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"Eh the possibilities in hiswhen the ships were in the Mississippi boatyard"

"We should have figured that so there, tied up to the dock No preparations Nothing to indicate that they're going to sea anytime soon Only one ship has left the dock since we've been here, and that was an ocean liner"

Austin was deep in thought and only half listening to Trout "What's that you said about a liner?"

"The Polar Adventure It was tied up next to the transmitter ships, but it left earlier today Is it important?"

"Maybe Joe says a liner left the shipyard in Mississippi about the same time as the transmitters"

"Wow! Think this is the same vessel ?"

"It's possible," Austin said "They move the trans the decoys, the liner sneaks aith the payload in broad daylight"

"So much for the navy's plans to tail the ships with a submarine"

"Classic 'bait and switch' operation Damned clever"

"How long since the liner left port?"

"It was gone this "

Austin did a quick mental computation "They could be hundreds of miles out to sea by now That's a jackrabbit start"

"What do you want us to do?"

"Stay put for now, and keep an eye on the ships in case their owners have another card up their sleeve"

Austin clicked off He was angry with hih to carry out a polar reversal would do everything possible to throw pursuers off their trail He turned his attention back to the chart It was a big ocean With every passing minute, the li