you will need a car, which I will arrange. He is at the fort,
Nuestra Senora Del Pilar. We call it simply Fort Pilar. Now I will show
you to your rooms."

Zircon had a room to himself, while Rick and Scotty shared one. The
rooms were small, and like all tropic hotel rooms, sparsely furnished
but adequate. The three changed clothes quickly and got into their
comfortable khaki trousers and shirts. When they returned to the lobby,
the manager had a car waiting, with one of the hotel's employees to
drive it.

Fort Pilar was a tremendous mass of hand-cut stone many feet thick,
pierced for muskets and cannon. It was obviously Spanish in design, and
very old. The walls were covered with creepers, and palms had sprung up
on what had once been a parade ground. Visible beyond the fort were the
clear waters of Basilan Strait.

A sentry took them to Captain Diosdado Lim, who greeted them courteously
and scanned the letter they had brought from Colonel Rojas.

"We are at your service," the captain said formally. "This letter makes
you more than guests. You are also friends. I welcome you."

"Thank you, Captain," Zircon replied with equal formality. "You knew of
our coming from Major Lacson?"

"Yes. We are prepared. We will send your car back and you will ride into
town with me. I will introduce you to the man from whom the boat was
hired."

"Any news of the boat?" Rick asked hopefully.

"Not yet. The seas are big and our outposts are few. But we will hope
for good fortune."

The captain had a stilted way of speaking, Rick noted. His English was
good, but he obviously didn't speak it often. The officer was young and
dark, and looked more Chinese than Filipino. He was probably a mestizo,
a person of mixed blood.

Zircon launched into questions as soon as they got underway in the
captain's sedan. It was soon clear that the officer had little to add to
what they already knew. He did say, however, that Azid Hajullah, the
Moro guide, had not been a local young man, and that the detachment on
Tawi Tawi did not know him. No one, apparently, knew where the guide had
come from. It sounded suspicious to Rick. He might have been a plant, to
betray the scientists to the unknown kidnapers.

Captain Lim took them to the boatyard operated by Jose Santos, a fat
little Filipino who had once served in the United States Navy. Santos
was friendly, and very sad about the scientists. Rick felt he honestly
was more disturbed about the two men