Monster: Tale Loch Ness Read Online Free PDF Page A

told me you'd expressed interest in abandoning private consultancy, I nearly jumped up to the top of Carn a Bhodaich across the loch."
    "I appreciate the sentiment," Scotty said, puffing his cigar.
    Whittenfeld walked to the window, staring at the finger of water stretching into the distance. "There it is! Loch Ness. The big prize. Sitting and waiting. Waiting to get angry. I know it looks like a docile child, but that's just a perverted little game it plays. Beneath the child is a vile little bitch with a nasty temper. Like a sorcerer, it can invoke the wrath of hell, and when it does, it is none too pleasant. The wind funnels between the mountains. The water surface waves to enormous proportions. The sky hangs heavy, black, brooding. I've seen it from here, and I've witnessed it aboard the Columbus . And I've seen the fear it instills."
    Scotty listened, watched, fascinated.
    "But what intrigues me most," Whittenfeld continued, "is what lies beneath. A colossal anomaly. A freak of nature. A renegade oil field." He held up several maps. "Look at these seismics and isopachs. Every day the project starts to look better. And every day the company's opponents look more and more like babbling fools." He laughed. "Mr. Bruce, the world is very illogical, its population almost devoured by its own stupidity and ignorance. Fortunately, there are enlightened men determined to see the battle through against onerous odds!"
    Scotty just stared. "If I'm to get started tomorrow," he suddenly said, "I'd like to get a feel of the place, walk around, meet the staff."
    Whittenfeld laughed. "The profile is accurate. Scotty Bruce: a man of action, few words. That's good. Your impatience with profundity will dewind me!" He walked to a free wall and pulled down a chart. "This is base personnel. I'm at the top. You're underneath. You have a chief district engineer, his staff, a district geologist, and the normal administrative personnel." He pointed at another graphic. "Here's the operational profile for the Columbus . Below is security. That's about it. You're familiar with general organizational procedures. Now you just need to meet the faces."
    Scotty stood. "It's a big staff for an exploratory base."
    Whittenfeld shook his head. "The company is very optimistic. We're sure there's plenty of oil here." He put on his jacket. "Shall we?" he asked, indicating the door.
    They walked out into the secretarial area. Pierre Lefebre was waiting for them.
    "I was told Mr. Bruce had arrived," Lefebre said in an appealing but heavy French accent. "So I came up to meet him."
    "I'm glad you did," Whittenfeld declared, introducing the two men.
    "It's a pleasure," Lefebre announced with a flourish. "I've heard a lot about you, Monsieur Bruce."
    "I hope not all bad," Scotty said.
    "All good!"
    Impossible, Scotty thought, allowing a touch of realism to invade opening-day pleasantries. "Thanks" he said.
    Lefebre was slim, scarred, blandly complected. At first glance, he looked the type of man who would rarely smile. But he was smiling effusively, almost overdoing it.
    "So good," Lefebre continued as he buttoned the bottom button of his tightly tailored, epauletted Eisenhower jacket. "I'm anxious to discover if the man lives up to the legend."
    "Don't believe all the propaganda," Scotty declared. Was the Frenchman referring to his football and engineering careers or his infamous reputation for corporate radicalism, his addiction to anticorruption crusades and causes?
    "Propaganda or not, I look forward to working with you."
    "Thanks. The feeling is mutual." They entered the hall.
    Whittenfeld turned to Lefebre. "What are you up to?"
    "A security check."
    "Can it wait?"
    "Sure."
    Whittenfeld pointed to the elevators. "Good. Come along and help me introduce Scotty to the base."
    Shortly after two o'clock, Scotty, Whittenfeld, and Lefebre returned to Whittenfeld's suite.
    They were joined moments later by Tony Spinelli, the senior district engineer, whom Scotty had