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"I&039;er I&039;er"

"What does it matter? You&039;ve told me"

There was an aard silence; Moore stepped forward, lifted his hand toward his father and extended it "Good-bye," he said

"You&039;ll be back," the oldhis hand

And it was then that David Moore had walked away fro close to the earth or on a boat at sea, not knohat drew hi he had to take that next step, and the next, and the next He began to have the old night scene of wind and wild ocean and Destiny&039;s Child breaking into bits beneath hireat distance, fading in and out; sometimes even close to his ear, the whisper of his naan to listen for it At times he doubted his sanity, but so to reach him, separated only by the barrier between life and death

In a dark clapboard house in Singapore a woman with blackened teeth and the smile of a cat stared at him over a plate of yellowed bones She reached down and picked them up in her hands, rolled them around and then dropped them back They were ordinary chicken&039;s bones, but the woe and ihter had gone with him to see the fortune-teller, and they stood in the shadows that fringed the roo to inherit a fortune, is that it?" one of thehed "Fortune, hell," said another "He&039;s just going to be lucky enough to get out of this port without a colossal case of the drips"

"Soh-pitched whine Theback and forth Moore watched the woman&039;s eyes and believed her "No Two people," she said; she lifted the bones again, rolled the here?" one of the sailors asked

The woreat distance to be traveled yet," she said, wet lips glistening "I can&039;t see where they are But they will not leave until you find them"

"Who are they?" Moore asked, and as soon as he spoke the men were quiet

"A woman Tall Very beautiful A man No A boy child They are very confused, and they don&039;t understand why you can&039;t hear"

"I" Moore began, but then stopped hi else?"

She rolled the bones, dropped the for a particular one Then she shook her head "No Fate reserves the rest" She held out her hand for her hts had vanished; the horizon was black again and above it hung the separate, fiery dots of stars Moore crushed out his cigarette It was hard not to believe, but it was equally hard to believe He wanted to believe, though; he desperately needed to, perhaps because of his persistent, unnerving feeling about Coquina That it was the end of his journey And the questions still to be answered, the ones that had plagued hiht and sometimes made him cry out because he couldn&039;t understand Why had he not died with Beth and Brian? Why had he been saved? Why had he been sent on a path that led here? To Coquina? To find what? Fate reserves the rest, the old woman had told him

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Moore turned his head, his reflexes slowed by the effects of the ruht white blouse and jeans He had no idea how long she&039;d been there "Sure," he said, and motioned toward another chair beside hi Her hair was exactly as he&039;d iined it: she wore it loose and it touched her shoulders, softly blond and very attractive "It&039;s quiet," she said after a ht Usually there&039;s a lot of noise on a Saturday" He glanced over at her, his eyes tracing the fine line of her profile "Is your rooht?"

"It&039;s fine, thanks" She sensed that he wanted to be alone, but she wasn&039;t about to leave him "It&039;s a shame you don&039;t have more visitors I think your island has a lot of potential"

He grunted "For what? Another tourist haven, where they destroy the jungle for a Hilton and a shopping center? It wouldinto Coquina, but there are only a few natural places like this left in the Caribbean That&039;s why I bought the hotel and decided to stay on for a while I wouldn&039;t have it any other way"

"Are you against progress?"

"Progress, no Spoilage, yes A few years ago some businessmen had a plan to build a hotel and ed out a harbor and started blasting the jungle aith dynaood natural cove"

"What ed "Money, I suppose And probleht watchmen around and stole their supplies; those people claiuard it jealously But I&039;lad they didn&039;t finish You can keep your Ja left alone"

There was a pause, and then Jana said, "I didn&039;t know I&039;d touched a nerve"

Moore glanced over at her, he hadn&039;t ly, and he kneas partly the ruized "I suppose it&039;s only a matter of time before the tourists move in, but I&039;e"

"I can understand your feelings"

"Well," he said, dish about Coquina I&039; my manners Would you like a drink?"

Jana shook her head "I don&039;t drink, but thank you all the sa for aacross Kiss Bottom The waves were harsher than usual, and that couldup the sea "How long have you been with the Foundation?" he asked her finally

"A little over a year," she said "I worked in research for the British Museum after I finished school, and I had the opportunity to dive with Cousteau on the Britannic That was ston"

"What exactly does the Foundation do?"

She smiled faintly and nodded toward the open sea "That&039;s my laboratory Out there are perhaps thousands of sunken wrecks So discovered all the time We document and study the ones that haven&039;t been identified There are perhaps more wrecks in the Caribbean than any one place on earth, so that&039;s why I tried alleons,merchants, steaist&039;s paradise What we&039;re doing is just assafety as for the sake of history"

"You&039;re very young to have come so far in your field"

Jana smiled openly; it was a warm smile, filled with a charm Moore had not seen until now "I&039;ve heard that one before Believe et where I am It&039;s never been easy - it still isn&039;t - but I think the work is worth it"

"So what are you planning about the submarine?"

Jana&039;s sainst the railing, staring out into the night; when she turned back to him he could see the fierce deter to let that man sink it, if that&039;s what you mean He doesn&039;t seem to realize how valuable it could be To be perfectly honest, grants to the Foundation fro in for so interest in our work Sohout the entire scientific coston and tell therasp, in reht under my nose!"

"Wait here a second," Moore said suddenly, standing up "I want to show you soht, and brought it out to her "Look at this," he said

She stared at the glass object, holding it up to the diitated "Where did you find this?" she asked quietly, glancing at hiht

"Inside the boat; there was a cabin just forward of the control room"

Jana nodded "The co the letters Moore saw the color suddenly drain from her face "Korrin," she said

"What?"

"It&039;s the name here Korrin Wilhelht with excitement

"I suppose it could say that, yes"

"I know that name," she said with finality

Moore took it froht

"And now I knohat boat that is," Jana said