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Pitt rubbed caked salt fro that the swelling had gone down He looked down into the intensely blue eyes, drugged with fatigue and misted by deep sleep He watched as they stared at hi from the waves," he said softly

She sat up and fluffed out her salt-encrusted blond hair "I don't feel like Venus," she said, s

"And I certainly don't look like her" She pulled up her sweater and gently touched the red welts around her waist, put there by the constant friction of the safety line

Giordino slipped open an eye "If you two don't quiet up and let a er of this hotel and complain"

"We're going for a dip in the pool and then have sohtness "Why don't you join us?"

"I'd rather call rooly exhausted by the

"Since we're all in such a lively et on about the business of survival"

"What are our chances of rescue?" asked Maeve innocently

"Nil," answered Pitt "You can bet your father dropped us in the bleakest part of the sea Ad at NUMA have no idea what happened to us And if they did, they wouldn't knohere to look If we're to reach our normal life expectancy, we'll have to do it without outside help"

Their first task was to pull in the steadfast sea anchor and remove their shoes and the tools and other items from Pitt's jacket Afterward, they took an inventory of every single iteht co haul ahead At last, Pitt removed the small packet that he had shoved down his pants just before driving the bus over the side of the dock

"What did you find with the boat?" he asked Giordino

"Not enough hardware to hang a barn door The storage corand total of three wrenches of various sizes, a screwdriver, a fuel pus, a wooden paddle, a nylon boat cover and a handy-dandy little nue"

"Which is?"

Giordino held up a s up the flotation tubes"

"How long is the paddle'?"