AUSTIN was sawing through a manhole-sized slab of beef at his father's favorite steak house when he felt his cell phone vibrating. He excused himself and took the call in the lobby. Looking at Austin from the video phone's tiny display screen was a dark-complexioned man with thick black hair combed straight back. Joe Zavala was a member of Austin's Special Assignments Team who had been recruited by Sandecker right out of the New York Maritime College. He was a brilliant marine engineer whose expertise in designing submersibles had found a ready niche at NUMA.

“Glad to see you're still in once piece,” Zavala said. “The orca attack on your kayak race is all over the news. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine. In fact, you might say I had a whale of a time.”

Zavala cracked the tips of his lips in a slight smile. “I lead such a dull life. Who else but Kurt Austin could turn a charity kayak race into a life-and-death struggle with a bunch of loco killer whales?”

“The last time I looked you were well along in your goal of dating every eligible woman in Washington. I'd hardly call that dull.”

The gregarious Zavala was much in demand by many of the single women around Washington who were attracted by his charm, his soulful dark brown eyes and Latin good looks.

“I'll admit that life can get interesting when I run into an old date when I'm out with a new one, but that's nothing compared to your race. What happened?”

“I'm having dinner with my father, so I'll have to fill you in when I get back in a couple of days.”

“Looks like you'll be back in Washington sooner than that. We've been ordered to sail out of Norfolk tomorrow night. Do you know Joe Adler?”

“The name sounds familiar. Isn't he a wave guy out at Scripps?”

“He's one of the foremost ocean wave experts in the world. We're going to help him find the Southern Belle.”

“I remember reading about the Belle. She's the big containership that went down last March.”

“That's right. Rudi called me. Adler wants you on the project. Apparently, he's got some clout, because Rudi agreed to his request.” Rudi Gunn was in charge of NUMA's day-to-day operations.

“That's odd. I've never even met Adler. Sure he didn't make a mistake? There are a dozen guys at NUMA who've worked searches. Why me?”

“Rudi said he didn't have a clue. But Adler has an international reputation, so he went along with his request to help find the ship.”

“Interesting. The Belle went down off the mid-Atlantic coast. How close is the search area to where the Trouts are working?” Paul and Gamay Trout, the other members of the Special Assignments Team, were in the midst of an ocean survey.

“Close enough so that we can raft up and have a party,” Zavala said. “I've already packed the tequila.”