“I'd call him a friend for the moment. I suspect that he'll do pretty much what he thinks is in the best interests of Russia. He is devious and shrewd - and he didn't survive all those purges in Russian intelligence by being a choirboy.”

“That's quite a resume. Despite his checkered background, you think we should trust him?”

“For now. And for one very good reason.”

“What's that?” Gunn said. “He's all we've got.”

NUMA 3 - Fire Ice

-19-

THE SOGGY BUNCH Captain Kemal had rescued from the sea and transferred to the Argo was gone. In their place was a happy band of submariners who could laugh about their ordeal, which was what they were doing when Austin and the others arrived at the conference room.

After boarding the Argo, the NR-1 crew had been checked out by the ship's medical technician, filled with extraordinary meals from the galley and given the loan of NUMA work coveralls. Except for scratches and bruises, the men in the conference room showed few visible effects from their ordeal. Sitting at the metal table that occupied center place were Captain Atwood, Ensign Kreisman and Joe Zavala. Joe smiled broadly when he saw his NUMA colleagues come through the door. He rose and went over to shake hands with Gunn and Trout. Ever the ladies' man, he gave Gamay a kiss on the cheek.

After a quick round of introductions, Austin announced, to claps and whistles, “In a few hours you'll be back in Istanbul, where a jet is waiting to fly you home. Your relatives have been notified that you're safe.” More applause. “You must be anxious to be on your way, but I've got a favor to ask. We've only heard parts of your remarkable story. While the chopper is fueling up for the return trip, I'm hoping you can tell us what happened from start to finish.”

Ensign Kreisman stood and said, “It's the least we can do. I'm sure I speak for the crew when I say thanks to you and Joe for getting us out of that place in one piece.”

“Remind us to bring a Bradley fighting vehicle the next time,” Austin said. He waited for the laughter to die down. “If you don't mind, Ensign, I'll play Perry Mason. I think it will go faster that way.”

“No problem, sir.”

“Good. Why don't you start from the beginning?”

Kreisman took a position in front of a wall chart that showed the eastern Aegean. “Our mission was to dive on underwater archaeological sites off the Turkish coast. Here.” He tapped the map. “In addition to our regular crew under the command of Captain Logan, we carried a guest scientist who called himself Dr. Josef Pulaski, supposedly from MIT.”

Gunn raised his hand. “Point of information. After we learned the sub was hijacked, we went over the roster and found Pulaski's name. When we checked with MIT, they said they'd never heard of him.”