Thirty, forty, then sixty feet and there it was looming out of the gloom, tilted to one side, quite visible even without the lamp being turned on.
He was at ninety feet and the ship lay on a smooth sandy bottom that sloped downwards. Here and there great fronds of seaweed undulated backwards and forwards in the current.
Dillon closed in on the prow and switched on his Halogen lamp, and there it was clearly visible in pite of being encmsted in barnacles, the ship’s name Irish Rose, and this was special because he’d been part of what had happened here. ·
He moved towards the stern, torn apart bi. the force of the explosion, and there was the tmcko one side of the ship. Obviously the explosion had torn it free from the deck clamps and, incredibly, it had settled upright on all six wheels.
Dillon moved to the rear, raised the door clamp, and pulled. It refused to budge. He tried again, but got the same result. No point in wasting precious time at that depth so he made for the surface. HE WENT UP THE SMALL SIDE LADDER TO THE deck, pushed up his mask, and spat out his mouthpiece.
They all stood waiting. z93
“For Christ’s sake, Scan, tell us the worst,” Barry pleaded.
“Oh, it’s there,” Dillon said, “and at ninety feet,
which is useful. Gives more bottom time.”
“And the truck?” Sollazo demanded.
“That’s there, too. It obviously became detached from the deck in the explosion, and it’s standing upright beside the ship.”
“Marvelous,” Sollazo said.
“Only one thing I don’t understand. When we grabbed the truck we used an electronic device called a Howler that screwed uP the security system so everything unlocked.”
“SOT’ Sollazo said.
“I couldn’t pen the rear door.”
“So the electronics got shook up in the explosion,” Sollazo told him, “or maybe the door jammed.
We’ve got Semtex and penil timers. Go down and blow it.”
“Yes, oh master,” Dillon said…”Just get me the necessary.”
Barry crouched beside him with a Smtex block.
“Here you go, Se.an, and a three-minute pencil timer.”
“Czechoslovakia’s contribution to ,world culture,” Dillon said.
“Can you manage?”
“Can a fish fly?”
Hannah called, “Take care, Sean.”
“Don’t I always?” He pulled down his mask, sat on the rail, and went over.
HE HAULED HIMSELF DOWN THE ANCHOR LINE again, the quickest route, made for the truck and floated there, working the plastic block of Semtex around the door clamp. Then he broke the timer pencil.
There was a gentle fizzing and he turned and made for the surface. Barry reached a hand down to help him up the ladder. Dillon sat down and the others moved to the rail. After a while, the sea boiled, turning over angrily, and a number of dead fish surfaced.
Soon it was still again.
Dillon grinned up at Sollazo. “Don’t tell me, down I go again.”
THE TRUCK HAD MOVED TO ONE SIDE BUT WAS still upright and the roar doors had been blasted apart, one hanging on the hinges, tt other lying some distahoe away where it had been thrown. Sand hovered in clouds. Dillon approached and switched on the Halogen light and experienced a Lonsideble shock, for the truck was empty.
HE HUNG AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LADDER, TOOK out his mouthpiece, and looked up as they all leaned over the rail.
“You’re not going to like this one little bit, Jack,” Dillon said. “But there’s nothing there.” “What do you mean there’s nothing there?” 3arry demanded.
“I mean, the truck’s empty.” “It can’t be empty,” Barry said. “You told me
z95
you looked in the back when you knocked it off on that road. It was there then.”
“Yes, it was,” Dillon said. “But. it isn’t now.”
Kathleen Ryan’s face was burning, her eyes dark holes. “Someone must have been here before.”
“Not possible,” Dillon said. “The door was fast and no sign of blasting.”
“Mori, help me,” Sollazo said and reached for his inflatable and tank. “You’re going down again, Dillon, and I’m going with you. I think you’re lying.”
“Suit yourself,” Dillon told him and went under again, starting down the anchor line.