Silent Thunder

'Where did you get it?' She answered her own question. 'Niler's place. You certainly didn't limit yourself to what you needed in Florida. You must have snagged all he had.'

'I figured he wouldn't need it. Though I had to use a private jet to avoid security.' He changed the subject. 'Why do you need the charts?'

'I need to check the third plate for the destination. Could it be close to Midia?'

'Yes. Somewhere near the Turkish-Bulgarian coast.'

'That used to be Thrace, didn't it?'

He nodded.

'Then it could be…' Excitement was mounting, growing with every second. 'Look, in the legend, the Argonauts had to travel to Thrace for Phineas to tell them how to get the treasure. On the back of those bulkhead plates, Heiser's coordinates lead to what used to be Thrace. What if that's where we need to go to get the location of this treasure, too? But in this case, it's the Silent Thunder that will tell us.'

His eyes were narrowed on her face. 'Go on.'

'Think about it. Heiser was a computer genius, and you said he was a master of that navigation system. It's not too far-fetched to think that he may have buried some lines of code in there to display a message that reveals itself only when triggered by a specific event.'

Kirov nodded slowly. 'An event like the sub's compass registering the set of coordinates noted on the bulkhead plates?'

She nodded. 'The Argo had to go to Midia to find the Golden Fleece. Heiser leaves a map next to Silent Thunder's navigational computer that leads to the exact same place.' She drew a deep breath. 'But he wasn't sure his father would get it. His father wasn't a sailor, he was a professor of literature. He didn't think the same way. So he dredged up those memories from his childhood to let him know that those plates weren't the answer. He was to journey forth, but he had to look within for the answer.'

'Within the navigation computer.'

'I think I'm right, Kirov,' she said eagerly. 'I think I can find it.'

'If we have time.' He grimaced. 'I could have wished we'd figured this out before we deliberately set Pavski to follow us to the sub.'

'Just get me there. I'll pull out the information, and we can make sure Pavski can't get into the computer. We can't take a chance on that happening. What if there's a screwup? What if he somehow manages to get away? You said he'd done it before.' Her hands clenched. 'Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe he won't figure it out.'

'You did. All you needed was that final clue to nudge you. Pavski's very smart. He has the plates. He has the inscription Danzyl sent. He's been thinking of nothing but a way to get that cradle all his life. We'd have to be damn lucky.'

'I won't let him get his hands on it, Kirov,' she said fiercely. 'Not for a second. He killed my brother to get it. He's not going to have it.'

'We've set it up so that he thinks he has a good reason to go after us now. If he knows the final answer is definitely in that computer, nothing will stop him.'

'Then that's even better. Get me there, let me take it out of the computer. Just give me a little time.'

Kirov stepped on the accelerator. 'I'll give you what time I can. After that we do what we planned. We go after Pavski.'

The navigation computer.

Pavski inhaled sharply as he continued to gaze down at the photo of the statue he'd received on the helicopter ten minutes ago.

It could be what the quote meant.

It was what the quote meant. He felt it in his bones.

And if there was no fourth plate, then Kirov was luring him to the sub as a trap.

It didn't matter.

The Silent Thunder was now exactly where Pavski wanted to be. Nothing on earth or hell would keep him off that sub. He'd been planning on a certain amount of caution in his approach. No longer. He'd blast anyone who tried to stop him to hell.

The cradle was there, waiting for him.

No sign of Pavski.' Hannah looked up and down the pier as she jumped out of the car. 'I was afraid he might beat us here.'

'He can't be far behind.' Kirov was beside her by the time they reached the blue iron gate that now cordoned off the submarine exhibit's loading ramp.

A ruddy-faced guard held up his hands. 'Whoa there. Let's stop and-'

'I'm Hannah Bryson.' She shoved her ID badge toward him. 'Has anyone else been here yet today?'

'Uh, no.' He frowned. 'Ms. Bryson, I didn't know you were scheduled to-'

'Change of plans. Are you the only guard on duty?'

'No. James is taking a walk-around in the museum.'

'Give me the key to the gate leading to the gangplank.' Kirov took two walkie-talkies from the security station next to him and tossed one to Hannah. 'Hurry.'

The guard handed the key to him. 'I could unlock it for-'

'No, I'm keeping the key.' Kirov unlocked the gate, pushed Hannah through, and locked it behind them. 'Get that other guard over here. The two of you take cover and radio us if anyone else comes and tries to board the sub.'

'Take cover? Sir, we're armed. No one is getting on the sub who we don't want to get on.'

'There may be a lot of firepower coming this way,' Hannah said. 'Get help and take cover, dammit. Don't make yourself an easy target.'

The guard spoke into his walkie-talkie. 'James, I need you at the Silent Thunder loading ramp ASAP.'

'Copy that. I'm on my way.'

'The aft hatch, Hannah,' Kirov said curtly as he ran toward the sub. A moment later they were moving through the narrow C-Deck corridor, past the galley, and finally to the control room.

Kirov stared at the dark instrument plates. 'There's no power.' He glanced around. 'But the lights are on.'

Hannah nodded. 'We tapped an AC landline to power the illumination and ventilation systems, and we dropped a few outlets so we could use our tools.' She switched on a small color monitor that relayed a security- camera image from the conning tower. 'I was hoping that they'd managed to power the other systems by now.'

'Well, they haven't. We're literally dead in the water.'

'Not for long.' Hannah moved quickly toward the corridor. 'I'll start the diesel engine. That will generate the power we need.'

'Is there fuel?'

'The tanks were almost full when it arrived.'

'Hurry.' His gaze lifted to the video monitor focusing on the pier. 'I'll keep an eye on things here.'

Hannah ran the length of the sub until she reached an iron ladder that took her two floors below to the engineering room. She passed the empty compartments that once housed the twin nuclear reactors, then finally stepped in front of the auxiliary power panel.

She flipped the conductor and ignition switches. A low rumbling shook the sub. After another moment, sharp diesel fumes wafted up to her.

She grabbed the red boot handle and pushed it upward, activating the main power generator.

The engineering plates lit up!

'All systems go, Hannah,' Kirov called. 'The navigational computer is booting up.'

She breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank God. I'm on my way back.'

Hannah ran into the control room. 'Is the navigational computer online yet?'

'It's still booting up. Remember, this system probably has only a tenth of the power as a child's modern PlayStation console.' Kirov stiffened as he glanced at the security monitor. 'He's here.'