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"Get the hell up as fast as you can!" he said, his words
followed by the bark of his Luger.
"What's going on?" she called to him, trying not to
panic and taking the wire hand-over-hand almost at the
top.
At first he didn't answer. She heard two more shots and
the rip of an automatic rifle. It sounded far away. No
bullets came at her from below. But Carter was trtween
her and the enemy.
"Are you all right?" she called, her breath ragged from
the last effort to reach the top.
"I'm fine. But we've got to get into our wet suits and
move the sleds out of here fast, " he said as he climbed out
of the top of the tube after her. "Your hands are bleed-
ing," he added, noting the blood dripping from her torn
gloves. "Here. Put my gloves on over yours. We can't
have blood trailing after us in the water. Sharks can detect
and follow the slightest amount."
Carter pulled on his wet suit and watched to be sure
Barbara was right behind him. She had her suit on and was
pulling on her air tank webbing. When he was ready for
the water, he checked her over and found her long training
was coming into play. She was as ready for the water as
he. He didn't like to enter unfamiliar water near shore
headfirst or even rolling in backward as he might from a
diving platform. He cannonballed from a shelf of his
legs tucked beneath him, making the entry as shallow as
B)ssible. His judgment was sound. His feet hit another
shelf a few feet below the surface but not hard enough to
do damage. He saw her follow him a few feet away, and
when the bubbles had cleared, he knew that she too was all
right.
Ihe sleds had to be close by, a few feet under the
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131
surface. He used his flippers for motion while he held his
flashlight in front. He could see light following along
behind.
At die sleds, he came across two clones examining
them, starting to take hold of the grab rail and reaching for
the controls.
' 'Cut your light," he said to Barbara, "and stay put."
By the time he had arrived with his stiletto in his hand,
the sleds were untied and floating free. The clones were
tying to figure out how to start them.
Carter came in from keeping in mind the almost
stil*rhuman strength of these creatures. The long thin
knife flashed once and the sea was filled with blood from a
severed artery. It looked like a black cloud in the dim light
and almost obscured the other figure. He had tumed from
the sled and had his gas weapon trained on the Killmaster.
Carter whirled in the water, diving below the cloud of
blood as a harpoon flashed past his head. He came up on
the clone's side, hidden by the black cloud, and brought
the knife up in a flashing arc to skewer the big man
between the third and fourth rib on the left side of his
chest.
The two masks were less than a foot apart. Carter saw
the look of surprise in the inhuman eyes and the beginning
of death. He didn't waste any time in the shark-infested
waters. "It's all clear! Get your sled and let's get the hell
out of here!" he shouted.
Barbara was with him in seconds, her sled started and
turned toward the island, where Schmidt and his yacht
waited for them.
"Follow me," Carter said. "I'm taking a traring Of
one-ninety degrees. We'll make a wide sweep and come in
on Howard when we're sure we haven't got a tail."
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"I can see you. I'm—-"
There was sudden silence. Carter turned to see her be-
hind him and slightly to the right. A small shark had her
by the leg and was tugging at the limb, Oying to tear off a
hunk of flesh.
"I see you, Barbara! Can you talk?" He could see other
sharks closing in while he talked.
"He's got my flipper but I can't do anything about it!
He's . . . he's got too much strength!"
"Go to your boosters. Make sure your mouthpiece is in
firmly and go to full B)wer. "
He waited, watching the battle unfold. ne shark, no
more than three feet long, was trying for a bigger mouth-
ful. As it ormed its jaws to lunge ahead, the sled tc»k off
and his razor-sharp teeth closed on the end of her flipper.
As she gained speed, almost out of sight, the rubtrr came
away in the shark's mouth.
Carter boosted his sled and hung on as it went to what
felt like Mach l. S' You okay?" he asked.
' 'Is that physically or mentally?" she came back at him.
"You'll be all right," he said. "Let's try for one-ninety
degrees for a few minutes and come back to our island at
normal
At well over forty knots, they passed a half-dozen swim-
mers, clones, who turned but didn't attempt to give chase.
Good. The enemy would have a bearing on them that was
entirely false. When they were well out of sight, he or-
dered a turn to the west and finally led her in toward their
island and the stern of Schmidt's boat.
With Barbara shoveling roast beef, potatoes, and salad
into her mouth in a steady stream, Carter brought Schmidt
up to date on their sortie.
DEEP SEA DEATH
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133
bad you couldn't have killed the bastard while
you had him," Schmidt said.
many unknown factors. We know he's got several
hundred valuable citizens under his control. And I couldn't
have sure he didn't have a second in command who
would kill them all if I got Zendal."
"How do you balance them off against a new navy ship
and its crew?"
"Dammit, Howard. I'm not God. ne ship is expend-
able. The crew might be saved, or most of them. They're
professionals. The scientists are the victims."
"He's right," Barbara offered mouthfuls. "What
about Brenner? He'll be tracking the new ship. He could
on the scene in hours."
' 'I'm counting on it," Carter said. "If Zenda] follows
his plan, he'll cut the ship at the waterline. I can't see high
casualties. Brenner's support ships should here in time
to rescue the crew."
"The timing will have to be perfect," Schmidt said.
"Let me tell you the way I see it and if we agree. You two
will have to ready with your sleds not far from the ship
when she's hit. You signal me and I'll trigger the an-
nouncement for the scientists to get out."
"That's it in its simplest form," Carter said. "But I'm
concerned al»ut you. I don't like leaving you here. You'll
be vulnerable as hell if some of Zendal's scouting parties
finally see through your camouflage."
"But I won't her, Caner, " Schmidt said, and grinned.
nen he held up a hand for silence. "I've got sensors out
on the island. They're signaling. We've got a large party
of intruders poking around. ' '
"Can you tell how many?" Barbara asked.
g SNOt precisely. Between five and ten. Closer to ten,"
Schmidt announced.
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you have any kind of an arsenal on board?" Carter
asked.
"Not much. A silenced M-14 sni}xr's rifle. Used by
SWAT a lot. It's sometimes used as an assassin's
tcx»l. Put a full clip of thirty rounds inside a five-inch circle
at two hundred rounds. Before I got to fiddling with it,
they called it the XM-21."
"What else?" Carter asked, impressed with the M-14.
"l might able to take care of them with tlr rifle, but
what if they're out in real force and bunched up?"
s 'I adapted the M-16 grenade launcher to the M-14. I
can attach it if you want. It's not exactly a silent weapon."
• 'Good enough," Carter said, pulling off his wet suit
and replacing it with black coveralls he'd found in a
locker. A little face black and a stevedore cap and he was
ready for action.
' 'I don't like the look of this at all," Barbara said,
giving her fork a rest. "What if you run into an army of
those things?"
"Let him do it his way, my dear," Schmidt said. "It's
what he does."
His words were followed by a long silence. A tear
slipped from one eye and she put down her silverware.
Without another word she pushed away from the table,
squeezed past them, and headed for the forward stateroom.
"She'll be all right," Schmidt said.
"Sure she will," Carter said, not really convinced. He
didn't need hySterics just before the kind of hard probe he
was about to initiate. "No matter. I'm off. Black this
place out until I'm out and in the clear."
Schmidt pulled the master switch and everything was
pitch-black. Carter stood in the salon checking the location
of his extra clips and slings of grenades. By the time he
DEEP SEA DEATH
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135
was satisfied, his night vision was good enough for an
exit. He moved to the rail, lifted the camouflage, and
became a part of the night.
No stars were visible. 'Ihick clouds blanketed the sky
making the night as dark as he'd seen it. The Killmaster
stood still for a moment until he could see clearly, then
picked out a trio of landmarks to IX)int his way back to the
camouflaged ship.
He could hear voices. He stood rigid and listened. Ten.
No. More. A dozen at least.
Slowly, picking his way carefully, aware that he could
not dislodge a single pebble, he moved to the highest crest
of the small island. He could see lights below and to his
right. He raised the sight of the rifle to his right eye and
steadied it against a large boulder. Schmidt had provided a
night scope. A half-dozen men were grouped together, not
moving, probably talking strategy. He could see them as if
it were midday.
