"Peter and Commissioner Monroe are very afraid Qin Shang will slip through the net because of his political connections." "Why not board the Jade Adventurer and haul his ass off now?" Gunn asked.

"We can't legally apprehend him if his ship skirts the Canadian shoreline while sailing through Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron," explained Julia. "Only after the Jade Adventurer has passed through the Straits of Mackinac into Lake Michigan will Qin Shang be on American waters."

Pitt slowly ate his grapefruit. "I'd like to see his face when his crew lays a camera on the Princess and finds her guts ripped out and her cupboards bare."

"Did you know that he's filed a claim on the ship and its cargo through one of his subsidiary corporations in state and federal district courts?"

"No," said Pitt. "But I'm not surprised. That's the way he operates."

Gunn rapped a knife on the table. "If any of us were to stake a claim on a treasure ship through legal channels, we'd be laughed out onto the street. And whatever artifacts we found would have to be turned over to the government."

"People who search for treasure," Pitt said philosophically, "believe their problems are over when they make the big strike, never realizing their troubles are only beginning."

"How true," Gunn assented. "I've yet to hear of a treasure discovery that wasn't contested in court by a parasite or government bureaucrat."

Julia shrugged. "Maybe so, but Qin Shang has too much influence to have the door slammed in his face. If anything, he's bought off all opposition."

Pitt looked at her as though his fatigued mind had suddenly thought of something. "Aren't you eating?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I had a bite in the galley earlier."

The ship's first officer leaned in the doorway and motioned to Pitt. "The barge has surfaced, sir. You said you wanted to take a look at her payload before she was towed away."

"Yes, thank you," Pitt acknowledged. He turned back to Gunn. "She's all yours, Rudi. I'll see you, same time, same place tomorrow."

Gunn waved without taking his eyes from the monitors. "Sleep tight."

Julia hung on Pitt's arm as they stepped out onto the bridge wing and gazed down at the big barge that had risen from the depths. The interior cargo hold was filled with crates of all sizes containing incredible treasures from China's past. All had been neatly spaced by the cranes and submersibles. In a divided compartment with extra-thick padding, the artworks whose packing crates had been either damaged or destroyed sat open and exposed. Some were musical instruments—tuned chimes of stone, bronze bells and drums. There was a three-legged cooking stove with a hideous face molded on the door, large jade ceremonial carvings of half-size men, women and children, and animal sculptures in marble.

"Oh, look," she said, pointing. "They brought up the emperor on the horse."