Pacific Vortex! by Cussler Clive & Pritchard Michael

Author:Cussler, Clive & Pritchard, Michael [Cussler, Clive & Pritchard, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Mystery, Historical, Adventure, Age Range 2 Older Audience, Suspense, Adult
ISBN: 9780553276329
Amazon: 0553276328
Goodreads: 361081
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1983-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

squeezed the button trigger and shot it squarely in the cold, tranquil left eye.

The shark rolled by and thrashed wildly, the rush of water whirling Pitt in a mad

backward somersault as though he were being caught by a breaking surf. With all his

strength he recovered and broke for the surface, keeping a wary eye on the shark,

glancing skyward so he wouldn't ram his head into the keel of the Martha Ann. A

shadow fell across him; he peered up to see the helmsman twenty feet above,

motioning Pitt in his direction. Pitt didn't need an engraved invitation. He made

the distance in ten seconds. Then he turned and waited for the next attack. The

great board-headed murder machine had halted and staring menacingly out of its good

right eye, its powerful fins barely propelling the massive body through the water.

Suddenly it spun about and unpredictably swam off

at incredible speed, disappearing in the dark blue of the water.

Exhausted and shaken, Pitt gratefully let himself be pulled up onto the diving

platform where helping hands removed his diving gear. He was totally exhausted.

Then he looked up and found Boland standing, grimly staring down at him.

"Where's March?" Boland's tone was edged with ice.

"Dead," Pitt replied simply.

"These things happen," he said, and walked away.

Pitt stared at the drink in his hand. His face was devoid of expression but his

eyes were tired and red. The brilliant tropical sunset threw its final rays of the

day through a porthole and sparkled off the ice floating in the Scotch. Pitt rolled

the glass over his forehead, mingling the condensation with his perspiration. He

had finished giving Boland the whole story. And now, when he should have relaxed,

he somehow sensed that the terrible events of the past hour were only the beginning

of something even more sinister.

"You're not to blame yourself for March's murder," Boland said earnestly. 'If you

had become trapped in the escape chamber, and if he'd drowned, then it would have

been on your hands. But God only knows there was no way you could have foreseen a

pair of killers roaming the Starbuckl"

"Come off it, Paul," Pitt said wearily. "I forced that boy to enter the sub. If I

hadn't been so eager to prove a point he'd be alive now."

"Okay. A life has been lost, but the staggering importance of what you found more

than offsets a single Me. If it cost me every man in this crew to return the

Starbuck safely to the security of Pearl Harbor, I wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice

them all, and that includes you and me."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Paul," said Pitt.

Boland smiled. "I'm a nice guy because of your influence with admirals. Beyond

that, I think you're a pretty shrewd operator. I believe your insane act of

flooding the forward torpedo compartment has a Machiavellian scheme behind it. Got

an explanation?"

"Simple," Pitt said briefly. "I sabotaged the Starbuck to keep her on the bottom

for a few days."

"Go on," Boland said. There was no smile now.

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