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“You won’t get any argument from me on that score,” Kane said “About the sa attacked, an attee the bathysphere dive”

Kane waited for the noisy reaction to subside and then laid out the details of the attack on the sphere

When Coombs heard about Austin’s rescue dive, he said, “I’ve heard Vice President Sandecker talk about Kurt Austin He’s some sort of NUMA troubleshooter From the little I know of the man’s exploits, you would still be at the bottom of the ocean if he had not been on board the Beebe This thing with the lab is starting to make sense now Someone wants to destroy our project”

“That’s my take on it too,” Kane said “The people behind the attack on the labin the bathysphere”

Dr Sophie Pappas, the sole female member of the scientific board, asked, “Why didn’t the people behind these events wait until you were back on the lab? Instead of two simultaneous attacks, they only would have had to mount one”

“Good question” Cooo on without you?”

Kane nodded

“Sure,” he said “As director, my job is to ride herd on the project I’m a scientific coordinator now rather than a researcher Lois Mitchell, my assistant, knows more about the actual nuts and bolts of the project”

“You’re saying that the project could continue without you, but not without her,” Coombs said

Kane said, “I have overnment bureaucracy, but she could easily wrap up this project in days without h to reconstitute the ith the scientists reet things ain”

“Not if you’re dead,” Coombs said “But the lab’s work could continue without you, which means that it may not have

been destroyed”

“Your theory makes sense in a nutty sort of way,” Kane said

“Thank you A devious overnovernment of the attacks?”

“After the , who is my Chinese counterpart on this project,” Lieutenant Casey said “He’s corrupt as hell, I hear, but well connected Perhaps he knows so that can help”