A grenade would finish them off but it would alarm the
others. But where had they gone? He moved the gunsight
to the left and picked up a lone sentry. When he was sure
the man was completely alone, he drew in a breath,
the trigger gently, and felt the unfamiliar gun buck in his
hands.
Quickly he found the target again. He was down, a hole
the size of a quarter in his head. All right. That was the
name of the game. He'd seen the room where the clones
were put together and wondered idly if they had replaced
some of the ones he'd destroyed. He doubted it. He and
Barbara had tren keeping them too busy.
He shook himself and cursed his lack of concentration.
He'd seen many good men go down for the same kind
of lapses. Alt right. Where were the rest of them?
He found a sentry to his left and another about a hun-
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NICK CARTER
dred yards left again. He back to the first man,
inhaled, and squeezed the rifle gently. The man was thrown
against the rock in back of him, an involuntary grunt
escaping his lips. Carter cursed silently. If he could hear
it, they all could.
He quickly moved his to the left again and
found the second man lcx)king toward the noise, raising his
rifle, getting ready to investigate. Carter put a steel-jacketed
slug through his chest and another through his head as he
started to go down.
The M-14 was a wonder. He had it set on single shot
but he could fire bursts if he chose. It had a recoil he could
handle and it was accurate to within a hair's breadth. The
noise of each shot was no more than a slight pop. The only
negative factor was the smell of cordite that drifted on the
night air.
The sound of leather against rock behind him drew his
attention. He twisted to the right and down as a knife
struck the rock next to him and came to rest at his feet.
The stalker had been too confident. Before he could
move, Hugo was in Carter's right palm and the blade was
finding space the man's ribs. He died as Carter
quietly lowered him to the rocky level.
Four down. He put the scorr on the first group and
found them still standing, tying to decide on their next
move.
Perhaps he'd been wrong about the numbers. He scanned
the rest of the island and came up with one more man, a
solitary clone posted below and behind him.
He brought the M-14 to bear on the last sentry, squeezed
Off a shot, and heard him go down.
He waited and listened. The group below hadn't heard
anything. Okay. He had to go after them and now. If they
split up, the job would be twice as hard.
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137
He moved as silently as a shadow. A rush of adrenaline
had filled him with energy, had given increased sensitivity
to every nerve in his body.
At fifty feet Carter stopped and over the in
front of him. They were still there but the argument seemed
to be concluded. They were reaching for the weapons they
had laid aside and were preparing to go.
lhe Killmaster wished he'd had time to familiarize him-
self with the unique gun. But he'd fired an M-16 grenade
launcher tEfore. He loaded, raised the barrel, and pulled
the ü•igger.
The noise of the launcher seemed twice as loud as he
remembered. But it had been deathly still until then. He
saw the faces of the clones and one security man tum up to
him as the grenade exploded in their midst.
ney were flung in all directions, all wounded. But
Carter knew the small grenade had no real kick. He lobbed
three more in the circle of downed men before a pain like a
baseball bat against his skull turned everything purple and
spiraling toward a vortex of black.
Carter fought for control. Only one thing could have
caused the blow, an unseen enemy. He whirled to see a
clone behind him, his rifle held like a club raised to
descend on Carter's head again.
Hugo was out and in his hand in a reflex action. As the
towering figure brought the gun down again, Carter
countered with an upward thrust and skewered his assailant
in the sternum. The big man turned on the knife and fell
across Carter's legs. With his head still spinning, the man
from AXE couldn't move.
He sat, vulnerable, the big man across his legs. Double
vision turned the dark sky into hills and gullies of roiling
black clouds. He concentrated with every ounce of energy
he had and was rewarded when one clone came running
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NICK CARTER
from between the rocks just as he'd freed his arms. Carter
shot him in the chest and watched him go down. He
squeezed his legs from txneath the dead clone, tottered to
his feet, and started to look for the landmarks that would
lead him back to Schmidt's boat.
nie way back was not easy. Carter's head throbbed and
his memory was out of whack. Where the hell was the
boat? He wasted precious time scouting the whole coast
l*fore he recognized the landmarks he'd picked out and
reached for an edge of the camouflaged material.
He was bathed in light momentarily as he lifted the cloth
and slippd under as quickly as H)ssible. He'd just crawled
over the thwarts of the boat, his eyes still unaccustomed to
the light, when Barbara rushed toward him and threw her
arms around his
"Nick! We thought you were dead!" she exclaimed,
holding on so tightly he could hardly breathe.
"She's overreacting," Schmidt said, coming up the
gangway from the salon, a huge grin on his face. "I told
her you could handle yourself. You always do."
Carter disentangled himself, pured a cup of coffee, and
sat apart from them.
"Well?" Schmidt asked.
"All clear for now. They'll 'De sending a party to search
for the missing, of course. Our worst enemy is time. "
g ' They've got their hands full," Schmidt told him. "The
experimentql ship's almost within range. We'll have to
make our play soon."
Carter was lcxjking at Barbara. "I'm not sure we'll all
be ready when the time comes," he said.
"What's that to mean?" Schmidt asked.
"He's talking about me," Barbara said. "He thinks I've
gone soft on him."
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139
c wso a woman can get emotional once in a while. nat
dcrsn't mean I can't do my job," she said, brushing her
hair back and starting to pull on the hood of her wet suit.
"You're sure you can handle this?" he asked, his voice
low but the concern unmistakable.
' 'The great Nick Carter doesn't understand women as
much as I thought,"
she taunted. "Of course I can. My
concern for your safety doesn't change my ability to do my
job. "
g 'What if I'm hit? Are you still going to do your job, or
are you going to break off and come to me on the nn?"
"We won't know that until it will we?"
' 'Ihat's not good enough," Carter said, trying to keep
his tone strong enough without turning her off altogether.
'Sif they hit you, I'd still have to complete the job we've
got to do. I'd come back later to see if I could help, but
the job comes first."
She maintained eye contact with him and didn't speak.
Finally she nodded and continued to pull on her wet suit.
' 'Before I took off, you were saying not to worry about
you, that you wouldn't be here," Carter said, tuming to
Schmidt.
"I've got to be able to see what's going on close to the
action. Something like a forward observation post."
"And how do you propose to do that? I don't want you
in the action," Carter said, shaking his head. "Keeping an
eye on Barbara is enough. don't want to find myself on
the carpet at Dupont Circle Wing to explain to Hawk how
you died and why I let you get so close to danger."
"Come topside," Schmidt said, heading up the salon
gangway to the forward deck and a cleared area ten feet
square. He pulled a tarpaulin off a pile of galvanized
piping and stood back.
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NICK CARTER
"What is it?" Barbara asked.
"A helicopter," Schmidt said, already in the process of
threading one hollow pir into another. Within fifteen
minutes he had assembled a lightweight frame complete
with wheels. He levered the top off a small crate nearby
and lifted out an alloy motor. It fitted trneath the rotor and
was connected within minutes.
can stay in the air for three hours on one tank of gas.
I'll use one of the rescue ships as a base for refueling if I
have to. lhe radio I'll carry on this thing will be strong
enough to signal you when Zendal makes his move and
I'm ready to activate the announcement in the cavem.
Do you really think the scientists will get out?" he
asked.
"We'll have done all we can for them," Carter said.
"The drugs should have worn off. They'll already
questioning why they are there."
"I think they'll move fast when they hear the announce-
ment," Barbara added. "My concern is how long it'll take
to unload two subs and get them underway. They might
have to fight off some clones. "
"You both worry too much," Carter said. They were
back in the salon and he was starting to pull on his wet
suit. "I don't think Zendal's got clones to spare now.
Besides, I've seen what humans can do when faced with
survival or death. We're talking about several hundred
highly intelligent people here. It's up to them, right?"
"He's right, Howard. We've done all we can for them,"
Barbara said. "When do we go?"
"I've been monitoring Zendal's frequency for hours,"
Schmidt said, his eyes never leaving the woman. Even in a
hooded wet suit her amrarance was mesmerizing. "He's
in his war room now and the ship is in his magnetic field. I
think we should be in position as soon as possible."
