He barely had the strength to reach out and grasp an oar. The combined muscles of Giordino and Steiger then hoisted him into the boat as effortlessly as if he were a small child.

“Help me get this wet suit off him,” Giordino ordered.

46 VIXEN 03p>

“My God, he’s turned blue.”

“Another five minutes down there and he would have entered hypothermia.”

“Hypothermia?” asked Steiger, stripping off Pitt’s jacket.

“Profound body-heat loss,” explained Giordino. “I’ve known divers who died from it.”

“I am not … repeat … am not ready for a coroner’s slab,” Pitt managed between shivers.

The wet suit was peeled off and they rubbed Pitt vigorously with towels and wrapped him in heavy wool blankets. The feeling slowly came back to his limbs and the warm sun added to his sensual comfort by penetrating his skin. He sipped hot coffee from a Thermos jug, knowing its rejuvenating benefits were more psychological than physiological.

“You were a fool,” Giordino said, more out of concern than anger. “You damned near killed yourself by staying down too long. The water must be near freezing at that depth.”

“What did you find down there?” Steiger asked anxiously.

Pitt sat up, pushing the last of the fog from his head. “A folder. I had a folder.”

Giordino held it up. “You still do. It was clutched in your left hand like a vise.”

“And a small metal plate?”

“I have it,” said Steiger. “It fell out of your sleeve.”

Pitt relaxed against the side of the boat and took another swallow of the steaming coffee. “The cargo cabin is filled with large canisters-stainless steel, judging by the negligible degree of corrosion. What they contain is anybody’s guess. There were no markings on them.”

“How are they shaped?” asked Giordino.

“Cylindrical.”

Steiger looked thoughtful. “I can’t imagine what kind of military cargo would call for the protection of stainless-steel canisters.” Then his mind shifted gear and he looked at Pitt piercingly. “What of the crew? Was there any sign of the crew?”

“What’s left of them is still strapped in their seats.”

Giordino gently pried open one end of the vinyl folder. “The papers may be readable. I think I can separate and dry them back at the cabin.”

“Probably the flight plan,” said Steiger. “A few of the old die-hard Air Force pilots still prefer that particular type of folder to the newer, plastic ones for holding their paperwork.”

Vixen 03 47p>

“Maybe it will tell us what the crew was doing that far off course.”

“I for one hope so,” said Steiger. “I want all the facts in hand and the mystery neatly gift wrapped before I drop it on a desk at the Pentagon.”

“Ah … Steiger.”

The colonel looked at Pitt questioningly.

“I hate to bear tidings that will screw up your well-laid plans, but there’s more than meets the eye concerning the enigma of Air Force 03-much more.”