“No,” Jelbart replied. He pulled the chart book from the sleeve on the door. He flipped to the page with the coordinates the pilot had given him. “That area of the sea is two hundred feet deep, with no reefs. Nothing a ship would be likely to strike. Not with enough force to sink it.”

“Why would the smugglers sink their own ship, then send out flares?” Loh wondered.

“Especially so many flares,” Jelbart pointed out. “There had to be three or four to light the sky like that.”

“They are not the kind of projectiles that would self-launch in heat or in a fire,” Loh said. “They have to be triggered intentionally.”

“Right,” Jelbart said. “Though it appears some of these were ignited close to the water. Not in the air.”

“Perhaps the boat shifted when they were firing,” Loh suggested. “This may have been an act of desperation before it went down.”

“You don’t take a boat to deep water and sink it because you want to be found,” Herbert said.

“Then why fire flares?” Jelbart asked.

“Maybe not everyone liked the idea of the boat being deep-sixed,” Herbert speculated.

“A mutiny,” Jelbart suggested.

“Dissent among smugglers,” Herbert replied. “That’s not a big leap of imagination.”

“True. Well, we’ll have our answers soon,” Jelbart said. He turned to the pilot. “How much time until we get there?”

“About ten minutes,” the pilot replied.

“If we don’t go back for refueling, where’s the nearest place on the mainland to set down?” Herbert asked.

Jelbart checked the map. “Moribura, which is about two hundred kilometers to the southwest.”

“That would still only give us another ten minutes of hovering time,” the pilot pointed out.

“My patrol boat is coming over at full speed,” FNO Loh pointed out. “They should be on site in approximately one hour. They will maintain the integrity of the site.”

“That may not be in time to help the people on board,” Jelbart said.

“I can radio Darwin,” the pilot said. “There’s a Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol base nearby. In Port Douglas, I think.”

“Thanks, but that wouldn’t help,” Jelbart said. “The RVCP fields a Patrol 5 that does 18.5 knots, and they don’t have air capability. Anyone in the water will be arm weary and damn near freezing before help arrives.”

“I’m crying,” Herbert said.

Jelbart ignored his remark. “Is there anything we can do before FNO Loh’s patrol ship arrives?”

“Not really,” the pilot said. “All I’ve got is an aluminum ladder and not a lot of flying time.”

Herbert watched as the helicopter swept toward the boat. The light from the flares was all but gone now.

“It looks to me as if the prow is underwater,” Jelbart said.

“Where were those flares burning?” Herbert asked.

“Off the stern,” Jelbart told him.

“So that rules out one theory,” Herbert said.