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"Okay. IA's do it," Carter growled.
141
Schmidt followed them to the stern launching hold. ne
sleds had been pulled inside and hosed down with fresh
water. "I've held back one item about the sleds. You
should know about it now," he said, very serious.
Carter sensed that something was worrying his old friend.
Schmidt was to reveal something that gave him
pangs of conscience. He'd never seen him like this. "What
is it, Howard?" he asked gently.
Schmidt didn't answer right away. He unscrewed four
oversize butterfly nuts from the left half of one of the sleds
and the whole cylinder, motor and all, came away as a
separate piece.
"What is it?" Barbara asked. "It looks like a small
"Nuclear," Carter said. "It's nuclear, isn't it, Howard?
nat's what's bothering you."
"You turn the cone at the front a half degree to charge it
and set the course on this dial," Schmidt said, ignoring the
question.
"You've always felt the military took advantage of
science in the use of nuclear power, right?" Carter asked.
Schmidt didn't answer. lhe fruth was evident on his
face.
"We don't have time for a debate," Carter said. "We'll
talk about it when this is over."
Barbara Wall moved to the grizzled middle-aged scien-
tist and kissed his cheek. "l understand, Howard. And the
decision is never easy. The torpedoes could stop Zendal
from killing millions to get what he wants. Life's a trade-
off sometimes. "
"The other side of the sled will still take you out of the
action when and if you use the torpedoes. Not as fast, of
course, but they're a lot faster than swimming," Schmidt
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NICK CARTER
said, avoiding the concern of his friends. ' 'Don't go to the
booster when you're using only half of the sled."
Carter shook his hand for the first time that he could
rememtxr. Howard Schmidt had always been SIECial to
him but never more than now. Barbara hugged him. fien
they pulled the sleds into deep water and disaprrared
beneath the surface.








TWELVE
Dr. Barbara Wall held on to the back rail of her sled and
looked across at the man ten feet to her left. His sled was
parallel to hers as they headed for the back side of Zendal's
island.
Her mind wandered from the job at hand as she glanced
at Carter, thinking about their time together and what they
had done and were about to do. Her thoughts were a
jumble. What had happened to the confirmed pacifist?
She'd studied the martial arts purely as a defense against
the hoodlums in the streets back home. But she'd seen
men—or whatever the creatures were—tom to shreds and
end up as shark food. She'd shot men herself, some in
great haste, not knowing whether they were Zendal's clones
or actual human beings.
Now she was going into battle. Her mind tried to con-
jure up images of the action to come, but she had too little
background to make it work. The new navy ship would be
gutted. Hundreds of sailors would be awash in angry seas.
Some might die never knowing why. In the fantasy that
was growing in her confused brain she saw hundreds of
Zendal's men equipped with scuba gear, all intent on
taking the nuclear weapons from the ship.
144
143




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What would Admiral Brenner doing? She'd been
astounded at his response to Carter's waming. Absorbed
within the confines of her academic environment, she
hadn't realizzd that politics decided the course of their
defense, first within the halls of Congress, then at the
whim of senior officers. She'd never be as naive again.
Howard Schmidt would be in the air now and she willed
a silent prayer that he remain safe.
Ihe sled that towed her was itself a deadly weapon. In
her wildest dreams she could never imagine that she'd be
this close to an atomic bomb, and worse, that she might be
the instrument that would send it on its way.
Carter signaled for her to turn to the left. Ihey were
coming up on the island. When they rounded the southern
tip of the huge hunk of nxk, her fantasies would become
realities and she wasn't sure she was ready for what that
might rrwan.
Barbara Wall had never been a religious woman. Logic
had dictated that trliefs were for those who had no core of
strength within on which to build. But as her time neared,
the time when she would know if she would live or die,
the answers were not as pat. She was too alone, too hollow
to face the battle without faith. So her last thoughts as they
rounded the tip of the island were turned inward in a silent
prayer for herself and for the man with her.
Carter's every sense, every nerve ending, was focused
on the sighi before him. The keel of the navy ship was a
blur at the far limit of their vision, even in these crystal-
clear waters. Scores of men were grouped at a staging
B)int onshore. All they could see of them were their lower
torsos and legs in the water, all encased in light blue wet
suits.
DEEP SEA DEATH
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145
"We'll surface carefully. I want to get a look at the
action above," he said to Barbara.
' 'When you're ready."
He pushed forward and down on the control and the
sled moved from the three fathoms at which they'd been
traveling to break the surface with minimum wash.
"Neutralize your props," he ordered as he rrrformed
the act himself.
They in a three-foot chop about three hundred
yards offshore. The navy ship loomed in front of them.
"The ship's commander will have warned Brenner by
now. We'll seeing jets come in for a look-see fairly
soon," he predicted. g 'I'd say we're going to see some
action in the next few minutes. "
"Schmidt calling N3. Come in, Nick."
"Loud and clear, Howard. We're on the surface. Looks
like the stage is set."
"I've alerted Brenner. Apparently he'd heard moments
before my call."
"He's sending observers first?" Carter asked.
' 'Right. I told him to warn his people about my chopper
and about your sleds."
"Does Zendal have any sleds that you can see?" Bar-
bara asked.
"No. All I see is a group of divers bunched at his main
staging area. Dressed in light blue."
"We've seen them."
"Can't we do something for the navy ship?" Barbara
asked as the three of them looked at the sleek craft from
different vantage points. "It seems such a waste."
S' We've covered that," Carter said. ' 'Zendal's got to be
totally preoccupied with the action to Errmit his captives to
escape. Howard activates the announcements within the
cavem as soon as the laser fireworks start."
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NICK CARTER
"I can see you now," Schmidt said. navy jets
should able to identify you easily enough."
"Don't on it. I plan to be underwater for most of the
action," Caner said. 'SHow much time do you figure
we've got?"
"Twenty, maybe thirty minutes," Schmidt answered,
his craft now directly overhead.
"Two things," Carter said. "Radio the captain of the
navy ship to have his t*lowdecks areas cleared. I'm going
to do a deep dive to see what the bottom is like here."
"I'm with you," Barbara said.
"No. I want you to stand off the southern tip, sub-
merged a couple of fathoms. If the action starts before
get back, I want you as my eyes up here."
He brought the props to full revs and started into the
darker depths of the sea. Powerful sm»tlights helped him
see for fifty or more feet ahead as he moved through the
first two hundred feet. For the last two hundred, the range
was cut to half that. He was on the bottom when his depth
gauge showed four hundred and fifty feet.
Carter was directly below the ship. Directly in front of
him, another hundred feet ahead, the Sir Wilfred Laurier
lay on its side, a tear in its hull from bow to stem. She
rested half on the shelf at four hundred and fifty feet and
half over a deep drop that had to be several hundred feet
deeper, thousands of feet.
He wondered if Zendal knew about the shelf. The man
would have. to be stupid not to know, and Zendal was not
stupid. So the madman had pulled the ship in close with
his magnetic field and she'd go down not far from the
Canadian ship and well short of the deep.
He thought of the coming battle. His job and Barbara's
would be to destroy the swimming teams of clones either
before they got to the bombs or as soon after as possible.
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147
An idea formed in his mind and he tucked it away for
Cuture use. He'd seen enough for now. He couldn't afford
to have the action start without him, so he started for the
surface as fast as he could without using the txx)sters.
There was no way he wanted the bends again. Even the
mild case he'd had brought with it excruciating pain.
When he reached the surface, he found Barbara where
he'd told her to pst herself.
s 'Any change?" he asked her as he closed to twenty feet
of her sled.
6' The divers have gone under. They're spread out in
teams in front of the landing area. "
"Teams? Makes sense. How many?"
"Looks like seven. Six men to a team. "
"Seven teams. Six nuclear missiles. One spare team."
"What did you see below?" she asked.
He told her atx»ut the shelf a hundred feet past the navy
ship, but he didn't mention the broken hulk of the Cana-
dian ship on the bottom. He felt she didn't need that right
now.
