idea that the shotgun could be fired almost like an automatic weapon.
Zavala carefully packed the shotgun and an ample supply of am- munition into a case, and before long he was on his way to Dulles Air- port. He drove with the top down, savoring the ride because he knew it would be his last in the 'Vette until his assignment was over. He pulled up to a hangar in an out-of-the-way corner of the airport where a crew of mechanics was doing last-minute checks on a NUMA executive jet. He kissed the Corvette's fender and said a sad good-bye, then climbed aboard the plane.
Zavala was going over his flight plan when Austin arrived a short time later with Ben Nighthawk in tow. Austin introduced the young Indian to Zavala. Nighthawk glanced around as if he were looking for something.
'Don't worry,' Austin said, noting the expression of consternation on Nighthawk's face. 'Joe just looks like a bandit. He really does know how to fly a plane.'
'That's right,' Zavala said, looking up from his clipboard. 'I've passed a correspondence course, all except for the part about the landing.'
The last thing Austin wanted was to have Ben bolt from the plane in fright. 'Joe likes to kid around,' he said.
'I wasn't worried about that, it's-well, is this all there is? I mean just?'
Zavala's lips turned up in a smile. 'We hear a lot of that sort of thing,' he said, recalling Becker's skepticism when he and Austin had
arrived to rescue the Danish sailors. 'I'm starting to get an inferior- ity complex.'
'This isn't a suicide squadron,' Austin said. 'We'll pick up some extra muscle on the way. In the meantime, make yourself comfort- able. There's coffee in that carafe. I'll assist Joe in the cockpit.'
They were quickly cleared for takeoff, and the plane headed north. At a cruising speed of five hundred miles an hour, they were over the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in a little over three hours. They touched down at a small coastal airport. Rudi Gunn had checked earlier and found that there was a NUMA survey ship working in the gulf. The way had been smooth through Canadian customs, and before long Austin, Zavala and Ben were climbing aboard the ship, which had come into port. By previous arrangement, the Navarra was waiting ten miles offshore.
As they approached the yacht, Zavala eyed the long, sleek vessel with appreciation. 'Pretty,' he said. 'And from her lines, I'd say she's fast, too, but she doesn't look tough enough to take on Oceanus.'
'Wait,' Austin said, with a knowing smile.
The Navarra sent over a launch to pick them up. Aguirrez was waiting on deck, his black beret, as usual, perched at a jaunty angle on his head. By his side were the two brawny men who had escorted
Austin after he was plucked from the waters outside the Mermaid's Gate.
'Good to see you again, Mr. Austin,' Aguirrez said, pumping Kurt's hand. 'Glad you and your friends could make it aboard. These are my two sons, Diego and Pablo.'
It was the first time Austin had seen the two men smile, and he noted the resemblance to their father. He introduced Zavala and Nighthawk. The yacht was already underway by that time, and he and the others followed Aguirrez to his grand salon. Aguirrez mo- tioned for the men to take a seat, and a steward appeared with hot drinks and sandwiches. Aguirrez asked them about their trip and waited patiently for them to finish their lunch before he picked up a remote control. At a click of a button, a section of wall slid up to re- veal a giant screen. Another click, and an aerial photograph filled the space. The photograph showed forest and water.
Nighthawk sucked in his breath. 'That's my lake, and my vil- lage.'
'I used the coordinates Mr. Austin gave me and fed them into a commercial satellite,' Aguirrez said. 'I'm puzzled, however. As you can see, there is no sign of this airship building that you mentioned.'
'We had the same problem with the satellite photos we looked at,' Austin said. 'But our computer model indicates that this is the place.'
Nighthawk rose and walked over to the screen. He pointed to a section of forest bordering the lake. 'It's here, I fnow it is. Look, you can see where the woods have been cleared, and there's the pier.' His confusion was evident. 'But there's nothing but trees here where the blimp hangar should be.'
'Tell us again what you saw that night,' Austin said.
'The dome was huge, but we didn't see it until the airship ap- peared. The surface was covered with panels.'
'Panels?' Zavala said.
'Yes, what you see on a geodesic dome, like the one they built for the Olympics in Montreal. Hundreds of sections.'
Zavala nodded. 'I didn't think that adaptive camouflage technol- ogy was that far advanced.'
'Sounds more like invisibility we're talking about,' Austin said, gesturing toward the screen.
'Not a bad guess. Adaptive camouflage is a new technique. The surface that you want to hide is blanketed with flat panels, which sense the scenery and changing light. Then what the sensors see is dis- played on the panels. If you were standing at ground level looking at this thing, all you would see is trees, so the dome would blend into the local forest. Someone obviously took satellite imaging into account. It would be a simple matter to project treetops on the roof panels.'
Austin shook his head. 'Joe, you never cease to amaze me with your supply of arcane knowledge.'
'I think I read about it in Popular Mechanics'
'Nonetheless, you may have solved the mystery,' Aguirrez said. 'At night, the panels Mr. Zavala talked about could be programmed for the ambient darkness. Mr. Nighthawk saw more than was in- tended when the dome opened for the zeppelin. There's something else that might interest you. I saved photos taken earlier.' Aguirrez went back through the memory bank, and projected another aerial photo. 'This picture was taken of the area yesterday. There in the corner, you see the outline of a small plane. I'll zoom in on that sec- tion.'
The picture of a floatplane filled the entire screen. Four figures could be seen standing on the shore of the lake. 'The plane disap- peared a short time after the photo was taken, but look here.' An- other image appeared, showing a small boat with three people in it. One of them, a woman, was looking skyward as if she knew they were under surveillance from space.
The Basque's sharp ears picked up the sound of Austin swearing under his breath. Aguirrez raised his bushy eyebrows.
'I think I know who those people are,' Austin said by way of ex- planation. 'And if I'm right, it could complicate things. How soon can we jump off?'
'We're heading up the coast to a point that will enable you to go the shortest straight-line distance. Two hours maybe. In the mean- time, I can show you what I have to offer.'
With his sons taking up the rear, Aguirrez escorted the others down a companionway to a large, brightly lit below-decks helicop- ter hangar. 'We have two helicopters,' he said. 'The civilian one on the stern we use for getting about. This SeaCobra is held in reserve should the occasion arise. The Spanish Navy ordered a number of these aircraft. Through my connections, I was able to sidetrack one of them. It carries the standard armament.' Aguirrez sounded like a car salesman touting the extras for a Buick.
Austin swept his eyes over the naval version of the army Huey, the rocket and Minigun pods slung under the stubby wings. 'The stan- dard armament will do just fine.'
'Very good,' Aguirrez said. 'My sons will accompany you and your friend in the Eurocopter, and the SeaCobra will go along with you in case you need backup.' He furrowed his brow. 'I'm concerned that someone smart enough to use such clever camouflage would have the best detection technology. You could be greeted by a wel- coming party, and even a heavily armed helicopter would be vul- nerable.'
'I agree,' Austin said. 'That's why we're going in by land. We'll put down at an abandoned logging camp, and Ben will guide us through the forest to our target. We think they will expect any in- trusion to come across the lake, as Ben did before, so we'll come in from behind. We'll escape the same way-hopefully, with Ben's fam- ily and friends.'
'I like it. Simple in planning and execution. What do you do when you get to your target?' Aguirrez asked.
'That's the hard part,' Austin replied. 'We don't have much other than Ben's account and the aerial photos. We'll have to improvise, but it wouldn't be the first time.'
Aguirrez didn't seem worried.
'Well, then, I suggest we get started.' He signaled Diego, who went over to a phone next to a battery of switches. He spoke a few words, then began to punch buttons. There was the hum of motors an alarm horn
