Adler chuckled. “Deep-ocean biology isn't my area of expertise, but I wasn't aware those remarkable creatures had eyes.”

“Joe is exaggerating, but only a little bit,” Austin said with a smile. “The stuff available on the Throckmorton makes a strong case for those who argue that humans can explore the deep ocean without getting their feet wet. Instead of being crammed into a submersible vehicle, here we are sipping coffee while the side-scan fish does all the work for us.”

“And what do you think, Kurt?”

Austin pondered the question. “There is no doubt that someone like Joe can build an underwater robot vehicle that can be programmed to do everything but bring you your newspaper and slippers.”

A brilliant mechanic as well as engineer, Zavala had designed and directed the construction of numerous underwater vehicles, manned and unmanned, for NUMA.

“Funny you should mention that,” Joe said. “I'm working on a design that will do all that and mix a damned good margarita too.”

“Joe makes my point.” Austin gestured at the screens lining the walls of the survey center. “But what's missing in the comfortable confines of this room is the hunger for the one quality that will keep the human race from atrophying like an unused limb. Adventure.”

Adler smiled with pleasure at having made the right decision in going to NUMA for help. Austin and Zavala were obviously sharp-minded scientists, knowledgeable in arcane areas of ocean research. But with their athletic bearing, quick humor and good-natured camaraderie the two NUMA men seemed like throwbacks. They were more like eighteenth-century swashbucklers than the seagoing academics he was used to, with their fussy intensity and taciturn personalities. He lifted his coffee mug in a toast.

“Here's to adventure,” he said.

The others raised their mugs. “Maybe it's time we had a wave scientist on the Special Assignments Team,” Austin said.

An urgent buzzing from the sonar monitor cut short Adler's laughter.

Austin set his coffee aside and stepped over to the sonar screen. He watched the display for a few seconds. His lips widened in a smile and he turned to the professor. “You said earlier that you'd like to assess the damage to the Southern Belle before you tell us about the theories you've been toying with.”

“Yes, that's right,” Adler said. “I'm hopeful that I can learn why the Belle went down.”

Austin swiveled the screen so that the professor could see the spectral image of a ship lying on the ocean bottom five hundred feet below.

“You're about to get your chance.”

THE SEA had wasted no time taking over ownership of the Southern Belle.