"So we destroy the seven teams before they get to the
ship?" she asked. She knew they'd already gone over the
plan, buthe might want to change it ba«ed on his recon of
the sea floor.
He told her of his new plan and she agreed.
They were two fathoms down and about five hundred
yards from the enemy staging area.
"They've gone," she said, alarmed.
' 'Gone? Where?" Carter asked himself as much as she.
' 'They can't have moved toward the ship. They'd be
pulled down with her and out of control," she offered.
"So the only answer is down," he said. "I'm going to
wam Howard. Stay put," he ordered.
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On the surface he didn't waste time. "N3 to Schmidt.
Come in."
"What is it?"
' • The divers have taken up rx)sitions in the deep. We're
going to for them," he reported.
"So we're only seconds away from zero hour," Schmidt
said. "We'd better find those bastards before they disap-
pear altogether. How many are----"
Before he could finish the sentence a beam of amber
light cut through the air between the ræk and the ship.
The whole operation had hapr*ned so fast that neither man
had time to react. By the time Schmidt tripped the radio-
controlled announcements, the ship was torn from bow to
stem at the waterline and was already heeling over to port.
Carter dived to join Barbara. "It's started," he told her.
"We'd better find the teams tEfore the sea gets mud-
died up."
With Caner leading they circled the crippled ship, keep-
ing far enough away to keep the whole scene in front of
them. No divers could be seen, but as the U.S.S. Lance
took on more and more water, they could see man after
man hit the water and rise slowly back to the surface. The
sea was covered with life preservers, rafts, and debris long
before she went down.
lhe pair maneuvered their sleds in ever-deeper circles
beneath the sü•icken ship, but they saw no one.
Schmidt checked his gauge and found his fuel was down
to less than an hour of flying time. Already he'd seen
enough for a lifetime of field work and asked himself why
he wanted to get into the thick of things like Carter and
meet the enemy face to face. He'd seen the crippling of the
ship. He'd seen her heel over more and more, observed
seamen diving from the decks, some throwing objects over
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149
the side, others waiting for nothing before leaving the
ship. They bobbed around the port side as others slid along
the canted deck to cnrshed against the rail, their txxiies
plucked by swirling eddies as she went undere
It was a sad sight to watch. She rolled completely over,
trapping some air in the hull, then slowly went down, stem
first, while some of the survivors su•uggled to keep away
from the downwash. Some didn't make it.
He'd warned the scientists inside the rcxk at the first
sign of action. He wouldn't know if they were going to
escape for some time yet. They'd have to clear their own
way first and he had no idea of the resistance they'd meet.
At his altitude he could see the first of the navy jets
screaming in on the scene and rescue ships sailing down
on the horizon. They'd have to move fast if they were to
minimize casualties.
He couldn't do anything where he was, so he headed for
the first of the rescue ships to report what he knew and to
refuel.
Throughout the huge cavern, the announcement blared:
Warning! This is an agent of the United States gov-
ernment speaking. You have been under the influence
of mood-altering drugs. Your leader, the man you
call His Excellency, is in the act of sinking a U.S.
Navy ship to steal its nuclear missiles. He has to be
stopped. Go to the sub pens and help unload the subs.
Your only chance of escape is to make room on the
subs for all. Warning: Most of your captors are out of
the cavern in the action above, but some might have
remained behind. Armed men dressed in light blue
uniforms might try to stop you. If you do not over-
come them, you will die in the cavern, if not now,
then later. Zendal is insane. He is an extremely dan-
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gerous man. You must escape! Leave now! Warning!
This is an agent of the United States
Zendal sat in his control room. He saw the U.S.S.
Lance go down and the seamen floundering in the water.
Someone on his staff pirrd the announcement into the
control room. Zendal sat, stunned, listening to the drone of
the warning.
"Get Schnieder!" he roared.
' 'He was killed during the search you ordered," one of
the security men answered.
"Where's his assistant?"
' he bellowed, his voice filling the
"What the hell .
whole chamber. "Get down there and stop the evacuation!
How many of your soldiers are available?"
"Two. We've lost many and you haven't replaced
them."
"Take them and hold the eggheads at the sub Ixns. If
they get away, you're a dead man."
The security man, a soldier of fortune who'd signed on
for promised loot, knew when his number was up. He
rushed to the guardroom where the two clones were wait-
ing for orders. He took the wearx)n from one of them, slid
back die ccrking lever, and emptied the clip on them,
leaving the smell of blcxxl and cordite in the small room as
he headed for the scientist's quarters, a lab coat, and
freedom through the sub pens.
Visibility was cut to only a few feet as the ship settled
on the bottom. Men were still leaving the hull, slowly
drifting to the surface—life preservers tied awkwardly to
lifeless txxiies---or drifted with the swirls and eddies cre-
ated by the ship's descent.
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151
Carter steeled himself to ignor the dead and concentrate
on the divers. "Do you see any?" he asked Barbara.
"No."
"Let's keep going, and keep me in sight." Suddenly he
pointed to their left. "Over there! One of the teams!"
he said, swinging his sled to face the enemy. By the
time he had the site lined up, they had disaprrared and he
wasn't atx»ut to make any guesses and hit survivors.
"We've got rescue boats overhead. Men are tring picked
up," Barbara told him.
' ' nat's great, but keep your eyes down here."
She swung her sled to starboard a few degrees, then
loosed a cluster bomb. Carter didn't catch up with the
action until the bomb let go fifty feet in front of him,
shredding a team of divers. They were in a pocket of clear
water and Barbara had reacted perfectly.
' 'Nice shot," be said.
"lhanks," she said shakily. ne words came over the
intercom in a metallic tone but the fear could not be
hidden.
"We've lost t(X) much time. The teams might have
slipped past us and taken the missiles already," Carter
said, directing their tactics. "We'll swing around the wreck
and to pick them up from the other side."
"I'll take the prt side."
He would have preferred to keep her in sight but knew
she was right. If they went together, the enemy teams
might circle the wreck on the other side and make it back
to the
"Keep me informed of everything you see. If you mn
into them, give me your position immediately."
"You can on that."
Nothing more was said as they swung off in opposite
directions. The silt had already begun to clear, settling to
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the bottom, sorne of it spreading out and thinning as it
moved away from the hulk. His lights cut through the
murky water giving him almost a hundred feet of clear
vision.
He could see the Lance clearly now. She was on her
side, the pointing at him, the rip in her side
out of sight on the other side.
Carter the boosters on full and hung on as the
sled pulled him through silt and past drifting bodies at
forty knots. He rounded the stern and could see the t*gin-
ning of the rip in her hull. It looked as if someone had
taken a torch to her and she'd made of butter. The
of the laser was unbelievable.
But he saw no one. No one alive. And no divers near
the ripped hull.
He brought the sled to normal srxed and headed for the
opening. It was ten feet wide, an incredible tear, and he
had no trouble maneuvering inside.
He found the bays that had held the missiles. The key
word was "had." 'Ihe missiles were gone.
"Caner to Wall. I'm in the Lance. The missiles are
gone."
"I've just SB)tted them. Plan Sheep Dog in effect. I'm
chasing them out to sea."
"Don't do anything crazy. I'll with you as fast as I
"I'm two hundred feet off the bow, past it, running at a
bearing of two-ten degrees. "
"How mariy of them can you see?" he asked, going to
full power.
"Two teams. They've got some kind of sling made of
flotation material. They look like six pallbearers."
"Let's hope we can send them to hell!"
DEEP SEA DEATH
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153
Barbara was dogging the two teams, chasing them fur-
ther from their base and out over the deep as Carter had
planned.
What were they doing? Splitting up. Logical. She wasted
no time, her sled at the one to port and firing a
bomb at it. She pressed the wrong trigger and the bomb let
go just twenty-five feet in front of her. The hundreds of
deadly darts fanned out, slicing through the team as planned
but only a fraction of them hitting their targets.
It didn't seem to matter. All six clones were hit and
bleeding profusely. 'Ihey loosed their hold on the missile
and it plummeted out of sight.
lhe wounded figures thrashed about in the water creat-
ing a huge cloud of blood. A shark came out of nowhere,
passing Barbara's sled as if she were standing still. In
seconds it had one of the clones in its jaws, shaking it like
a rag doll.
