Vixen 03

"Wake me when a good horror movie comes or[.," Giordino said, yawning, across the water.

"Keep rowing," Steiger grunted. "I'm begi

Pitt did not join in the idle banter. His concentration was focused on the screen. A frigid afternoon breeze rolled down the mountain slopes and turned the glassy surface of the lake into a mild chop, making it difficult for Giordino's and Steiger's aching arms to keep the two boats on an even course.

Since early morning the only objects that had strayed past the monitor were scattered mounds of rocks embedded in the muddy bottom, rotting remains of long-dead trees whose leafless branches seemed to clutch at the passing camera and a few startled rainbow trout who gave the intruding camera a respectable berth.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to conduct a search with scuba equipment?" Steiger said, cutting into Pitt's fixed scrutiny.

Pitt rubbed his strained eyes with the palms of his hands. "TV is far more efficient. Also, the lake is two hundred feet deep in spots. A diver's bottom time at that depth is measured in mere minutes. Add to that the fact that fifty feet beneath the surface the water turns almost to freezing and you have one damned uncomfortable situation. A man would be lucky if his body could withstand the cold more than ten minutes."

"And if we find something?"

"Then I'll put on a wet suit and go over the side for a look-see, but not one second before."

Something materialized on the monitor and Pitt leaned forward for a closer look, shielding the outside light with a black cloth.

"I think we just picked up Giordino's horror movie," he said.

"What is it?" Steiger demanded excitedly. "Looks like an old log cabin."

"A log cabin?"

"See for yourself."

Steiger bent around Pitt's shoulder and gazed at the screen. The camera, one hundred forty feet below the boats, relayed through the icy water a picture of what seemed to be a distorted structure. The sun's wavering light through the choppy surface and the hazy visibility at that depth combined to give it a ghostlike image.

"How in the world did that get there?" asked a bewildered Steiger.

"No great secret," said Pitt. "Table Lake is man made. The state dammed up the stream that flows through this valley in 1945. An abandoned lumber mill that stood near the old streambed was submerged when the water rose. The cabin we see must have been one of the old bunkhouses."

Giordino rowed back for a look. "All that's missing is a 'for sale' sign."

"Amazingly well preserved," murmured Steiger.

"Thanks to the near-freezing fresh water," Pitt added. Then, "So much for the local tourist attraction. Shall we continue?"

"How much longer?" Giordino asked him. "I could use some liquid nourishment, preferably the kind that comes out of a bottle. "

"It'll be dark in a couple of hours," said Steiger. "I make a motion we call it a day."

"You win my vote," Giordino looked across at Pitt. "How about it, Captain Bligh? Shall I reel in the camera?"

"No, keep it dangling. We'll troll it back to the dock."

Giordino awkwardly turned his boat a hundred eighty degrees and began pulling for home.

"I think your theory has about shot its wad," said Steiger. "We've been over the center of the lake twice and all we have to show for it is a bundle of sore muscles and a picture of a tumbledown shack. Face the inevitable, Pitt: there's nothing of interest in this lake but fish." Steiger paused and nodded at the television equipment. "And speaking of the denizens of the deep — what a fisherman wouldn't give to own a rig like this."

Pitt looked up at Steiger thoughtfully. "AI, make for the old man on your left who's casting on the shore."

Giordino twisted around and noted the direction Pitt indicated. He nodded silently and altered his course. Steiger followed suit.

A few more minutes' rowing brought the boats within hailing distance of an elderly angler who was expertly laying a fly beside a massive boulder that protruded from the lake's surface. He looked up and tipped his fly-festooned hat at Pitt's greeting.

"Having any luck?"

"That's not very original," Steiger mumbled.

"Business is a mite slow today," answered the angler.

"Do you fish Table Lake often?"

"Off and on for twenty-two years."

"Can you tell me what part of the lake eats the most bait?"

"Come again?"

"Is there a section of Table Lake where fishermen frequently lose their lures?"

"Over toward the dam there's a submerged log that does a pretty good job of it."

"What depth?"

"Eight, maybe twelve feet."

"I'm looking far a spot that's deeper, much deeper," said Pitt.

The old angler thought a moment. "Up toward the big marsh at the north end of the lake there's this big hole. Lost two of my best spi

"Much obliged for your help," Pitt said, and waved. "Good luck!"

"Same to you," said the old angler. He went back to his casting and within a few moments his pole arched with a strong bite.

"You heard, AI?"

Giordino looked longingly at the dock and then at the lake's north end, a quarter of a mile away. Resigning himself to the chore, he raised the camera to keep it from creeping into the lake bed and then adjusted his gloves and took up the oars again. Steiger gave Pitt a four-letter stare but raised the white flag.

A half hour of fighting a gusting cross chop passed with agonizing slowness. Steiger and Giordino went about their labor in silence; Giordino on blind faith in Pitt's judgment, Steiger because he was damned if he'd let Giordino outendure him. Pitt stayed glued to the monitor, every so often calling out depth adjustments to Giordino.

The bottom of Table Lake began to rise the closer to the marsh they rowed. Then, abruptly, the salt and weed began dropping away, and the water darkened. They halted to lower the camera and then resumed the stroke.

They had moved only a few yards when a curved object edged onto the screen. The form was not sharply defined; nor did it have a natural contour.

"Stop rowing!" Pitt ordered tersely.

Steiger slumped on his seat, grateful for the break, but Giordino looked piercingly across the narrow distance separating the two boats. He'd heard that tone of voice from Pitt before.

Down in the cold depths the camera slowly drifted closer to the object materializing on the monitor. Pitt sat as though turned to oak as a large white star on a dark-blue background crept into his view. He waited for the camera to continue its probe, the inside of his mouth as dry as Kansas dust.

Giordino had rowed over and was holding the two boats together. Steiger became aware of the tension, raised his head, and looked inquiringly at Pitt.

"You got something?"

"An aircraft with military markings." Pitt said. controlling the excitement he felt.

Steiger crawled astern and peered unbelievingly into the monitor. The camera had floated over the wing and was now falling back along the fuselage. A square port came into view as above it the words MILITARY AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE marched by.

"Sweet Jesus!" Giordino gasped. "A MATS transport."