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Meanwhile, Giordino labored furiously in thenecessary repairs to keep the boat afloat and under power Renee cleared the deck of any useless equipment and threw it over the side Blackened and stained with sed a portable pu water that flowed in through the bow that had been smashed back to the forward bulkhead

As Gunn carefully side Epona, Pitt waited until they nearly touched before he stood on the railing and leaped aboard, landing on the open teak deck behind thethe fire forward and the aft section had not yet suffered the effects of the blaze If he were to find anyone alive, he had to move fast before the once-sleek ship sank into the deep The sound of a fire out of control was like a stea down the track

Pitt ran through the dining salon and found it eh the stateroon of crew o up the plushly carpeted stairs to the pilothouse, but met a wall of fire that drove his His eyes streah they were burning out of their sockets With his hair and eyebrows singed, he was about to give up and abandon the search when he stualley

He reached down and was stunned to feel that it was a wo her over his shoulder, he stu the tears from his eyes onto one arm

Gunn instantly appraised the situation and moved the boat ever closer to the yacht until their hulls bumped Then he rushed from the pilothouse and took the li The heat fro to blister the paint on the sides of the research boat, as Gunn laid the woht red hair before hurrying back to the hel Poco Bonito away from the flames

Pitt, barely able to see until his eyes cleared, felt her pulse and found it had a regular beat Her breathing was also normal He brushed back the fla-sized bu the collision The face, ars revealed an even tan Her face was beautifully sculpted, with a flawless complexion and lips that were full and sensual The upturned nose was a perfect complement to the face Because her eyes were closed, he could not see their color From what he could tell, she was a very attractive woman, with the lithe body of a dancer

Renee finished throwing a box of net buoys over the side and rushed to the woet her down below," she said "I'll take care of her"

Still partially blind, Pitt carried the woman from the yacht down the stairwell to his cabin and laid her out on his bunk "She has a nasty bump on the head," he said, "but I think she'll coive her air fros"

Pitt returned topside just in time to watch the end of the yacht

It was slipping under the water, her once lavender-colored hull and superstructure now blackened by the fire and stained with the brown crud A sad and pathetic ending for a beautiful ship He regretted that he had been the cause of her deic took the place of sadness, as he envisioned Poco Bonito succuret was replaced with a euphoria that he and his friends were alive and unharmed

The starboard hull of the catamaran had sunk co briefly in the air as the superstructure slipped below the surface, leaving behind a swirling spiral of steam and smoke Her polished bronze screws sparkled in the sun, and then they were gone Except for the hiss of the water as it squelched the fla to hide her disfigureolden horse Then it too ed by the indifferent brown sea

After she disappeared, fuel oil surfaced and spread across theunder the sun Bubbles ca with distorted debris that popped to the surface and see to be carried to some distant shore by the currents and tides

Turning froedy, Pitt stepped into the pilothouse, his shoes crunching in the shattered glass scattered on the deck "How's it look, Rudi? Can we make the coast or do we take to the rafts?"

"Weand Patrick slows the flooding in the bohich isn't likely It's gaining faster than the pumps can handle"

"We're also taking water from the bullet holes that penetrated below the waterline"