' 'What's Carter broke in on the horror that
was enfolding in front of her.
"They split up. I had to take out one team. The place is
full of sharks."
"Where's the other team?"
"Heading your way."
W 'Then get the hell out of there. Circle around the sharks
to port and look for the other teams. i'
"Right. My idea exactly."
Carter was more than pleased with Barbara's perfor-
mance. After all, she was a researcher and a scholar, not a
trained agent who was used to this sort of action. If he
could just get this finished and keep her in one piece he'd
be satisfied, he said to himself. But his brain swung from
thoughts of Barbara's safety back to the problem at hand
as the team she'd spotted loomed in front of him.
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NICK CARTER
ney'd obviously seen what had happened to the other
team. The two clones in the middle broke off and fired at
him, their spears missing by inches.
The others glanced over their shoulders and saw him
coming on. Something deep inside their manufactured brains
told them to bail out and they let go of the missile as if on a
signal.
They were spreading out, swimming away from him as
fast as they could.
Caner aimed his sled, swinging it to the center of the
group, and pressed the trigger for a shot.
Like Barbara's shot, many of the darts missed. But he had
to have maximum coverage and enough hits to cripple
every man. He didn't have to kill them. The missile had
plunged to the depths of the ocean. All he had to do was
take them out of action.
He left the six clones wounded and headed to port. He
corrected for the traring he Barbara to take. It
would intersect a roundabout route the clones might be
taking back to the island, or to some island they didn't
know about.
"Two teams in sight. " Her voice broke into his thoughts.
' 'Bearing two-twenty-five a half mile southwest of the
Lance. t'
' 'I'm on it. If you can get a clear shot, take it. If sharks
show up, keep on the trail of the other team and keep me
informed. ' '
"Bomb set for fifty feet," Garbara said. "Oh, Jesus!
I'll never gei used to this. The sea's clear here. Got all of
them, totally shredded. Oh, Nick, I think I'm going to
sick."
"Hang in there. If you throw up you'll choke on it. If
you can't stop it, surface and get it over with."
"Bastard. You think it's a joke."
DEEP SEA DEATH
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155
"No joke. Tell me where the other team is and get to
the surface."
"I'm all right now. Really. I'm getting out of here.
Sharks again. The other team's turned to starboard. You
should picking them up any minute."
Carter saw them from a distance. He could barely pick
them up in his B)werful lights. He thumbed the t)ooster
control and caught up to them in a hurry.
This group had seen t(X) much defeat. They the
missile and turned on him in unison, firing their spears in a
cluster.
Carter let the sled slow down. Srmrs clanged off the
front of the sled, two bouncing off the nuclear warhead.
While he knew it wouldn't blow until he primed it, goose
bumps formed on his arms beneath the wet suit.
He fired. Ihe clones were shredded, and the cloud of
blood and mutilated flesh attracted the usual voracious
shark pack.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"Did you get the other team?" she countered.
"Yes. I make that four missiles. Two to go."
6 '10m a quarter mile to port of you. I can see your lights.
I'll turn toward you. See my lights?"
"Got you."
"Your place or mine?" she asked.
' 'Got any ideas?"
"So the big chief needs ideas. Sure. I think the others
are between us and shore."
' 'Then let's go. I'll keep to the south of you. We search
all the water between here and the island."
Time passed slowly. They'd been in the water a long
time. His arms were weary from hanging on to the sled for
so long. He wondered how Barbara was making out. After
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NICK CARTER
fifteen minutes of silence he his mike again. "See
anything?" he asked.
"Negative."
"How do you feel?"
"About the same as you. I'm tired and I'm pissed."
"We'll get them. Give it another half hour."
"They could in snug harbor by now."
"No way! Hey! I've got one! Trying to sneak back from
the southwest," Carter said as he turned his sled to
face the enemy, his lights off.
He didn't wait for them to come to him. He fired the
maximum-distance trigger and turned on his lights five
seconds later. He was just in time to see the bomb dis-
charge its barbed missiles. ne team was stopped in its
tracks, the missile droplHi, the sea filled with the usual
black cloud of blood and limbs.
Carter headed for the missile and followed its path
downward, not sure they were out past the shelf. He
needn't have worried. At five hundred feet it was still
heading down into a black void. Five down and one to go.
Slowly he rose back to the surface, taking a good half
hour. Barbara had called him twice and he'd explained he
was on his way up and trying not to ascend too rapidly.
She met him as he broke the surface. Before they could
communicate Schmidt broke in on them.
"Schmidt calling N3. Come in."
"N3 here, Howard. Talk to me."
"God Almighty! I've been trying to get you for almost
an hour. Where the hell have you been?"
"Doing our job, Howard, Got five. Lost one."
' 'That's better than I expected. Don't worry about it.
I've been doing some cruising and I'm pretty sure I know
their launch sites," Schmidt said, his voice confident in
DEEP SEA DEATH
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157
the static of their imperfect transmission. "I've arranged a
bunk for each of you on one of the rescue ships."
Carter lcx)ked at Barbara and she shook her head. He
grinned at her and gave the thumbs-up sign. "We're not
coming in until this is over, Howard. So you'd better show
us where the launchers are. 't
"Don't be so goddamned stubborn. We don't have to
'hurry now. They can't possibly launch in less than twelve
hours. Brenner can have raiding parties there in no time."
"No way, Howard. We don't want a madman on trial at
the taxpayer's exrrnse. We don't want a field day for the.
press. We finish it nice and clean."
"You call nuclear annihilation nice and clean?"
"We're not coming in until it's over. Clear the area if
you can. We've got a place to rest for an hour or two.
We'll call you when we're ready.








THIRTEEN
"What next?" Barbara asked. "What are we really
going to do?"
"I'd like to sure of our ground before we take a
breather. Just how tired are you?"
"I've got my second wind. I'm curious about the whole
scene. Why don't we take a look around?"
' 'My thoughts exactly. Let's start first with the sub
pens. I'm concerned about the scientists. Since andal
knows he's lost, he could be taking it out on them."
He didn't wait for an answer but tumed the sled 180
degrees and headed for the island ræk that was Zendal's
headquarters.
The submarine pens were alive with activity. The two
huge diesel subs had been off-loaded and the civilians
were bunched up near the conning towers. They were
hiding behind crates, running for the conning tower run-
ways a few at a time. Bursts of small-arms fire pinned
them down. While Carter and Barbara watched, their sleds
secured at the entrance, a couple of women were cut down
by a hail of bullets, their bodies falling into the water.
"Who's in charge here?" Carter demanded.
160
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NICK CARTER
A group of men turned toward him, surprised that any-
one had come at them from the entrance.
"I guess you could say that am," one of the men said.
He was tall and gaunt, t(X) old for the job he'd undertaken.
He looked as if he should be retired or sitting in a lab with
his white mice and microscolh "I'm uying to get every-
one on but we're under fire as you can see."
"Have you any Caner asked.
' t There's a gun cabinet in each of the subs, but I can't
get to them. They're in what used to be the officers' ward
"My knife and gun are in the compartment of my
sled," he whispered to Barbara. s 'Get them while I see
what I can do here.
"How many men do they have?" he asked the civilian.
g 'I don't know. Gunfire is coming from three places. "
He pointed out the areas of fire and while he was in the
prcxess, one of them up, chipping way at the stone
near where they stood.
' 'AK-47s," Carter said.
"How do you know?"
sound. Some guns have a distinctive sound. And I
saw a flash of orange from one of them."
"What's that""
' e lhey have orange-colored plastic ammunition clips.
ney're shaped like bananas and they're almost the same
color," Carter said. "Tell me atx)ut the gun rack inside.
Do any of the SMGs have extra tubes on the bottom?"
"SMGs?" •
' 'Submachine guns."
"I've seen one with an extra tube and what seems like
an extra trigger guard."
"The sub farthest from us, unfortunately."
DEEP SEA DEATH
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161
Barbara returned with his weapons wrapped in plastic
while they SB)ke.
