Steve Berry - Cotton Malone 4 The Charlemagne Pursuit

TheCharlemagnePursuit

TheCharlemagnePursuit

TheCharlemagnePursuit

THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT

TheCharlemagnePursuit

CONTENTS

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Acknowledgments

Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

PART TWO

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

PART THREE

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Four

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Eight

PART FOUR

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty-One

Chapter Sixty-Two

Chapter Sixty-Three

Chapter Sixty-Four

Chapter Sixty-Five

Chapter Sixty-Six

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Chapter Seventy

Chapter Seventy-One

Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Three

PART FIVE

Chapter Seventy-Four

Chapter Seventy-Five

Chapter Seventy-Six

Chapter Seventy-Seven

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Chapter Eighty

Chapter Eighty-One

Chapter Eighty-Two

Chapter Eighty-Three

Chapter Eighty-Four

Chapter Eighty-Five

Chapter Eighty-Six

Chapter Eighty-Seven

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Chapter Eighty-Nine

Chapter Ninety

Chapter Ninety-One

Chapter Ninety-Two

Chapter Ninety-Three

Chapter Ninety-Four

Writers Note

About the Author

Also by Steve Berry

Copyright

TheCharlemagnePursuit

For Pam Ahearn and Mark Tavani,

Dream makers

TheCharlemagnePursuit

Study the past, if you would divine the future.

CONFUCIUS

The Ancient Masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive. The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable.

Because it is unfathomable, all we can do is describe their appearance. Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream.

Alert, like men aware of danger.

Courteous, like visiting guests. Yielding, like ice about to melt.

Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.

LAO-TZU (604 BCE)

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.

PROVERBS 11:29

TheCharlemagnePursuit

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With each book Ive recognized all of the wonderful folks at Random House. I make no exception now. So to Gina Centrello, Libby McGuire, Cindy Murray, Kim Hovey, Christine Cabello, Beck Stvan, Carole Lowenstein, and everyone in Promotions and Salesa heartfelt and sincere thanks. Also, a bow to Laura Jorstad, who has copyedited all of my novels. No writer could ask for a better group of professionals to work with. Youre all, without question, the best.

A special thanks to the friendly people in Aachen, who answered my persistent questions with great patience. With long-overdue thanks, I want to mention Ron Chamblin who owns the Chamblin Bookmine in Jacksonville, Florida, where, for years, Ive performed the majority of my research. Its an amazing place. Thanks, Ron, for creating it. And a nod to our Aussie Mum, Kate Taperell, who offered her keen insight into how folks talk Down Under.

Finally, this book is dedicated to my agent, Pam Ahearn, and my editor, Mark Tavani. In 1995 Pam signed me as a client, then endured 7 years and 85 rejections before finding us a home. What patience. Then theres Mark. Such a chance he took on a crazy lawyer who wanted to write books.

But we all survived.

I owe Pam and Mark more than any one person could ever repay in a lifetime.

Thank you.

For everything.

TheCharlemagnePursuit

THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT

TheCharlemagnePursuit

PROLOGUE

NOVEMBER 1971

THE ALARM SOUNDED AND FORREST MALONE CAME ALERT.

Depth? he called out.

Six hundred feet.

Whats beneath us?

Another two thousand feet of cold water.

His gaze raked the active dials, gauges, and thermometers. In the tiny conn the helmsman sat to his right, the planesman squeezed in on the left. Both men kept their hands locked on control sticks. Power flickered on and off.

Slow to two knots.

The submarine lurched in the water.

The alarm stopped. The conn went dark.

Captain, report from reactor room. Circuit breaker has blown on one of the control rods.

He knew what had happened. The safety mechanisms built into the temperamental thing had automatically dropped the other rodsthe reactor had scrammed, shut itself down. Only one possible course of action. Switch to batteries.

Dim emergency lights came on. His engineering officer, Flanders, a neat and deliberate professional on whom hed come to depend, stepped into the conn. Malone said, Talk to me, Tom.

I dont know how bad it is or how long its going to take to fix, but we need to lighten the electrical load.

Theyd lost power before, several times in fact, and he knew batteries could provide temporary power for as long as two days provided they were careful. His crew had trained rigorously for just this kind of situation, but once a reactor scrammed the manual said it had to be restarted within an hour. If more time passed, then the boat had to be taken to the nearest port.

And that was fifteen hundred miles away.

Shut down everything we dont need, he said.

Captain, its going to be hard holding her steady, the helmsman noted.

He understood Archimedes law. An object that weighed the same as an equal volume of water would neither sink nor float. Instead it would remain level at neutral buoyancy. Every sub functioned by that basic rule, kept underwater with engines that drove it forward. Without power, thered be no engines, no diving planes, no momentum. All problems that could easily be alleviated by surfacing, but above them wasnt open ocean. They were pinned beneath a ceiling of ice.

Captain, engine room reports a minor leak in the hydraulic plant.

Minor leak? he asked. Now?

It was noticed earlier, but with the power down they request permission to shut a valve to stop the leak so a hose can be replaced.

Logical. Do it. And I hope thats the end of the bad news. He turned toward the sonar tech. Anything in front of us?

Submariners all took their cues from others whod sailed before them, and those whod first fought frozen seas passed down two lessons. Never hit anything frozen if you dont have to and, if thats not possible, place the bow to the ice, push gently, and pray.

Clean ahead, sonar reported.

Starting to drift, the helmsman said.

Compensate. But go easy on the power.