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"You weren't kidding when you said the economy was a disaster," said Pitt

"Much of the poverty is inspired by a complete lack of infrastructure, and local leaders who just don't get it," Gunn lectured "Girls with no options go into prostitution as young as fourteen, while boys sell cocaine None can afford electricity, so they hook wires froe facilities, and yet the governor took the entire yearly budget and used it to build a palace because she thought it was nitaries There is a big drug industry here, but none of the locals are getting rich off the s that takes place mostly offshore or in secluded coves"

Gunn drove into the cooon and across the bay fro Refuse, oil and sewage ether in the filthy water They passed ships unloading at the docks that looked as though they ht crumble and fall into the dirty water any minute The roofs on most of the warehouses looked as if they had been torn away Pitt noticed that one containership was unloading large crates with fare, i loaded with the cargo seeround The nahts, read: Dong He The letters cosco stretched along the center of the hull Pitt knew it stood for the China Ocean Shipping Company

He could only wonder as inside the cases labeled FARM MACHINERY

"This is their port facility?" asked Giordino incredulously

"All that's left after Lizzie got through with it," answered Gunn

Four hun

dred yards later the Escort rolled onto an old wooden wharf croith darkened and forlorn fishing boats Gunn braked to a stop at the only one whose lights illuminated its decks The boat appeared to have seen better days Under the yello, her black paint looked faded Rust streaks ran froear lay carelessly cluttered around the work deck To a passerby on the dock, she looked unco boat in a world full of fishing boats, with the same character as the vessels anchored and moored around her

As Pitt's eyes swept the bea li one of white, he reached inside his shirt and felt the s himself it was still there

He turned slightly and glanced briefly sideways at a lavender-colored pickup truck that was parked in the shadows of a nearby warehouse It was not elow of a cigarette through the rain-streaked windshield

Finally, he turned back to the boat "So this is Poco Bonito"

"Not much to look at, is she?" Gunn said, as he opened the trunk and helped retrieve the bags "But she's powered by twin thousand-horsepower diesels and carries scientific gear most chemical labs would die for"

"There's a switch," said Pitt

Gunn looked at him "How so?"

"This has to be the only vessel in the NUMA fleet that isn't painted turquoise"