outside waiting to take us to San Diego, from there we'll fly you out to Papeete, Tahiti." Stevenson seemed anxious. "I don't mean to rush you but there is a certain time restriction on this Jordan, we need to go now."
Jordan looked at the two MP's, staring straight ahead, as stiff as boards. They certainly take their job seriously , she thought. Then she looked at Stevenson and saw the impatience brimming to the surface. Whatever Montoya had uncovered in the depths of the Pacific had been important enough to involve the Military. It was increasingly obvious this wasn't as much a request as an order; she didn't have a choice. "What about my classes?"
"Taken care of."
"And clothes?"
"I'm sure we can hook you up in San Diego."
Jordan looked around the room, thought back to everything the Doctor had done for her, she had to pay him back somehow. She jumped from her seat.
She was going to Tahiti.
"Let's fly."
3
Bob Dalton walked out of the International Court of Justice with the weight of a nation squarely on his shoulders. At that moment he was a dejected man at breaking point.
He was New Zealand's diplomatic representative in the week's proceedings to approve an injunction that was to block the French testing in the South Pacific. At fifty-two years of age, Bob's hair had whitened and over the last ten years, the crows-feet around his eyes had deepened. Thin, wire-rimmed glasses pinched his nose as the sweat poured off his high forehead.
The personal pressure he felt to have a successful campaign in the court was causing his ulcer to pulsate waves of pain in his abdomen. But that pressure paled in comparison to the pressure his boss, The Prime Minister of New Zealand, was placing on him.
This was the highest profile case Dalton had ever had; not just for New Zealand, but the world. He knew the damage the French testing was doing to the ecosystems of the South Pacific Atolls and it's surrounding ocean inhabitants and he wanted nothing more then to put an end to their arrogant and selfish agenda.
A fifteen year veteran of world diplomacy, Dalton had started his service representing New Zealand in the United Nations in New York, where he spent eleven years debating with other world diplomats over all matters of international importance. His last four years had been spent as Diplomat to the Netherlands; a prestigious position that included all things to do with the International Court of Justice.
This court; located in The Hague, Netherlands, was the principal judicial organ for the United Nations and had been in operation since 1946. Consisting of fifteen elected justices of various nationalities, each holding a nine-year term, the court's primary function was to settle legal disputes between countries in accordance with international law. However, it also provided opinions on legal questions referred to it by international agencies.
On this day Dalton as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand was requesting the court review the 1973 submittal by both New Zealand and Australia regarding French testing and to have the original ruling overturned.
The New Zealanders were unhappy with France's actions during the first days of the hearing. They had continued to go about their tests in Mururoa, even with the knowledge New Zealand had been waiting for the court to make a decision. What amazed Dalton was that the whole world was watching the events pan out and yet the French had little interest in being cooperative or diplomatic.
For his part, Dalton had been expecting good news from the Greenpeace faction, knowing that if there was sufficient radiation leakage they would find it. News had surfaced that the dive team had disappeared and only one member's body had been accounted for; found on the boat with fatal wounds described as fatal lacerations from a living creature.
Dick Finn, Australia's diplomat to the Netherlands approached Dalton with a somber look on his face.
"The French are investigating the