Page 83 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt

‘That’s true.’ Zed gave a modest shrug. ‘But I am thrilled to announce that Lightning Communications will be partnering with Berners Bank to ensure the project’s completion.’ The younger Eszu looked very satisfied with himself.

‘You’re going to be bankrolled by Berners?’ the presenter asked.

‘You’ve chosen a crass term, but yes. David Rutter, the CEO, is a personal friend of mine. He’s a great man. He shares my vision for the future.’

‘David Rutter...’ CeCe whispered. ‘Where have I heard that name before?’

‘Mr Rutter’s telephone number is certainly a handy one to have in the phonebook,’ the presenter quipped.

Zed raised his immaculately plucked eyebrows. ‘I would tend to agree, yes.’

‘Where will you start this enormous project?’

‘We’ll begin by connecting Australia to New Zealand. It’s our little Antipodean test run,’ he laughed. ‘We’re about to send out a small army of “trenchers” to start digging under the Tasman Sea.’

The presenter gave Zed a nod. ‘Well, we shall follow your progress with interest, Mr Eszu. You must promise to return to the programme and update us on the progress of the project.’

‘Oh, it would be my pleasure to, thank you.’ He flashed his whitened teeth. ‘But just before I go, I should say that we like to brand everything to the hilt at Lightning. Perhaps you’d like to know the name of this project?’

The presenter was taken aback once more. ‘Of course,’ he said, through gritted teeth.

‘Well, seeing as this project will do the heavy lifting for humanity, it makes sense that we should term the project... “Atlas”.’

Electra took the remote control and switched the television off. The salon was silent. ‘All right, ladies. I’m sure he knows we’re on this trip. And I’m sure he knows all about Pa and Kreeg’s past.’ She pointed to the television. ‘That creep wants a reaction. But we’re not going to give it to him. Okay?’

CeCe stood up. ‘It’s like a final piece of revenge. The whole world is going to know about this cable thing. And he’s using Pa’s name to do it.’

‘Sorry, exactly who was that guy?’ Jack whispered to Ally.

‘Kreeg Eszu’s son,’ she replied.

‘God. I can smell the hair oil on him from here.’ He paused,sensing the change of atmosphere. ‘Listen, I’m going to do a coffee run, I think you girls could do with a top-up.’

‘Make it a rosé run, Jack, if you don’t mind,’ Star said.

‘Coming right up,’ he replied, and made for the salon door.

‘Jesus. I feel sick. He just...’ Maia’s voice tailed off as a lump arrived in her throat.

‘I know, sweetie,’ Electra replied, taking her sister’s hand. ‘But let’s stay calm, and stay together. Think about what Pa would do. He’d pause and think things through. What was that thing he always said? About chess?’

‘Lose pieces wisely,’ Star whispered.

‘That’s it. I think he meant that you have to pick your battles. And this is one that we can’t do much about at the moment,’ Electra continued. ‘We know that the timing isn’t a coincidence. He’s trying to ruin our trip to honour Pa. So we’re not going to let him.’

Ally stepped outside onto the aft deck, her head spinning. It had been quite the morning, from having to relive her grandparents’ horrific deaths, to Zed Eszu appearing like an omnipotent and evil god on theTitan’s televisions. Not forgetting, of course, Jack... Her heart skipped a beat as she thought of their earlier kiss. She desperately hoped that the awkward tension was now behind them, and that they might have a chance... She carried on towards the rear of the yacht, thinking that she might track down Ma and relieve her of ‘Bear duty’.

As Ally approached the stern, she spied Georg Hoffman. He was running one hand through his hair, whilst the other grasped a satellite phone. The lawyer was pacing up anddown, shaking his head vigorously. Then Ally stared in disbelief as Georg put the phone down, dropped to his knees and began to thump the teak decking. She rushed over to him. ‘Georg! Are you all right?’

He jumped out of his skin, and rushed to his feet. ‘Ally, forgive me. I thought I was alone.’

‘What’s wrong? Who were you talking to?’

‘Oh,’ he stumbled. ‘It was only my sister. She was giving me some... difficult news.’

‘Georg, I’m so sorry. If there’s anyone who understands difficult news, it’s me. Would you like to talk about it?’

He went red in the face. ‘Oh, no. Thank you, though. I really cannot apologise enough. I very rarely lose my cool, so to speak.’