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"Thank you," the husband said "Thanks, too,, for cohtly harder than eighteen holes of golf Can't believe we're actually paying to do this work"

"Oh, listen to him He wouldn't have e, why don't you tell them about the Indian Jones hat you want to buy?"

Her husband pointed to the sun "That's Indiana Jones, dear Like the state Just trying to avoid sunstroke," he said with a grin that was almost hidden behind his bushy white whiskers

After exchanging further pleasantries the new arrivals were led over to the excavation Two ular pits scraping the dirt aith garden trowels Austin recognized them as ex-navy SEALS who had been attached to the NUMA tea no chances These were two of the top men from NUMAs security division The taller man, whom Austin knew simply by the name of Ned, had the classic broad shoulders and narroaist of a bodybuilder The trowel looked like a toothpick in his hand Carl, his shorter companion, irier, but Austin knew from past experience that he was the more deadly of the two

"How's it going?" Nina said

Ned laughed "Okay, but nobody's told "

"I told him to rebury it," Carl said laconically

"Thatwhat a couple of NUMA divers are doing in theover in his mind what Nina had told hiers drop by today?"

Trout and the other two

"If you e people, we've hadthe type of loonies a project like this attracts"

"Dunno if you're being fair," Carl said "One guy suggested I look for traces of UFO Atlantis connections All see to him"

"About as reasonable as this whole operation," Austin said with a wry grin Anyone else?"

"A couple of people showed up with cameras and notepads," Trout said "Said they were' reporters or from newspapers"

"Did they have ID?"

"We didn't ask Seeanized as we think they are, they'd have phony credentials We've had lots of sightseers and volunteers, We've told the the preliminary stuff, took their na videotaped by the remote surveillance camera on top of that cactus"