"You'd take the Luger," Carter said. "Keep
everyone under cover and give me cover fire. You've got a
clip in the gun and one extra. When they fire on me, give
them return fire. Conserve as much as you can."
He didn't wait for her confirmation. She'd proved she
was capable of following orders and able to handle the
gun.
Gaining access to the sub farthest away was a lot sim-
pler than he'd A rope ladder was hooked onto
the starboard conning rail. It was out of the line of fire of
the enemy. Still in his wet suit but with bare feet, Carter
dived into the water of the huge sub pen and didn't emerge
until he was directly below the ladder. He wasn't
until the last moment when he pulled himself over the
cowl and crept to the slatted floor of the conning tower.
ney had only a fraction of a second to spot him and no
üme to re.act.
Ihe sub was alive with those who had made it already.
They were impatient to get away but were not about to
leave without their friends.
"Where's the ward room?" Carter asked one of the
men.
g 'Which one?"
' 'Officers. "
"Follow me," the man said. He was younger than the
man in charge outside, and in far better physical shape. It
B)sed the question why the roles were not reversed, but
Carter had more important things on his mind. "Are you
looking for the guns?" the man asked.
"Right. Why haven't you broken them out?"
SS What for? We don't know how to use them."
"You could
162
, . e" Carter started, then decided against a
NICK CARTER





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NICK CARTER
debate. He couldn't see how they could be under siege and
not uy to use anything and everything available, but then
he couldn't put himself in their place.
6' niis is it."
'Ihe cabinet had broken open and a semiautomatic
rifle was lying on a table. Carter had seen one in a
catalogue in Schmidt's basement information section. It
was designated XM-15 and was equiprrd with a forty-
round magazine. The cocking lever was jammed but re-
leased easily enough when he released the magazine and
removed a round jammed in the breech.
The I(Xker contained two rifles identical to the first and
several extra magazines. He took only one, planning to use
three-round bursts. If he couldn't clear them all out with
eighty rounds, they were all in big trouble.
ne gun cabinet yielded one pleasant surprise. He found
no grenade launcher, but three fragmentation grenades
were cliprrd to a web txlt at the bottom of the cabinet. He
strapFd on the belt and shoved the extra clip of ammuni-
tion under it and was on his way out.
This time he wasn't going to swim back. He waited in
the conning tower until he saw a muzzle flash and let go
with a three-round burst. He was sure he hadn't hit any-
thing, but the shock value permitted him to jump from the
tower to the of the sub and take up a position behind
the tower.
When all three positions opened up on him, he let them
waste their time and ammo bouncing shots off the thick
steel plating, then gave them a burst from the rear of the
tower followed by one from the front a few seconds later.
In the lull that followed he was on the edge of the and
crouched txside the civilian leader in seconds.
"How are they inside?" the older man asked.
' 'Impatient but in no danger." He turned to Barbara. "l
DEEP SEA DEATH
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163
heard your cover fire. Thanks. We're going to have to do
it again."
"What's the plan?"
He'd changed his mind about his tactics while he was
fighting his way back to them. "Here, you take this gun.
Put it on single shot and pop a round at them every time
they try to poke out a head. I'll feel more comfortable with
my own weaH)n anyway." He stramrd on the Luger
while they talked. With the web trlt he'd found inside, the
gun harness around his left shoulder and Hugo in his
chamois sheath on his right forearm, he looked like a
commando. The wasn't delitrrate but it didn't
hurt to use every tool you could.
Without further instructions, the Killmaster moved off
on feet cushioned with thick calluses, gliding from rock to
rcrk, always out of the line of enemy fire.
One of the firing rx)sitions OEEned up on Barbara's
psition. While the was (Ecupied, Carter pulled the
pin on one of the grenades and lobbed it overhand to the
gun flash. It exploded with a fury that shook the rock
foundation of the cavern and hurt the eardrums of anyone
within a hundred yards.
While no noise came from the target area, Carter knew
that he had hit his man. While he looked at the area from a
vantage point he'd climbed to above the action, one of the
other enemy sniE:rrs made a break for it and Barbara took
him out with one shot to the shoulder and another to the
chest as the clone spun and fell.
Two down. Did they have just one more to eliminate?
He crept from one rcwky outcropping to another at the
lower end of the cavern until he sptted the last man. He
was crouched behind a rock. On bare feet Carter was able
to creep up on him and finish him with a quick slash
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NICK CARTER
across his throat from behind. He wiped the from
Hugo and waved to Barbara.
" That was the last one," he shouted at her. "Get them
all loaded and underway."
"Where are you going?"
"I'd like to know if Zendal's still here. If I can get him,
it's all over."
"Okay, but please be careful. I'll with the sleds
when you get back."
Carter rmved from rock to rock until he found the
rugged path that led upward, and he snaked along it, his
Luger in his hand, until he reached the labyrinth of corri-
dors of partitions that separated all the living quarters and
working spaces between the and the part of the
cavern.
He could imagine eyes on his back as he literally flew
along the corridors on his way to the control room and the
madman who had started this entire nightnare. Any dcx)r
could hold an enemy but he didn't think they would.
Zendal would have damned few men left with him, Carter
figured. Between Barbara and himself they had disposed
of almost a hundred clones and a half-dozen security men.
The count hadn't occurred to him until he had to
figure the odds. He wasn't a mass killer. He'd killed often
enough under orders and was authorized to kill when
absolutely necessary during an important project. His des-
ignation N3 indicated his lofty status in the intelligence
community. But to kill a hundred men, even creatures
designed for killing. didn't sit well with him.
It couldn't be helped, he rationalized. Before this was
over, he'd most probably kill again.
As the thought occupied part of his brain, he was still
alert for any sign that he was not alone. The communica-
tions control room high up on the cavem wall was in
DEEP SEA DEATH
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165
darkness. Zendal's headquarters ru)rn was lighted but empty.
He saw no one.
They had to be somewhere, Carter knew. Was it l»ssi-
ble that they'd to another island nearby? Schmidt
said he'd seen a couple of l»ssible launch sites. Zendal
was probably at one of those.
While he searched the umxr level where Zændal had
ruled supreme, he noted a large steel door in the far wall
of rcxk. He ran to it, a grenade, and ripped out
the pin. He left the grenade at the base of the dcor at one
comer and dived tehind a stack of crated equipment for
coven
lhe blast tore at his eardrums. When the dust and rubble
cleared, Carter strode out to examine the damage. He
could find none. Ihe grenade had blasted a lot of rock
from one corner of the door but the steel wasn't even
scratched.
So much for that, Carter grumbled to himself. Zendal
was either behind the door or at one other location that
Schmidt had spotted. Ihey'd have to get at the madman
some other way.
Waiting had never been one of Barbara Wall's strong
suits. She'd waited while Carter entered the sub, taking
the occasional at the enemy. She'd covered for
him while he snaked among the rocks and destroyed two
of the three enemy positions. And she'd been shaken to
her very soul when she'd heard the distant explosion that
meant he'd encountered opposition in the reaches of
the cavern.
When she finally saw him emerge from the trail above,
tears of relief filled her eyes. The subs were full and the
diesel engines throbbed as the men brought them up to full
revs in a test check.
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Slowly the first sub moved out and the second began to
leave its mooring. As its conning tower passed her, a lone
figure on the cement sub rEn docking, three men and a
woman in the conning tower waved.
She felt an ann around her shoulder and she rested her
head against him as they waved back together.
The sub sliprrd out into the night leaving the cavern a
hollow and empty place.
' 'What was the explosion?" she asked.
"There's no one left up there. A huge steel door might
lead to another part of the cavern. Zendal might be in it
setting up the missile."
"So this place has to go."
"Right. "
"Too bad. It ccmld have some archeological significance. "
0' You'll find evidence in other caverns. "
He took her hand and led her to the sleds. He tossed the
XM-15 in the water and the web belt followed. He wrapped
his personal weapons in plastic and stowed them again.
"Come on," he said. "Let's get back to the surface."
They were barely out of the sub when Schmidt
called.
