Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt 16)

Yaeger shrugged. "Who can say?"

"What's the source for the dog?"

"Cerberus . . . sounds Greek."

Yaeger sat at his computer and typed on the keyboard. In a chamber just opposite his console, the face and figure of an attractive woman appeared in three dimensions. She was dressed in a one-piece bathing suit.

"You called," she said.

"Hello, Max. You know Dirk Pitt." The hazy brown eyes flicked from Pitt's feet to his face. "Yes, I am familiar with him. How are you, Mr. Pitt?"

"Fair to middlin', as they say in Oklahoma. And you, Max, how are you?"

The face changed to an angry pout. "This stupid bathing suit Hiram put on me. It doesn't flatter me at all."

"Would you prefer something else?" asked Yaeger.

"An elegant Armani suit, Andra Gabrielle lingerie, and high-heel, ankle-strap sandals by Tods would be nice."

Yaeger smiled a cocky smile. "What color?"

"Red," Max replied without hesitation.

Yaeger's fingers flew in a blur over the computer keyboard. Then he sat back to admire his handiwork.

Max faded for a few moments and then reappeared in an elegant red suit with blouse, jacket and skirt. "Much better," she said happily. "I hate to look mundane when I'm on the job."

"Now that you're in a good mood, I would like you to produce data on a subject."

Max ran her hands over her new outfit. "Just name it."

"What can you tell me about Cerberus the three-headed dog?"

"From Greek mythology," Max came back instantly. "Hercules- Latin for Herakles, as the Greeks called him-in a fit of temporary insanity murdered his own wife and children. The god Apollo ordered him to serve King Eurystheus of Mycenae for twelve years as punishment for his terrible act. As part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve labors, feats so challenging they looked impossible. He had to overcome all sorts of hideous monsters, the most difficult being the submission of Cerberus, again Latin for the Greek Kerberos. This was the three-headed grotesque dog who guarded the gates of Hades and prevented the dead souls from escaping from the underworld. The three heads represented the past, present and future. What the serpent tail signified is not known to me."

"Did Hercules destroy the dog?" asked Pitt.

Max shook her head. "Near the gates of the Acheron River, one of five running into the underworld, he wrestled the monstrosity into submission after being bitten, not by the dog's jaws, but by the serpent on the tail. Hercules then took Cerberus to Mycenae and showed him off before returning him to Hades. That's about it in a nutshell, except that Cerberus's sister was Medusa, the hussy with snakes for hair."

"What can you tell me about the Cerberus Corporation?"

"Which one? There must be a dozen businesses around the world that go under the name Cerberus."

"A widely diversified corporation that does business in oil, mining and chemistry."

"Oh, that one," said Max, enlightened. "Have you got about ten hours?"

"You have that much data on Cerberus?" Pitt asked, constantly amazed at Max's enormous library of information.

"Not yet. But I will after I've entered their network and those of the companies who do business with them. Since their interests are international, various world governments must also have extensive files on them."

Pitt looked at Yaeger suspiciously. "Since when is hacking into corporate networks legal?"

Yaeger's expression took on that of a canny fox. "Once I give Max a command to search, far be it from me to interfere with her methods."

Pitt rose from his chair. "I'll leave it to you and Max to come up with the answers."

"We'll get to work on it."