hey should
catch up with us, we will bluster and bluff our way on the basis that we
were only diving to see if they were trying to search our wreck."

Scotty laughed. "Turn their own table on them. That's very good,
Professor."

"I'm glad I'm not a physicist," Tony said piously. "We archaeologists
aren't half so devious."

"I am acting in my capacity as a former consultant to JANIG, and not as
a physicist," Zircon retorted with dignity. "You will refrain from
casting aspersions on my profession, Doctor Briotti."

"My apologies," Tony said, grinning. "In other words, the man is
devious, but the scientist is not."

"Exactly. Well, shall we go?"

Rick was glad to get into the water. The camera in its underwater case
was heavy in air, but weighed only a few ounces in water. He swam with
face mask under, breathing through his snorkel and letting the camera
hang.

They crossed the reef without difficulty, then turned to swim along it.
The trough just seaward of the breaking point of the waves was the most
comfortable swimming position and they went in single file, Zircon
leading.

Every now and then Rick looked up. They were getting near the boat, he
thought. Perilously near. The boat was anchored just inside the reef,
and he could see activity on its deck. Apparently the frogmen had
returned from their first dive and were changing tanks.

Zircon stopped swimming and lay motionless in the water. Rick drew
abreast of the big scientist, and Tony and Scotty stopped behind them.
As they watched, suited figures with belt lights and back tanks climbed
down a ladder into the water. A third man, on deck, lowered something to
them. It was hard to see, but Rick thought it had a golden glisten and
that it was round, about the size of a basketball. The frogmen took it
and went under.

[Illustration: _A third man lowered something that glistened like gold_]

Zircon's big hand took Rick by the shoulder, then he turned and motioned
to the others that they were going under. Rick shifted from snorkel to
aqualung mouthpiece. He took the end of rope that Zircon held out and
snapped it to his weight belt. He and Zircon were now connected by a
ten-foot length of rope, necessary to keep them from becoming separated
in the darkness.

He submerged and dove straight down into the blackness. His thumb
compressed the button on the side of the case and the camera started,
the infrared light turning on. A narrow cone of water extending ou