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“So he’s not in a big hurry” Like the Oregon, the Portland could easily double that velocity Juan traced the path “That puts him on course for either the Falkland Islands or Cape Horn” He did the math in his head “At our current speed, on’t catch up to hio”
“If he doesn’t change course,” Max said “This tracking ht take time for me to see if he turned”
“It’s far better than anything we’ve had up until now We finally have an advantage over Tate” Juan had a sudden thought “If we can track him, then he can track us, can’t he?”
Max shook his head slowly and cocked it at Juan “That’s very unlikely Because you’re forgetting one thing, ood man”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not on the Portland”
51
PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE
Even though it was suht ebony curls and a peacoat to ward off the brisk wind that swept across the Strait of Magellan, the narrow channel of water between o that served as theroute between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Although she was originally from Atlanta, Jefferson had spent most of her adult life at sea, first with the Navy and noith NUMA She preferred id ends of the earth Not that she’d ever let her cre that As theto endure any conditions they did without complaint
Still, she was eager to get back inside after spending the entire day overseeing the loading of supplies for the upco, the aqua blue NUMA ship was sh to provide amenities to her crew of fifty-three that made life on board co and dru out over the busy port that served the city of over one hundred thousand, and wondered where her navigation pilot was
The scientific equipment needed for their mission had arrived a day early, so they were ahead of schedule But because the waters in the area were so unpredictable and the quarters so tight, Chile required all ships traversing the strait to carry a local pilot knowledgeable about the region
This tih deot one at all She counted a cruise liner, two icebreakers, and four Antarctic supply vessels a the ships in the harbor And that didn’t account for the ships in transit through the strait Of course, freighters and cruise ships could go around Cape Horn without a pilot, but the sea was so treacherous outside the protection of the islands that h the strait
A Land Rover drove up and screeched to a stop beside the ship A young wo fro, dark ponytail swinging behind her Even from this distance, Jefferson could see that she was fit and pretty, which was sure to be noticed by the mostly male crew
Jefferson way and stuck out her hand “Rashonda Jefferson Welcome to the Deepwater”
The woas Nice to meet you, Captain Sorry I’lish seemed fluent