Finally, I surfaced and waved to Judy a short distance off. It was getting dark and we clambered onto the top of a small reef, only a few inches above the water. I took off one tank that was just about empty — my eyes must have mirrored my discouragement.
"You've another hour before it gets real dark," Judy encouraged. "Let's give it another try." I grinned at her and strapped on my face mask. It would be possible to continue the search after dark, I knew, but a helluva lot harder.
I slipped into the water again and started down, catching a glimpse of Judy's form as she moved out on the surface overhead. I swam hard this time, moving from coral formation to coral formation. I was about to give up when swimming past a long expanse of coral that seemed endless, without a break in it, I suddenly noticed something strange. Of all the coral I'd gone by, this was the only section where there were no fish darting in and out among its striated sides. No anemone sent wavy fingers up from its surface and no tiny damselfish peeked out from it. I swam over to it and felt along its rough edges.
It was lifeless, without the touch of coral. It was plastic — beautifully made and beautifully fashioned plastic. I had been starting to think that if there was an undersea station, I'd never find it by searching this way. I was even beginning to think that perhaps they'd hidden it far from the area. But now excitement went through my body with a tingling shudder. My calculations had been right all along.
I swam alongside the man-made coral until I found a grotto-like dark opening. I didn't enter but I was pretty certain what I'd find if I did. It was obvious that they had transported and set up a station made up of self-contained, self-operating huge tanks. A certain number of personnel would be there at all times, and entrance could be gained only by scuba-diver. I looked at the underwater compass attached to my belt. Then I snapped on the little underwater walkie-talkie.
"Hear this, Judy," I said into the speaker mask in front of my mouth. "Hear this, Judy. Transmit this message from Boomerang. Repeat, say 'Boomerang calling' until you get an answer. Message is to proceed to one-four-six north by ten west. Blast and destroy long coral formation at that location. Coral is pink shelf, coral pattern. Repeat, blast and destroy entire coral section. Over and out."
I waited a moment and felt a tug on the wire which meant that Judy had received my message. I pulled the wire loose and let it float off freely so she could swim back to shore. I was going to stick around a while, until I saw the sub at least.
I didn't expect company so soon but I got it, six black-suited scuba-divers, coming out of the opening in the coral. Armed with spear-guns, they separated to circle me. In moments I had the choice of being skewered from six different directions or going along with them like a fish in a net. I chose to be a fish.
They swam along surrounding me, moving me into the grotto-like opening. Inside, a fluorescent light suddenly came on to bathe the area in a blue haze and I saw the door of the entrance chamber open. As they closed in tight on me, hustling me toward the entranceway, I saw again that the inner airtight chamber was built within the phony reef — the whole plastic coral formation attached at the back to a real reef. It was beautifully done, and anyone swimming by or passing in an undersea craft would have seen just another stretch of pink coral. I had been searching desperately, and it had almost fooled me. But it hadn't fooled the fish that live in and around the natural coral areas.
I was pushed into the entrance chamber, the door pulled closed behind us and I stood with the six other frogmen as the chamber was drained of water. Then the second door opened and I found myself inside the square, brilliantly lighted undersea station. I took off my diving mask and flippers as Mona came over, clad in a black bikini. The tall, slender Chinese was standing next to her. Beyond her, 1 saw cots, tables, a refrigerator and an array of oxygen tanks and pressure gauges lining the walls of the station.
"I've never seen anyone so determined to get himself killed as you, Nick." Mona smiled — a deadly smile.
"And you've never seen anyone so good at avoiding it," I said.
"You do have a talent, I must admit," she said. As I looked at that gorgeous body, those magnificent breasts that made the bikini look like a band-aid on a watermelon, I wondered what made her tick. She was beautiful, passionate and smart. What the hell did she need this bit for? I'd nothing to lose by trying to find out. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" I grinned at her. She shook her head in amazement.
"I'd heard that you're never flustered," she said. "I must admit that's certainly true. In your shoes, most men would be either pleading for mercy or resigned to their fate. You're asking flip questions. In fact, you're so damned relaxed, it worries me. I think you must have something up your sleeve."
"Little ol' me?" I said. "Now what could I do in a spot like this?"
"Nothing that I can see," she said. "You're going to be taken by submarine to China. I imagine there's a lot of information they can pull out of you."
The tall Chinese beside her spoke up, his black eyes glittering at me.
"Indeed, my government will be most happy to get their hands on you, Carter," he said.
"By submarine, eh?" I said. "That's how you operate, with a sub bringing you in supplies and money."
"Only periodically, or unless we call for something special," Mona said. "When we planned this operation, we knew it would take time, money and men. We also knew it would be not only unwieldy but risky to keep trying to land couriers with the money on shore from submarines. We needed a station that would be near, yet completely free from detection, accidental or otherwise. With this underwater station, we can operate for months at a time without the risk of frequent contacts with our people for supplies, money or men. And we, on the scene, merely don a scuba suit and disappear into the waters as one more skin-diver exploring the reefs. When we reverse direction we're merely another skin-diver coming ashore."
I cast a glance at the six men who'd brought me in. They were Chinese.
"The diver that was found with the fifty thousand a few months ago was one of your men, I take it," I said to Mona.
"An unfortunate accident," she said. "He'd made a few trips with supplies from the submarine and something went wrong with his equipment. He was to return to us with the money but he never appeared. Of course, I learned what had happened at the office."
"Speaking of the office," I said, "how the hell did you ever get security clearance? Just for the sake of curiosity I'd like to know. Seeing as how I'm not going anywhere, you can tell me."
My last remark was truer than I'd wanted it to be. There was no place to run in the square, undersea station — and only one way out. When the Navy sub started blasting, that would be it for everyone inside. I made a fast note of where they'd put my diving mask. I still had my air tank on my back. But Mona's smug smile brought me back to her at once.
"Mona Star was cleared by Australian security through the normal channels," she said. "She was thoroughly checked out and screened by the British, too. But Mona Star is dead. We killed her after she was screened and ready to leave for Australia. I took her place. In fact, I knew Mona quite well. We had that same background, both of us born in Hong Kong, with British Army officers for fathers — the whole bloody rotten scene."