“I guess so,” Ben said. “We saw the thing land in the hangar, and the roof closed again, and then a bunch of guys came out the front door. My cousin was in a work gang, and he tried to run for it, and one of those bastards killed him.” Nighthawk's voice became choked with emotion.

Ryan put his hand on Nighthawk's shoulder. “That's enough for now, Ben.”

Austin said, “I'd like to help. But I'm going to need more details.”

Ryan said, “We'll be glad to fill you in, but the information comes with a price.”

Austin raised an eyebrow. “I'm a little short of change today, Marcus.”

“We're not interested in money. We want SOS and NUMA to work together to bring Oceanus down. We share the information. You include us in any mission.”

Austin showed his teeth in a wide grin. “You'd be better off call- ing in the marines, Ryan. NUMA is a scientific organization dedi- cated to gathering knowledge. It's not a military organization.”

“C'mon, Kurt, you're being disingenuous,” Ryan said, with a knowing smile. “We researched your job at NUMA. This Special As- signments Team you run has come up against some pretty hard cases. You didn't stop the bad guys by whacking them over the head with a scientific treatise.”

“You flatter me, Marcus. I don't have the power to authorize a joint mission. I'd have to run it by higher-ups.”

Ryan took the answer as a qualified yes. “I new you'd come around,” he said triumphantly. “Thank you so much.”

“Save your thanks. I have no intention of going to the head hon- chos.”

“Why not?” “NUMA would be putting its reputation on the line if it worked with a fringe organization like SOS. On the other hand, you'd gain public support for the Sentinels by putting them under NUMA's um- brella of legitimacy. Sorry. It's a one-sided deal.”

Ryan brushed back his hair. “We haven't told you everything, Kurt. I have a personal stake in this, as well. It wasn't just Ben's cousin-Josh Green was killed.”

“It was my fault,” Ben said. “I ran into the open, and he tried to stop me. They shot him.”

“You did what anyone would have done in your place,” Ryan said.

Josh was a brave man.“ ”You're talking about two murders now,“ Austin said. ”Have you reported them to the police?"

“No. We want to deal with this ourselves. And there's something olse that may persuade you to change your mind. We tracked down Ae new owner of the land around Ben's lake. It was a real estate straw corporation... set up by Oceanus.”

“You're sure of that?” “Positive. Are you with us now?”