"Willie was the pilot," von Till answered. "When the Albatros crashed into the sea, poor Willie was trapped in the wreckage. He drowned before we could reach him." Von Till's face abruptly became hard and menacing. "It seems you cost me my chauffeur and pilot as well as my dog."

"Gullibility on Willie's part," Pitt said quietly. "I suckered him with the same old balloon trick that the British used on Kurt Heibert. As to the dog, before you sic another one of your hydrophobic bitches on your next unsuspecting dinner guest, I suggest you count your table utensils."

Von Till looked at Pitt curiously for a moment. Then he nodded knowingly. "Remarkable, quite remarkable. You killed my champion hound with a knife from my own dinner table. Most ungracious of you, Major, to say the least. May I ask how you were forewarned?"

"Premonition," Pitt replied. "No more, no less. You should never have tried to kill me. That was your first mistake."

"It is a pity your escape from the labyrinth only prolonged your existence by a few hours."

Pitt nonchalantly glanced past von Till and Darius. The ominous black tunnel was now strangely empty; the two guards had disappeared. Not so the five guards who lined the cavern wall with the machine pistols—they looked as menacing as ever.

"Your reception committee leads me to believe you were expecting us," Pitt murmured quietly.

"Of course we were expecting you," von Till acknowledged matter-of-factly. "Good friend Darius here informed me of your impending arrival. The exact time became apparent when the First Attempt began acting suspiciously; no captain in his right mind would run his ship that close in to the Thasos cliffs."

"How many pieces of silver did it take for Darius to turn traitor?"

"The exact sum wouldn't be of interest to you," said von Till. "The fact is, Darius has been in my employ for ten years. You might say that our association has proved to be quite mutually rewarding."

Pitt stared into Darius' coal-black eyes. "No matter how you slice it, it still adds up to treason. That's your second mistake, von Till. Hiring a slimy cockroach of a bastard like Darius, it's bound to backfire."

Darius shivered in involuntary rage. The Luger protruded from his massive fist as if it were a mutant growth extension, and it was aimed unsteadily at Pitt's navel.

Von Till shook his head tiredly. "Antagonizing Darius will only make you very, very dead."

"What's the difference? You're going to kill all of us anyway."

"Premonition again, Major? It serves you well." Von Till spoke cheerfully. Too cheerfully to suit Pitt.

"I hate surprises," Pitt said caustically. "How and when?"

With a practiced flourish, von Till pushed back his sleeves and carefully studied the dial of his watch. "In eleven minutes to be exact. That is all the time I can afford."

"Why not now?" Darius growled. "Why wait? We have other business at hand."