Page 128 (1/2)

Pitt took what he kneould be his last look about the gyood-by to a passing piece of his life, he stood there and soaked up the e, the blood and sacrifice of his crew, the fragility of their hope that had in the end carried theh It would all be left behind Finally, he cast aside his reverie and walked down the main staircase and eventually found his way to the forward cargo hold on G Deck

They were all present and accounted for and looking strangely unfaaunt and tre trickles of sweat fro a concerned eye on Seagra by with his analysis equipment Admirals Sandecker and Kemper, huddled in one corner of the darkened hold and conversing in low tones

Pitt carefully stepped around the twisted bulkhead supports and over the rippled deck of warped steel until he was standing behind a shipyard worker as intently aie on the vault door The cult, Pitt thought darkly, it was only a ut was laid bare, suddenly, he beca around hi of the vault

As if sharing his uneasiness, the other athered beside Pitt in restless apprehension

At last, the worker turned off the fiery blue jet of his torch and raised his face shield

"How's it look?" Pitt asked

"They sure built theood in the old days," the worker replied "I've torched out the lock es, but she's still frozen solid"

"What now?"

"We run a cable from the Doppleman crane above, attach it to the vault door and hope for the best"

It took the better part of an hour for a crew of men to wrestle a two-inch-thick cable into the hold and fasten it onto the vault Then, when all was ready, a signal was relayed to the crane operator via a portable radio transhten out its curves and tighten No one had to be told to move back out of the way They all knew that if the wire took it in its head to snap, it would whiplash through the hold with h force to split a man in two

In the distance they could hear the engine of the crane straining For long seconds nothing happened; the cable stretched and quivered, its strands groaning under the treed closer Still nothing happened The vault's stubborn resolve seemed as firm as the steel of its walls

The cable slackened as the crane operator eased off the strain to work up his engine's rped the clutch onceTo the silent men who looked anxiously on, it seemed inconceivable that the old rusted vault could stand up to such a powerful assault, and yet the inconceivable was apparently happening But then a tiny hairline crack e of the vault door It was followed by two vertical cracks along the sides and, finally, a fourth, running across the botto screech of protest, the door reluctantly relinquished its grip and tore off the great steel cube

No water caht during its long sojourn in the deep abyss

Nobody made ablack square hole A musty stench rolled out from within

Lusky was the first to find his voice "My God, what is it? What in hell is that smell?"