He guided the sub under the dock and slowly brought her to the surface. Less than eight inches of her hull broached, and the coaming around her hatch was a mere five inches taller. With her hull painted a deep blue, the submersible was all but invisible. Add to that, an observer aboard the workboat would have to be on his knees and looking under the pier, so their chance of detection was virtually zero.

The two men felt like a couple of contortionists when they donned their parkas, but a few moments later Linc popped the hatch and climbed up onto the deck. There was little clearance, and he had to work stooped over as he tied off the submersible so it wouldn’t move when the tide changed. Cabrillo stepped off the minisub and onto the port side of one of the workboats. Linc climbed up next to him, and, as if they didn’t have a care in the word, they moved onto the dock and approached the Argentine base.

This was the first good look Juan had of the facility, and he was amazed by its size and scope. He knew from Linda’s pictures that there was room around the bay to more than triple its size. Given free rein, there would be a real town here before too long.

The first order of business was to locate where the Argies were keeping the international scientists they had kidnapped and were using as human shields. It was eight o’clock at night, and, as they suspected, there were hardly any people about. They saw an occasional shape moving amid the buildings, but most people were wisely inside. When they peered through the occasional lit window, they could see men lounging around on sofas watching DVDs or playing cards in rec rooms or in their own private bedrooms reading books or writing letters home. The first area they checked seemed to be dorms for the oil workers, an unlikely candidate.

They searched several warehouses, thinking the scientists could be tucked into a back room, but found nothing but oil equipment and hundreds of drums of a drill lubricant called mud.

When they were coming out of one of the buildings, a dark figure was waiting by the door. “What were you doing in there?” he demanded, his voice muffled by a scarf but the accusatory tone unmistakable.

“Trying to figure the place out,” Juan answered in Spanish. The stranger was dressed as a civilian, so he went on the offense. “If we’re to defend you guys, I need to know every square inch of this place. So if you don’t mind, we will get back to it.”

“Yeah?” He was still suspicious. “Then why skulk around at night?”