Page 130 (1/2)

"And how do you propose we go about doing that?"

Impossible It was the conversation he and Gant had after the foxhunt

"Go up to Margave's island in Maine, tell therave Send thelass of the bubbly"

All eyes in the room were on Doyle

"It's not what you think," he said, brandishing hisIrish smile

Doyle never had a chance He'd been dooot the disk He would never know that disk ca Austin had planted under the garden table had done its ell, picking up Gant's instructions to murder the Lucifiers

He got up and tried to make a break for the door, but one of the Lucifers tripped hi for the gun in an ankle holster, but he was pushed back to the floor and relieved of his weapon He stared up at the six satanic faces ringed around him

He couldn't figure it The Lucifers knew he had poisoned the Doyle would never understand that the opportunity to kill surpassed all other emotions, even fear of their imminent death

He heard the knife drawer slide open, and then they came for him

Epilogue

Two hundred inia, the NUMA research vessel Peter Throckmorton and the NOAA survey ship Benjareen seas like a pair of modern-day corsairs

While the bows hissed through the water and the decks beca spume, the atmosphere was subdued in the Throck control room Spider Barrett sat with his eyes riveted to the Mercator projection of the world displayed on the screen in front of hileamed on Barrett's tattooed head

Watching Barrett's fingers fly over the keyboard were Joe Zavala, Al Hibbet and Jerry Adler, the wave expert Joe and Austin first met aboard the Throckathered in the room as well

Barrett stopped and rubbed his eyes, as if he were about to admit defeat Then his handsred dots began to appear on the world's oceans He leaned back in his chair with a wide grin on his face "Gentlerandly, "we have liftoff"

The center echoed with applause