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The lights of Gao bloomed in the darkness, less than 5 kilometers ahead. Pitt took the wheel from Giordino and motioned at Gunn. "Get set to hit the water, Rudi."
Gunn peered hesitantly at the white water swirling past at nearly 75 knots. "Not at this speed, I won't."
"Not to worry," Pitt eased his mind. "I'll make a sudden cut down to 10 knots. You slip over the side opposite the aircraft. Soon as you're away, I'll crank her up again." Then to Giordino, "Sweet talk Kazim. Keep him occupied."
Giordino lifted the radio and spoke in a muffled tone. "Could you repeat your terms, General?"
"Stop your senseless attempt at escape, turn over your vessel at Gao, and you live. Those are the terms."
As Kazim talked, Pitt edged the Calliope closer to the shore of the river that held the town. The tension in the cockpit and his anxiety increased, a tension that spread to his three friends. He reasoned that Gunn had to go in before the lights of Gao revealed him in the black water by their reflection. And he had cause to be anxious. The game was to keep the Maligns from becoming suspicious by his deceptive maneuver. The depth-sounder showed the bottom was coming up fast. He yanked the throttles back, lurching the Calliope's bow deep into the water. The speed fell off so quickly that he was thrown forward against the cockpit counter.
"Now!" Pitt yelled at Gunn. "Go for it and good luck."
Without a word of farewell, the little scientist from NUMA tightly clutched the straps to his backpack and rolled over the railing out of sight. Almost instantly, Pitt shoved the throttles to their stops again.
Giordino stared out over the stern, but Gunn was completely lost in the black river. Satisfied his friend was safely swimming across the 50 meters of water separating the bank from the boat, he turned back and calmly continued his conversation with General Kazim.
"If you promise us safe passage out of your country, the boat is yours, or what's left of it after your gunboat mangled it."
Kazim indicated no suspicion of the brief pause in the Calliope's velocity through the water. "I accept," he purred, fooling nobody.
"We have no wish to die in a hail of gunfire in a polluted river."
"A wise choice," replied Kazim. The words came formal and civil, but the hostility, the triumph were apparent in his tone. "Indeed there are no options for you to do anything else."
Pitt had a sinking feeling he had overplayed his hand. There was little doubt in his mind, or in Giordino's mind too, that Kazim meant to kill them and throw their bodies to the vultures. They had one shot at diverting the Maligns from Gunn, one shot at staying alive, but the odds were slim, so low in fact that no self-respecting gambler would waste a cheap bet on them.
His plan, if it could subtly be called that, would buy them a few hours time, nothing more. He began to curse his folly for thinking they might get away with it.
But a moment later, salvation, unexpected
and unimagined, appeared through the night.
Giordino tapped Pitt's shoulder and pointed down the river. "That blaze of lights off the starboard bow, that's the jazzy houseboat I told you about. The one we passed earlier. It's decked out like a billionaire's yacht, complete with helicopter and a bevy of friendly women."
"Think it might carry a satellite communications system we could borrow to contact Washington?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if it had telex."
Pitt turned and smiled down at Giordino. "Since we have no pressing engagements, why not drop in?"
Giordino laughed and clapped him on the back. "I'll set the detonator."
"Thirty seconds should do it."
"Done."
Giordino handed the radio back to Pitt and dropped down the ladder to the engine room. He reappeared almost immediately while Pitt was in the act of programming the course into a computer and engaging the automatic pilot. Luckily the river was wide and straight, allowing the Calliope to cruise on her own for a considerable distance after they abandoned her.
He nodded at Giordino. "Ready?"
"Say the word."
"Speaking of words." Pitt raised the portable radio to his mouth. "General Kazim."
"Yes?"
