Dirk Pitt 1 - Pacific Vortex Read Free Page B

teeth. Hunter's voice oozed with sarcasm. “Now if you will be so kind as to tell us who you are and what this interruption is all about, we will all be eternally grateful.”
    “You're pretty rude for someone anxious to know why I'm carrying this canister,” Pitt answered, settling his long body comfortably in a vacant chair, waiting for a reaction.
    Cinana glared across the table, his face twisted in a clouded mask of malevolence. “You scum! How dare you come in here and insult an officer!”
    “The man's insane,” snapped Boland. He leaned toward Pitt, his expression cold and taut. He added, “You stupid bastard; do you know who you're talking to?”
    “Since we've all been introduced,” Pitt said casually, “the answer is a qualified yes”
    Cinana's sweaty fist slammed to the table. “The Shore Patrol, by God. I'll have Yager call the Shore Patrol and throw him in the brig.”
    Hunter struck a light to a long cigarette, flipped the match at an ashtray, missing it by six inches, and stared at Pitt thoughtfully. “You leave me no choice, big boy.” He turned to Boland. “Commander, ask Seaman Yager to call the Shore Patrol.”
    “I wouldn't, Admiral” Denver rose from his chair, recognition flooding his face. “This man some of you have referred to as filth and a bastard and wish to cast into chains, is indeed Dirk Pitt, who happens to be the Special Projects Director of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, and whose father happens to be Senator George Pitt of California, Chairman of the Naval Appropriations Committee.”
    Cinana uttered something short and unprintable.
    Boland was the first to recover. “Are you certain?”
    “Yes, Paul, quite certain.” He moved around the table and faced Pitt. “I saw him several years ago, with his father, at a NUMA conference. He's also a friend of my cousin, who's also in NUMA. Commander Rudi Gunn.”
    Pitt grinned happily. “Of course. Rudi and I have worked on several projects together. I can see the resemblance now. The only noticeable difference is that Rudi peers through horned-rimmed glasses.”
    “Used to call him Beaver Eyes,” Denver laughed, “when we were kids.”
    “Ill throw that at him next time I see him,” Pitt said, smiling.
    “I hope you... you won't take offense to... to what we said,” stuttered Boland.
    Pitt tossed Boland his best cynical stare and simply said: “No.”
    Hunter and Cinana exchanged looks that Pitt had no difficulty in deciphering. If they tried to ignore their uneasiness at having the son of a United States senator sitting in their midst, they failed badly at concealing it, “Okay, Mr. Pitt, it's your quarter. We assume you're here because of the canister. Would you explain how you got it?”
    “ I'm only an errand boy,” Pitt said quietly. “I discovered this while sunbathing on the beach this afternoon. It belongs to you.”
    “Well well,” Hunter said heavily. Tm honored. Why me?"
    Pitt looked at the three men speculatively, and set the cylinder, still covered with the bamboo beach mat, on the table. “Inside, youTl find some papers. One has your name on it.”
    There wasn't a flicker of curiosity in Hunter's expression.
    “Where did you find this thing?”
    “Near the tip of Kaena Point.”
    Denver hunched forward. “Washed up on the beach?”
    Pitt shook his head. “No, I swam out beyond the breakers and towed it in.”
    Denver looked puzzled. “You swam beyond the breakers at Kaena Point? I didn't think it possible.”
    Hunter gave Pitt a very thoughtful look indeed, but he passed it off. “May we see what you have there?”
    Pitt nodded silently and unwrapped the cylinder, paying scant notice to the damp sand that spilled on the conference table. Then he passed it to Hunter.
    “This yellow plastic cover was what caught my eye.”
    Hunter took the cylinder in his hands and held it up for the other men to examine. “Recognize it, gentlemen?”
    The others nodded.
    “You've never served on