“It would be an option under extreme circumstances. In this case it’s a necessity.”
“Then I take it Drifter is military equipment.”
“So to speak, Hooker.”
“The government’s pretty raunchy, isn’t it?”
“When it has to be,” Watts told him. He looked at Hooker again, his smile grim. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” Hooker said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m more like an accident.”
“Just waiting to happen,” Watts put in.
“Something like that,” Hooker told him.
Judy joined the men at the rail, watched while Drifter was lowered down onto chocks on the deck, then said, “The captain of the Midnight Cruise line has requested that the three of us join him and his passengers for supper on the beach tonight.”
Watts gave her a sharp glance. “Requested how?”
She pointed toward the cruise ship off their side and waved. A light flashed on the bridge, so they knew they were being watched through a telescope.
“Answer?” Judy queried.
“That’s code,” the captain said sharply.
“I can read Morse, Captain. Well?”
“How’s he going to get all those passengers on the beach?”
Judy let out a gentle laugh. “Not that many will want to go, Captain. Some will be adventurous, but the rest will prefer the bar or the gaming tables. One thing you can be sure of: the food will be exceptional. In fact, the whole evening might be exciting. I’m inviting the crew of the Tellig there too.”
Hooker gave her a questioning look, but she didn’t explain any further.
Very gradually, the sun was completing its arc in the heavens, beginning its slow descent into the ocean. Seabirds winged their way back to the islands and the shadows that danced off the wave tips grew longer. A lone palm tree, somehow uprooted from its island, bobbed aimlessly. The branches slapped the surface and the small, fingerlike clump of root system made eerie wriggling motions, the tips white with salt froth. Its shadow had no mass to it, just a black streak that formed and broke continuously.
Small fish that liked to dive and play around floating objects and their shadows made a myriad of sparkles and splashes, and here and there a small, violent disturbance indicated something bigger had zeroed in on them for a quick kill and fast meal. The reaction would be immediate as the others fled to safety, but their memories were short and they returned within minutes as though nothing at all had happened.
Outside the perimeter of the great palm the predators waited, darting in at their own convenience, selecting their victim when they were ready, not conscious of any danger, because in this area they were safe. They would eat at their own pace, and when they were sated, they would move off as a group to other natural activities.
They knew no danger.
Here they were the only predators.
Realization took time, even for them. They felt a pressure from below, an upward push that shouldn’t have been there at all, and the predators knew that something else was there, something bigger and more deadly than anything they had ever experienced beforeand instinct told them to flee. They left fluorescent streaks in the water that was beginning to darken with the dusk, and a great oval calmness started to form as though the ocean suddenly had a gelatin shell, and the ghastly blue form of it just below the surface seemed to turn in an agony of birth; then, as sheet lightning lit up the sky in the east, the thing glided away and the sea returned to normal.
The great palm was totally unconcerned by it all. The few frightened forms of sea life that had stayed hidden in its branches swam out, but not too far. They too were guided by instinct.
Chapter Ten
The Midnight Cruise ship was well prepared for any contingency. A spur-of-the-moment beach party dinner was a simple matter to arrange, even with an elaborate menu of gourmet items. A sturdy motor transporter ferried the stoves, tables and place settings while another carried all the foodstuffs. The operation was so efficient that hardly anybody noticed. The guests were formed into teams and prepared to do some exploring before dinner.
Chana and Lee Colbert had let the initial teams go ahead to pick their way around the rubble of the old submarine base. Chana shook her head and said, “Listen to them. You’d think they were in Disney World. All they’re doing is traipsing through wreckage.”
“In their world, lady, they don’t see junk. They only see money and what it can buy. This is a new adventure for them.”
“Come on, Lee, they’re tourists.”
He gave her a tight smile. “Sure they are. Millionaire tourists. Hell, you can’t even get a boarding pass on that ship unless you have a seven-digit income. Not capital. Income from the capital. Get the picture?”
The frown Chana turned on him showed pure displeasure. “That’s disgusting!”
“That’s what the last report from the Company indicated. I take it you didn’t read it.”
“No. I was busy with other matters. It was filed under general correspondence. I’ll read it later.”
Lee waved his hand at the backs of the retreating passengers. All of them were uniformed in white or khaki hiking clothes, some with Frank Buck jungle helmets and others with cute kepi-style coverings from expensive tailoring shops.
For a minute, Chana studied them again, then asked, “Why are they all waving like that?”
“They’re off the beach,” he told her.
“So?”
“They’re on the grass and they haven’t been issued any bug spray. Somebody is going to catch hell.”
Lee had barely spoken when they saw a young sailor in the ship’s colors running hard to catch the plodding assembly. Two canvas bags were over his shoulders and when he reached them he began passing out the canisters with instructions on their use and made sure everyone was well equipped before he started back.
When he reached Hooker and Judy he stopped and grinned at them. “Sure appreciate you telling me about that.”
“No trouble.”
“It would be for me if the boss man knew about it.”
Judy thought Mako was going to say something and gave him a nudge, but all he said was, “Just give us a wink when we eat. I want a seat close to the kitchen.”
The boy gave him a wink and said, “You got it, man.”
Judy took Mako’s arm, stuffed her bug spray in her pocket and started walking toward the remains of the repair shed on the beach. “He wouldn’t have believed you anyway,” she said.
Mako didn’t answer.
“Do I look like a part owner of the fleet?”
This time Mako nodded. “Sure you do.”
He was so matter-of-fact about it that she stopped and faced him, her brow furrowed. “Why?” she demanded. “Why would I?”
“Because you’re with me,” he told her. Then he grinned and said, “I’m the dominant male, wouldn’t you say?”
“Damn!” She laughed and kicked sand at his feet.
The perfumed chemical smell of the insect repellent hung over the island. Laboratory technology had improved the performance of the insecticide a thousand percent since the jungle warfare of World War II. There was no wild waving at clouds of minute flying things because they were either dead or held at bay by man’s chemical expertise.
Flashbulbs from small cameras were capturing the maze of bent steel girders, and inquisitive tourists were prying in and around ancient tooling devices and rotted cranes. Here and there a shriek would erupt as some furry thing dashed out of a hiding place, or a scorpion would suddenly become alert and make a threatening gesture at a portly millionaire who wasn’t used to violence of this sort at all. One tried bug spray on the terrestrial arachnid and all it did was spur the little beast into a charge. The man’s eyes bugged and sheer fright immobilized him, but the scorpion abruptly stopped and the man swallowed hard without being seen, then stepped back.