"Insult us all you want," Barker said. "Your feeble repartee is the ranting of the doomed. My men are a brotherhood, like the warrior monks of the past."

Austin's mind was racing madly. Barker was right. He and Joe could summon up every insult possible, but they were still two un- armed men against several well-armed guards. He would have to try to change the equation. It took some willpower to do so, but he yawned and said, "What about that tour you promised?"

"How rude of me to forget."

Barker led the way onto a raised catwalk running down the mid- dle of the chamber. The sound of bubbling water came from both sides, but the source of the noise was hidden by darkness. Barker re- placed the sunglasses on his head and gave an order to one of his men. A second later, the chamber was flooded in a blue light that came from fish tanks on both sides and a couple of feet below the catwalk. The tanks were flush to the floor and were covered with sliding transparent plastic lids that allowed a view of the huge fish swim- ming inside.

"You look puzzled, Mr. Austin."

"Another miscalculation on my part. I thought your fish were being held at your coastal operation where they would have access to salt water."

"These are no ordinary fish," Barker said with pride in his voice. "They are designed to survive in salt or fresh water. The seed fish are improvements on the models I developed with Dr. Throckmorton. They are slightly larger and more aggressive than ordinary fish. Per- fect breeding machines. The airship will fly within feet of the ocean's surface, and they will slide down special chutes built into the belly of the zeppelin." He spread his arms the way he had done at his pep rally. "Behold my creations. Soon, these beautiful creatures will be swimming in the sea."

"Where your monsters will create incredible havoc," Austin said.

"Monsters? I think not. I've simply used my genetic-engineering skills to produce a better commercial product. There's nothing ille- gal about it."

"Murder is illegal." "Spare us your pitiful indignation. There were many casualties before you came onto the scene. There will be many more obstacles to be removed." He crossed to the tanks on the other side of the fish hold. "These are my special pets. I wanted to see how large and hun- gry I could make an ordinary fish. They are too aggressive for breed- ing purposes. They are separated by sluice gates now so they don't at- tack each other."

At a word from Barker, a guard went over to a cooler and ex- tracted a frozen cod around two feet long. He slid back the plastic lid covering one of the tanks and tossed the carcass into the water. Within seconds, the cod disappeared in a bloody froth.

"I've made dinner reservations for you," Barker said.

"No thanks, we've already eaten," Austin said.

Barker studied the faces of the two men, but saw no sign of fear, only defiance. He frowned and said, "I'll give you and your partner time to think about your fate, to imagine what it feels like to be torn apart by razor-sharp teeth and scattered over the ocean. Our men will come for you shortly after we stop at our facility on the coast to re- fuel. Adieu, gentlemen."

Barker's men grabbed Austin and Zavala and hustled them down a corridor leading to a storage room. They were shoved inside, and the door was locked behind them.

Austin tried the lock, then found a seat on a pile of cardboard boxes.

"You don't seem very worried about being fed to the fishes," Zavala said.

"I have no intention of providing entertainment for that white- eyed freak and his cretinous henchmen. By the way, I liked your comment about Kiolyan women."

"It went against my grain. As you know, I love women of any kind. They have a lot to put up with, with their menfolk running around killing and sacrificing people. So, Mr. Houdini, how do we escape this little mess?"

"I guess we bust our way out of here."

"Uh-huh. And assuming we can get beyond that door, what chance do the two of us have against a battalion of armed men?"

"There are three of us, actually."

Zavala looked around. "An invisible friend, no doubt." Austin peeled out of his coat and drew the sword from its scab- bard. Even in the faint light inside the storage room, the blade seemed to glow. "This is my friend-Durendal7'

38

THE CATAMARAN CAME in like a marine landing craft, and the twin hulls slid partway onto the shore with a shriek of fiber' glass against gravel. The boat had no sooner come to a grinding halt than the people on board started to pile off. Ben Nighthawk was the first to hit the ground, followed by the Basques and the SOS crew. They helped the villagers climb down, and the group headed inland. Only Ben and Diego stayed behind.

Jesse Nighthawk turned and saw his son lingering on the beach. He shooed the other villagers into the woods and walked back to where Ben was standing.

"Why aren't you coming?" the old man said.

"Go on without me," Ben replied. "I've been talking to Diego. We have work to do."

"What do you mean? What sort of work?"

Ben looked across the lake. "Revenge." "You can't go back!" Jesse said. "It's too dangerous." Diego, who had been listening to the exchange, said, "The heli- copter pilots who were shot down were our friends. Their death can- not go unanswered."

"Those people killed my cousin," Ben said. "They beat and tor- tured my friends and family. They've raped our beautiful forest."

Jesse couldn't see his son's face in the shadows, but there was no mistaking the determination in Ben's voice. "Very well," he said sadly.

"I will see the others to safety."

Marcus Ryan emerged from the woods, trailed by Chuck Mercer and Therri Weld. "What's going on?" he said, sensing the somber at- mosphere.

"Ben and this man are going back," Jesse said. "I tried to stop them. They want to get themselves killed."

Ben put his hand on his father's shoulder. "That's the last thing I want to do, Pop. I can't speak for Diego, but at the very least, I want to wipe that big fake igloo off the face of the earth."

"That's a tall order for two men," Ryan said. "You'll need help." "Thanks, Mark, I know you mean well, but the others need you more than we do."

"You're not the only one who has a score to settle," Ryan said. His voice gained a steely edge. "Barker killed Joshua, and he sank my ship. Now he's trying to kill the oceans. I owe him big-time. That thing on the other side of the lake is no grass hut. You're not going to blow it down with a huff and a puff."

"We know that. We'll figure it out."

"You don't have time for trial and error. I know how we can send that dome into the stratosphere." Ryan turned to Mercer. "You re- member what we talked about?"

"Yeah, I remember. We said we could give Barker a big hotfoot if we got the chance."

"Well, Ben, how about it?" Ryan said. "Are we in?"

"It's not my decision alone." He turned to Diego.

The Basque said, "There are many of them and only a few of us.

Pablo is out of action. We would have to be very lucky merely to stay alive."

Ben hesitated. "Okay, Mark. You're in."

Ryan's mouth widened in a triumphant grin. "We'll need some ex- plosives. Our C-4 was taken away when we were captured."