‘Would you have pulled the trigger if Zac and his boys had decided not to cooperate?” Pitt asked.
“Without hesitation,” Giordino replied confidently. “I’d have only winged them in the arms or legs.
No sense in killing someone who keeps you supplied with Metaxa brandy.”
“I can see you have a lot to learn about German automatics.”
Giordino’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by that?”
Pitt slowed to pass a small boy who was leading a heavily laden donkey. “Two things. First, a twenty-five caliber gun is hardly a man stopper. You could have emptied the clip into Darius, but without a killing shot to the heart or head you’d never have even slowed him down. And second, the expression on your face when you squeezed off the first shot would have been a sight to behold.” Pitt casually tossed the gun onto Giordino’s lap. “The safety catch is still on.”
Pitt glanced briefly across the truck cab at Giordino. Glordino’s eyes fell blankly to the gun in his lap. He made no attempt to pick it up. His face was expressionless, but Pitt knew him well enough to recognize an acute case of bafflement Giordino shrugged and gave Pitt a thin smile. “Kind of looks like Giordino the Kid just won the idiot award of the year. I just plumb forgot about the safety.”
“You’ve, never owned a Mauser. Where did you get it?”
“It belonged to your little playmate of the month. I discovered it when I was lugging her through the tunnel. She had it taped to her leg.”
“You little bastard,” Pitt said evenly. “You mean you had it all the time we were having our brains beat out by Darius?’
“Sure,” Giordino nodded. “I concealed it inside one of my socks. I never had a chance to use it. You jumped Frankenstein before I was ready. After that, the brawl happened too fast. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back getting my head crushed. Then it was too late, I couldn’t reach the peashooter.”
Pitt became silent, already his mind was on another subject It was still early in the morning and the trees edging the road threw their long misproportioned shadows toward the west He drove mechanically, a hundred questions, a hundred doubts circulating through his mind. He didn’t know where to start, and there was the plan that had taken form back there overlooking those surf pounded cliffs. The plan at best was a gamble, a long shot backed by nothing but an overpowering urge to carry it out. And then he was automatically depressing the brake pedal, slowing the truck down and stopping at the Brady Field main gate.
Forty minutes later they were climbing the boarding ladder of the First Attempt. The deck was deserted, but a chorus of hearty male laughter accompanied by the high-pitched giggle of a woman echoed from the messroom. Pitt and Giordino entered and found Teri surrounded by the entire crew and scientific staff of the ship. She was dressed, or undressed, in a knotted makeshift bikini that looked as if it would come unfurled at the first sign of a passing offshore breeze. She perched prettily on the mess table, the center of attraction, a queen holding court, and it was obvious that she enjoyed every male eyeball.
Pitt bemusedly studied the. men’s faces for a moment It was an elementary task to separate the scientists from the professional crewmen. The latter stood quietly and gazed lecherously at the generous display of feminine skin, their minds throwing pornographic scenes on the inside walls of their skulls like movie projectors. Most of the vocal activity came from the scientists. The marine biologists, the meteorologists, the geologists, each vying with frantic zeal for Teri’s attention and behaving like schoolboys whose dormitory had just been invaded by a box office sex queen.
Commander Gunn saw Pitt and came over to him. “I’m glad you’re back. Our radio man is about to go psycho. Since dawn this morning he’s been receiving signals faster than he can write. Most of them are marked for your attention.”
Pitt nodded. “Ok, let’s go and read my fan mail.” He turned to Giordino. “See if you can tear our queen bee away from her ardent admirers for a few minutes and escort her to Gunn’s cabin. I want to ask her one or two very personal questions.”
Giordino grinned. “From the looks of that crowd I’ll probably get lynched if I try.”
“If things get too tough just flash your gun,” Pitt said sarcastically. “But don’t forget to remove the safety.”
Giordino’s mouth dropped open like a landed fish.
Before he could recover, Pitt and Gunn had left
The radio man, a young black in his early twenties, looked up when they entered. “This one just came in for you, sir.” He handed the message to Gunn.
Gunn studied it for a moment, then his lips slowly arched into a wide smile. “Listen to this. 'To Commander Gunn, officer commanding NUMA ship First Attempt. What in the goddamn hell kind of hornet’s nest have you people stirred up in the Aegean. I sent you out there to study sea life, not play cops and robbers. You are hereby ordered to render every assistance, repeat. every assistance at your command to the local INTERPOL authorities. And don’t return home without a goddamn Teaser.
Admiral James Sandecker, NUMA, Washington.’”
“I’d say the Admiral is a bit off his usual form,” murmured Pitt. “He used ‘goddamn’ only twice.”
“Please lead me out of the dark,” Gunn asked mildly. ‘What possible assistance could we be to INTERPOL?”
Pitt pondered a moment Gunn would have to be led up to a crucial decision; it was decidedly too early to bare all the facts. Pitt dodged the question.
“We may be the only hope left to destroy von Till and his empire. It may mean taking a few risks, but the stakes are high.'
Gunn removed his glasses and stared sharply at Pitt. “How high?”
“Enough heroin to hop-up the entire population of the United States and Canada,” Pitt said slowly. “A hundred and thirty tons worth to be exact”
Gunn betrayed no sign of surprise. He calmly held up his glasses to the light, examining the lenses for smudges. Satisfied there were none, he replaced the horned-rims over his low set ears.
“Off hand I’d say that’s a pretty fair amount Why didn’t you tell me about this last night when you brought the girl on board?”
“I needed more time and more answers, and right now I’m still short on both. But I think I’ve run on to something that will put this whole insane puzzle into a transparent pattern.”
“I still don’t know what you expect from me.”
“We’ve got to hit von Till below the belt, way below the belt. This is an underwater show. I need every able- bodied man you can spare with scuba gear and weapons that can be carried in water; diving knifes, spear guns, anything.”
“What guarantee can you give me that no one will get hurt?”
“Absolutely none,” Pitt said quietly.
Gunn stared at Pitt for a full ten seconds, his face expressionless. “You realize the seriousness of what you’re asking me? Most of the men aboard this ship are scientists, not commandos. They’re tigers with a salinometer, a nansen bottle or a microscope, but their skill at knifing another man in the guts or shooting a barbed spear into a navel leaves much to be desired.”
“What about the crew?’
“All good men to have on your side in a bar room brawl, but like most professional seamen, they have an unhealthy dislike for any activity below the surface. They can’t, or rather won’t, put on a face mask and dive.” Gunn shook his head. “I’m sorry Dirk, you’re asking too much—”
“Come off it,” Pitt snapped rudely. “This isn’t the Little Big Horn and I’m not asking you to send the Seventh Cavalry against Sitting Bull and the Sioux nation. Look, not fifty miles from here a Minerva Lines freighter is churning across the Aegean with a cargo that is as lethal as any nuclear bomb. If that amount of heroin were dumped on the market in the States, our grandchildren would still be suffering from the cultural shockwaves. It’s a nightmarish thought.”
Pitt paused, letting his words sink in. He lit a cigarette and then continued.
“The Bureau of Narcotics and the Customs Department will be waiting. They’ve set a trap. If, and that’s a big if, all goes well, the heroin and the smugglers, plus half the illegal drug sellers in the States, will be neatly scooped up and salted away behind bars.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Gunn pressed. “Where do the divers fit into the picture?”
