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Feeling as if he had survived a roller-coaster ride, Pitt returned inside, retrieved the topographicalthe twists and turns in the river as well as fa himself with the network of swa and the canal dug by Qin Shang Maritime He traced and compared the land to sit co and experience the pleasant sensation of traveling smoothly over tietation varied from mile to mile Thick forests s, cottonwoods and cypresses interspersed with berry bushes, and wild grapevines slowly gave way to aunder a light breeze that swept off to the horizon A lone cypress rose ate on the sea He saw herons walking on their long, sticklike legs along the fringe of water, their necks bent into an S shape as they pecked for food in the mud

To a hunter kayaking or paddling a canoe through the swamps of southern Louisiana, the trick was to find a firht Duckweed and hyacinth floated on rew from the brackish ine that all the water he could see came from as far away as Ontario and Manitoba, North Dakota and Minnesota, and every state below Only behind the safety of thousands of miles of levee systems did people cultivate farms and build cities and towns It was a landscape unlike any he'd ever seen

The day was pleasantly cool, with just enough breeze to make small waves across the surface of the water The hours rolled by as if time was as limitless as space As idyllic as the lazy cruise up the river seemed, they were on serious business that could easily be the cause of their deaths There could be notheir reconnaissance of the mysterious canal

A few minutes after noon, Pitt took a salami sandwich and a bottle of beer up to Giordino in the little wheelhouse on the roof Pitt offered to take the hel too much fun, so Pitt returned to his chair on the veranda

Although ti, Pitt's hours were neither idle nor ai equipment He unpacked and adjusted the controls on the little AUV he had used at Orion Lake Lastly, he reles from their case and laid them on the cushions of an old, worn sofa

Shortly after five o'clock in the afternoon, Pitt stepped inside the house and stood at the base of the ladder leading up to the pilothouse on the roof "One half mile before we reach the mouth of the canal," he alerted Giordino "Move on past another halfa turn to starboard"

"What's it called?" asked Giordino

"Hooker's Bayou, but don't bother looking for a sign at the intersection Take it for about six miles to where the map shows an abandoned dock by a capped oil well We'll tie up there and have dinner while ait for darkness"

Giordino eased the shantyboat around a long string of barges pushed downriver by a large towboat The captain of the towboat gave a blast fro the oas on board the shantyboat Pitt had returned to his chair on the bow and waved Using a pair of binoculars, he scrutinized the canal as they crossed its ht course nearly a quarter of a reen carpet over the horizon A rusty chain stretched across the e, billboard-sized signs were raised with red letters against a background of white that said, NO TRESPASSING ANYONE CAUGHT ON QIN SHANG MARITIME PROPERTY WILL BE PROSECUTED

Sht Pitt He seriously doubted that the local sheriff would go out of his way to arrest friends and neighbors for hunting or fishing on foreign-owned property

Fortythe bulky shantyboat from the narrow channel of Hooker's Bayou and crept to a halt toward the re the flat, raked bow onto a low bank Stenciled lettering on the concrete pilings read, CHEROKEE OIL COMPANY, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA The boat had no anchor, so they took up long poles that were tied to the catwalks for the purpose and ra lines froplank was run out onto firround

"I have a contact on radaracross the marsh from the southeast," Giordino calmly reported

"They're co from the direction of the Mystic Canal"

"They're co fast," Giordino said in a deliberate tone

"Shang's security didn't waste any ti us" Pitt went ins