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Water was pouring in like a river now, directly on top of the onto their feet, yet nobody moved

"Quite a dile his voice to be heard "Loyalty to your crazed boss and the Brotherhood, or death by drowning I sincerely hope you resolve your family spat, but you'll have to settle it without me That's the cue, Joe!"

Zavala ran toward the well at the far end of the charabbed Halcon's butt, and with a powerful bum's rush threw him at Guzman, who'd been momentarily distracted by Zavala's sprint They went down in a tangle, but even as he fell Guz out the pistol Austin dashed for the well Guzet in the diht, and the bullet missed Austin dove into the well

Guzman cursed and went after Austin Buffeted by the flood swirling around his ankles and knees, he had taken only a few steps when he realized it would be suicide to stay in the chamber This conclusion was reinforced when he turned and saw that Halcon had deserted hilory had finally given way to his instincts for self-preservation He slogged his way against the rising tide until he was under the ceiling hole where the water roared down in a roped for the ladder, but his hand slipped He clenched his teeth with deter

As he began to clirabbed him by the ankle and pulled him down Guzman wrapped his arht of his body to pull him back into the chamber Halcon held on with one hand and with the other pulled his pistol, which he had retrieved, froth he could un barrel struck flesh and bone, but Guzain and brought it doice more on Guzman's head with the desired effect

Guz and ept back into the chaainst a pile of boat wreckage Even then he wasn't through He was on his knees, struggling to get to his feet, when a ship's bea as a man slammed into his face Borne by the current, the ti ram A fiery pain screa uselessly, he gasped for air, only to suck in lungfuls of foul water His frantic movements eventually slowed and became more feeble, and the current drove him deep into the dark chamber

Halcon was having his own problems He had clied over the lip of the gap in the ceiling and puer able to hold on More water poured in and knocked hi that escape by this route was i to the burial cha at his heels, he crawled on hands and knees up the stairway

Zavala had been treading water when Austin dove into the pool As Guzman's bullet whistled overhead, they surface dove and swa off one tank Minutes later they eed from the jaws of Kukulcan They checked their cos to get beyond the current produced by the flooding temple They surfaced near the cove that hid the plane Within ine and were skiained altitude, Zavala banked it around the lake in a big circle

The island that had built up around the teone In its place was a black hole Lake water swirled down the hole like a bathtub drain and tugged at theline of a seaplane that must have been Halcon's

They had seen enough They swooped in low over the lake for one last look at the vortex Zavala couldn't resist temptation He leaned out theand shouted, "Goodbye, Columbus"

Then they headed back to the Nereus

49 THE STUBBY-MASTED SAILB0AT WITH the single oversized gaff-rigged sail cruised over the deep blue waters of Chesapeake Bay, pushed along from directly behind by a steady fifteen-knot breeze froe open cockpit with one arm on the raised rail, the other on an oversized tiller His eyes scanned the boat traffic, looking for prey

His hunt was interrupted, not unpleasantly, by Nina, who elasses in her hands "Purser's rum and juice," she said

She was dressed in a NUMA Tshirt and highcut white shorts that es and buttery complexion Austin was not oblivious to her charms, but he was intent on his task He lued on the sea

"Aha, my pretty," he said like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz He picked up a pair of binoculars and focused on a graceful sloop with a white fiberglass hull, about twenty-five feet long Like Austin, it was loafing along,with the wind behind