"Do we need to worry?" Canidy said. "Is she dependable, Frank?"

"Yes, as good as me."

Jury's still out on that one, Frank.

But so far, so good.

He looked at Fuller.

"Messages go out okay, Tubes?"

He nodded.

"But I think you need to see this," Fuller said.

He held out a handwritten decrypted message.

Canidy read it quickly.

"Great," he said. "I guess."

"What?" Nola asked. "Is good news?"

"Fine says that Rossi's notes state that the Tabun shells are clearly marked. The cases are stenciled with 'T83'-just as we saw-and the shells themselves are marked 'GA,' with a ring of green around the tip."

"But most of those crates did not have the T83," Fuller said.

Canidy nodded. "Yeah, there were a bunch of regular howitzer rounds in there. So how the hell are we supposed to get a look in the crates with the T83 designation and confirm the GA and the green ring?"

Then he smiled.

We don't have to confirm it.

"What is it?" Fuller said.

"Need to shoot a message to Le Casa, Le Casa," Canidy said.

He looked at his watch and began thinking out loud: "Not going to make 2115. And, even if I ran, I'd probably miss 2315-"

Fuller figured out what he was doing. "You're leaving?"

Canidy nodded. "But 0115 would work. Time to get to Mondello, then paddle out. And if I miss that, 0315 is my backup. Meanwhile, there should be plenty of excitement out at what's left of the villa. Enough for diversion."

He saw that Fuller and Nola were regarding his ramblings oddly.

"Sorry about that," Canidy said, then asked Nola: "How are they coming with the loading of that ship?"

"One of the booms broke," Nola said. "Is taking longer than they wanted."

"How long?"

"Should be done by dark."

"It is is dark, Frank," Canidy said. dark, Frank," Canidy said.

Nola nodded. "Should be done."

Canidy shook his head.

I'm not going to miss these intellectual exchanges one bit.

He then took a sheet of flash paper and wrote:

TOP SECRET.

OPERATIONAL IMMEDIATE.

05APR43 2115.

FOR NEPTUNE.

FROM MERCURY STATION.

BEGIN QUOTE.

JUPITER HEADED HOME ALONE 06APR 1ST SURFACE.

END QUOTE.

TOP SECRET.

He handed the paper to Fuller and said, "Get on the air to Mars-"

"You mean Neptune?"

"L'Herminier is Mars, god of war."

"Got it," Fuller said softly.

He was quiet a moment, then added: "Why?"

"Why Mars?"

Fuller shook his head.

"Why am I leaving?" Canidy said.

Fuller nodded.

"We did it, Tubes. We found what we were supposed to. It's all I need for now and you're going to radio me the rest. You and the follow-up teams. You're still up to it, right?"

Fuller pursed his lips. He tried to keep a straight face, but his expression showed he had his reservations.

Canidy put a hand on each of his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"Look, Tubes, it's never easy," he said. "You're always looking over your shoulder, always on edge. But then when you get out, you discover you miss that rush. You find nothing compares to being in. Ever. Ever."

Fuller stared back and said, "Really?"

Canidy then suddenly grinned from ear to ear.

"Why the hell do you think I keep coming back in?" he said. "This time tomorrow, I'll be itching to get back in."

Canidy then checked his watch again.

"It's 2050. Go get this on the air. And sometime soon-not tonight-get that backup suitcase radio set and find a secure place for it that only you know."

Fuller nodded, and Canidy detected that he was feeling a little more confident.

"You can count on me, Dick."

"I know I can, Tubes," Canidy said solemnly. "You're going to be all right." He paused, then added with a grin: "As long as you let the big head do all the thinking."

Canidy, floating and waiting in the kayak a little after midnight, heard the diesel engine of the cargo ship before he saw its vague outline on the horizon.

With my luck, the damn thing will plow over me right before the submarine gets here.

The boat slowly rumbled past.

It's going around to the south of the island.

That's the long way to Messina.

Or are they going to stage the nerve gas at a southern port?

And that boat is in no hurry.

What does that mean?

Twenty minutes later, Canidy was startled by the sudden rocking of the kayak.

He grabbed the gunnels and quickly lay down in the wet bottom, trying to keep his center of gravity low.

Damn ship wake.

Now's not the time to sink, Dick ol' boy.

The rocking subsided after what seemed an eternity.

Over the next half hour, Canidy worked at getting his breathing back to normal. He'd just about accomplished that when there was an enormous whoosh whoosh of large volumes of water being displaced. of large volumes of water being displaced.

Canidy about came out of his skin.

Then he looked and sighed when he saw the silhouette of the submarine conn tower.

"But what if this gas burns?" Commander Jean L'Herminier, chief officer of the Free French Forces submarine Casabianca, Casabianca, asked Dick Canidy. asked Dick Canidy.

They were in the captain's office and drinking coffee.

"How much water are we in?" Canidy said.

"Maybe a thousand meters."

"Then it really doesn't matter if it burns," Canidy said. "We're far enough out, and at a point where no one is around. If there's a cloud, it will dissipate. No concentration, no harm. And what doesn't burn goes to the bottom."

L'Herminier nodded.

"Most important," Canidy said, "the Germans don't get the gas."

The speaker of the inner-ship radio built into the wall of the office crackled alive.

"Commander, we've got her," the nasally voice of the executive officer said.

When Canidy and L'Herminier came into the control room, the executive officer was at the periscope. The XO heard them enter and stepped back.

"She's at eleven o'clock, Captain," he said, gesturing toward the scope.

"Thank you," L'Herminier said.

He put his face to the periscope.

After a moment, L'Herminier said, "Ninety-, ninety-five footer. A nice-sized target."