The Mediterranean Caper

Suddenly a blurred form appeared on the other side of the shower door.

“Hello in the shower,” Giordino’s voice rumbled over the ru

Pitt resigned himself to the interruption and reached up and turned the faucet to off.

“You better hurry,” Giordino shouted. Then it occurred to him that the water was no longer ru

Pitt sighed. Pushing his body to a sitting position, he awkwardly struggled to his feet, nearly slipping on the slick tile floor. A towel sailed over the shower door, falling in folds around his head. The mere thought of being prodded and pushed in order to impress a higher ranking officer made the hairs on his neck bristle. He glared through the fuzzy glass panel.

“Tell Colonel Lewis he can play with himself while he waits.” His voice had a nice frost to it. “I’ll come out when I damn well feel like it,” he said succinctly. “Now get the hell out of my bathroom, you bastard, before I cram a bar of soap up your anal canal.” Abruptly, Pitt felt his checks heating. He hadn’t really meant to be rude to his old friend. Immediately sorry. he felt a wave of guilt “I’m sorry, Al. My mind was elsewhere.”

“Forget it.” Without another word Giordino shrugged and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Pitt briskly dried his lean body and then shaved. After he finished, he blew the tiny black hairs out of the Cordless electric shaver and patted his face with British Sterling after shave lotion. When he stepped into the bedroom, Giordino and Colonel Lewis were waiting.

Lewis sat on the edge of the bed and twisted one end of an immense red handlebar moustache. His large rosy face and twinkling blue eyes along with the large bush on his upper lip gave him the appearance of a jolly lumberjack. His movements and his speech were rapid, almost jerky, giving Pitt the impression that the Colonel had a pound of ground glass in his crotch.

“Sorry to break in on you like this,” boomed Lewis. “But I’m interested in knowing whether or not you’ve run onto anything substantial concerning the attack yesterday.”

Pitt was nude, but he didn’t give a damn. "No, nothing positive. I’ve several hunches and a couple of ideas, but very few absolute facts to build an airtight case with.”

“I was hoping you might have stumbled on a lead. My Air Investigation Squadron has struck out.”

“Have you found any remains of the Albatros?’ asked Pitt.

Lewis rubbed a hand across his sweaty forehead. “If that old crate crashed into the sea, it left no trace; not even a small oil slick. It and its pilot must have vanished into thin air.”

"Maybe it reached the mainland,” said Giordino. “Negative,” replied Lewis. “We can’t find a soul over there who saw it going or coming.”

Giordino nodded in agreement. “An old plane painted bright yellow with a top speed of only one hundred and three miles an hour couldn’t help but be noticed if it crossed over the strait into Macedonia.”

Lewis took out a package of cigarettes. “What really confuses me is the fact that the attack was well pla

Pitt buttoned his shirt and adjusted the gold oak leaves on his shoulders. “Obtaining information would be easy since everyone on Thasos probably knows that Brady Field becomes a ghost town on Sundays.

Actually this whole affair is very similar in strategy to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese down to the detail of sneaking in through a pass in the island mountain range.”

Lewis lit his cigarette, being careful not to singe his moustache. “You’re right, of course but there’s no doubt that your unexpected arrival in the flying boat: caught our attacker, as well as ourselves, off guard.

Our own radar failed to track your Catalina because you flew the last two hundred miles on the deck.”

He exhaled a cloud of smoke. “I can’t begin to tell you what a welcome surprise it was to see your old bird come thundering down out of the sun.”

“It must have surprised our friend in the Albatros too,” Giordino gri

Lewis stared up at Pitt curiously. “What makes you so certain he’ll return?”

Pitt’s eyes glinted. “He had a definite purpose for attacking the field, and it wasn’t to kill men or destroy aircraft belonging to the United States. His plan was simply to throw you into a panic.”

“What would he gain by that?” asked Giordino.

“Stop and think about it for a moment.” Pitt glanced at his watch, then to Lewis. “If this situation looked truly threatening and perilous, Colonel, you’d have to evacuate all American civilians to the mainland.”

“Yes, that’s true,” admitted Lewis. “But at the moment I see no reason to take such steps. The Greek government has assured me they’re offering, their complete cooperation in finding the pilot and plane.”

“But if you thought you had reason,” pressed Pitt. “Wouldn’t you also order Commander Gu

Lewis’ eyes narrowed. “As a safety precaution, of course. That white ship makes one hell of an inviting target for an aerial sniper.”

Pitt flicked his Zippo and lit a cigarette. “Believe It or not, sir, that’s your answer.”

Giordino and Lewis looked at each other and then at Pitt, puzzled.

Pitt continued. “As you know, Colonel, Admiral Sandecker ordered Giordino and myself to Thasos to investigate the strange mishaps that have occurred during the NUMA’s offshore operations. This morning, while conversing with Commander Gu

Now, if we take this assumption one step further, we begin to see that Brady Field was not the main objective of our reincarnated adversary. The raid was only an indirect means of removing Commander Gu

Lewis looked at Pitt thoughtfully. “I suppose the next question is why?”

“I don’t have an answer yet,” said Pitt. “But I’m certain our mysterious friend and his flair for dramatics has a high powered reason behind his game. He wouldn’t go to such devious lengths for pe

“That something you speak of could be sunken treasure,” Lewis’ lips gleamed wetly.

Pitt pulled an overseas cap out of his suitcase and set it jauntily on his head. “That’s one obvious conclusion.”

A faraway look came Into Lewis’ eyes and he said softly, “I wonder what it could be and how much it’s worth?”

Pitt turned and faced Giordino. “Al, contact Admiral Sandecker and ask him to research all possible lost or sunken treasure troves in the Aegean Sea within spitting distance of Thasos and send us the data as soon as possible. Tell him it’s urgent.”

“Consider it done,” Giordino said. “It’s eleven o’clock in the morning in Washington so we should have an answer by breakfast.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Lewis boomed.

“The sooner I get answers, the sooner I can get the Pentagon off my back. Is there any way I can help?”