Hunter Killer - Alex King Series 12 (2021), A BATEMAN [urban books to read TXT] 📗

handgun, but apparently the police could not find the shooter.” She realised King had winced when she hugged him and she pushed him away at arms-length and looked at him full of concern, still holding him by the arms. “What happened to you, are you injured?”

“I fell, it’s nothing,” he said defensively. She hugged him close again, then released her grip a little awkwardly.

“I thought I might have heard a rifle shot,” Daniel said, walking over to him. “But it may have been a vehicle backfiring because some idiot raced across the beach in a pickup and nearly hit a female polar bear. Maybe it was an accidental gunshot, and the idiot made his escape before anybody could question him. They hire out firearms to people with no experience, just so long as they can get the forms filled in on time.” He paused, looking at the rifle on King’s shoulder. “Anyway, it’s been quite a morning…”

“Sounds like it has,” King replied, ignoring Daniel’s comment. Had he seen King driving and entered into a passive-aggressive rhetoric? King suspected so but decided to let it go.

“That doesn’t explain the other gunshots,” Madeleine protested.

“I didn’t hear them,” said Daniel. He looked at King and asked, “Did you?”

“No,” King lied.

She shrugged. “I didn’t either, but somebody said that was what the police were questioning people about. Anyway, the sailing has been cancelled because of the fog. Not because of the ship and navigation, but because of the issue of loading it with the cargo and passengers. They’re all used to it up here, the fog can be some of the worst on the planet caused by the warm Gulfstream and cold Arctic currents meeting head on.”

“Is there fog forecast for tomorrow?”

“Not as thick,” Madeleine replied. “We’re having some lunch, care to join us?”

King looked at Daniel, whose expression was somewhere between disinterest and ambivalence. King could think of nothing he’d rather do less, but he agreed. Something wasn’t quite right with these two, and he figured he could find out what that was over a plate of something hot. He looked around for somewhere to put the rifle, then ended up handing it over the desk to the receptionist, who received it like it was an everyday occurrence, which he supposed it was. She put a tag on it and asked his name, writing it on the tag along with his room number. King had drawn out the bolt and kept the magazine.

The restaurant was busy with people who should have been making their way to the port but had been left with a last-minute change in plans and from the way the front of house staff bustled about the place, King got the impression that this was an impromptu lunch service. After they had been seated on a table laid for four diners, they ordered drinks and food from a special’s menu of three choices. King chose the reindeer stew with potatoes and Madeleine ordered king crab claws with dill butter. King wasn’t necessarily interested in what Daniel chose but when the food came, it was the thickest slab of cod he’d ever seen. The fillet had been cut a mere inch wide and still filled a third of the plate. He started to regret his choice of reindeer, which he could see was the Svalbard or Norwegian equivalent of a shepherd’s pie. Madeleine was handed a plate containing a small faux bucket of cracked crab claws, a pot of the melted dill butter and a finger bowl with a slice of lemon.

“The food here really is excellent,” she commented. “Simple, but brilliant.”

“Agreed,” said Daniel, but King suspected it was merely to agree with her and not that he was a fan of the menu.

“Have you heard about the seed vault?” Madeleine asked, looking at them both.

“No,” Daniel replied.

“I have,” replied King. He glanced at Daniel, and the man seemed visibly irked that he had answered honestly.

“Isn’t it simply the most wonderful idea?” She exclaimed. She turned to Daniel and said, “It is an underground vault located here on Spitsbergen. Naturally being the most northerly town on the planet, and with a year-round permafrost, the place is a natural freezer. Well, every country on the planet stores its most staple crop seeds in the vault in case of disaster or famine. That way, they can withdraw seeds and grow them in times of crisis. It’s incredible because the United States keeps its seeds right next to those of North Korea! It’s a neutral facility and kind of ground zero for feeding the planet if we ever suffer a disaster like an ELE.”

“ELE?” Daniel asked.

“An extinction level event,” King replied casually. “Yes, it’s a marvellous facility, or the concept is at least. Four and a half million varieties of seeds are held in what is referred to as the Doomsday Vault. Even cannabis is stored there.”

“Cannabis!” Madeleine exclaimed.

“Yes,” replied King with a wry smile. “That was what the Dutch chose to store…”

Madeleine laughed. “You are terrible!”

“Do countries ever withdraw their seeds?” Daniel asked, not looking in King’s direction.

Madeleine shrugged and King said, “Syria is the only country ever to have made a withdrawal. Which gives you an idea of the situation out there…”

“Oh my god…” Madeleine said quietly.

Everybody was quiet for a few minutes as they ate. King paused to sip his beer and said, “It’s a shame this fog is so thick, we should have been able to see the Northern Lights tonight.”

“Yes!” exclaimed Madeleine. “I have seen them before, when I was a child we stayed at a cottage in the north of Sweden, and we watched them every night.”

“What about you, Daniel, have you seen them before?” King asked.

Daniel nodded through a mouthful of cod. He finished chewing and said as he swallowed, “Yes. Like Madeleine, I saw them as a