“Not outside the family. He wanted the caves kept a secret be- cause he was afraid they would get ruined if people knew about them.”

“Then the caves can't be entered from the land side?”

“There was a way, but it was blocked with boulders. My father said it would be no problem to move them. He wanted to get some sci- entists in from the university so it would be done right, but he died in a storm.”

I'm sorry.

Pia smiled. “Like I said, he wasn't afraid of anything. Anyhow, after he died, my mother moved the family away to live with rela- tives. I came back here with my husband. I was too busy raising kids to worry about the caves. Then the fish company bought the land and the old whaling station, and no one could get out there.”

“Are there more pictures?”

She shook her head. “Poppa tried to make a map of the caves, but I don't know what happened to it. He said the people who made the paintings were smart. They used pictures offish and birds like signs. As long as you follow the right fish, you won't get lost. Some of the caves lead to blind alleys.”

They talked into the night. Austin finally looked at his watch and said that he had to go. Pia wouldn't let him leave until he agreed to return for dinner the next evening. He drove along the deserted road in the dusky light that passes for night in northern climes.

A light was on at the main house, but he saw no sign ofJepsen, and guessed he had gone to bed. The rain had ended. He went out on the porch and stood there awhile, looking down on the quiet village and harbor, then went back inside the cottage and got ready to sack out. Although the remote village seemed peaceful, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that Skaalshavn was a place of dark secrets. Before he turned in, he made sure that the door and windows were locked.

NUMA 4 - White Death

11

PAUL TROUT THREADED the wide-beamed Humvee through the heavy Washington traffic like a runner going for a touchdown at the Super Bowl. Although he and Gamay often took the Hummer on four-wheeling family trips in the Virginia country- side, nothing they encountered off-road could compare with the chal- lenges of driving in the nation's capital. They made good time, though, as Gamay called out openings in the traffic and Paul spun the wheel over without looking. Their ability to work together like a well-oiled machine had been crucial on countless NUMA assign- ments and was a tribute to the acumen of Admiral Sandecker, who had hired them together.