Clive Cussler - Dragon

“I don’t have it in me to charge a woman,” said Pitt amicably. “That’s why I’m always broke.”

He paused and looked out the window of the big twin-engine Air Force helicopter as it drummed through the night. In the early evening of Pitt and Plunkett’s rescue, the big bird had appeared and plucked the entire Soggy Acres mining team and the crew of Old Gert off the deck of the Chinese junk. But not before everyone profusely thanked Owen Murphy and his crew for their hospitality. The final act was the removal of Jimmy Knox. Once his canvas-wrapped body was hoisted on board, the great craft rose above Shanghai Shelly and the Tucson and beat its way toward Hawaii.

The sea below shimmered under a bright three-quarter moon as the pilot flew almost directly over a cruise ship. Ahead to the southeast, Pitt caught sight of the lights on the island of Oahu. He should have been sound asleep like Sandecker, Giordino, and the others, but the exhilaration of escaping the bony character with the scythe kept his blood stirred up. That and the fact Stacy stayed awake to keep him company.

“See anything?” she asked between yawns.

“Oahu on the horizon. We should be passing over Honolulu in fifteen minutes.”

She looked at him teasingly. “Tell me more about tomorrow, especially the after-dinner part.”

“I didn’t come to that.”

“Well?”

“Okay, there are these two palm trees—”

“Palm trees?”

“Of course,” said Pitt, looking surprised that she asked. “And between them is this carnal hammock built for two.”

The helicopter, its ultramodern Ferrari-like body lacking the familiar tail rotor, hovered momentarily above a small grass field on the outskirts of Hickam Field. Unseen in the darkness, the perimeter was patrolled by an Army special combat platoon. A lighted signal from the ground informed the pilot the area was secure. Only then did he lightly drop the huge craft onto the soft grass.

A small bus with KAWANUNAI TOURS painted on the sides immediately drove up and stopped just outside the radius of the rotor blades. It was followed by a black Ford sedan and an Army ambulance to carry Jimmy Knox’s body to Tripler Army Hospital for autopsy. Four men in civilian clothes stepped from the car and stationed themselves at the helicopter’s door.

As the weary NUMA people debarked, they were ushered into the bus. Pitt and Stacy were the last to exit. A uniformed guard held out his arm, blocking their way, and directed them to the car where Admiral Sandecker and Giordino were already standing.

Pitt pushed aside the guard’s arm and walked over to the bus. “Goodbye,” he said to Plunkett. “Keep your feet dry.”

Plunkett fairly mashed Pitt’s hand. “Thank you for my life, Mr. Pitt. When next we meet, the drinks are on me.”

“I’ll remember. Champagne for you, beer for me.”

“God bless.”

When Pitt approached the black car, two men were holding up their gold shields to Sandecker’s face, identifying themselves as agents of the federal government.

“I am operating under presidential order, Admiral. I’m to backstop and transport you, Mr. Pitt, Mr. Giordino, and Ms. Fox to Washington immediately.”

“I don’t understand,” said Sandecker irritably. “What’s the rush?”

“I can’t say, sir.”

“What about my NUMA team? They’ve been working on an underwater project under extreme conditions for four months. They deserve time to rest and relax with their families.”

“The President has ordered a news blackout. Your NUMA people, along with Dr. Plunkett and Salazar, will be escorted to a safe compound on the windward side of the island until the blackout is lifted. Then they’re free to go at government expense wherever you direct.”

“How long will they be cooped up?” Sandecker demanded.

“Three or four days,” replied the agent.

“Shouldn’t Ms. Fox be going with the others?”

“No, sir. My orders are she travels with you.”

Pitt stared at Stacy shrewdly. “You been holding out on us, lady?”

A strange little smile came to her lips. “I’m going to miss our tomorrow in Hawaii.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “We’ll have another time, perhaps in Washington.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, his voice suddenly turning cold. “You conned me, you conned me up and down the line, beginning with your phony plea for help in Old Gert .”

She looked up at him, a curious mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes. “We’d have all died if you and Al hadn’t shown up when you did.”

“And the mysterious explosion. Did you arrange that?”

“I have no idea who was responsible,” she said honestly. “I haven’t been briefed.”

“Briefed,” he repeated slowly. “Hardly a term used by a freelance photographer. Just who do you work for?”

A sudden hardness came into her voice. “You’ll find out soon enough.” And then she turned her back on him and climbed in the car.

Pitt only managed three hours sleep on the flight to the nation’s capital. He drifted off over the Rocky Mountains and woke as the dawn was breaking over West Virginia. He sat in the back of the Gulfstream government jet away from the others, preferring his thoughts to conversation. His eyes looked down at the USA Today paper on his lap without really seeing the words and pictures.

Pitt was mad, damned mad. He was irritated with Sandecker for remaining close-mouthed and sidestepping the burning questions Pitt had put to him about the explosion that caused the earthquake. He was angry with Stacy, certain now the British deep-water survey was a combined intelligence operation to spy on Soggy Acres. The coincidence of Old Gert diving in the same location defied all but the most astronomical odds. Stacy’s job as a photographer was a cover. She was a covert operative, pure and simple. The only enigma left to solve was the initials of the agency she worked for.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Giordino walked to the rear of the aircraft and sat down next to him. “You look beat, my friend.”

Pitt stretched. “I’ll be glad to get home.”

Giordino could read Pitt’s mood and adroitly steered the talk to his friend’s antique and classic car collection. “What are you working on?”

“You mean which car?”

Giordino nodded. “The Packard or the Marmon?”

“Neither,” replied Pitt. “Before we left for the Pacific, I rebuilt the engine for the Stutz but didn’t install it.”

“That nineteen thirty-two green town car?”

“The same.”

“We’re coming home two months early. Just under the wire for you to enter the classic car races at Richmond.”

“Two days away,” Pitt said thoughtfully. “I don’t think I can have the car ready in time.”

“Let me give you a hand,” Giordino offered. “Together we’ll put the old green bomb on the starting line.”

Pitt’s expression turned skeptical. “We may not get the chance. Something’s going down, Al. When the admiral clams up, the cow chips are about to strike the windmill.”

Giordino’s lips curled in a taut smile. “I tried to pump him too.”

“And?”

“I’ve had more productive conversations with fence posts.”

“The only crumb he dropped,” said Pitt, “was that after we land we go directly to the Federal Headquarters Building.”

Giordino looked puzzled. “I’ve never heard of a Federal Headquarters Building in Washington.”

“Neither have I,” said Pitt, his green eyes sharp and challenging. “Another reason why I think we’re being had.”

21

IF PITT THOUGHT they were about to be danced around the maypole, he knew it after laying eyes on the Federal Headquarters Building.