The 34th Degree

131

He broke the surface of the Ionian Sea seconds later, gasping for air. The last thing he remembered was the Nausicaa touching bottom and exploding. But as he bobbed with the waves, he could feel his head attached to his body. He was in one piece, he realized. He was alive.

The explosion must have released the charge of compressed air that ejected him out of the tube and into the water. The only other possible explanation was that the Baron himself had pressed the launch button. But there was nothing across the smooth surface of the sea to suggest that Baron von Berg or the Nausicaa had ever been there.

Deker floated helplessly in ghostly silence, trying to get his bearings, then remembered he couldn’t swim.

As the crest of a wave lifted him up, he thought he heard his mother scream, “Christos! Christos!” like she did in the darkness of that terrible night at sea long ago.

He turned and cringed at what looked like the ghost of the resurrected Nausicaa bearing down on him. But the legend on its superstructure said Cherub. And standing on the bridge were Prestwick, Safire, and Erin, and next to them Aphrodite.