Deep Six (Dirk Pitt 7)

"I don't expect any."

"What's your next move?"

"Send out press releases."

Loren looked up, puzzled. "Send what?"

"Press releases," Pitt answered casually, "to announce the discovery of both the San Marino and the Pilottown and describe NUMA's plans for inspecting the wrecks."

"When did you dream up that foolish stunt?" Loren asked.

"About ten seconds ago."

Perlmutter gave Pitt the stare of a psychiatrist about to commit a hopeless mental case. "I fail to see the purpose."

"No one in the world is immune from curiosity," Pitt exclaimed "Somebody from the parent with a devious glint in his green eyes.

company that owned those ships will step from behind the shroud of corporate anonymity to check the story. And when they do, I'll have their ass."

WHEN OATES ENTERED THE WHITE HOUSE SITUATION Room, the men seated around the conference table came to their feet. it was a sign of respect for the man who now shouldered the vast problems of the nation's uncertain future. The responsibility for the far-reaching decisions of the next few days, and perhaps longer, would be his alone.

There were some in the room who had mistrusted his cold aloofness, his cultivated holy image. They now cast off personal dislike and rallied to his side.

He took the chair at the head of the table. He motioned to the others to sit and turned to Sam Emmett, the gruff-spoken chief of the FBI, and Martin Brogan, the urbane, intellectual director of the CIA.

"Have you gentlemen been fully briefed?"

Emmett nodded toward Fawcett, seated at the table's other end.

"Dan has described the situation."

"Either of you got anything on this?"

Brogan shook his head slowly. "Off the top of my head I can't recall hearing any indications or rumors from our intelligence sources pointing to an operation of this magnitude. But that doesn't mean we don't have something that was misinterpreted."

"I'm in pretty much the same boat as Martin," said Emmett.

"It's beyond comprehension that a presidential abduction could slip through the Bureau's fingers without even a vague clue."

Oates's next question was put to Brogan. "Do we have any intelligence that might lead us to suspect the Russians?"

"Soviet President Antonov doesn't consider our President half the threat he did Reagan. He'd be risking a massive confrontation if it ever leaked to the American public his government was involved. You could compare it to striking a hornet's nest with a stick. I can't see what, if any, gains the Russians would net."

"What's your gut reaction, Sam?" Oates asked Emmett. "Could this be terrorist-inspired?"

"Too elaborate. This operation took an immense amount of planning and money. The ingenuity is incredible. It goes far beyond the capabilities of any terrorist organization."

"Any theories?" asked Oates, andressing the table.

"I can think of at least four Arab leaders who might have a motive for blackmailing the U.S" said General Metcalf. "And Qandafi of Libya heads the list."

"They certainly have the financial resources , said Defense Secretary Simmons.

"But hardly the sophistication," Brogan anded.

Alan Mercier, the National Security Adviser, motioned with his hand to speak. "In my estimation the conspiracy is of domestic origin rather than foreign."

"What's your reasoning?" Oates asked.