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"Then we follow," Cristiano said hopefully "You were right, Signor Pitt The coral appears crushed and broken in a trail toward the east"

"To save time, we'll search from the surface Stick your heads over the sides Al, you take the starboard Cristiano, the port Guide me by voice and point toward the trail of broken coral I'll steer by your directions"

Hanging over the rounded hull of the inflatable, Giordino and Lelasi peered through their face masks into the water and traced the path of the storm-swept habitat Pitt steered as if in a trance Subconsciously, he aimed the board the course pointed out by Giordino and Lela

si Consciously, his hter had entered his adventurous but sometimes lonely existence He recalled the moment he met their mother in the venerable old Ala Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach He had been seated in the cocktail lounge in conversation with Adhter when she appeared like a vision, her long fla down her back Her perfect body was encased in a tight, green silk Chinese-style dress split up the legs on the sides The contrast was breathtaking A solid bachelor who never believed in love at first sight, he knew in an instant that he was ready to die for love Sadly, he thought she had drohen her father's underwater dwelling off the north shore of Hawaii collapsed in an earthquake She swam to the surface with him, but then, before he could stop her, she returned beneath the sea in an attempt to rescue her father

He never saw her again

"The smashed coral ends fifty feet dead ahead!" Giordino yelled, lifting his head from the water

"Have you spotted the habitat?" Pitt demanded

"There's no sign of it"

Pitt refused to believe him "It couldn't have disappeared It has to be there"

In another minute it was Lelasi's turn to shout "I have it! I have it!"

"I see it too," said Giordino "It's fallen into a narrow canyon Looks like it's lying at a depth of about a hundred and ten feet"

Pitt turned off the ignition and shut the motors down He nodded at Lelasi "Throw out a buoy todown"

Already geared up, all he needed to do was slip on his fins He pulled the another h a cloud of bubbles that burst with his entry into the water The walls of the crevasse were so narrow he found it astonishing that the habitat had fallen to the bottoainst the narroalls

The old fa at his stomach until he stopped all movement for a moment and drew a deep breath to prepare himself for what he hoped he wouldn't find But he couldn't shake the thought froht arrive too late to save them

From above as he approached, the habitat appeared to be intact Not surprising, considering its substantial construction Giordino arrived and ed entry lock that was sestured that he saw it too Then his breath stopped for an instant and his heart increased its beat when he spied the badly daed tanks that supplied air to the interior Oh God, no, he thought as he kicked down and swung around to face the big view portal Please may they not have run out of air