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THE SINGLE-ENGINE PLANE circled a few times above the island&039;s interior and then dropped smoothly down into the trees Moore had seen it and, out of curiosity, he drove his pickup truck along a road into jungle, across open flats and through areas black with thicket, trees, and vines shutting off the sunlight The road ca; there was a narrow, packed-dirt airstrip and a tin-roofed shed Beyond the strip, at the fringe of the deeper jungle, was a far the thing that had come from the sky That didn&039;t happen often on Coquina

Moore turned onto the airstrip and pulled up alongside the plane Some sort of symbol was painted on the craft&039;s side, a white circle with the letters JHF in white at its center He could see ure in a tan jued between two seats Moore climbed out of the truck and approached the open cockpit door "Can I give you a hand?"

"Yes," the pilot said, working the bag free and hefting it over the side to Moore "Take this bloody thing But be careful; there&039;s expensive ca, but stood braced at the cockpit doorway staring

The pilot was a young woold showing at the neck He had just caught a gli She lifted a suitcase and very carefully laid it outside the cockpit as Moore stepped back to give her rooray eyes, and offered her hand "Jana Thornton," she said; Moore shook her hand and started to speak, but she turned away again for a smaller suitcase on the co-pilot&039;s seat She put it down on the ground and went on, "I wasn&039;t expecting a welconal, but if I&039;ve plotted correctly this has to be Coquina"

"It is"

"Then I&039;m where I want to be" She turned to look down the rutted, pot-holed airstrip "I don&039;t expect you have reed "We&039;re not exactly a touristto the cockpit and eainst the plane&039;s tires Moore carried the bags to his truck and then turned back to her "What&039;s the JHF stand for?"

"Ja up She closed the cockpit door and locked it "Will my plane be safe out here?"

"We haven&039;t lost any so far"

"I really didn&039;t expect anyone to be hed as they climbed into the truck&039;s cab "But I appreciate the ride, Mr - ?"

"David Moore" He started the engine and they began tohike into the village"

He glanced across at her as they reached the jungle road It had been a long time since he&039;d seen a white woman as attractive as she was She wore very little makeup and didn&039;t really need any; she was a natural beauty with high cheekbones and forehead and a striking facial structure; she was perhaps in her late twenties Her hair was tucked underneath the cap, of course, but he envisioned it as falling to just about shoulder length Her skin was deeply tanned, as if she spent a lot of tih-lines around her eyes and hened and callused There was a sis Moore had seen a look of energy and intelligence, perhaps also of caution in her eyes They were calht they could probably cut like a heated scalpel when she was angry

"Where have you coht"

"Isn&039;t it dangerous flying alone like that?"

She shtly, as if the question was one she heard often "Not if you knohat you&039;re doing And I do There&039;s an interesting reef out beyond your harbor Do you know anything about those two steamer wrecks to the south?"

"I&039;ve dived them," he said "They&039;re in about sixty feet, but only the stern&039;s left of one and the keel of the other" Moore paused for a few seconds "You&039;re pretty good to recognize them as steamers from the air"

"I know that type of wreck," she said "And there are objects lying near them that could only be broken stea on Coquina?" Moore asked, fascinated with his passenger "And what&039;s your Foundation do, anyway?"

"I&039;m here to find the island&039;s constable As to the Foundation, we&039;re a research group in alliance with the British Museum"

"I see Then you&039;re here because of the U-boat"

She glanced over at hiate so the Foundation doesn&039;t understand There was a story in the Ja We contacted the man who reported it - a ht years old and soment as to whether what&039;s surfaced off your island actually is an authentic World War II relic"

Moore looked at her and noticed her eyes were suspicious and questing, like a cat&039;s "You can see for yourself"

"I plan to"

They cale road, turned on Back Street, and drove toward the center of the village The Square was now completely deserted, and Moore saw that Kip&039;s jeep was still gone from its usual place in front of his office

"I don&039;t think the constable&039;s in right now," he said He rocery store "There&039;s a cafe over there if you&039;d like so to eat while you wait"

"I can do with soed, and Moore pulled the truck to the curb

Everybody&039;s Grocers and Cafe was a sht mustard yellow; the store was at the front; the cafe was a scattering of tables near a kitchen at the rear When they sat down, the rotund cook protested that she was leaving soon to go ho lunch for them He asked for two orders of seafood bouillabaisse and coffee

"Is it Miss or Mrs Thornton?" he asked her casually after they&039;d seated thearette fro for him to find a match "It&039;s Dr Thornton," she said coolly

"Oh? A doctor of what?"

"A professor," she corrected "I&039; in the study of sunken wrecks"

"Sounds interesting"

"It is" She tapped ash off her cigarette She looked up, exa his eyes for a few seconds She could see intensity in this e, very blue, warm and yet distant at the sa dark and disturbing as well, lying deep inside Then she saw it vanish like the briefest of passing shadows

"What about you?" she asked, at last "What are you doing here?"

"I own the Indigo Inn The hotel at the top of the hill"

"Ah, yes I saw it from the air" She tilted her chin and exhaled suests"

"Not during hurricane season, no But when the good breezes are bloe get a few yachtsh And I enjoy the life It&039;s not a bad way to pass the time"