Poseidon's Arrow (Dirk Pitt 22)

“Okay, Hiram, on my way.” Gunn hung up the phone and bolted from his office. Rather than wait for an elevator, he ran down a stairwell and emerged in the NUMA computer center seconds later.

Yaeger sat in his command chair in front of the massive video screen. It showed a freighter moving slowly into a narrow compartment.

“What do you have?” Gunn looked at the screen.

“Panama Canal. This is the Pedro Miguel Locks, viewed through one of the Canal Authority’s live video feeds. I’ve been monitoring their cameras while waiting to hear from Dirk and Summer about the raid.”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting for their call.”

“Check this out. I recorded it just a few minutes ago.”

Yaeger keyed up earlier footage of the same view, which showed a small boat come into one of the chambers. A few minutes later, an inflatable boat entered the parallel chamber and landed by the control house.

Gunn stared at the figures who stepped out of the boat. “That looks like Ann and Dirk.”

“So that is Ann,” Yaeger said. “I wasn’t sure what she looked like. But I pegged Dirk.”

They watched the rest of the events unfold, including Pitt’s battle with Pablo and his watery ride out of the lock. The two could only stare in disbelief.

“Could that be Bolcke in the boat?” Yaeger asked.

“Yes,” Gunn said. “He must still have the plans or Pitt wouldn’t be after him.”

“What do we do?”

Gunn shook his head with a dazed look.

“Sandecker,” he said finally. “We better call Sandecker.”

78

THE LINE WENT SLACK IN PITT’S HAND AFTER HIS short aquatic sled ride. Catching his breath, he watched Bolcke speed across the lake.

He’d been pulled just a short distance into Miraflores Lake. At the shoreline a few yards away was a landing with a moored boat. Pitt swam toward the boat and reached it in short order. It was a small auxiliary tugboat used by the Canal Authority to supplement the operating tugs used to maneuver large ships.

Pitt pulled himself aboard and quietly untied the mooring lines, then made his way to the wheelhouse. He started the engine and pulled away from shore, oblivious to the standby crew who were busy assisting with the lock operations. As he turned into the lake, he pushed the tug to top speed as it passed a large object floating in the water. It was the body of Pa

blo, crushed and mangled from his death ride through the drainage culverts.

The tug was no match for Bolcke’s crew boat, but it didn’t have to be. Miraflores Lake was small, just over a mile long. Bolcke couldn’t escape from view, and if he wished to flee on the crew boat, he would have to pass through another series of locks. Following a half mile behind, Pitt soon realized that wasn’t Bolcke’s plan.

The crew boat pulled alongside a large freighter idling on the lake and waited for its accommodation ladder to be lowered. Two armed men with Asian features descended the ladder and pulled the boat alongside. Bolcke handed one of the men the bin containing the Sea Arrow’s plans, then stepped off the boat.

Approaching from its stern, Pitt saw that the black-hulled freighter was named the Santa Rita, ported out of Guam. The men were halfway up the ladder when Pitt barreled alongside in the tug.

Spotting Pitt in the wheelhouse, Bolcke stared at him as if he were a ghost. He spoke quickly to the gunmen.

The man carrying the bin raced to the top of the ladder, but the second gunman stopped and aimed his weapon. He studied the tugboat with a cautious eye and fired a warning burst ahead of it. Then he swung the gun toward Pitt in the wheelhouse. Pitt heeded the message, turning away from the side of the freighter and motoring on ahead.

Zhou approached the deck rail as Bolcke climbed aboard. “Welcome,” Zhou said with faint emotion.

Bolcke stood wild-eyed, catching his breath after climbing the steps. “My ship was rammed and sunk, my facility attacked and destroyed. We have lost the motor, and my assistant Pablo was killed. But I escaped with the supercavitation plans. They are worth more than the motor.”

Zhou stared at the Austrian, relieved that he was not a suspect in the destruction of his complex. But the loss of the Sea Arrow’s motor was a failure, even with receipt of the plans. “This changes our agreement.”

“Of course. But we can discuss it later. We need to clear the Miraflores Locks at once.”

Zhou nodded. “We are next in line to make the transit. Who was that in the tugboat?”