On flat feet, Sam ducked down the ladder, stepped to the bunk, and touched Remi's foot. Her head popped up from the pillow. Sam whispered, "Company." She nodded once, and within seconds they were back on the afterdeck and sliding over the gunwale into the water. On impulse, Sam reached back over the side and grabbed their only possible weapon, the gaff pole, from its bracket.

Having already rehearsed their plan, it was a short ten-second breaststroke to the nearest floating island. With Remi in the lead, they wriggled their way between the exposed mangrove roots and picked through the maze until they reached a hollow in the center. Their earlier inspection of the cavity showed it to be three feet in diameter and almost eight feet tall, rising to the underside of the earthen mushroom cap. Around them, rattail roots and vines drooped and curled. The air was heavy with the tang of mold and loam.

Through the tangle of roots they could see the Andreyale ten feet to their right. So close they were almost hugging, Sam and Remi rotated themselves until they could see the mouth of the lagoon. At first, there was nothing. Dark, moonlit water and silence.

Then a faint, almost imperceptible hum.

Sam put his lips to Remi's ear. "Zodiac rafts with electric trolling motors. Moving very slowly."

"Zodiacs probably mean a mother ship," Remi whispered back.

Her point was well made. While Zodiacs could manage Zanzibar's coastal waters, most trolling motors had limited range and a top speed of four to five knots. Whoever their visitors were, they'd launched from somewhere nearby. Remi's guess of a larger boat seemed the most likely scenario.

Sam said, "You left the goodies out for Santa?"

She nodded. "They'll have to look around a bit, but everything's there."

Two minutes passed before the first Zodiac appeared, two hundred yards away and to their right. The second appeared, at the same distance but to the left. A few moments later, the third slid into view, coming down the center of the lagoon. None showed a speck of light, but in the gray moonlight Sam and Remi could see a single silhouetted figure sitting in the stern of each raft.

Three Zodiac rafts, traveling in a line abreast with neither a spoken word nor a flashlight among them . . . These were not tourists on a nocturnal water safari.

"You see any weapons?" Sam whispered.

Remi shook her head.

For the next few minutes they watched as the trio of Zodiacs weaved their way between and around the floating islands until they were fifty yards from the Andreyale. The figure in the middle Zodiac raised his hand, made a strange gesture, and the other two Zodiacs responded by coming about and converging on the Andreyale.

Sam tapped on Remi's shoulder to get her attention, then jerked his thumb downward. Together they submerged until only their eyes and noses were above the surface.