“Where’s the staff when they’re not working in the lab?” Zavala asked.

“They’re confined to quarters,” Mitchell said. “They’re kept under pretty tight guard, thanks to Mr. Phelps here.”

“Just doing my job,” Phelps said.

“How do you undo your job?” Zavala asked.

“I’ll try my best, Joe, but it won’t be easy.”

“Don’t worry,” Zavala said, “there will be lots of opportunities here to redeem yourself. For a start, do you have any idea how we can get the staff away from the lab?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Phelps said. “We can use the minisubs under the transit hub. They’ll each take four people. We’ve got fifteen scientists down here plus the cargo-shuttle pilot.”

Zavala forgot his throbbing head in his eagerness to go on the offensive.

“You and I can go out the way we came in,” he said. “We’ve got to neutralize those guys on the Typhoon. How many will we have to deal with on the sub?”

“The Triad triplets like to do things in threes,” Phelps said. “Something to do with lucky numbers. They got three squads of three on the sub, which makes nine, minus the two that came down here with us. They’re all armed and meaner than rattle-snakes.”

“They’ve had it easy up until now,” said Zavala, “so they’ve lost their edge and won’t be expecting anything. They won’t have a chance.”

Phelps let out a deep chuckle.

“Like Chesty Puller said when they told him he was surrounded: ‘They won’t get away this time.’ ”

“That’s right,” Zavala said. His mind raced ahead. “Okay, we get the people on the minisubs and they leave the lab . . . Where do they go?”

“Through the big tunnel in the side of the crater,” Phelps said. “They’ve got enough power to get well beyond the reef, past Chang’s freighter, to where they can surface and send out a Mayday.”

“We’ve got to get to the staff and let them know what’s up,” Zavala said.

“I can do it,” Lois Mitchell said. “The guards are used to seeing me around the lab.”

Phelps glanced at his watch.

“That will have to wait until I get back. I’ve got to get things ready for Chang’s arrival. Why don’t you two get to know each other better?”

“Ladies first,” Zavala said after Phelps had closed the door behind him.

Mitchell gave Zavala a brief overview of her work with Dr. Kane and the medusa project, going back to Bonefish Key.

“You’re to be congratulated for the success of the project,” he said.

“I never dreamed it would come to this,” she said. “And you, Mr. Zavala, how did you come to be in this awful place?”