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He had expected the darkness to shroud his vision, forcing hiht was for below him He turned and stared down into the water

The pool was eht No chee emission was caused by so slime Thankful for the illu climb upward

The last 3 meters (10 feet) were the worst So near, yet so far The brink of the sinkhole seeertips Three ht as well have been the suh school track star could have done it in his sleep But not Pitt A few months on the low side of forty, he felt like a tired old man

His body was hard and lean, he watched his diet and exercised just enough to ht There were the scars frounshot wounds, but all the joints still functioned in a reasonably satisfactory ed hiood wine or a tequila on the rocks with lih the years froin to Sauza Commemorativo tequila If asked why, he had no answer He as were hermetically sealed and buried inside his head

Then, when he ithin reach of the sinkhole's edge, he dropped the loop attached to the C hook

Oneit fro toward the water where it entered the weirdly glowing algae layer with hardly a splash to an using the pockets of li the hae of the sinkhole in an attempt to implant the pick end into soft soil

It took four tries before the sharp point dug in and reth, he took the line in both hands and pulled his body up until he could see flat ground before hi darkness He lay quiet and studied his surroundings The dank rain forest seeht came from the few stars and a crescent moon that breached the scattered clouds and the intertwined branches of the crowded trees The diht that filtered down illuhostly quality that was equaled by the sinister, claustrophobic effect of the invading walls of the forest The eerie scene was enhanced by the almost co and hear ohts orshadows nor heard voices The only sound caht rain on the leaves

Enough laziness, he told hi, find out what happened to Giordino and the others Ti away Only your first ordeal is over That was physical, now you have to use your brain He ly as a phantom

The ca lowered into the sacrificial ere intact and ee, no indications of death He approached the clearing where Giordino had landed the NUMA helicopter It was riddled fro it to fly for help was a dashed hope No aain

The shattered rotor blades hung down like distorted arms twisted at the elbow A colony of ter tree stuht it incredible the fuel tanks had failed to explode It was too painfully obvious that a group of bandits or rebels had attacked the camp and blasted the craft into scrap

His fears lessened considerably at discovering the gunfire he'd heard in the sinkhole was directed against the helicopter and not huton, DC, Admiral James Sandecker, wouldn't take kindly to the write-off of one of the agency's fleet of aircraft, but Pitt had braved the feisty little sea dog's wrath on numerous occasions and lived to tell about it Not that it mattered what Sandecker would say now Giordino and the archaeology project people were gone, taken captive by some force unknown to him

He pushed aside the entry door that sagged drunkenly on one hinge and entered, roped under the pilot's seat until he found a long pocket and retrieved a flashlight The battery case felt undaed He held his breath and flicked on the switch The beam flashed on and lit up the cockpit

"Score one for the home team," he muttered to himself

Pitt carefully o coedsee and pulled out the contents His shirt and sneakers had escaped unscathed but a bullet had pierced the knee of his pants and caused irreparable da the shorty wet suit, he found a towel and gave his body a vigorous rubdown to re on his clothes and sneakers, he then rued around until he came upon the box lunches packed by the chef on board their research ship His box was splattered against a bulkhead, but Giordino's had survived intact Pitt wolfed down a peanut butter sandwich and a dill pickle and drained a can of root beer Now, he felt alain

Back in the cockpit, he unlatched a panel door to a s an old 45-caliber autoe Pitt, had carried it fro World War II and then presented it to Dirk when he graduated from the Air Force Academy The weapon had saved Pitt's life at least twice in the ensuing seventeen years