The Chinese historian could not believe his luck. What had seemed an impossible enigma only minutes ago had suddenly been solved and dropped in his lap. Though exhilarated, he decided to put off informing Qin Shang until the courier arrived with lan Gallagher's narrative of the final moments of the Princess Dou Wan and he had an hour or two to study it.

Qin Shang would be highly pleased to learn that the fabulous art treasure stolen from the country had been lying safe and preserved in the fresh water of a lake all these years and was now within reach. Zhu Kwan fervently hoped that he would live long enough to see the artifacts on display in a national gallery and museum.

"You do nice work, St. Julien," said Sandecker as Perlmutter put down the phone. "You missed your calling as a used-car salesman."

"Or a politician running for election," Giordino muttered.

"I feel like a low-down skunk, misleading that nice old man," said Perlmutter. He paused and looked around Sandeck-er's office at the four NUMA men seated around him. "Zhu Kwan and I go back many years. We've always had the highest respect for each other. I hated lying to him."

"Fair is fair," said Pitt. "He conned you, too. All this time he's claimed his only interest in the Princess Dou Wan was strictly academic. He knows damned well the ship sank with a fantastic fortune in art on board. A fax line can be eavesdropped on. Why else would he insist you send Gallagher's story by courier? You can bet he's itching to give the news to j Qin Shang."         j

Perlmutter shook his head. "Zhu Kwan is a hard-nosed scholar. He won't make any announcement to his boss until he's analyzed the document." He looked into the other faces one by one. "Out of curiosity, who did write the report I'm sending him?"

Rudi Gunn raised his hand almost sheepishly. "I volunteered for the chore. And a rather good job, if I may say so. Naturally, I took writer's liberty with the text. A footnote makes mention of lan Gallagher's death from a heart attack in nineteen ninety-two. So he and Katie's tracks are covered."

Sandecker looked at his special projects director. "Will we have enough time to properly bring up the art treasures before Qin Shang's salvage ship arrives?"

Pitt shrugged. "Not if the Ocean Retriever is the only ship working the wreck."

"Not to worry," said Gunn. "We've already chartered two more salvage vessels. One is from a private company in Montreal and the other is on loan from the U.S. Navy."

"Speed is essential," said Sandecker. "I want the treasure raised before word leaks out. I want no interference from any quarter, including our own government."

"And when the salvage work is completed?" inquired Perlmutter.

"Then the artifacts will be quickly turned over to facilities equipped to preserve them from damage after so many years of immersion. At that time we'll announce the discovery and stand back while the bureaucrats from Washington and Beijing fight over it."