"I don't think it's me who's going to get hurt," Pitt said conversationally.

"You might be wise to look around you."

It was the oldest trick in the book, but Pitt had nothing to lose. He glanced around the deck as men stepped out of the shadows. Not two men, nor four, but six men every bit as disreputable as Smith, each holding automatic weapons pointed at Pitt and Giordino. Big, silent men dressed as mangily as Smith.

Pitt pulled back the hammer and pressed the Colt another quarter inch into the flesh under Smith's chin. "Would it matter if I said, if I go, you go with me?"

"And allow your friend to be killed too?" said Smith with an ungodly grin. "From what little I know about you, Pitt, you're not that dumb."

"Just what do you know about me?" "Put the gun away, and we'll talk." "I can hear you perfectly well from where I stand." "Relax, boys," said Smith to his men. "We must show a little class and treat our guests with respect."

Incredibly, the crew of the Oregon lowered their guns and began laughing. "Serves you right, skipper," one of them said. "You said they were probably a couple nerds from NUMA who drank milk and ate broccoli."

Giordino smoothly joined the act. "You guys got any beer on this tub?"

"Ten different brands," said a crewman, slapping him on the back. "Glad to have passengers with a little guts on board."

Pitt lowered the gun and eased the hammer back in the safety position. "I get the feeling we've been had."

"Sorry to inconvenience you," said Smith heartily, "but we can't let our guard down for even a moment." He turned to his men and issued an order. "Weigh anchor, boys, and get under way for Hong Kong."

"Admiral Sandecker said this was a singularly uncommon ship," said Pitt, replacing the automatic in his tote bag. "But he didn't say anything about the crew."

"If we can dispense with the theatrics," said Smith, "I'll show you below." He dropped down the ladder through the narrow hatch and disappeared. Pitt and Giordino followed, finding themselves in a brightly lit, carpeted hallway whose walls were painted in pastel colors. Smith opened a smoothly varnished door and nodded inside. "You can share this cabin. Stow your gear, get comfortable, use the head and then I'll introduce you to the captain. You'll find his cabin behind the fourth door on the port side aft."

Pitt stepped inside and switched on the light. This was no Spartan cabin on a decrepit freighter. It was every bit as swank as any stateroom on a luxury cruise ship. Ornately decorated leading to a private veranda. The only suggestion of the outside world was a porthole painted black. "What," exclaimed Giordino, "no bowl of fruit?"

Pitt stared around the cabin in fascination. "I wonder if we have to dress formal when we dine with the captain."