"Any word on when Qin Shang's salvage ship is due to arrive?" Gunn asked.

"The Jade Adventurer?" Pitt looked down on a chart of the Great Lakes spread out on a table. "At last report she passed Quebec on her way down the St. Lawrence."

"That should put her here in a little under three days."

"She didn't waste any time coming off her search operation off Chile. She was on her way north less than an hour after Zhu Kwan received your phony report from Perlmutter."

"It's going to be close," said Gunn as he watched a sub-mersible's articulated fingers delicately pick up a porcelain vase protruding from the muck. "We'll be lucky to finish up and get out of the neighborhood before the Jade Adventurer and our friend come charging onto the scene."

"We've been lucky Qin Shang didn't send any of his agents ahead to scout out the environment."

"The Coast Guard cutter that patrols our search area has yet to report an encounter with a suspicious vessel."

"When I came on my shift last night, Al said a reporter from a local newspaper somehow got a call through to the Ocean Retriever. Al strung him along when the reporter asked what we were doing out here."

"What did Al tell him?"

"He said we were drilling cores in the bottom of the lake, looking for signs of dinosaurs."

"And the reporter bought it?" Gunn asked skeptically.

"Probably not, but he got excited when Al promised to bring him on board over the weekend."

Gunn looked puzzled. "But we should be gone by then."

"You get the picture," Pitt laughed.

"We should consider ourselves lucky that rumors of treasure haven't brought out swarms of salvors."

"They come as soon as they get the word and rush out to pick over the scraps."

Julia came into the control room balancing a tray on one hand. "Breakfast," she announced gaily. "Isn't it a beautiful morning?"

Pitt rubbed the stubble of a beard on his chin. "I hadn't noticed."

"What are you so happy about?" Gunn asked her.

"I just received a message from Peter Harper. Qin Shang came off a Japanese airliner at the Quebec airport disguised as a crew member. The Canadian Royal Mounted Police followed him to the waterfront, where he boarded a small boat and rendezvoused with the Jade Adventurer."

"Hallelujah!" exclaimed Gunn. "He took the bait." "Hook, line and sinker," said Julia, flashing her teeth. She set the tray on the chart table and removed a tablecloth, revealing plates of eggs and bacon, toast, grapefruit and coffee.

"That is good news," said Pitt, pulling a chair up to the table without being told. "Did Harper say when he plans to take Qin Shang into custody?"

"He's meeting with the INS legal staff to formulate a plan. I must tell you, there is great fear the State Department and White House may intervene." "I was afraid of that," said Gunn.