“We can't forget Josh, either,” Ryan said. “I haven't forgotten Josh. But are you sure there's no other way?” Therri said.

“I wish there were,” Ryan said. “We've got to play hardball.”

“I'm not arguing with the need to do something, but the means. What about Ben's people? You're risking their lives.”

“We can't be diverted from our prime goal. We know from our contacts on Senator Graham's staff that Oceanus continued the trans- gendered fish experiments that were halted in New Zealand. We've got to stop this abomination before it is unleashed.”

Abomination? You're scaring me, Marcus. You're talking like a Biblical prophet."

Ryan's face flushed, but he held his temper. “I have no intention of making Ben's people collateral damage. Oceanus will be too busy dealing with our little gifts to do anything. In any case, we'll call the authorities as soon as we're finished here.”

"It would only take a few bursts from an automatic weapon to kill

Ben's people. Why not call in outside help now?"

“Because it would take time we don't have. We're talking search warrants and legal process. The villagers could be dead by the time the Mounties decide to investigate.” He paused. “Remember, I tried to bring NUMA in on this, and Austin refused.”

Therri bit her lower lip in frustration. Her loyalty toward Ryan was intense but not uncritical.

“Don't turn your sights on Kurt. If it weren't for him, you'd be eat- ing sardines in a Danish prison cell.”

Ryan beamed his lighthouse smile. "You're right. I'm out of line.

But there's still time to call Bear and have him take you out of here."

“Not on your life, Ryan.”

Mercer had finished organizing their backpacks. He strapped on a pistol belt and handed one to Ryan. Therri refused a weapon. They piled their supplies into the inflatable, shoved it off the beach and started the engine. It ran with a low hum and pushed them through the water at a slow but respectable speed. They hugged the shoreline even after they had passed through the channel into the larger lake.

Ryan was using a topographic map with notations based on Ben's information. He stopped the boat at one point and peered through his binoculars at the opposite side of the lake. He could make out a pier and several boats, but no structure matching Nighthawk's de- scription.

"That's funny, I don't see any dome. Ben said it rose above the trees.

“What should we do?” Therri said.

“We'll go to Ben's village and wait there. Then we'll head across the lake, leave our calling cards where they will do the most good and set the timers for late morning, when we'll be well on our way out of here.”