Dr. Liao smiled. “No problem, Mrs. Wallace, provided you abide by a non-disclosure agreement like the one your husband will be asked to sign.”

Brandy smiled back. “Sure, I’ll sign. Whit ’ve I got tae lose? Willy’s crib?”

Her response did not please Liao. “Dr. Wallace, we’ve come a long way at great expense to speak with you. While I can assure you the subject matter will both interest and astound you, it is not something we want exposed to the general public.”

Seeking unfiltered answers, I turned to the fourth stranger, the man who had not bothered to introduce himself. “You were recruited for this mission?”

“Something like that.”

“What’s your role?”

“Submersible pilot.”

“What’s mine?”

“Money. Your association with the expedition will bring the sponsors that pay the bills.”

I stared hard at the man’s face. “I’ve seen your photo before. You said you’re a submersible pilot?”

“Not by trade. Benjamin Hintzmann. Ben to my friends. I’m a fighter pilot—at least I was until the United States Air Force discharged me after an incident nearly triggered a war.”

“Hintzmann, you’re the F-18 pilot who had the Pakistani air force shooting at him. Why’d you cross into their airspace?”

“It’s classified. Anyway, that was a long time ago. Since then, I’ve traded in my wings for flippers and been working with Graham Hawkes, piloting his deep-sea submersibles. Amazing machines. They fly through the water just like a jet. I was training in San Diego when Ming and the ding-a-ling boys here made me an offer I couldn’t refuse—contingent, of course, on your participation. After what happened to you in the Sargasso Sea, I’m guessing they figured you’d feel safer with someone like me piloting our three-man sub.”

“Who’s the third man?”

“I am.” Ming Liao removed a document from her leather briefcase and handed it to me. “This non-disclosure agreement allows me to share classified information about an amazing find my team made recently. By signing this agreement, you are forbidden from sharing this information with anyone, whether you join our mission or not.”

“You mean, at least until the television special airs.”

“While every aspect of this mission will be documented, there will be no television crews. Nor will there be any published reports, at least for quite some time.”

“I don’t understand. What good is a new discovery if you can’t share it with the world?”

“The discovery will be shared once we have garnered the vast treasures this exploratory mission has to offer. Because the location of the discovery is in Antarctica we cannot prevent other nations and their scientific teams from accessing, exploiting, and contaminating the resource; therefore, we must protect its secrets as long as possible.