Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler Page B

worst of the storm should have passed.”
    â€œI wish it was more.”
    There was a pause from Pisces. Then, “Do we have an option?”
    â€œNo,” Barnum sighed heavily. “I guess not.” He looked up at the big digital clock above the pilothouse’s automated ship’s console. His greatest fear was that if Sea Sprite was driven far off its position by the storm, he might not get back in time to save Dirk and Summer. He feared he was faced with a no-win situation. If he lost Dirk Pitt’s children to the sea, there was no telling the wrath that would explode from NUMA’s special projects director. “Take every precaution to extend your air supply.”
    â€œNot to worry, Captain. Summer and I will be snug as bugs in a rug in our little shack down in coral gulch.”
    Barnum felt uneasy. The odds were also long that Pisces could survive intact if the reef was pounded by hundred-foot waves generated by a Category 5 hurricane. He stared through the bridge windows to the east. Already the sky was filling with threatening clouds and the seas had risen to five feet.
    With much regret and a deepening sense of foreboding, he gave orders for Sea Sprite to pull up the anchor and lay a course away from the predicted path of the storm.
    Â 
    W HEN S UMMER REENTERED the main lock, Dirk gave her a rundown on the nasty weather coming their way over the horizon. He ran through instructions for conserving food and air. “We should also batten down any loose objects in case high seas knock us around down here.”
    â€œHow soon before the worst of the storm reaches us?” asked Summer.
    â€œAccording to the captain, sometime before morning.”
    â€œThen you have time for a final dive with me before we’re cooped up in here until the weather clears.”
    Dirk looked at his sister. A lesser man, captivated by her beauty, would have fallen under her spell, but as her twin brother he was immune to her Machiavellian wiles. “What’s on your mind?” he asked casually.
    â€œI want to take a closer look inside the cavern where I found the urn.”
    â€œCan you find it again in the dark?”
    â€œLike a fox to its lair,” she said, cocksure. “Besides, you always enjoy seeing different species of fish on a night dive that you can’t see during the day.”
    Dirk was hooked. “Then let’s make it quick. We have a lot of work to do before the storm hits.”
    Summer put her arm through his. “You won’t regret it!”
    â€œWhy do you say that?”
    She stared up at her brother from those soft gray eyes. “Because the more I think about it, I believe there is a greater mystery than the urn waiting to be found inside the cave.”

6
    W ITH S UMMER IN the lead, they dropped out of the entry lock, checked each other’s equipment and then moved into the sea that was as black as deep space. Together, they switched on their dive lights and startled the nearby night fish who had emerged after dark to feed in their coral domain. Above, there was no moon to sweep the surface with shimmering silver. The stars were cloaked by ominous clouds, the precursors of the vicious storm soon to come.
    Dirk stroked his fins behind his sister, following her into the dark void. He knew she enjoyed the underwater world by her graceful, languid movements. Her bubbles rose in clusters of balloons indicating the comfortable breathing of an expert diver. She looked back at him through her mask and smiled. Then she pointed to her right and kicked off over the coral illuminated by her dive light in a maze of muted colors.
    There was nothing sinister about the silent sea beneath the surface at night. Curious fish were attracted by the dive lights and came out of their coral hiding places to study the unfamiliar and awkward swimming creatures intruding in their midst who were carrying sealed housings that beamed like the sun. A huge parrot fish