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Arthur Dorsett: An ugly, hulking giant of a est diamond e disdain for any hulobal diamond market--and net him billionsMaeve Fletcher: Dorsett's lithe and lovely blond daughter rebelled against laboring in her father's ree in zoology without a penny of his fortune But now her father has ordered her to spy on Dirk Pitt and NUMA, seizing the ultimate motivators--her twin six-year-old sons

Mason Broadmoor: A revered toteled Pitt into the Dorsett hit Island where Pitt unlocked the key to theoperations--and was captured by Dorsett's thugs But Broadave him the ride of his life

Boudicca Dorsett: A towering Aress, she is in charge of security operations for Dorsett Consolidated Mining Lith far surpasses that of most men, and her sadistic streak is rivaled only by her father's

Deirdre Dorsett: A glamorous woman with copper hair and the flair of a fashion model, she is vividly attractive to Dirk Pitt, until he perceives that her sensuality and sophistication conceal a heart as cold as polar ice

Hiraer: The iconoclastic chief of NUMA's coraphics prograets the next area to be rocked by Dorsett's revolutionarytechnique

RAFT OF THE GLADIATOR

January 17, 1856

TheTasman Sea

Of the four clipper ships built inAberdeen,Scotland, in 1854, one stood out fro ship of 1,256 tons, 198 feet in length and a 34-foot bea for the sky at a rakish angle She was one of the fleetest of the clippers ever to take to the water, but she was a dangerous ship to sail in rough weather because of her too fine lines She was hailed as a "ghoster, " having the capability of sailing under the barest breath of wind Indeed, the Gladiator was never to experience a slow passage fro becalmed

Unfortunately, and unpredictably, she was a ship destined for oblivion

Her owners fitted her out for the Australian trade and ened to carry passengers as well as cargo But as they soon discovered, there weren't thatwith first-and second-class cabins eovernment contracts for the transportation of convicts to the continent that initially served as the world's largest jail

The Gladiator was placed under co clipper captains, Charles

"Bully" Scaggs He was aptly na or insubordinate crew his land and Australia His aggressive e, Gladiator set a sixty-three-day record that still stands for sailing ships

Scaggs had raced the legendary captains and clipper ships of his time, John Kendricks of the fleet Hercules and Wilson Asher in command of the renowned Jupiter, and never lost Rival captains who left London within hours of the Gladiator, invariably found her comfortably moored at her dock when they arrived in Sydney Harbor

The fast runs were a godsend to the prisoners, who endured the night tor as three and a half e