a