it.'
Sandecker's eyes narrowed and he sighed. 'Suit yourself. The girl I have in mind isn't burly or steelyeyed or a government official, for that matter. She happens to be the loveliest woman north of the sixty-fourth parallel and, I might add, the wealthiest.'
'Oh, really?' Pitt suddenly came alive. 'What's her name?'
'Kirsti,' Sandecker said with a sly smile. 'Kirsti Fyrie, Kristjan Fyrie's twin sister.'
Chapter 8
If Snorri's Restaurant in Reykjavik could be picked up and placed down in any of the epicurean distinguished cities of the world, it would be instantly greeted with respectful acclaim. its one great hall, with open kitchen and earthen ovens only a few feet from the dining area, was designed in the Viking tradition. Richly panneled walls and intricately carved doors and beams rovided the perfect atmosphere for a leisurely yet elegant dinner. The menu selection was created to reward even the most picky gourmet, and along one entire wall stood a buffet table with over two hundred different native dishes.
Pitt surveyed the crowded dining hall. The tables were filled with laughing, talkative Icelanders and their lovely women. He was standing there, his eyes taking in the scene, his nostrils basking in the rich food smells when the maitre d' came up and spoke in Icelandic. Pitt shook his head and pointed at Admiral Sandecker and Tidi Royal comfortably ensconced at a table near the bar. He made his way over to them.
Sandecker waved Pitt to a chair opposite Tidi and hailed a passing waiter in the same motion. 'You're ten minutes late.'
'Sorry,' Pitt said. 'I took a walk in the Tjamargardar gardens and did a little sightseeing.'
'Looks like you found yourself a swinging men's shop,' Tidi remarked admiringly. Her wise brown eyes roved over his wool turtleneck sweater, belted corduroy jacket and plaid slacks.
'I grew tired of wearing hand-me-downs,' he said, smiling.
Sandecker looked up at the waiter. 'Two more of the same,' he said. 'What will you have, Dirk?'
'What are you and Tidi drinking?'
'Holland gin-schnapps if you prefer. It seems to be big with the natives.'
Pitt twisted his mouth. 'No, thanks. I'll stick with my old standby, Cutty rocks.'
The waiter nodded and left.
'Where is this exciting creature I've heard so much about?' Pitt asked.
'Miss Fyrie should be along any minute,' Sandecker replied.
'Just before we were attacked, Hunnewell said that Fyrie's sister was a missionary in New Guinea.'
'Yes, little else is known about her. In fact, few people knew she even existed until Fyrie's will named her sole beneficiary. Then she appeared at Fyrie Limited one day and took the reins as smoothly as if she had built the empire herself. Don't get any ideas in that bedroom mind of yours. She's shrewd-just as shrewd as her brother was.'
'Then why bother with the introductions. You say hands off, yet I get the distinct impression that I'm supposed to play Prince Charming. Get cozy, but not too cozy. You've chosen the wrong man, Admiral. I'm the first to admit my looks hardly put me in the Rock Hudson-Paul Newman class, but I have a nasty habit when it comes to pursuing skirts-I'm picky. I'm not geared to assault every girl that comes into sight, especially one who is the spitting image of her brother. spent half her life as a missionary, and runs a giant corporation with a mace and chain. Sorry, Admiral, Miss Fyrie hardly sounds like my type.'
'I think it's disgusting,' Tidi said disapproving] the eyebrows arched above the huge brown eyes.
'NUMA is supposed to be dedicated to scientific research of the oceans. None of this talk sounds very scientific to me.'
Sandecker threw her an admonishing stare, a facial display that he was unquestionably a master at projecting. 'Secretaries should be seen and not heard. Tidi was saved from fher reprimand by the timely arrival of the waiter with the drinks. He set them on the table with an accomplished motion and then left.
Sandecker watched until the waiter was several tables away before he turned back to Pitt.
'Nearly forty percent of NUMA's projects are designed and planned around mining the sea floor. Russia leads us by a wide margin in surface programs, the science of her fishing fleet far surpasses anything we've got. But she lags badly in deep submersibles-a damned vital piece of equipment for undersea mining. This is our strong point- We want to maintain this advantage. Our Country has the resources, but Fyrie Limited has the technical knowledge. With Kristjan Fyrie we had a good, close working association. No, now that he's only a memory, I don't care to see the results of our efforts lost just when our programs are on the verge of hitting paydirt. I've talked to Miss Fyrie. All of a sudden she's very noncommittal-says she has decided to reevaluate her firm's Programs with our country. 'You said she's shrewd,' Pitt said. 'Maybe she's holding out to the highest bidder. There's nothing in the book that says she has to be as magnanimous as her brother.'
'Dammit,' Sandecker said irritably. 'Anything is Possible. Maybe she hates Americans.'
'She's not alone.'
'If so, there must be a reason, and we've got to find it.'
'Enter Dirk Pitt, stage left.'
'Precisely, but no hanky-panky. I'm taking you off the Pacific Oceanlab project definitely and putting you on this one- Forget playing secret agent while you're at it. Leave the intrigue and the dead bodies to the National Intelligence Agency. You're to act in your official capacity as special projects director for NUMA. No more no less. If you stumble onto any information that might lead to the people who killed Fyrie, Hunnewell and Matajic, you're to pass it on.'
'Pass it on to whom?'
Sandecker shrugged. 'I don't know. The N.S.A didn't see fit to tell me before I left Washin-ton.'
'Great, I'll take out a full-page ad in the local newspaper,' Pitt said sourly.
'I don't recommend it,' Sandecker said. He took a long swallow from his glass and mide a wry face. 'God, what do they see in this stuff?' He took another swallow from a glass of water. 'I have to be in Washington the day after tomorrow. That gives me enough time to smooth the way for you.'
'With-ah-Miss Fyrie?'
'With Fyrie Limited. I've arranged an exchange program. I'm taking one of their top engineers with me to the States to observe and study our techniques while you're to stay here and report on theirs. Your primary job will be to restore the close relationship we once enjoyed with the Fyrie's management.'
'If this Fyrie broad has been so cool toward you and NUMA. why did she consent to meet us tonight?'
'Out of courtesy. Dr. Hunnewell and her brother were good friends. His death and the fact that you made a gallant but losing attempt to save his life played on her feminine emotions. In short, she insisted 'On meeting you 'She's beginning to sound like a cross between Catherine the Great and Aimee Semple McPherson,' Tidi said sarcastically.
'I can't wait to meet my new boss face to face,' Pitt said. Sandecker nodded. 'You can in precisely five seconds-she just walked in.'
Pitt turned, and so did every other male head in the restaurant. She stood in the foyer very tall and very blond, like a fantasy of womanly perfection, incredibly beautiful, as if caught in the perfect pose by the lens of a fashion photographer's camera. Her statuesque figure was encased in a long violet-colored dress of velvet with peasant embroidery on the sleeves and hem. Now she caught Sandecker's wave. and she walked over to the table, moving with a graceful flowing motion that possessed all the suppleness of a ballerina and more than the suggestion of a natural athlete. By this time all the women in the restaurant were eyeing her with instinctive envy.
Pitt pushed back his chair and rose and studied her face as she approached. It was her tan that intrigued him. The delicately clear tanned complexion somehow seemed foreign to an Icelandic woman, even one who spent a good portion of her life in the back country of New Guinea. The total effect was striking. The blond hair, a carefree casual look with a controlled tousled effect, the deep violet eyes tbal matched the color of her dress, she was hardly what Pitt had imagined, to say the least.