"Schmidt to N3. Come in." His voice sounded impa-
tient, as if he'd been calling for hours.
"N3, here. We were checking on the subs."
g 'I saw them leave. Any trouble?"
"Some. Nothing we couldn't handle. What's your
progress?"
s 'I got it all sewed up. There are two launch sites. One
is at the other end of this piece of rock."
"It figures," Carter said.
"The other is about twenty miles away, the fifth island
southwest in this chain."
DEEP SEA DEATH
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167
g 'All right," Carter said, thinking about the island where
he and Barbara had met. It was the third island in that
particular chain. "We're going to take that rest we've been
promising ourselves. "
"Uh, I'm not so sure that's such a good idea right
now. "
"Brenner's mounting an attack force. "
S'Shit! Goddamn that man!" Carter snarled in frustra-
tion. "You tell him that he's got to pull his force at least
ten miles from here. If he doesn't, he'll lose more of his
precious ships."
"l don't think he'll listen."
"You pull all the rank you can, right up to the presi-
dent. Tell him we'll reveal his weakness if he's stubtK)rn.
The secretary of the navy'd quite interested in his action
ignoring a rx)sitive threat from a reliable source," Carter
went on, totally disgusted with the actions of Brenner.
"Isn't the secretary a friend of Hawk's?"
"Yes. I'll tell him."
"Okay. We'll attack in four hours," Carter told him.
' 'It's a quarter of four. Why not say eight in the mom-
ing? We don't want to cut it too fine."
"Eight it is. Be sure to get Brenner and his FOPle out
of here. "
"What about you two? You'll be caught in the tidal
wave. "
S S niat's a pssibility. We'll shelter trhind the farthest
island we can get to. Over and out. "
"Wait a minute. I wanted to tell—" But the connection
was broken. All the big man could see in his helicopter
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NICK CARTER
was the two sleds planing downward as they sought the
privacy that the deep would give them.
s 'I'd like to see a few things trfore we head for the
island," Carter said to Barbara when they were well (Rit of
sight.
S SLike what?"
"Have all the survivors been picked up? The Lance is
on the bottom. The silt should have cleared by now."
"Lead on."
ney'd covered most of the distance from island to
the area of the sinking before he again. "Are you
sure you want to see your ship?"
' 'I'm over it, Nick. I might as well take a good look
while I'm here. I might have to talk to relatives."
The rescue orrration was completed. Every sailor still
living had pulled from the water. Carter was sure the
navy men would have tried for the of the dead, but
the ones they didn't get would have txen eaten by sharks
by now. Not one piece of the ship or its survivors was
evident in the water around the armada of ships bobbing in
the six-foot chop.
"I'm going down," he called to Barbara.
The two sleds moved in unison to a depth of 450 feet.
The two ships lay within a hundred feet of each other.
Carter examined the American naval vessel while Barbara
circled the Sir Wilfred Laurier before retuming to him.
S6Do you want to take anything off it?" he asked.
"No. Anything I want they'll get for me when they
salvage her."
"Don't too sure."
' 'What do you mean?"
g 'The ships are close to the drop-off. Our final act could
cause enough backwash to push them over."
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169
"Oh, no!" She held her sled in the water for a long
moment before she tumed its nose to their island haven.
He moved ahead and took the lead. They'd have to rise
to the surface slowly to avoid bubbles of nitrogen forming
in their blood. As they held on and the sleds pulled them
further from the scene, he thought about the g 'minor inci-
dent" he'd IEen asked to investigate and smiled to him-
self. Who would have believed that mad scientists still
existed? Who could believe that he could con so many to
help him, malcontents or not?
There seemed to an inexhaustible supply of evil in
this world. But then, if everything were roses and caviar,
there wouldn't a need for organizations like AXE. He
looked at the woman who had pulled alongside him. In a
perfect world he could his tirne on tropical islands
with a bright, gutsy, gorgeous woman like Barbara Wall
and never be a slave to a phone call from Washington.
Carter sighed. He could get very used to a world like
that. .










FOURTEEN
Carter had a fire going in the shelter of their cove.
%ey'd come to think of it as "their island," a haven
where they'd discovered each other and their
friendship.
But neither thought of the physical part of their relation-
ship at that moment. The day had given way to night and
the sea breeze was warm. It washed their skin while it
dried out their wet suits and the thin cotton long johns
they'd wom undemeath. Again they were unclothed, sit-
ting by the fire, preferring to be one with nature rather
than lounging in the luxury of the Chriscraft that still sat in
the bay nearby.
Carter had fish cooking beneath the fire as Kuhuhu had
just a few days earlier. They lay back, waiting for it to be
done, their hands txhind their heads, their eyes on a sky
that was filled with suns of other galaxies.
"I can't t*lieve I've been a part of this," Barbara said,
turning toward him, her breast nestling in the soft sand.
"I've always been a pacifist. Even when taking karate, all
the months of practice and insu•uction, I cringed inside
every time I tossed an or hit socneone accidentally."
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NICK CARTER




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NICK CARTER
"You don't have to go through this, you know. It's all
but over."
"I've got to see it through to the end. That's just the
way I am."
s 'So I've noticed. You're a very srrcial lady. I'm going
to miss you."
She turned back and looked up at the sky. "Don't you
ever take time off? You could call. "
' 'And I will. My short vacations are always unsched-
uled, sometimes months apart. "
"And I'll off on a dig somewhere or caving on some
remote Pacific isle."
"Why not take what we can now? I don't mean now,
this minute--—we've got to get some rest-—but when we've
dealt with Zendal once and for all. i'
S' Why not? We could come back here, find our own
food, sleep under the stars, make love .
What heid had in mind was a few days on Maui or
maybe the big island. He knew of a few secluded guest
houses off the tourist route. This place could a sham-
bles after the last part of the show. If Schmidt's nuclear
devices were powerful enough to pulverize islands just ten
miles from here, this place could be a wasteland. But he
wasn't about to disillusion her. They'd come back here
and they'd make it work if they could.
He looked at her, took in the beauty of her from head to
toe before he closed his eyes. "We've got an hour before
our meal's ready. I'll wake you then."
He closed his eyes and set his mental alarm for an hour,
then drifted off to sleep before his tired brain could absorb
another thought.
She awakened first and checked her watch before wak-
ing him. Six o'clock and still dark. It was just fifty min-
DEEP SEA DEATH
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173
utes since they'd dozed off. She eased his am from her
chest and over him on hcr way to the tidal pool.
ne water was warm against her skin. She was wide
awake and refreshed when she walked up the beach to
him, a shining gcxidess from the deep, her skin wet, her
hair plastered to her shoulders, her figure Fkrfect in the
light of the stars.
Caner had been awake for a few minutes and he'd been
watching her. He marveled at the easy rapport they'd
achieved in so short a time, their ability to build up energy
and not feel the need to spend it on a bonding of their
t»dies. fiat would come later. He was still concerned
about her. He thought about it as he away the hot
coals and laid out their meal on large flat leaves. The last
act of this battle seemed simple enough, but he couldn't be
sure Zendal didn't have a second line of defense. He
couldn't even be sure that the billions of dollars of naval
floating-jüst a few miles away might blow the deal
and give them trouble.
As she neared, he put it out of his mind, and when she
sat with him they ate in silence, looking out at the Pacific,
the moon peeking from a patch of cloud cover, turning the
water to molten gold, flowing rivers of golden lava wafted
across the nature's stage by a light chop.
When they were finished they lay back, each with one
of his cigarettes, each with private thoughts. It was like the
eve of battle, the warriors pensive, all too aware of what
had gone on t:rfore and what they had to lose, but unsure
of what fate had in store.
They seemed attuned to each other, moving in unison,
deciding when it was time to go, burying the butts of their
cigarettes, pulling on their dried clothing, stretching the
rubtEr of their wet suits until they were comfortable. They
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NICK CARTER
didn't speak one word until they were at the water's edge
and prepared to activate their sleds.
"We'll check in with Howard and make sure of our
targets. Have you ever seen films of the early atomic
explosions?" he asked. "The tests at Bikini?"
