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Taking Lee by the hand, he swa’s e without air and were quickly outdistanced By the tih the te’s boatfor telltale bubbles Not seeing any, Chang assuets had slipped past him He ordered that the inflatable move farther out into the canal By then, Austin and Lee were inside the temple
Lee was buddy-breathing like a pro, but she alulped down a s Like Austin, she too put her hand on the jellyfish She shook her head in frustration at not being able to talk Austin pointed to the canaled OK with his thuer
They perched on the edge of the te in the s Austin checked the supply, then tapped his atch and pointed toward the te up the air in the tank twice as fast Lee nodded in understanding They swam side by side, as if joined at the hip, until they canaled Lee to wait He slipped out of his vest and swam out into the canal All was quiet He looked up at the surface but saw no sign of Chang or the rental boat
He heard the sound of a engine, but to his practiced ear it sounded different fro one He decided to take a chance Moving closer to the foundation of the islet, he surfaced and peered out fro where the basalt base had collapsed
A tour boat wasthe canal toward the rental boat, which was subed except for the bohich stuck out of the water at an angle More i and his men had vanished
Austin waved until someone in the tour boat saw him When the boat turned his direction, he took a deep breath and went back for Song Lee He gave her a thumbs-up,
then pointed upward She repeated the OK, and together they slowly rose to the surface
CHAPTER 37
SHORTLY AFTER THE SIKORSKY SEAHAWK LIFTED OFF FROM Pohnpei, Zavala had slipped a chart fro and matched the specks on it to the islands and atolls he could see fron Daley tapped him on the shoulder and pointed directly ahead, where silhouettes of ships dotted the ocean sheen
“Looks like we’re co up on an invasion fleet,” Zavala said
“We’re entering the search area,” Daley replied “We’ve got six Navy ships working the waters around the lab site A research vessel from NUMA has co up on her at twelve o’clock”
The Seahawk quickly covered the distance to the Concord, hovered over the stern for an instant, then dropped slowly onto the large circle painted on the deck Zavala slid the helicopter’s door open and cliray-haired man in a khaki uniform
“I’ his hand “I’uided-missile cruiser Concord Welcome aboard”
“Thanks, Captain You can call me Joe My boss, Kurt Austin, is busy in Pohnpei, but he’ll be con Daley toldas central control for the search flotilla”
“That’s right C’”