The Rig 3: Eye of the Hurricane Read Free

and marketing, but he never did get what drove men like Jacobs, or the president for that matter. Quest for power, he supposed. Lately he had wanted to change the world. His wife had started him on that course and he was glad he could do something for the world now that he had the money to do it.
    But he shook all that off and thought about Jacobs’ proposal again. He needed the senator on his side for the educational program to go national.
    “Sure. You can come in and claim the limelight on every good thing that happens with ‘The City’ now. But remember, it's to go down.”
    Jacobs nodded and winked.
    “We have a deal then.”
    The rest of the evening was long and dull and Portis was glad when he was home. He turned on the news, poured himself a whisky and sat down in front of the screen. He watched CNN report on the terrorist attack. He changed the channel. CBS was showing the girlfriend again. Canadian CBC had something on the possible oil spill and the environmental consequences. It did not seem too important to him. He laughed when the reporter overlaid a prognosis from the disaster area in Vancouver. It was a new trick the media used and he found it immensely funny. Finally, he changed to the Spanish channel. The Mexicans did not seem to be too concerned with the disaster; instead they had the weather report on. His Spanish was not great, so it took him all the power of his befuddled mind to understand, but he managed to do it. And his eyes opened wide as he suddenly understood what was coming. The weather girl was talking about El Niño and a massive tropical storm about to hit the Pacific coast, rolling up from Baja California. He realized that same storm would soon be battering ‘The City’. And in that moment, he had his doubts about what had transpired. This could turn into something much worse than he had ever dared to plan.
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    When Commander Lovell came back from the head onto the bridge of the USCGC Hurricane, he saw the FEMA officer give an order to his first mate. He growled at that. The FEMA man had no authority on board his cutter. Officially, the United States Coast Guard had to listen to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, but the orders had been clear. Let this man on board as an advisor.
    The man had refused to identify himself, only flashing a FEMA badge, but Charles Palermo, the Secretary of Homeland Security had ordered him over the HAM radio to let him come aboard. Lovell had refused, and rightly so, due to standing orders, but he had been told to let this man advise him. Now, here the man was, ordering his officers around.
    “Lieutenant James! Why have we altered course?”
    Lieutenant James jumped to attention and pointed at the FEMA guy.
    “He ordered me to, sir,” he stammered.
    James was a young lad, only just out of the Navy Academy and then he opted to join the United States Coast Guard. He was stunned by the violent reaction of his commander. It was completely out of sorts. But then, Lieutenant James had not heard the FEMA officer's statement that he did not intend for anyone to survive the situation at ‘The City’.
    “You will steer us back where we were and you will keep us posted there. Understood?”
    “Aye aye, sir.” The young man looked shocked, but still, he followed the orders. 
    “Sir?” another man asked. “Sir, we just got a notice from the weather station on San Clemente. There's a storm coming.”
    “Is there?”
    “Yes, sir. Seems it is a tropical storm that will make Super Storm Sandy pale in comparison.”
    “You mean Hurricane Sandy?”
    “Sir, I think it was classified as a Super Storm.”
    “Sure....” Commander Lovell shook his head, but he made his way to the starboard side of his cutter. He looked outside and far in the distance; the skies did look ominous. He swore. It did look like a massive storm was on its way.
     
    ***
     
    William Portis went to bed a happy man. He had heard the Mexican weather report