She nodded. "I've never met him but I assume one of them is the district director of investigations."

Pitt held up the little boy, made a funny face and was rewarded with a smile and a laugh. "What will happen to these people now?"

"They're illegal aliens. Under the law they must be sent back to China."

He looked at her and scowled. "After what they've endured, it would be a crime to send them back."

"I agree," said Julia. "But my hands are tied. I can fill out the required paperwork and recommend they be allowed to stay. But their final disposition is beyond my control."

"Paperwork!" Pitt nearly spat the word. "You can do better than that. The minute they step foot in their homeland, Shang's people will have them killed, and you damned well know it. They wouldn't be alive if you hadn't shot down the ultralights. You know the rule, save someone's life and you're forever responsible for them. You can't wash your hands of them and not care about their fate."

"I do care," Julia said firmly. She looked at Pitt the way women usually look at men when they feel as if they're talking to the village idiot. "And I'm not about to wash my hands of them. And because it is entirely possible, as you suggest, that they might be murdered if they returned to the Chinese mainland, it goes without saying that they'll be given every opportunity to apply for political asylum. There are laws, Mr. Pitt, whether you or I like them or not. But they're for a purpose and must be followed. I promise you that if it is humanly possible for these people to become United States citizens, it shall be."

"I'll hold you to that promise," Pitt said quietly. "Believe me," she said earnestly, "I'll do everything in my power to help them."

"Should you run into problems, please contact me through NUMA. I have a bit of political influence and might arrange for the Senate to back their cause."

She looked at him skeptically. "How could a marine engineer with NUMA possibly have political influence in the Senate?"

"Would it help if I told you my father is Senator George Pitt of California?"

"Yes," she murmured, properly awed. "I can see you might prove useful."

The boy in the outboard cast off the towline, and the Chris-Craft bumped against the dock pilings. The Chinese immigrants were all smiles. They were happy at not being shot at any longer, and elated to have at last reached safety in America. Any apprehension about their fate was set aside for the moment. Pitt passed up the little boy and girl to the waiting hands of the INS agents and then turned to help the mother and father step up to the dock.