'What indeed?' Sandecker's blue eyes moved from face to face. 'I asked Hiram to codify similar elements these disappearances had. Nothing presented itself on the surface. The expeditions were incredibly diverse. They varied in size from three people to more than twenty and took place all over the world. They were organized by a wide spectrum of groups or individuals. There were common denominators, however. What the police call the MO was the same in all cases before Morocco. The expeditions simply vanished. Dr. Kirov's experience was traumatic, but it may be a stroke of good luck in the long run if it can prevent similar disasters. We know now that these expeditions did not simply go into thin air. That they were wiped out by teams of trained assassins.'
'Thugee,' Gunn said quietly.
'What's that mean?' Quinn said.
'It's where our word thug came from. It means 'thief' in Hindi, what they called followers of the Indian cult of Kali. They would infiltrate a caravan, strangle people at night, hide their bodies, and steal goods. The British broke the cult up in the 1800s, ,and it went out of business for the most part. One' of these latest disappearances was in India.'
Nobody who knew Gunn was surprised when he produced arcane bits of information. The short, slight Gunn was a sheer genius. Number one in his graduating class at the Naval Academy, the former navy commander could be enjoying a top staff job with the Navy Department. He had advanced degrees in chemistry, finance, and oceanography but preferred underwater science to warfare. He served in submarines as Sandecker's chief aide, and when the admiral resigned from the navy to form NUMA, Gunn followed. In compiling reports and researching he had absorbed much of the wide-ranging material from the hundreds of books with which he surrounded himself.
'I checked them out,' Yaeger said. 'Ninja and hashshashin, too. You're right, there are similarities.'
Sandecker didn't dismiss the suggestion out of hand. 'The idea of a secret society of murderers is certainly interesting,' he said. 'Let's put it on the back burner for now while I discuss that other common element. As far as could be documented, all expeditions victimized in recent years reported finding pre-Columbian artifacts in unlikely places.' He paused for dramatic effect. And according to Hiram's findings, all were funded to some extent by Time-Quest. Do either of you gentlemen know anything about this organization?'
'Sure,' Quinn said. 'Our foundation has used them any number of times. Totally respectable as far as I know You see their ads in all the archaeological magazines. They're known to be pretty generous with grant money. They'll fund your expedition if they like it. Better still, they'll send volunteers, people who pay for the thrill of working a dig. They're tied in with some of the environmental and retired persons organizations. As I say, they're on the up-and-up.'
Danvers seemed to snap out of a deep sleep. 'Yes, I agree. Many of our clients have used TimeQuest. We have a file on them if that would be helpful.'.
'I've already checked them out,' Yaeger said. 'I've pulled info in from other sources, too. Directories of nonprofits, state and federal agencies that regulate nonprofits. Bank statements. Internet. They've got an impressive Web site. They're headquartered in San Antonio. Board of directors is made up of nationally known people.'
Austin frowned. 'Well meaning people have unknowingly lent their names to everything from right and leftwing extremists to organized crime thinking they were pushing a good cause.'
'Well put, Kurt,' Sandecker agreed. 'Hiram, anything to show Time-Quest is a front for extremists?'
Yaeger shook his head. All the data say Time-Quest is clean.'
'So you found nothing out of the ordinary?' Sandecker persisted, his perceptive ear detecting an offkey note in Yaeger's tone.
'I didn't say that, Admiral. There's a ton of information available on the main organization, but most of it is slick pressrelease fluff that doesn't really tell you anything. When I tried to probe past the PR image, I got nothing.'
'They blocked access?'
'That's the thing. Not really. This is more sophisticated. When access is blocked it's like not having the key to get into the room. I had the key, but when I got into the room it was dark, and I couldn't turn on the light switch.'
'If your electronic hounds couldn't sniff out the trail, it must be sophisticated indeed. Your work tells us something, though. The organization would not disconnect its light switch unless there were something to hide.'
Nina, who had been sitting silently throughout the presentation, suddenly said, 'Gonzalez.'
'I beg your pardon?' Sandecker said.
'I've been thinking about what Commander Gunn said about thugee. There was a man named Gonzalez on our expedition. I mentioned him to Mr. Austin and Mr. Zavala. He had come through Time-Quest. He was . . . he was just strange.'
'In what way Dr. Kirov?'
'It's hard to say. He was terribly obsequious. Always around, looking over your shoulder. Whenever anyone asked about his background he always had the same story. It never varied. He'd get evasive when you pressed him for details. For instance, that last day when I asked him about the stranger he'd been talking to.' She paused, her brow furrowed in thought. 'I think that had something to do with the attack.'
'I read. about the incident in your report,' Sandecker said. 'This Gonzalez was killed with the others?'
'I assume so. There was a lot of confusion. He disappeared with everybody else, so...'
'We'll check over the identification of the bodies exhumed from the excavation, and if he's not there Hiram will run a trace on him.'
'One question,' Austin said. 'Time-Quest was connected with every expedition that vanished in recent years, but did some of its expeditions come home perfectly safe?'
'I'll answer that,' Sandecker said. 'Yes. There have been many expeditions where the most serious injuries were from sunstroke. Again, those that disappeared had all reported unusual finds or, in more specific cases, evidence of pre-Columbian contact. What do you make of that, Dr. Danvers?'
'The archaeological community would certainly scrutinize such claims with the greatest skepticism,' Danvers replied. 'But to say how they might precipitate murder, well, I'm simply at a loss. Surely it couldn't be a string of coincidences, unlikely as that may be.'
Nina shook her head. 'Just as unlikely a coincidence as the pre-Columbian artifact I found being destroyed. And evidence of its existence being erased from the university's database.' She turned to Yaeger. 'How could that happen?'
Yaeger shrugged. 'Not a big problem if you know how'
Sandecker checked his watch again. 'We've done all we can do here for now. I'd like to thank you for coming, gentlemen and Dr. Kirov. We'll discuss our next step and keep you informed of our progress.'
As the meeting broke up, Kurt went over to speak to Nina.
'Will you be staying in the Washington area?'
'I'm afraid not,' she said. 'I'm leaving right away to start work on a new project.'
'Well . . .'
'You never know, we might be working together someday'
Austin inhaled the faint scent of lavender coming from Nina's hair and wondered how much work they would accomplish. 'Perhaps we might.'
Zavala came over. 'Sorry to interrupt. Sandecker wants us in his office.'
Austin bid Nina a reluctant goodbye, followed the others into the admiral's aerie, and took up a seat in one of the comfortable leather chairs. Sandecker was behind his desk. He leaned back in his swivel chair and puffed several times on his giant cigar, which he had finally lit. He was about to open discussion when his eye fell on Zavala, who was puffing an identical stogie. There was little in the known universe that Sandecker was unaware of, but one of the most enduring and irritating mysteries in his life had to do with the humidor on his desk. For years he had been trying to figure out how Al Giordino lifted cigars from the box undetected.
Sandecker pinned Zavala with a steely eye. 'Have you been talking to Giordino?' he said coolly.
'In the elevator. He and Pitt were leaving for a project in the Antarctic,' Zavala replied with cherubic innocence. 'We had a brief chat about NUMA business.'
Sandecker quietly harrumphed. He had never given in to Giordino, and he was damned if he'd give Zavala the
