He activated the little thrusters on the Newtsuit and moved up the sides of the superstructure until he came to the wheel-house. The bulkheads had been torched away for entry and for the removal of the treasures packed in the passageways and former passenger staterooms. He quickly studied a diagram of the ship's interior that he had taped to the globular view plate and began propelling the pressurized suit past the captain's cabin next to the wheelhouse to the next cabin beyond. Amazingly, the furnishings were still relatively intact and jumbled about the small compartment. After only a few minutes' search, Pitt found what he was looking for and removed a small pouch from the utility belt on the Newtsuit and filled it with objects from one corner of the cabin.

"You'd better get a move on," came Giordmo's worried voice.

"On my way," Pitt complied.

With three minutes to spare, the Sappho TV and the Newtsuit surfaced one behind the other and were lifted on board the Ocean Retriever. As the technicians worked to remove Pitt from the big dive suit, he looked across the water at Qin Shang's Jade Adventurer. A boarding party from the Coast Guard cutter was routinely examining the ship's papers before ordering it out of American waters.

When he was finally free of the ponderous suit, Pitt leaned wearily over the railing and gazed down into the water as Julia came up behind him and ran her arms around his waist, clasping her hands across his stomach. "I was worried about you," she said softly.

"I put my trust in Al and Rudi, knowing they would never fail."

"Is Qin Shang dead?" she asked, certain of the answer.

He held her head between his hands and looked down into her gray eyes. "He's only a bad memory it pays to forget."

She pulled back, her face suddenly disturbed. "When word leaks out that you killed him, you're going to be in big trouble with the government."

Despite the exhaustion, Pitt threw back his head and laughed. "Dearheart, I'm always in big trouble with the government."

EPILOGUE

FRITZ

July 31, 2000 Washington, D.C.

PRESIDENT DEAN COOPER WALLACE WORKED LATE HOURS IN his office in his secret living quarters at Fort McNair and thought nothing of inconveniencing his staff and visitors for meetings in the middle of the night. He did not rise from behind his desk as Commissioner Duncan Monroe, Admiral Sandecker and Peter Harper were escorted into the office by his newly appointed chief of staff, Harold Pecorelli. Nor did he invite his visitors to sit down.

Wallace was not a happy man.