“One of Brasero's men went to take a shot at Diego. Blackthorne killed the man. Diego had his men bring Blackthorne to him. The Englishman laid out his story. Diego needed a skilled captain to command the warship, so he made a deal. Blackthorne would take charge of the ship and get Diego's men home safely. Several weeks later, by Blackthorne's account, he sailed up the Thames with his prize.”

“What happened to the Roland relics?”

“Blackthorne never mentions them. But by his account, Diego called for a small volunteer crew to stay with him and sent the oth- ers home with Blackthorne. Diego no longer needed gunners and cannon crew, only skilled sailors. Even with Brasero dead, he knew the relics would not be safe as long as the Inquisition was alive. So he continued west, never to be heard from again. Another unsolved mystery of the sea.”

"Maybe not/' Austin said. He handed Perlmutter the news clip about the zeppelin crash.

Perlmutter read the story and looked up. “These unusual 'items' Heinz mentions could be the long-lost relics.”

“My thoughts exactly. Which means they're in the hands of Oceanus.”

“Would Oceanus give them up?”

Austin thought of his run-ins with the Oceanus thugs. “Not likely,” he said, with a rueful chuckle.

Perlmutter gazed at Austin over tented ringers. “It seems there is more to this whole saga than meets the eye.”

“A hell of a lot more, and I'll be glad to tell you all the gory details over another cup of coffee.” Austin lifted his cup. “As long as you're up, old boy, could you fetch me a refill? Get one for yourself.”

NUMA 4 - White Death

28

AUSTIN ARRIVED THREE minutes before his appointed meeting time with Aguirrez. After leaving Perlmutter's house, Austin drove down Embassy Row. The gods that look over Wash- ington drivers were smiling, and he found a parking space with no trouble. He walked along Pennsylvania Avenue until he stood in front of a square building that consisted of several dark-glass stories grafted onto some old Washington houses. Austin read the sign next to the front door and wondered if he had the wrong address. Given the troubles the Aguirrez family had had with the Spanish authori- ties through the centuries, the last place he would have expected to find Balthazar was at the embassy of Spain.

Austin gave his name to a security guard at the door and was passed on to the receptionist, who punched out a number on her in- tercom phone and spoke in Spanish to someone on the line. Then she smiled and, in a lovely accent that evoked visions of Castile, said

“Mr. Aguirrez is with the ambassador. He'll be with you in a mo- ment.”