"At night maybe," Gunn said. "Too obvious during the day. The water visibility is almost a hundred feet. Anyone standing on the bluffs within a mile in either direction could easily look down and spot a three-hundred-foot hull that was crawling over the bottom."

"It shouldn't be too difficult to spot a diver either." Pitt turned and gazed up at the villa, nestled like a fortress on the craggy side of the mountain.

"You're mad to take a chance like this," Gunn said slowly. "Von Till can see any movement you make. I'll bet a dime to a donut that he's had a pair of binoculars trained on us every second since we upped anchor."

"I'm betting on it too," Pitt murmured. He lost himself for a moment in the beauty of the scene. The azure arms of the Aegean encircled the ancient island seascape in a dazzling reflection of sun and water. Only the voice of the crashing surf answered the steady hum of the ship's engines, punctuated occasionally by the shriek of a solitary gull. Above the rocky cliffs, a herd of cattle grazed on a sloping green pasture, like tiny immovable shapes in a Rembrandt landscape. And below, in sheltered coves among the lesser cliffs, piles of sun-bleached driftwood lay dead and still on tiny shell-carpeted beaches.

Pitt nearly lingered too long. He tugged his mind back to the job at hand. That mysterious area of calm water was coming up now, only three quarters of a mile away off the port bow. He laid a hand on Gunn's shoulder and pointed.

"The flat pond."

Gunn nodded. "OK, got it. At our present speed we should be alongside in ten minutes. Is your team ready?"

"All set and primed," Pitt answered briefly. "They know what to expect. I've got them stationed along the starboard cabin deck; out of sight to any prying eyes from the villa."

Gunn replaced his cap. "Be sure you order them to leap plenty clear of the hull. Getting sucked into a prop can be a very messy business."

"I doubt that they have to be ordered," Pitt said quietly. "They're all good men. You told me so yourself."

"Damn right," Gunn snorted. He turned to Pitt. "I'm going to keep the ship close-in to the shoreline for another three miles. We might fool von Till into thinking we're on a routine sounding course to chart the shallows. It might work, I don't know. For your sake I hope he's taken in."

"We'll soon find out." Pitt checked his watch against the ship's chronometer. "What time do you make your rendezvous?"

"I'll run a series of doglegs on the return course and arrive back here at 1410. That gives you exactly fifty minutes to find the sub and get out." Gunn dug a cigar out of a breast pocket and lit it. "You and my men be waiting for the ship, you hear me?"