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A 'swind to push the ship off course Ming Lin guided the ship through the intricate river bends with practiced mastery And, most important of all, surprise was on his side Before the A, it would be too late Hung-chang would have the ship in the precise spot to divert the water through the breach blasted in the levee before he and his crew scuttled the ship and were to be in the air and on their way back to the safety of Sungari and the Sung Lien Star which was prepared to cast off immediately and head out to sea The closer the United States stea point, the more distant such worries became

He felt an unexpected shudder through the deck and tensed, looking quickly at Ming Lin, searching for a sign of an error, a tiny ment All he could detect was a few beads of sweat on the helht set to the lips Then the decks becaines, as they again went to full speed up a straight reach of the river

Hung-chang stood with both legs braced apart He had never felt such incredible strength from a ship before: 240,000 horsepower, 60,000 each to drive her massive propellers, which in turn hurled her up the river at the incredible speed of fifty ine froe in the front store and saw a face calm and poised with no stress lines He se waterfront ho the stars and bars of the Confederate flag Soon, very soon, the flag would no longer be flapping in the wind over the hty Mississippi, but over a muddy creek

The bridge was strangely quiet There was no need for Hung-chang to call out orders for course and speed changes Ming Lin was in coe, his hands locked on the wheel, his eyes staring into a large monitor that displayed the vessel and its relation to the river in a three-die that was transmitted by infrared cah the ital science, a display across the bottoave him reco hiress than if he had piloted by eye during daylight

"We have a towboat pushing ten grain barges co Lin

Hung-chang picked up the ship's radiophone "Captain of the tow-boat approaching St Ja you We are one-half mile behind and will overtake you on the Cantrelle Reach, passing on your starboard We have a hundred-foot beaive us a wide berth"

There was no response from the unknoboat captain, but when the United States turned into Cantrelle Reach, Hung-chang could see through his night-vision glasses that the towboat was slowly turning to port, too slowly The towboat captain had not followed the news froiant behe down on him at unbelievable speed

"He's not going toLin certified calmly

"Can we slow?" asked Hung-chang

"If we don't pass hiht reach, it will be impossible after we enter the next series of bends"

"Then it's now or never"

Ming Lin nodded "For us to deviate froht very well imperil the operation"

Hung-chang picked up the radiophone "Captain, please veer away quickly or we may run you down"

The towboat captain's voice carily "You don't own the river, Charlie Brown Who the hell do you think you're threatening?"

Hung-chang shook his head wearily "I think you had better look over your stern"