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"Not a clue I'll return toof whichah, the Thai fish soup" Perl its way to their table

"While you're doing that I'll ask Yaeger to see if he has anything on them in his computer files"

"Splendid," Perlmutter said "Now I have a question You have a practical rather than a historical knowledge of the sea, as I do What are your thoughts on this talking stone Columbus mentioned, this torleta of the ancients that was described in the letter?"

"Early navigational techniques have always fascinated e intellectual leap forabstract concepts such as ti fro a button and having a signal bounced off a satellite tell lobe But I think we rely too ets They can break And we're less inclined to understand the natural order of things; the aries of the sea"

"Well, then, let's put those electronic gadgets aside," Perlo about using your torleta?"

Austin thought about the question for a e I'm stranded on an island where I'e inscriptions The locals tell reat treasure I take it back to Spain, but nobody can figure out what it is Only that it is very old I look at it fros are si board I've used alllife It's too hefty to haul around, so I do the next best thing I have charts made based on the inscriptions and set sail Only probleap in e"

"What sort of gap, Kurt?"

Austin pondered the question "It's hard to knoithout an idea of what the torleta actually looks like, but I'll describe a hypothetical situation Suppose I'ives et around, but the lines with the long-range navigation coordinates wouldn't nals sent out by shore stations or receivers that could translate the signals into pinpoint locations Once I was on the water out of sight of land, I'd have to go back to traditional methods"

"Ais that once Columbus was at sea, he found that the torleta of the ancients was only of limited assistance"

"That's a's books say Coluational instruments of his day, or maybe he si sailor of the old school It served hie

He knew he needed to be precise on this final trip, so he hired soational instruments"

"Interesting, in view of the last passage in the letter, which is written by the Nina's assistant pilot"

"There you go," Austin said "It's no different fro a specialist to do a job today Now it's my turn to bat a question back to you What do you suppose happened to the stone?"

"I called Don Ortega again and asked hiuess is that it was part of the estate Luis Coluenerate lifestyle Ortega will contact museums and universities in Spain, and if he's not successful he will expand his circle of inquiry to surrounding countries"

Austin was thinking about Coluhty little vessel that had served him so well on previous journeys Maybe a modern-day Nina could help carry them to a solution of the mystery