"A long time ago."
' 'They kick up one hell of a wave. When we fire our
torped(ks, we'll standing off about a mile. We tum a
full hundred and eighty degrees and go to full power,
booster pwer. I'm not even sure we'll be able to get
clear."
"We meet back here? You promise?"
It was the last thing she asked trfore she put on her
mask. He at the gold-flecked hazel eyes, now close
to tears, and nodded. "We meet back here."
Carter started his sled and led the way back toward
Schmidt and the fleet. Halfway there he called his old
friend on open line. "N3 to Schmidt. You read me?"
"Loud and clear."
"Where are you?"
' 'On one of Brenner's cruisers. I'll be up in a few
minutes. I'm using one of his gunships. It's a little more sub-
stantial than my bundle of galvanized pirr."
While they talked, an F-15 came out of nowhere and
strafed Barbara's position. The strings of lethal 50mm
slugs missed her by inches.
"Howard! Brenner's damnedfool pilots are strafing us!
Get them the hell out of here! Get the whole fleet the hell
out of here! Jesus Christ! The F-15's coming back for
another pass. I'm diving. I'll call you in fifteen minutes!"
He tuned out and put the sled in a sharp dive as cannonfire
from the jet ate up the water overhead. "Are you all
right?" he asked Barbara.
"Yes. Was that one of ours?"
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175
He didn't know exactly how to explain. How did you
describe to a civilian that mistakes were commonplace in
warfare, that pople got nervous and shot up everything
that moved? "Someone goofed. It he said.
"Howard's going to fix it. "
On the deck of Brenner's flagship, Schmidt strode to the
admiral's headquarters and pulled the open so hard it
smashed against the bulkhead. If the glass window hadn't
been shatterproof, it would have been in countless pieces
all over the deck.
"What the hell is this?" Brenner demanded.
' 'I'll tell you what this is, you asshole. Your jets are
strafing my people. I told you to get them out of the air.
Now I'm telling you to get the whole damned fleet out of
my way."
lhe senior officers present had never heard anyone talk
to their CO like that. They waited for the explosion that
was bound to come. The poor bastard was going to feel
Cube Brenner's wrath.
Brenner didn't speak. Schmidt was too quick for him.
"l can take this all the way to the president. You'll be
finished. I told you to stay out of it and you had to play
your fucking m)wer games. Now get the hell out of these
"These are my waters!" Brenner shot back, but he was
talking to empty air. Schmidt was out and on his way to
his rendezvous.
In the air, Schmidt tried to reach Carter. Apparently his
friend wasn't ready to surface. "Circle this area until we
can make contact," Schmidt told the pilot. His heart was
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NICK CARTER
still racing. He was so furious with Admiral Brenner tha
he could barely think straight.
"N3 to Schmidt," Carter came through at last. C' Yo
get it fixed, old buddy?"
"Partly. ne jets are out of our hair but Brenner's
about to budge. He's going to like a prize whe
this is all over."
"Forget it. We've got work to do," Caner said. ' 'You'
sure it's the fifth island?"
' 'fie first and the fifth. I've scouted both and can't
sure where he's got the stolen missile stashed."
"All right. It's got to be both of them for us. Kee
clear, Howard. And try to get Brenner to nwve his rEople. '
"No use, Nick. He's like a mule."
"Barbara's going to take Zendal's headquarters, the fi
island," Carter said. "Keep an eye for her after th
blast."
' 'I'll be in the air as soon after as I can. nere's no wa
I can be airbome until it's all over."
"Do the txst you can."
"Are you coming back to the fleet when it's over?'
Schmidt asked.
"We'll call you. But we won't be back right away."
"Good luck, Nick."
The silence settled around them like a shroud as Schmidt'
voice faded. The enormity of what they were about to
was almost overwhelming.
"You '*Ant me to take the headquarters," she sai
finally breaking the silence.
"Yes. m:) you remember how to detach and fire
he asked.
"Yes. Are you sure we're going to get a direct hit at
mile? It seems to me it'll wander off course."
"It's a magnetic seeker missile. There's enough me
DEEP SEA DEATH
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177
in the cavems to keep it on course and nothing to divert
it."
"That's it, then. Be careful, Nick.
"You, You're sure you still—i'
"I'm sure," she interrupted. "Let's do it."
"Okay. I hate to sound like an old war movie, but we'd
better synchronize our watches. Fire at the same time. If
we're going to have two nuclear explosions, I'd rather try
to survive one. It's eight minutes past eight. We both fire
at nine exætly."
"'Will that give you enough time to get in position?"
"Plenty. See you at our island," he said, cutting out
and tuming to the southwest and his target.
When he'd gone, she felt more alone than she had at
any time in her entire life.
Strangely, she didn't think of her own safety. But she
was wasting time with gloomy thoughts. She checked
her watch. It was half past the hour already. She wasn't
in position and she wanted some time to check out Schmidt's
instructions.
Ten minutes later she was in position, or as close to it as
she could figure without insu•uments to give her exact
distances.
It took her ten minutes to dismantle the missile from the
sled and go over the inst•uctions Schmidt had given them
both. What about They hadn't talked about speed.
The missile had its own booster speed. Did Carter want
normal speed at full revs or booster speed?
"Wall calling Carter. Are you in range?"
He came back at her faintly.
' 'The missile has booster speed. What do you want?"
she asked.
"Set it at normal operation, full revs," he replied, his
voice faint through the static.
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NICK CARTER
"So that's no booster."
'Confirmed. "
"We're guessing at distances, Nick. I'm usually able to
guess distances well enough, but at water level I'm not
sure."
"Do your best. It's not going to exact. Just get the
hell out when you've fired."
"Okay. I'm ready. Five minutes to go."
"Confirmed. Over and out."
She found it difficult to hold on to the missile with one
hand and guide the sled with the other. Two minutes to go.
When she was ready to fire, she would let go of the sled
and pick it up when the missile was on its way.
Ihe island seemed to up at her, mountainous and
forbidding. She was sure she was a mile away but it
seemed so close.
Fifteen seconds to nine. She activated the primer of th
bomb, pointed the missile at the middle of the island, an
pulled the throttle all the way back.
The missile took off like a scared rabbit. She let g
immediately, but she'd traveled fifty feet by the time she'
been sure the missile was on course. She chumed bac
through the water to the sled, found it in ten fathoms
pointed it in what she thought was the opB)site direction t
the island, and yanked on the booster control.
The time was down to two minutes and slipping by fast
Caner was ceady. All he had to do was arm the missile an
let her go.
A spear flashed through the water near his head an
another glanced off the missile. He turned to find a half
dozen clones in scuba gear less than twenty feet from him
One minute to firing. He'd never turned from a fight
but this was no time for a challenge. He clung to th
DEEP SEA DEATH
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179
missile with his right am and maneuvered away from the
clones with the sled at half pwer.
When he was two hundred feet from them he turned,
aimed the missile at the island, and let it go. It passed the
clones on a direct track for the island. For a second or two
he thought the missile might zero in on the metal of their
tanks and they'd all go up together, but it headed straight
and true for the island. It was a quarter of the way there
before he tumed the sled and left the scene on full booster.








FIFTEEN
The deep bass voice boomed out of the control room:
"Get the damned thing set up! The fleet out there could
send in a landing party at any minute!" Zenda! screamed
at the few scientists who'd been with him while the others
escarrd. "If I can't make my phone call to the president
soon, we could lose. You hear, you jackasses? We could
The men in lab coats moved with all the srred of a
group of racing turtles as they prepared the missile for
firing. They hadn't had his mood-altering drugs for almost
two days and they knew now what kind of role they were
playing. It was "work to rule" all the way for them, or as
little as they could get away with.
The eyes that had once seemed wise and hypnotic now
seemed crazed and cptilian. Zendal was a madman, a
monster. If it wasn't for the half-dozen heavily armed
clones in the room, the civilians would have tren on him
like a swarm of homets.
Barbara felt as if she'd been holding on to the careening
sled for only a matter of seconds after firing her
Irfore she felt the world erupt around her. She was thirty
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