Clive Cussler Read Free Page B

helmet with goggles over his head. It was the same helmet and goggles he had worn on the flight of the Vin Fiz.
    He seemed happy as a lizard on a hot rock with his tongue hanging out one side of his mouth and his ears waggling in the breeze that blew over the small windshield in front of the cockpit.
    "How do you like it?" Casey yelled to Lacey.
    "Oh, this is great fun," she answered as they passed a sloop under sail as if it was standing still.
    They swept past famous Cannery Row in the town of Monterey as Casey steered clear of fishing boats going out to sea to catch mackerel, halibut and cod. Some of the fishing fleet were going after crabs that crawled into wooden traps sitting on the seabed and were attached to a line that stretched upward to a buoy so they could be pulled into the boats.
    The fishermen stared in astonishment at the Hotsy Totsy as it whisked by them, leaving them rocking to and fro in its wake. They couldn't believe that such a speedy craft was being driven by two children and a funny-looking dog wearing a leather helmet with goggles. Lacey and her brother waved, but the fishermen were too surprised to wave back.
    Fortunately for the twins, the summer weather was warm and enjoyable. There was a light mist on the water, common in the morning along the California coast. Casey kept a sharp eye on the rugged coastline so he wouldn't run Hotsy Totsy onto the rocks that stretched from the shore. Although he and Lacey were good swimmers, tearing the bottom out of such a beautiful boat and watching her sink below the waves wasn't a calamity he wanted to experience.
    "Cut northwest across the bay toward the Santa Cruz lighthouse," directed Lacey. "That should save us a good ten minutes."
    "Watch for landmarks," said Casey over the noise of the big Wright engine, "and let me know how we're doing timewise."
    Lacey stared through the mist at the cypress and pine trees filling the cliffs above the sea. Houses that perched in rows above the bluffs came into view, their windows and porches overlooking the ocean. A roadway was dotted with cars whose drivers were taking families out for an early Saturday morning trip. The big lighthouse rose across the bay. "We're coming to Santa Cruz," she called back.
    "We're going nearly sixty miles an hour," he said, his eyes darting to a speedometer on the instrument panel.
    Lacey estimated their arrival. "With ninety miles to go, we should reach San Francisco Bay in another hour and a half."
    Casey merely nodded as the Santa Cruz lighthouse came and went. Lacey looked up at a flight of seagulls that whirled overhead and tried to follow the boat, their wings flapping wildly to keep up. They were joined by ten pelicans who glided above them until they too were outdistanced by the speeding boat.
    Dolphins jumped and cavorted as the boat shot past, but they were no match at that speed and quickly fell behind in the churning wake.
    "I figure we have less than forty minutes to go," said Lacey, following the coastline on her charts.
    Before they knew it, Half Moon Bay was in sight. In less than ten minutes it dropped far behind the stern. Then came the entrance leading to San Francisco Bay. From the surface of the water it looked like a canyon between two high hills. Casey swung Hotsy Totsy into the wide channel marked by buoys. The Golden Gate Bridge loomed overhead. As they passed under, they stared up at the immense structure, which was thick with cars traveling from shore to shore. The reddish orange paint shimmered in the light of an early morning sun and reflected off the great towers that supported the cables that held up the highway beneath.
    Casey and Lacey had never seen the bridge before and were thrilled by the sight. They turned their attention to a mammoth aircraft carrier that was approaching with a sea of jet aircraft parked on its sprawling deck. Gazing up as they moved under and along the flight deck, they thought the huge ship looked like a giant gray mountain silently