Dirk Pitt [01] Pacific Vortex by Clive Cussler

Author:Clive Cussler [Cussler, Clive]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pacific Area, Action & Adventure, Intrigue, Fiction - Espionage, Dirk (Fictitious character), Pitt, Heroes, Fiction, Suspense, Espionage, Thrillers, Underwater exploration, Abyssal zone, Shipwrecks, Thriller, Scuba divers
ISBN: 9780553276329
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2011-07-26T23:55:05+00:00

Delphi bared his teeth. “Why did you come here?” he demanded. “What exactly is your mission?”

“To rescue Adrian Hunter,” Pitt snapped back.

“You lie!” Delphi shouted.

“Suit yourself.”

Delphi’s eyes widened; suddenly he knew. He hit Pitt across the face savagely, as Pitt stumbled back against the wall, tasting the blood in his mouth.

“The submarine,” Delphi said in a quiet, toneless voice. “You found the Starbuck operable, killed my men, and escaped with Farris. Now you’ve returned with a crew to reclaim it”

“As I promised,” Pitt said. “Nothing less than the truth. You’re right, Delphi. I brought a crew of Navy submariners with me to salvage the Starbuck. While we’ve been standing here discussing the sins of your criminal acts, the sub has been raised off the bottom.” Pitt studied his watch. It was eleven minutes to 0500. “I should put her about twenty-miles south by now.

“How the fortunes of war swing from side to side,” Pitt said quietly. “But it shouldn’t come as a surprise really. You couldn’t be fool enough to think you could get away with it forever. In eleven minutes, the missile cruiser Monitor is going to fire a small nuclear warhead on the center of your precious seamount In eleven minutes we all die.”

“Nothing can crush these walls,” Delphi said calmly. “Look around you, Major. The base of this seamount is granite, a hard quartz-type granite. It’s stronger than reinforced concrete.”

Pitt shook his head. “One crack. All it takes is one crack and thousands of tons of water will come bursting through these caverns with ten times the pressure of a fire hose. Everyone will be crushed from the water’s force before they have a chance to drown.”

“You’re overly inventive,” Delphi said. “Anyway, no missile will be fired as long as you, Captain Giordino, and Miss Hunter are here.”

“Don’t bet on it. The decision came from Washington, not Admiral Hunter. You underestimate Hunter. He won’t plead for our lives against orders. Besides, he probably thinks Giordino and I are already dead. As for Adrian, no one will know until it’s all over that his daughter was accidentally killed during a naval operation to destroy the Pacific Vortex. The man has an over-abundance of guts; he won’t hesitate to sacrifice Adrian’s life to put your operation out of business.”

The calmness slowly faded from the giant’s gaunt face, leaving it frozen in uncertainty. “Words. Nothing but words. You can prove nothing,”

Pitt decided to throw out his last card. With ten minutes to go, it was now or never.

“I can give you absolute proof that what I’ve told you is gospel. Check with your radio facility. You’ll find that your transmitter on Maui is in the hands of the United States Marines. You will also discover that Admiral Hunter has been trying to reach you for the last twenty minutes to negotiate your surrender.”

Delphi suddenly started laughing, malevolently, angrily.

“You fool,” he managed to gasp between uproars. “You stupid fool. Your desperate bluff has failed. You weren’t as smart as you thought. You couldn’t have known, could you? The transmitting station on Maui is no longer mine.

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