Clive Cussler: Pacific Vortex!

«Yes, you're a weird breed of cat, Delphi. What other man would have sent his own flesh and blood out in the dead of night to commit murder? Hardly the Father of the Year. Even your hired help wander around like robots. What's your trick, Delphi? You sprinkle mind-deadening drugs in their cornflakes, or do you mesmerize them with those phony yellow eyes?»

Delphi looked unsure; Pitt wasn't acting like a man who'd come to the end of his string.

«You push too far.» Delphi leaned forward and locked a hypnotic gaze on Pitt's eyes.

Pitt's deep green eyes never hesitated, meeting Delphi's stare with burning intensity. «Don't strain yourself, Delphi. I'm not the least impressed. As I've said, they're phony. Yellow contact lenses, nothing more. You can't cast a spell over a man who's laughing at you. You're a fraud from top to bottom. Lavella and Roblemann. Who're you trying to kid? You're not fit to wipe their blackboards. Hell, you can't even do a decent impression of Frederick Moran…»

Pitt broke off abruptly, dodging to the side as Delphi, clenched teeth bared in rage, leaped from behind the desk and swung in a wide, windmilling arc with his fist. The blow carried every ounce of Delphi's immense strength, but the blinding haze of anger blurred his timing and the fist soared past without making a connection. He stumbled, recovered, and then lost his balance, going down on his hands and knees with a grunt of agony as Pitt's foot caught him on the side of his body. He stayed where he was, swaying from side to side.

There was a moment of stunned silence throughout the room as Delphi rose unsteadily, supporting himself on the top of the heavy desk. His breath was coming in gasps, his mouth a taut white line.

Pitt stood frozen, cursing himself for overplaying his hand. There was no doubt in his mind — there could be no doubt in the mind of all who were in the room— that Delphi meant to kill him and Al. Delphi reached behind the desk, pulling open a drawer and lifting out a gun. Not one of the projectile pistols, but an automatic, Pitt noticed uneasily — a heavy dark blue.44 Colt revolver — hardly the gun he expected Delphi to wield. Unhurriedly, Delphi broke the gun open, checked the shells, and snapped it shut again. The yellow eyes hadn't yet changed — they were as expressionless and icy as ever. Pitt turned and looked down at Giordino who met his eyes with a wry grin. They tensed their bodies, waiting for the end. But Delphi's yellow eyes strayed over his targets, toward the door.

«No, Father!» Summer implored. «Not that way!»

She stood at the door, wearing a green robe that came to mid thigh, her beautifully tanned and smooth skin radiating warmth and self-assurance. Pitt's blood began to pump rapidly through his veins. She moved into the room, her eyes touching Delphi with a confident, challenging gaze.

«Do not interfere,» Delphi whispered, «This matter does not concern you.»

«You just can't shoot them down here,» Summer persisted. «You just can't!» Her great gray eyes suddenly became soft and pleading. «Not within these walls!»

«Their blood can be washed away.»

«It's no good, Father. You've had to kill to maintain our sanctuary. But that was outside in the sea. You must not bring death into your own house.»

Delphi hesitated and slowly dropped the gun.

«You're quite right, Daughter.» He smiled, «Death from a bullet is too quick, too merciful, and too unclean. We'll set them free on the surface. We'll give them a chance to survive.»

«Fat chance,» Pitt growled. «Hundreds of miles to the nearest land. Man-eaters waiting for a bite of human flesh. You're all heart.»

«Enough of this morbid talk.» The gianfs face wore a sardonic expression. «I still wish to hear how you came to be here, and I haven't time for any more of your wit.»

Pitt casually studied his watch. «About thirty-one minutes to be exact.»

«Thirty-one minutes?»

«Yes, that's when your precious sanctuary caves in.»

«Back with the jokes again, are we, my friend?» He walked over to the portal, staring at the moray eel, before turning abruptly. «How many other men were in your aircraft?»

Pitt snapped another question back. «What became of Lavella, Roblemann, and Moran?»

«You persist in toying with me.»

«No, I'm dead serious,» Pitt said. «You answer a couple of questions and I'll tell you what you want to know. My word.»

Delphi thoughtfully looked at the gun. Then he laid it on the desk «I believe you.»

To begin with, Major, my name really is Moran.»

«Frederick Moran would have to be in his eighties to be alive now!»

«I am his son,» Delphi said slowly. «I was a young man when he set out with Dr. Lavella and Dr. Roble-mann to find the lost island of Kanoli. You see, my father was a pacifist. After the second world war had ended in the inferno of the atomic bomb, he knew it would only be a question of time before mankind destroyed itself in a nuclear holocaust. When countries arm for war, the arms never go unused, he once said. He began researching areas that would be safe from radiation and far from target sectors, eventually discovering that a base under the sea provided the ideal retreat. When the island of Kanoli sank into the sea many centuries ago, it dropped suddenly, without volcanic activity or major cataclysm. This indicated that the ceremonial caves and tunnels recorded in the legends might still be intact. Lavella and Roblemann sympathized with my father; they joined him in his search for the lost isle. After nearly three months of sounding the seafloor, they found it, and immediately began plans for pumping the passages dry. It took them nearly a year before they were able to set up quarters within the seamount.»

«How was it possible to work so long in secret?» Pitt asked. «The records list the expedition's ship as missing only a few months after it left port.»

«Secrecy was no great problem,» Delphi continued. The ship's hull had been modified so that divers and equipment would be able to pass in and out of the sea. A few alterations like changing the name on the bow, and painting the superstructure, and the ship simply became another unnoticed steamer plying the Western trade route. Not secrecy, but financing, became the major problem.»

«The rest I know,» Pitt said with an unnerving degree of certainty.

Delphi looked up. Summer took a step forward, the identical expression of doubt showing in their faces.

«How odd you didn't catch onto the fact that the entire 101st Fleet, the entire Navy Department, discovered your setup.»

«What purpose do you serve by lying?» Delphi demanded.

«You should have guessed, Delphi. Remember when you left my apartment? I mentioned Kanoli, yet you hardly batted an eye. Probably because you knew I was about to die so my little revelation was of no consequence.»

«How… how could you?…»

The curator at the Bishop Museum. He remembered your father. But that was only the beginning. The pieces are all there, Delphi, and they all neatly finish the puzzle.» Pitt walked over and knelt down beside Giordino. Then he faced Delphi again. «You kill because of greed, nothing else. You've even imbedded the same cold-blooded philosophy in your own daughter. Your father might have been a pacifist, but what Dr. Moran began for strictly scientific and humanitarian reasons, unwittingly became, in your hands, the slickest hijack operation in maritime history.»

«Don't stop,» Delphi said grimly. «I want to hear it all.»

«You want to hear it told from the other side?» Pitt asked, his tone neutral «Want to hear how you're put down in the files? Very well. Before continuing, however, I'd appreciate it if you could make Giordino here a bit more comfortable. If s embarrassing for him to have to lie on the floor like an animal.»