"I don't mean to criticize, but I didn't exactly find the cruise aboard your ship a benefit to my health." Pitt paused and looked up at the rusty sides of the Oregon. "Sounds strange to say so, but I'm going to miss the old boat."

"Likewise," Cabrillo agreed.

Pitt looked at him questioningly. "You'll mend and be back on board in no time."

Cabrillo shook his head. "Not after this trip. The Oregon's next voyage is to the scrap yard."

"Why?" asked Giordino. "Are the ashtrays full?"

"She's outlived her usefulness."

"I don't understand," said Pitt. "She looks perfectly sound."

"She's been what is called in the spy trade 'compromised'," explained Cabrillo. "The Chinese are wise to her facade. Within days every intelligence service around the world will be on the lookout for her. No, I'm afraid her days as disguised gatherer of classified information are over."

"Does that mean you're going to dissolve the corporation?"

Cabrillo sat up, his eyes gleaming. "Not in your life. Our grateful government has already offered to refit a new ship with state-of-the-art-technology, bigger, more powerful engines and a heavier weapons system. It may take a few operations to pay off the mortgage, but the stockholders and I are not about to close down operations."

Pitt shook the chairman's hand. "I wish you the best of luck. Perhaps we can do it again sometime."

Cabrillo rolled his eyes. "Oh God, I hope not."

Giordino took one of his magnificent cigars and slipped it into Cabrillo's shirt pocket. "A little something in case you tire of your smelly old pipe."

They waited as the attendants transferred Cabrillo to the gumey and lifted him inside the ambulance. Then the door was closed and the vehicle moved across the dock. They were standing there watching for a moment until it disappeared onto a street lined with palm trees when a man came up behind them.

"Mr. Pitt and Mr. Giordino?"

Pitt turned. "That's us."

A man in his middle sixties, with gray hair and beard, held up a leather-encased badge and identification. He was wearing white shorts, a flowered silk shirt and sandals. "I've been sent by my superiors to take you to the airport. An aircraft is waiting to fly you to Washington."

"Aren't you a little old to play secret agent?" said Giordino, studying the stranger's identification.

"We oldies but goodies can often pass unnoticed where you younger guys can't."

"Which way to your car?" asked Pitt conversationally.

The senior citizen pointed to a small Toyota van painted in the wild colors of a local taxi. "Your carriage awaits."

"I had no idea the CIA cut your budget so drastically," Giordino said sarcastically.

"We make do with what we've got."