Austin met Zavala at the launch boom as planned, and minutes later their boat was cutting a foamy way toward the mystery ship. Austin steered the inflatable around the vessel in a big circle while Zavala snapped photographs. The sea was covered with dead fish and debris of every kind. Austin measured the vessel with his eye, comparing it to the NOAA and NUMA ships.
"She looks fairly new. I'd say she's around three hundred feet long," he said.
"She looks like I feel after a night out on the town," Zavala said. "She's fairly wide in the beam. Built to take a sizable load of cargo. But I don't see any cargo booms. They must have been knocked off in the whirlpool."
"There's no name or registration numbers on the hull," Austin said.
"Maybe we're looking at a pirate ship."
Zavala's suggestion was not as bizarre as it sounded. Modern-day piracy was a big problem on the seas of the world. Like their ancient counterparts, pirates captured ships and used them to attack other vessels.
"Maybe," Austin said, but he sounded unconvinced. The vessel was in fairly good condition, considering that she had lain on the bottom of the sea. "From the look of her, she was only submerged a short while. I don't see any unusual rust, although it might have been blasted off." He slowed the boat down to a crawl. "We've seen everything we can from sea level. Let's go aboard?"
"Proper protocol says we should wait for an invitation from the captain?" Zavala said.
"Yes, under ordinary circumstances. But he seems to be otherwise occupied. I think I see the cocktail flag flying," Austin said.
"You've got better eyesight than I have. All I see is a hulk that looks as if it would roll over if a seagull landed on the deck."
"In that case, we'd better make sure we're wearing our water wings."
While Zavala contacted the Throckmortonon a hand radio and asked the ship to stand by in case of an emergency, Austin brought the boat around to the lower side of the ship. He waited for a wave to roll in, then gunned the motor. The boat rode up on the crest and the power of the sea carried the Zodiak onto the deck. Zavala quickly tied the boat to a metal stub projecting from the deck. Leaning forward like roofers to compensate for the ship's list, they half walked, half crawled up the slanting deck. The broad expanse was clear except for a twisted tangle of metal that protruded from the deck at the ship's midpoint.
They made their way across the deck using their loping, bent-over walk. Four girders had been bolted to the deck to form a rectangle of steel. The framework surrounded a rectangular opening in the deck about twenty feet square. They leaned over and peered into a dark shaft. They could hear the hollow swish of waves against metal.
"The shaft goes all the way to the bottom," Zavala observed. "Wonder what it was for?"
"My guess is that they used it to put something in and take it out. This framework might have supported a crane of some sort."
The fallen framework was partially obscured by a tangle of thick electrical cable that looked like a pile of black spaghetti. Austin scanned the tumble of steel and cable, looking for some semblance of order. His gaze came to a stop at a metal mesh cone about twenty-five feet long. It lay on its side, tangled in supporting cable and electrical conduits that snaked down through openings in the deck.
The sight of the cone stirred up images in his mind. Tall fins cutting through the water. The bald man with the strange tattoo on his head fiddling with a black box, assuring him everything was going to be okay. The orcas breaking off their attack as suddenly as it had started.
Without thinking, Austin said: "Spider Barrett."
Zavala looked. "Spider who?"
"Spider Barrett was the guy who pulled me onto his boat when the orcas went crazy in Puget Sound. He had a miniaturized version of that metal cone on his boat."
"What's it for?"
"You're the team's mechanical expert. Hazard a guess."
Zavala scratched his head. "All the cables lead to that big cone. My guess is that it sat over the hole on some sort of framework. It may have been lowered through the hole into the water. I can't figure out any practical shipboard use for a setup like that. If you gave it some juice, you might get an effect like a big spark plug."
Austin pondered Zavala's assessment for a few seconds, then said, "Let's pop the hood and see what's down below."
A wry smile crossed Zavala's face. "Who in his right mind could resist an opportunity to crawl into the innards of a ship that could roll over with a sneeze?"
"I thought you were worried about a seagull."
"How about a sneezing seagull?"
"Look at it this way. Where would you rather be, behind your desk at NUMA or a place like this, where you've got a great ocean view?"
"I'd like to be behind the wheel of my Corvette with a view of a lovely blonde."
"I'll take that as a yes," Austin said. "I think I see a way in."
Despite their playful badinage, both men were well aware of the chance they would take going belowdecks. But Zavala trusted Austin's judgment and instincts implicitly, and would have followed him into the gates of hell without hesitation. Austin made his way to a deck hatch, about three feet square, that his sharp eyes had picked out.
He unlatched the cover, braced his feet and pulled back. The cover banged against its hinges, and a foul exhalation flowed from the opening and rocked them back on their heels. Austin undid the halogen flashlight clipped to his belt and pointed it into the opening. The intense beam reflected off the rungs of a metal ladder.
They slipped off their flotation vests. The vests would only get in the way, and would be useless if the ship rolled over while they were belowdecks. Austin was the first down the ladder, which was sharply angled because of the ship's list. He descended twenty feet and felt a solid surface under his feet. The deck slanted sharply, and he held on to the ladder to steady himself.
Zavala was right behind him. He glanced around and said, "It looks like a fun house."
"Let's go have some fun," Austin said.
Bracing himself against the lower wall, he made his way along a narrow passageway. After walking for about fifty feet, they came to a stairwell leading below. The prospect of descending deeper into the stricken ship was not an appetizing one, especially when they felt the deck list another few degrees. Both men knew that if the vessel capsized, they were dead. There would be no time to get out. But Austin was determined to pry out the secrets the ship held.
"Feeling lucky today?" he said, his voice echoing off the walls of the passageway.
Zavala smiled. "We just tangled with a giant whirlpool and won. I'm betting our luck is still holding."
The stairs led down to another deck that was identical to the first. The passageway ended not in a stairwell but in an unlocked door, which they opened. As they stepped through the doorway, their noses told them there had been a change in their surroundings. Instead of the briny odor that had pervaded the passageways, the air had an electrical smell to it, as if they had stepped into a Radio Shack.
Austin played the light around. They were standing on a balcony that overlooked a huge, central hold. The space contained four massive, cylindrical objects set in a line.