Clive Cussler - Golden Buddha

GOLDEN

BUDDHA

CLIVE

CUSSLER

AND CRAIG DIRGO

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

Dear Readers,

A few years ago, while I was writing Flood Tide, I realized that Dirk Pitt needed some help on a particular assignment, and so I dreamed up Juan Cabrillo.

Cabrillo ran a ship called the Oregon, on the outside completely nondescript, but on the inside packed with state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering equipment. It was a completely private enterprise, available for any government agency that could afford it. It went where no warship could go, transported secret cargo without suspicion, plucked data out of the air—it was the perfect complement to NUMA.

In fact, I had so much fun writing about the Oregon and its rakish, one-legged chief that I was sorry to see it sail off when its task was done. I promised myself I’d find a way to bring them back some day—and here, I am pleased to say, they are. Golden Buddha is the first in a new series about Juan Cabrillo’s merry men (and women!), and I hope you get as much of a kick reading about them as I did creating them.

And who knows, maybe some time they’ll cross paths with Dirk Pitt again….

Clive Cussler

“A NEW CLIVE CUSSLER NOVEL IS LIKE A VISIT FROM YOUR BEST FRIEND.”

—Tom Clancy

The New York Post called him “just about the best storyteller in the business.” Now, Clive Cussler, creator of the bestselling NUMA ® and Dirk Pitt® series, presents his latest and most-intriguing high-seas action hero: the enigmatic captain of the Oregon , Juan Cabrillo.

Only Cabrillo could convert the interior of a nondescript lumber hauler into a state-of-the-art spy ship—and only he could take the helm on the dangerous covert missions it carries out for whichever U.S. agency pays the price.

In this first feature-length adventure, Cabrillo and his crew of expert intelligence and naval men must put Tibet back in the hands of the Dalai Lama by striking a deal with the Russians and the Chinese. His gambling chip is a Golden Buddha containing records of vast oil reserves in the disputed land.

But first, he’ll have to locate—and steal—the all-important artifact. And there are certain people who would do anything in their power to see him fail….

“Readers will burn up the pages following the blazing action and daring exploits of these men and women and their amazing machines.”— Publishers Weekly

PRAISE FOR

CLIVE CUSSLER

“Just about the best storyteller in the business.”

— New York Post

“Nobody does it better than Clive Cussler. NOBODY.”

—Stephen Coonts

“PURE ENTERTAINMENT…as reliable as Pitt’s trusty Colt .45.”

— People

“PURE CUSSLER, PURE FUN. The action just keeps accelerating.”

—The San Francisco Examiner

PRAISE FOR

CLIVE CUSSLER’S NUMA ® SERIES

“MARVELOUS…simply terrific fun.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“YOU CAN’T GET MUCH MORE SATISFYING.”

—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Cussler and Kemprecos weave A GREAT STORY.”

—Tulsa World

“Audacious and WILDLY ENTERTAINING.”

—New York Daily News

PRAISE FOR

CLIVE CUSSLER’S

DIRK PITT ® SERIES

“[A] NONSTOP THRILLER…CUSSLER SPEEDS AND TWISTS through the complex plot and hairbreadth escapes [with] the intensity and suspense of a NASCAR race.”

—Publishers Weekly

“CLIVE CUSSLER…IS AT TOP FORM HERE.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“A DELIGHTFUL PAGE-TURNER that is almost impossible to put down.”

—The San Francisco Examiner

“THE FUNNEST DIRK PITT ADVENTURE SINCE RAISE THE TITANIC! ”

—Rocky Mountain News

DIRK PITT® ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER

Trojan Odyssey

Valhalla Rising

Atlantis Found

Flood Tide

Shock Wave

Inca Gold

Sahara

Dragon

Treasure

Cyclops

Deep Six

Pacific Vortex

Night Probe

Vixen 03

Raise the Titanic!

Iceberg

The Mediterranean Caper

FICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER WITH PAUL KEMPRECOS

White Death

Fire Ice

Blue Gold

Serpent

FICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER AND CRAIG DIRGO

Sacred Stone

Golden Buddha

NONFICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER AND CRAIG DIRGO

The Sea Hunters II

The Sea Hunters

Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

GOLDEN BUDDHA

A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with

Sandecker, RLLLP

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2003

Berkley international edition / October 2004

Copyright © 2003 by Sandecker, RLLLP.

“Foreword” by Clive Cussler copyright © 2003 by Clive Cussler.

Cover art by Edwin Herder.

Cover design by Rich Hasselberger.

Interior text design by Julie Rogers.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 978-1-1012-0634-8

BERKLEY ®

Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY and the “B” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

For my brothers

Larry, Steve, Cliff and John,

and my sister, Dawn,

who never let a busy day

get in the way of a good nap.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

CAST OF CHARACTERS

PRELUDE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24