The Pacific Conspiracy by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page B

think, Professor, Frank mused. It'll give me a better chance to figure out what you're up to.
    "Well, then," Krinski said, "it's settled." He clapped his hands. "Susanto!"
    The woman entered the room from the kitchen and bowed once.
    "I'd like some tea," Krinski said. He turned to Frank. "For you?"
    Frank shook his head.
    "Very well," Krinski said. He returned to his terminal and shut it down. "I'll be right back," he said. "I have a few things to take care of in the other building."
    Like piecing together a hydrogen bomb? Frank thought. "Can I help you?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager.
    Krinski shook his head. "I think I can manage. You finish up those simulations."
    Frank smiled as he watched the man go. Krinski would be more than a little surprised at how good the work he'd been doing had been. While crunching numbers for the professor he'd managed to access portions of the computer Krinski had no doubt intended to be off limits to him, including a file marked Indonesia Simulation.
    Now that sounded very interesting. Frank opened the file. Suddenly the screen came to life, filling with what appeared to be a map of the world. But this map had only one continent.
    "Pangaea." That was Krinski's voice, coming from the computer. He must have put together this file as a presentation for someone. Nwali, perhaps? "Legendary supercontinent of two hundred million years ago."
    As Frank watched, the single supercontinent drifted apart, forming into more recognizable shapes: Africa, South America, North America, Europe, Asia.
    "Pangaea broke apart because of the movement of underlying geological structures known as continental plates." Now areas of each continent and its surrounding ocean were shaded in different colors.
    "Even today continental plates are continually moving." Now the picture zoomed in on Asia. A dotted line appeared, circling a group of islands. The islands were Indonesia, Frank realized.
    "This is the Java Trench, a place where two continental plates have collided. Their banging together resulted in the formation of the trench and left the area tremendously unstable.
    "If a powerful explosive were detonated here, the result could be worldwide geological change."
    A powerful explosive, Frank thought, his throat suddenly dry. Like a hydrogen bomb.
    "This is the simulated result of one such explosion."
    The screen went white. The light was so bright Frank had to shield his eyes. Then all at once the map of the world came back on screen.
    Everything was different!
    California was gone. The east coast of the United States had changed, and so had England and the Indian subcontinent.
    Frank quit the simulation and sank back in his chair. So this was what the Assassins were planning. They were going to change the world - forever.

Chapter 9
    Joe felt sweat form on his forehead and trickle down his face. How was he going to get out of shooting Endang?
    Nwali had left the cabin, Bill trailing behind him. Endang was still lying on the cabin floor, sobbing quietly. Boris was leaning against the door, arms folded across his chest. Joe knew that if he wanted to try to escape with Endang, he'd have to go right through the big man. He couldn't do it.
    "Why are you waiting?" Boris demanded. "Shoot her!"
    Endang raised her head to look at him with Pleading eyes.
    Joe's mind raced. With Boris standing over him he didn't have time to plan.
    Joe jumped as the door to the cabin swung open. "We're returning to Krinski's mansion. Immediately!" Nwali announced. He walked up to Joe and took his gun away.
    Nwali nodded to Boris. "Bring the girl. Quickly." '
    Joe tried hard not to show how relieved he was at not having to kill Endang.
    At least not yet.
     
    ***
     
    Frank struggled through the rest of the simulations Krinski had asked him to run, his head still spinning from the implications of what he'd found. He became aware of how much time had passed only when his stomach started growling and he noticed that another three hours had