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“Heit,” Joe explained, “which I assuht from the start”

“You’re wise beyond your years,” Kurt said

“I just know you too well”

By now they were nearing the end of the half- channel, the No Wake zone that led out of the harbor and into the open water It would take the yacht seven or eight minutes to cover the distance if they held to the rules

“Letthe speed limit

before they pass the final buoy I don’t want to miss my ride”

“It’s shallow here,” El Din said “Twenty feet”

“She can’t draw ht or nine,” Kurt replied “I’ll wait on the bottom and catch on as she passes by”

El Din slowed the vessel further, ht turn to port to shield Kurt from view

With Joe’s help, Kurt lifted the torpedo-shaped propulsion unit and balanced it on the transoave the thumbs-up, pulled down his ulator With a nod froe and it hit the water and subht behind it

With the weight of his belt, Kurt sank faster than the propulsion unit, which had only a slight negative buoyancy He reached it quickly, guided it to a spot in the silt and then settled down on top of it, listening to the sound of the s boat trundle away

I but his own breathing as the air traveled through the lines, into his lungs, and back out to the rebreather The advantage of this system was that it left no trail of bubbles He doubted the crew of the yacht would be looking for anything so si attention to their depth sounder and the radarscope—but he wasn’t taking any chances

As Kurt waited on the bottom of the channel, a low-frequency thru

He gazed down the channel, looking for any sign of her The first thing he spotted was the foae of the ship’s keel soon ca toward hih it

Just as he’d suspected, the yacht wasfaster than the allowed three knots