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The water was dense and opaque, a dull green As the increasing pressure tightened around his body, Pitt felt a prodding desire to turn back, lie down on his back in the sun, take a long nap and forget the whole thing He shook off the tereen dusk became black

Then the enorloom in three dimensions

An oppressive silence hung over the corpse of the Ee to nowhere

Pitt swa lifeboat deck, past the portholes and the eerie interior of the cabins beyond He reached the edge of the excavation pit and hesitated The water was noticeably colder at this level He watched his air bubbles issue froulator and rise to the surface in little clusters, ht at the a beach under a full moon

He let hilide slowly into the htlessly as a leaf into the bottoled womb of Harvey Shields' cabin

An icy shiver ran down his spine, not froid water his thermal suit kept hiination He saw the bones described by Collins Unlike the bleached white and connected skeletons in medical school classrooms, they had turned a tobacco shade of brown and become separated

Ain the tangled steel behind the larger of the two skulls and was partly covered withwith his hands

He touched a limp, round object He pulled it free and a cloud of dust like particles and tiny shreds of material billowed in front of his face mask The object was an old life belt

He worked hiht was nearly useless The swirling disturbance in the water stonewalled the bea

He ca Then came a well-preserved shoe, an oxford by the look of it, and a small medicine bottle The top was still sealed and the contents untainted by the water

With the perseverance of an archaeologist sifting away the layers of tiers He did not feel the cold seeping into his therainst sharpinto his skin Vaporlike trails of blood were issuing fros

His heartbeat quickened when he thought he saw his goal protruding froe He wrapped his hand around it and gave a gentle tug The badly corroded locking e suitcase ca

Two feet beyond, his eyes spotted another handgrip; this one was smaller He paused and checked his dive watch FiveHe took a long breath and slowly eased the handgrip out of the litter

Pitt found hi at the remnants of a sh badly rotted, were still intact Ales apart

Inside was a muck-coated packet Pitt knew instinctively that he held the North American Treaty