# Deep Sea Death333

Лев Переводчик Шкловский

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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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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.

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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

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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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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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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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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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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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"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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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.

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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.

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"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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"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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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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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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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!"

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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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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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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.

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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."

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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

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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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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

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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."

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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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"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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