Free Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler

hasn’t deviated as much as ten miles in the last twelve hours.”
    Harley was dubious. “That’s unheard-of.”
    â€œYou’ll see when you get our data,” said Heidi firmly. “Lizzie is a record breaker. Ships are already reporting ninety-foot waves.”
    â€œGood lord! What about your computer forecasts?”
    â€œWe throw them in the trash as soon as they’re printed. Lizzie is not conforming to the modus operandi of her predecessors. Our computers can’t project her path and ultimate power with any degree of accuracy.”
    â€œSo this is the hundred-year event.”
    â€œI fear this is more like the one that comes every thousand.”
    â€œCan you give me any indication, anything at all, on where she might strike, so my center can began sending out advisories?” Harley’s tone became serious.
    â€œShe can come ashore anywhere between Cuba and Puerto Rico. At the moment, I’m betting on the Dominican Republic. But there is no way of knowing for certain for another twenty-four hours.”
    â€œThen it’s time to issue preliminary alerts and warnings.”
    â€œAt the speed Lizzie is traveling it won’t be too soon.”
    â€œMy weather service coworkers and I will get right on it.”
    â€œHarley.”
    â€œYes, love.”
    â€œI won’t make it home for dinner tonight.”
    Heidi’s mind could picture Harley’s jovial smile over the phone as he replied, “Neither will I, love. Neither will I.”
    After she hung up, Heidi sat at her desk for a few moments, staring up at a giant chart of the North Atlantic active hurricane region. As she scanned the Caribbean islands closest to the approaching monster, something tugged at the back of her mind. She typed in a program on her computer that brought up a list depicting the name of the ships, a brief description and their position in a specific area of the North Atlantic. There were over twenty-two in position to suffer the full effects of the storm. Apprehensive that there might be a huge cruise ship with thousands of passengers and crew sailing in the path of the hurricane, she scanned the list. No cruise ships were shown near the worst of the tumult, but one name caught her eye. At first she thought it was a ship, then the old fact dawned on her. It was not a ship.
    â€œOh lord,” she moaned.
    Sam Moore, a bespectacled meteorologist working at a nearby desk, looked up. “Are you all right? Is anything wrong?”
    Heidi sagged in her chair. “The Ocean Wanderer. ”
    â€œIs that a cruise ship?”
    Heidi shook her head. “No, it’s a floating hotel that’s moored directly in the path of the system. There is no way she can be moved in time. She’s a sitting duck.”
    â€œThat ship that reported a ninety-foot wave,” said Moore. “If one that huge strikes the hotel…” His voice trailed off.
    â€œWe’ve got to warn their management to evacuate the hotel.”
    Heidi jumped to her feet and ran toward the communications room, hoping against hope that the hotel management would act without hesitation. If not, over a thousand guests and employees were facing an unspeakable death.

5
    N EVER HAD SUCH elegance, such grandeur, risen from the sea. Nothing remotely approaching its unique design and creative distinction had ever been built. The Ocean Wanderer underwater resort hotel was an adventure waiting to be experienced, an exciting opportunity for its guests to view the wonders beneath the sea. She rose above the waves in wondrous splendor two miles off the tip of Cabo Cabron peninsula that jutted from the southeastern shore of the Dominican Republic.
    Acknowledged by the travel industry as the world’s most extraordinary hotel, it was built in Sweden to exacting standards never before achieved. The highest degree of craftsmanship, using the ultimate in materials combined with a daring exploitation of