Day IV of the novel 9 Days Falling concludes with a scene that knits back to scene 9 of Day 2, and explains the strange tunneling and drilling operation of Ian Thomas in Bladon, Oxfordshire. It also introduces a new character, the prominent Duke Ellington, as he contemplates what most wealthy people still seem to constantly fixate on--his next acquisition. In this case, his aspirations extend beyond the collection of precious stones he has been busy creating, and intersects the plot line of Elena Fairchild and company. It seems the Duke has taken an unhealthy business interest in the dilemma Fairchild is now wrestling with, and one that promises to further complicate her struggle to save the oil aboard her largest fleet tanker, the Princess Royal, now endangered even more with the onset of military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.
