“Some old wreck...”
Sullivan shook his head. “We would have picked it up on the gauges, pal. Nothing was there. Nothing.”
“Something was there, Sully.”
Outside, the shouting had started and he knew those idiots with the cameras were going to be all over the place. Well, they had been warned. They had acknowledged the warning. They came on anyway. He and the mate went outside the cabin and watched them. Their equipment was new and state-of-the-art, communication between divers and their boat was evident, and they worked in pairs with true professional detachment yet were extremely aware of the danger of their job.
Sullivan and the mate nodded approvingly. They weren’t going to sweat out this team at all. They went back to the TV screen to review the flash shot of what the robot had transmitted before it went out of action.
Captain Don Watts personally welcomed Hooker and Judy aboard the Sentilla. None of them had met, but the captain had made a quick search of military records and media accounts of his guests to realize that these were no mere tourists. Mako’s security clearance rate was ultra-high and a good portion of his service details were still secret. His agency had directed Watts to assist him in whatever area he needed help, stating that he and the crew of Tellig had a joint cooperation in place. However, it was intimated that Hooker’s judgment took precedence in this matter.
On the stern, the three of them had tall glasses of iced tea while they went through the initial stages of investigative introductions. Judy let herself be dismissed as the heiress to Arthur Durant, with only a monetary interest in the Midnight Cruise line and Lotusland Productions.
She played the game well, having been in it a long time. She could seem aloof or distant during a conversation involving a great deal of technicalities, yet remain totally aware of its substance and intent.
The captain was one of those naval officers who thought the whole world should be wet. He was only happy when he was on the deck of a military vessel, engaged in a military action surrounded by military personnel. Anything else was a major nuisance, and although this had an interesting aspect to it, he preferred to deal with it quickly and get it over with without too much bother.
There was something imposing about the captain. A subdued military demeanor hinted that this man had been through the deadly fire of the war and come through intact and more wise than before because he was born to command and win; yet as imposing as he was, his attitude was direct and friendly.
He said, “Washington has sent me all your credentials, Colonel.”
Judy’s eyes made a small movement when she heard Mako called by rank.
“Forget the title, Captain. It’ll make my work easier.”
Captain Watts nodded. Being a player in any covert action wasn’t part of his makeup, but if he had to be, he felt better being among friendlies. At least the army had a reservist here who was an old pro who knew what the angles were all about. “Tell me, how can I help you?” he asked, waving toward the deck chairs a sailor had brought out.
When they sat down Hooker said, “This operation you’re on... what clearance do you have?”
“You don’t know?”
Hooker shook his head. “This came up suddenly. I just happened to be on the spot so they called me in.”
“There is no security risk on this operation at all, Colonel.”
“Hooker... or Mako, okay? Forget the title.”
“Certainly. Anyway, this is a very public and very standard type of action for us. This time we have been ordered to participate in an underwater exploration of certain geological movements of the earth’s crust that seemed to emanate from this area. We have aboard twenty-three government specialists who are in charge of monitoring this activity, and their results and opinions have all been made public too. They go directly to Washington, uncoded, and are later published in scientific journals.”
“Something’s raising hell,” Mako commented.
Watts shrugged and sipped at his iced tea. “That all started after the detonations were substituted for the electronic impulses. The equipment hasn’t been repaired yet.”
“That sure drew everybody’s attention.”
“Col... Hooker, when stories about boats being eaten by some strange sea creature leak to the press, on comes the sordid publicity that interrupts a scientific fact-finding operation.”
“Something’s doing it,” Hooker told him.
“Something’s always doing it. You know how many boats on the islands were lost last year? Just lost, not to hurricanes or collisions. Not to sea creatures, just plain lost?”
“How many?”
“There were fourteen by official records. There were twenty-seven rescued. Their reasons for losing the boats were sound enough. A loose plank, fire from cooking areas, gasoline leaks on outboard-powered crafts, a couple of collisions with subsurface debris. Nothing that ate them, though.”
“How do you treat their stories, Captain?”
“I give them a great deal of thought, Hooker, a great deal. I’ve been out to sea too damn long not to pay attention to detail even if I don’t understand it. This ‘eater’ concept is ridiculous. You agree?”
For a few seconds Hooker just stared at the sea. “I haven’t given it a great deal of thought yet. You think those mines on the sunken hulk had anything to do with it?”
“Anything’s possible, but after the few breakaways, we managed to secure the rest on the bottom for the time being. We know about those that reached Scara Island, but that’s as far as they will go anyway. Later we’ll dispatch a detonation team to blow them and that should end that. Two have already been destroyed. The Tellig took care of one.”
“You planning anything for the rest of the mines on the wreckage?”
“They’ll be wired before we leave the post and blown when everything’s clear. It ought to make a real show for the Midnight Cruise lines.”
Judy looked up and nodded toward the camera ship. “And Lotusland. You’re giving them a million dollars’ worth of publicity.”
“Uncle Sam is happy to help,” Watts offered. He looked over their heads toward the south and told them, “That crew of divers should add another million to the budget. Drifter and Tellig are getting major roles in this movie.”
The three of them stood and went to the rail. Chana’s crew had nudge Drifter to the large platform attached to Sentilla’s hull, and two dozen sailors secured her properly and got lines from the Sentilla’s cranes around her hull. In thirty minutes the area was cleared and the winch operator on the crane began the lift. The Drifter moved in its sling, then began to come out of the water like a toy.
Handheld cameras operated by the divers and others on their small boats recorded the entire event. Lenses zoomed in as Drifter rose and little by little closed in, and they all got a firsthand look at the single, six-foot-long gash in the bottom, the edges peeled upward into the hull as though a giant ax had slashed through the metal with one enormous stroke. Water poured out like a miniature Niagara and the crane held the ship in that one position until the flow ceased. Only then did one sailor walk up under the Drifter and snap close-up pictures of the bottom. When he walked away he waved off the divers with silent authority, then he stood back and gave a wave to the crane operator, and the Drifter started to rise to the Sentilla’s deck.
Hooker nudged the captain and asked, “Would you have done that with a civilian vessel?”