“I'll show you.” Yuri kicked the boat's speed up and angled the bow in toward a wide indentation on the shore. Six long concrete piers extended from land. Several ships were tied up at the wharves. Rising behind the piers was a sprawling complex of industrial buildings, gantry cranes, big straddle carriers and cargo derricks. Forklift trucks and tractors moved along the piers like oversized insects.

“Which part is Ataman's?” Gamay asked.

Yuri grinned and swept his hand in a wide arc. “All of it.”

Gamay whistled in astonishment. “I can't believe the size of this place. It's bigger than some major ports.”

“Ataman has it own fleet of tugboats, fuel and water supplies and tanks for bilge and waste removal,” Yuri said. “See those giant cranes over there? That's Ataman's shipyard. They build all their own vessels. That way they can control design and cost.” He furrowed his brow and looked around as if he had lost something. “That's funny, Ataman' s port is practically empty.”

Paul exchanged a puzzled glance with his wife. “It doesn't look empty to me. Look at all that activity. I can see five ships of considerable size pulled up to the dock.”

“Those are Ataman's small ships. I wanted to show you their ocean drilling rigs. They look like they could drill through to the other side of the world. Each one is like a city in itself.”

“Maybe they're all at sea working.”

“Maybe,” he said, with skepticism in his voice. “But I don't think so. Ataman has so many ships, a few are always being outfitted. Even with all those wharves, they don't have space to take care of their whole fleet at the same time.” He scanned the shoreline until he saw what he was looking for. “I can show you something almost as interesting.”

Yuri kept the boat on the same heading until they were past the main wharves, then he steered in toward a smaller pier. A luxurious yacht four hundred feet long was tied up at the dock. The gleaming white hull was set off by black trim. The superstructure was unusually sleek and stream- lined. The hull was shaped in a deep V to cut through the waves. The wide rear of the boat was concave.

“Wow!” Yuri said. “I've heard of this baby, but it's the first time I've seen it.”

“Quite a luxury yacht,” Paul said with appreciation. “It belongs to Razov, the head guy at Ataman. They say he lives on the boat and runs his business from it.” Yuri gave the tiller a wiggle. Gamay pressed the shutter release and banged off several shots. “Can we go around to the other side?” Gamay said.