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“I doctored the manifest, just in case,” Rathman said “He seemed satisfied that we never had that man aboard”

“Are there any other surprises I should know about?” Polk demanded

“We rechecked the cargo ered the anchor,” Rathman said “All of the pallets weathered the store”

“And you have no other ated?”

Rath like that There shouldn’t be any more interruptions”

“You should be glad that crew else,” Polk said “Otherwise, I’d make this more painful”

He drew the Glock and put a bullet in Rathman’s chest He keeled over, and Polk bent down to make sure he was dead

When Rathman’s pulse ceased, Polk stood and told

two of the e

As it was, he didn’t need the irresponsible captain any Sydney Harbour

SIXTY-FIVE

THE GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA

While the Oregon raced south toward Sydney, Juan briefed Langston Overholt on the events of the last few days The aristocratic CIA official nodded silently from the wall screen of Juan’s cabin until the end

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we have enough hard evidence to convince the Australian Defence Force to mount a raid,” Overholt said “The best we could hope for would be a thorough search of the ship’s cargo”

“We can’t take that risk,” Juan said “An inspection ht prompt Polk to launch his rockets early Besides, we don’t even know the name of the ship”