true. His inability to answer all the questions did not disturb her; as a matter of fact, given the rather fantastic nature of his story, if he had had pat answers to all the questions, she would have felt less assured of its truth. Despite her critical journalistic background, she found herself intrigued and a little enchanted by the idea that some superaliens from another world needed her help.
Carol's intuition was just as important as her rational thought processes in the formation of her opinion. First of all, she trusted Troy. She watched him very carefully when he answered the questions and did not see the slightest indication that he was lying. She had no doubt that Troy believed he was telling the truth. But whether Troy was indeed telling the truth, or was instead being manipulated and directed by the very ETs that he was purporting to represent, was another issue altogether. But for what purpose? she reasoned. There's not much that the three of us can do for them. Even the information they requested, except for the weapons stuff, is relatively innocuous. She temporarily set aside the notion that her friend Troy had become some kind of pawn for the aliens.
Carol could tell that Nick was growing more suspicious. Nick thought it was very peculiar that there were three Navy divers in the water at the exactly correct location when one of the carpets ushered Troy to the surface. And Troy's report of the interrogation process after they had flown him to Key West was so confused that Nick became exasperated again.
'Christ, Jefferson,' he said, 'you either have a very short or a very convenient memory. You tell us that the Navy kept you in custody for almost an hour, yet you hardly remember any of their questions and have no idea why they were interrogating you. That just doesn't sound right to me.'
Troy was becoming a little angry. 'Shit, Nick, I told you that I was tired. I had been through a traumatic experience. Their questions didn't make sense to me. And the entire time I felt as if a little voice was trying to make itself heard inside my head.'
Nick turned to Carol. 'I think I'm changing my mind. I don't want to play in this game, no matter how clever it is. Homer and Greta annoy me, but I can deal with them if it's necessary. On the other hand, the Navy scares me. There was some reason they were following us. It's just too damn unlikely to be a coincidence. Maybe Troy knows something about it and maybe he doesn't. I can't tell. But I don't like the smell of it.'
He stood up to leave. Carol motioned for Nick to sit down and took a deep breath. 'Look, you two,' she said in a low voice. 'I have a confession to make. And it seems as if this is the perfect time to make it I did not come down here to Key West to look for whales.' She glanced at Nick. 'And not for treasure either. I came here to check out a rumor that a new Navy missile had gone astray and crashed in the Gulf of Mexico.' She paused several seconds to let her message register. 'I probably should have told you earlier. But I never found the right time. I'm truly sorry.'
'And you thought the missile was in the fissure,' said Troy a few seconds later. 'Which was why you came back yesterday.'
'We were going to salvage it for you and give you a worldwide scoop,' added Nick, his feeling of betrayal softened somewhat by the obvious sincerity of her apology. 'You were using us all the time.'
'You could call it that,' Carol conceded, 'but as a reporter, I don't see it that way.' She noticed the tension in the room. Nick seemed especially guarded. 'But now it doesn't matter anyway,' she continued. 'What is important is that I have given an explanation for the Navy's presence at the dive site. During the last two days I have made several inquiries at all levels about the clandestine activities that the Navy currently has underway to search for the missile. Last night that Mexican lieutenant got a good look at our best close-ups of the missile in the fissure. Undoubtedly someone put two and two together.'
'Look, angel,' Troy spoke after another short silence, 'I don't know anything about a missile. And too much is going on for me to be hurt