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“The PIG,” Eddie said

Max nodded and said to Overholt, “We’ve got a truck of our oith a few hidden surprises” He turned back to Eddie “What would you say about taking Linc and Raven on a road trip?”

33

ARGENTINA

The nextat the port of Mar del Plata, Eddie stood on the dock as the Oregon’s lone functional crane lowered a truck taken out of the ship’s cargo hold The boxy-looking vehicle with the large four-person cab and oversized tires looked as rusted and junky as the vessel it was removed from Its side bore the faded words VERTEGAS OIL EXPLORATION The PIG, which stood for “Powered Investigator, Ground,” looked completely unremarkable, just as intended

The custo doith a faintly repulsed expression

“This thing actually is working?” he asked in heavily accented English as he checked his clipboard

Eddie nodded “You’d be surprised”

“I am surprised Show me”

When it reached the ground, Raven and Linc detached the cables while Eddie took the inspector on a quick tour of the truck He opened the rear doors and revealed that the cargo bay was stacked floor to ceiling with six steel drums

“What are these?” the inspector asked

“Spare fuel,” Eddie replied “We plan to be exploring soions in the south”

The inspector knocked on one of the barrels and heard the distinctive sound of a full container of liquid echoing back

“If you want, I can take one out for you to look inside,” Eddie offered

The inspector thought about it, then glanced at his watch