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"Al," Pitt called "Catch"

If Giordino was surprised to see Pitt collar two athered them in as effortlessly as if they were footballs 'Ju over"

Without lingering to answer, Pitt raced back to the cabin port

He realized with only a s the mother was a sheer act of desperation He passed beyond conscious thought; his er

The air was so hot and dry his perspiration evaporated before it seeped from his pores The heat rose from the deck and penetrated the soles of his shoes He stuh the dooave a sudden lurch as the deck dropped on an increasing angle to port She was in her final death agony before capsizing and sinking to the sea bottom

Pitt found hi through the port A pair of hands clasped his wrists and he pulled The woman's shoulders and

breasts squeezed past the opening

He gave another heave and then her hips scraped through

The fla at his back The deck was dropping away beneath his feet He held the woe of the cabin as the Leonin Andreyev rolled over, her propellers twisting out of the water and arching toward the sun

They were sucked under by the fierce rush of water, swirled around like dolls in a maelstroled upward, seeing the gli slowness

The blood pounded in his ears and his lungs felt as though they were filled with angry wasps The thin veil of blackness began to tint his vision He felt the wo, against his progress He used up the last particles of oxygen, and a pyrotechnic display flared inside his head One burst becae ball that exploaded until it exploded in a wavering flash

He broke through the surface, his upturned face directed at the afternoon sun Thankfully he inhaled deep waves of air, enough to ease the blackness, the pounding and the sting in his lungs Then he quickly circled the wo the salt water fro, followed by a coughing spell Only when her breathing returned to near norroaned did he look around for the others

Giordino i one of the deck chairs in front of hiedy around the at Giordino's repertory of funny faces

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to turn up," he said

"Bad pennies usually do," said Pitt, keeping the children'son to the deck chair