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ough the subht of the bodies strewn in the depths of Orion Lake as the Chinese arch-cri air pocket for one last breath before the icy water of the lake filled his nose and open, screa mouth The screa fro bubbles Then, as if set on a ti the submersible into total darkness
Pitt eating heavily inside the Newtsuit He stood on the bottori The billionaire shipping nate, who had dominated and exploited and slain thousands of innocent people, would spend eternity in the deep next to the e life It was a fitting end, Pitt thought without the slightest sense of pityHe glanced up as Giordino reappeared in the Sappho IV "You took your sweet tiht have been killed"
Giordino hovered the sub until their faces behind the protective transparent shields were no more than two feet apart "I can't tell you how hed "If you could have only seen yourself in that Pillsbury Doughboy suit playing Errol Flynn with a pipe as a sword"
"Next time, you do the hard part"
"Qin Shang?" asked Giordino
Pitt pointed a pincer at the inert subs"
"How are you fixed for air?"
"Down to twenty minutes"
"No time to waste Stand still until I can connect upon top of your helmet Then I'll tow you to the surface"
"Not just yet," said Pitt "I've got a little task to perform"
He activated the little thrusters on the Newtsuit and moved up the sides of the superstructure until he came to the wheelhouse The bulkheads had been torched away for entry and for the reeways and forralobular view plate and began propelling the pressurized suit past the captain's cabin next to the wheelhouse to the next cabin beyond As were still relatively intact and jumbled about the small compartment After only a fewfor and removed a small pouch from the utility belt on the Newtsuit and filled it with objects from one corner of the cabin
"You'd better get a move on," came Giordino's worried voice
"On my way," Pitt complied
With three minutes to spare, the Sappho TV and the Newtsuit surfaced one behind the other and were lifted on board the Ocean Retriever As the technicians worked to re dive suit, he looked across the water at Qin Shang's Jade Adventurer A boarding party fro the ship's papers before ordering it out of American waters
When he was finally free of the ponderous suit, Pitt leaned wearily over the railing and gazed down into the water as Julia ca her hands across his stomach "I orried about you," she said softly