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Giordino grinned ruefully. "Too bad we didn't pick up a street map."
Pitt pointed at a golf cart parked in front of a door marked "Circuit Room." "Salvation is at hand," he said, jumping into the driver's seat and twisting the ignition key. Everyone climbed in, and he punched the accelerator to the floorboard almost before their feet left the deck. Unable to use his little direction finder except for course headings, he made a lucky guess after crossing the tram tracks and found a large freight passageway that opened onto a loading ramp leading down to the dock.
The army of guards with drawn guns he was concerned about had arrived.
They were pouring out of trucks and dispersing on the dock, weapons drawn and at the ready, as they clustered around the loading ramps. Pitt estimated that there were nearly four hundred of them, not counting a thousand already on duty aboard the ship. He instantly sized up their dilemma and shouted,
"Hold on! I'm heading back toward the elevator." He slammed on the brake, spun the cart in a U-turn, and turned back into the freight passageway.
Looking behind, all Giordino could see were black coveralls swirling like ants around the dock. "I hate it when things don't go right," he said morosely.
"We'll never escape--" Pat broke off, clutching her daughter. "Not now.
Pitt looked at Giordino. "Wasn't there an old war song called 'We Did It Before, and We Can Do It Again' ?"
"World War Two was before my time," said Giordino. "But I get your drift."
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sp; They quickly reached the elevator, but Pitt didn't stop. The doors were still open, and he drove the cart inside just before they began to close. He pressed the button for the sixth level, pulled out the .45
and gestured for Giordino to do the same. As soon as the doors spread open, they came face-to-face with the three furniture movers they had thrown out of the elevator earlier. Still stunned by their eviction, the movers were shouting and gesturing at a man wearing yellow coveralls, who looked to be someone in command. At seeing Pitt and Giordino come charging out of the elevator on the cart like unleashed starving German shepherds, their guns drawn and aimed, the four men froze and threw their hands into the air.
"Into the elevator!" Pitt ordered.
The four men stood blank and uncomprehending until Giordino shouted the command in Spanish.
"Sorry," said Pitt, suddenly self-conscious. "I got carried away by the drama of the moment."
"You're forgiven," Giordino absolved him.
The routine they'd hastily improvised in the office building was repeated. Six minutes later, they were all on their way again, leaving the four men in their underwear bound with duct tape and lying on the floor of the elevator. As soon as the doors opened wide, Pitt drove the cart onto the main cargo entry deck, stopped, and ran back. He sent the elevator upward and jammed the controls, leaping out before the doors closed. Then he followed the direction signs and drove toward the tram. Three of them now wore the red coveralls of interior ship workers, while the fourth-- himself-- was dressed in the yellow uniform of a supervisor.
Security guards were already stationed at an intersection just short of the tram station. One of them stepped forward and held up his hand. Pitt brought the cart to an unhurried stop and looked at the guard questioningly.
Not knowing that Pat and her daughter had been whisked from their quarters, the guard was not unduly disturbed at seeing two women in the uniforms of cargo loaders, since many of them had been recruited to operate forklifts and tow vehicles. Pat squeezed her daughter's arm as a warning not to speak or move. She also turned Megan's face away from the guard, so he wouldn't notice her tender age.
Pitt figured the yellow coveralls he had appropriated represented authority, and the respectful look in the guard's eyes confirmed it.
"What's going on here?" Giordino demanded, his Spanish improving with practice.
"Two intruders in security guard uniforms have infiltrated the shipyard and are believed to have boarded the Ulrich Wolf."
"Intruders? Why didn't you stop them before they entered the shipyard?"
"I can't say," the guard replied. "All I know is that they killed four of our security force guards in an attempt to escape."
"Four dead," Giordino said sadly. "A great pity. I hope you catch the murdering swine. Right, group?"
He turned to the others and nodded spiritedly.
"Si, Si," Pitt said, agreeing with a vigorous display of disgust.
"We have to check everyone going on or coming off each ship," the guard persisted. "I must see your identification cards."
"Do we look like trespassers in security guard uniforms?" Giordino demanded indignantly.
The guard shook his head and smiled. "No."
