Pitt didn't answer immediately. A broad smile broke across his lips, and his vivid green eyes seemed to be laughing.

Gunn looked puzzled. "What did I say that's so funny?"

"For a moment you reminded me of my mother. She always used to say that when my ship came in I'd probably be waiting at the bus depot."

Gunn ruefully shook his head. "If you don't come back at least I'll know where to look. Well, let's get on with it. You had better climb into your diving gear."

Pitt simply waved in acknowledgment, left the hot confine of the wheelhouse and dropped down the ladder to the First Attempt's starboard cabin deck. He found five deeply tanned men waiting for him, probably, Pitt reflected, the five most eager and intelligent men he'd ever known. Like himself, they wore only black bikini swim trunks. All were busily engaged in adjusting breathing regulators and strapping on airtanks; each man rechecked the other's equipment, making certain the tank valves and harness webbing were in their proper position.

The nearest diver, Ken Knight, looked up at Pitt's arrival. "I have your gear all ready for you, Major. I hope a single hose regulator will be OK, NUMA didn't issue us any doubles this trip."

"A single hose will do fine," Pitt replied. He pulled on a pair of fins and strapped a knife to his right calf; then he slipped a mask over his head and adjusted the snorkel. The mask was the wide-angle type that gave the wearer a one hundred and eighty degree range of vision. Next came the airtank and the regulator. He was about to struggle with the tank harness when suddenly the forty-pound outfit was swept from the deck and held at his back by two massive, hairy arms.

"How you could ever get through a day without my services," said the voice of Giordino pompously, "is a mystery to me."

"The real mystery is why I put up with your jackhammer mouth and overabundant ego," Pitt said sourly.

"There you go, picking on me again." Giordino tried to sound wounded but couldn't quite pull it off. He turned and looked down at the passing water and, after a long pause, muttered very slowly: "Christ! Look at the clarity of that water! It's sharper than a goldfish bowl."

"So I've noticed." Pitt unsheathed the barbed tip of a six-foot pole spear and checked the elasticity of the rubber sling attached to the butt end. "Have you studied your lesson?"

"The old gray matter," Giordino said, pointing to his head, "has all the answers filed and indexed."

"As usual, it's comforting to know you're so sure of yourself."

"Sherlock Giordino knows all, sees all. No secret can escape my probing mind."

"Your probing mind better be well oiled," Pitt said earnestly. "You've got a tight schedule to keep."