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Austin showed Kane the video of the AUV, and said, “Can you think of anyone ould go through all this trouble to put the bathysphere on the bottom?”

Kane shook his head “Nope What about you?”

“Joe and I are as much in the dark as you are,” Austin said “There’s no reason we can think of to scuttle a scientific and educational project”

Gannon’s voice came over the ship’s intercom

“Call co in for Dr Kane,” the captain said “Can he take it?”

Austin plucked the intercom’s receiver from the wall and handed it to Kane

Kane listened to someone on the line, and said, “That’s impossible!Yes, of courseI’ll be ready”

When Kane had clicked off, Austin asked, “Is everything all right?”

“Not really,” Kane said His face had turned the color of cold ashes “If you’ll excuse ot to talk to the captain”

Kane asked the e

Austin stared at the door for a ed and said to Zavala, “Co to show you”

The mandible Austin had wrested from the AUV had been wrapped in cloth and claloves, he re and six inches wide, curved along the inner edge and tapering to a point He found the ht at less then twenty pounds

Zavala whistled softly “Beautiful,” he murmured, “a metal alloy of some kind Whoever built it didn’t expect it to be twisted where it joined the AUV That was the weak spot The edge on this thing is as sharp as a samurai sword”

“You can see how a pair of these butter knives could ruin your day”

“Too bad Beebe isn’t around,” Zavala said “It ers of the deep ocean being exaggerated”