Indiana Jones and the Secretof the Sphinx by Max McCoy Page B

go as well. As captain, it's fitting that I am last off."
    "Faye, get your things," Indy said.
    Faye nodded. Mystery started to follow her to the cabin, but Faye pushed her back. "Help them launch the boat," she said.
    "Just get the picture," Mystery said. "And my bag of tricks."
    "Don't let Snark fool you," Bryce told Indy as they released the lifeboat from its blocks. "There isn't a bit of honor about him—he just wants to make sure he cleans out the safe in his cabin before the first mate beats him to it."
    "Does he have that much to lose?" Mystery asked.
    "It's not much," Bryce said. "At least not by our standards. A few hundred bucks, the price of a new car in the States. But with the ship gone, it's all he's got."
    They threw a net over the side and, when Faye returned to the rail, they clambered down it into the sixteen-foot boat. Indy was gasping from the pain in his shoulder by the time they had the oars in the water.
    "Let me," Mystery said and took Indy's place at the oar. "Go to the bow; search for the pilot."
    "We're lucky," Bryce said. "The sea is calm this morning."
    Then they all flinched as another round of pyrotechnics erupted from the hold and shrieked up into the early morning sky.
    "Luck," Indy said, "is a relative term."
    They rowed toward the oil slick that marked the spot where the plane had gone down. The pilot was resolutely treading water, keeping her mouth just above water.
    Indy laughed when he saw the silky mass of dark hair floating around her head.
    "Lieutenant Musashi," Indy said. "Why am I not surprised?"
    Musashi barked a scathing response in Japanese, then took in water. She coughed and spat, and her head bobbed under once before she could continue. She was obviously tired, near exhaustion, but she managed to add in English: "You are under arrest, Jones."
    Mystery recognized the demeanor.
    "This is the madwoman who was chasing you at the square?"
    "Afraid so," Indy said.
    Bryce left his seat to help Indy haul her in.
    "Come on," he said as he extended the oar toward her. "Be a good little Imperialist and climb on board."
    Above, the lone biplane was circling.
    "Go to hell," Musashi said, then swallowed more water.
    "Don't be difficult," Indy chided. "You're going to drown yourself if you're not careful. You know, we have every right to leave you out here."
    Musashi shook her head.
    "All right," Bryce said. "We're all under bloody arrest. Now, get in the boat and make sure your bloodthirsty buddy up there sees it."
    Musashi went under again, but grasped the blade of the oar with a trailing hand. Bryce hauled her to the boat, and Indy reached down with his good arm, grasped the fur-lined collar of her flight jacket, and lifted her over the gunwale.
    "She weighs a ton in this thing," Indy groaned.
    Bryce waved the oar in the air.
    The biplane waggled its wings in response and departed toward the southeast.
    Then Bryce threw down the oar and jammed his finger into Musashi's mouth to make sure she hadn't swallowed her tongue.
    "Is she breathing?" Indy asked.
    "I think so," Bryce said as he tipped her head over the rail and slapped her back. Seawater sputtered from her nose and mouth. When Bryce turned her back, she tried to fight him off, but had no strength.
    "Help me check her for weapons," Indy said.
    "Are you kidding?" Bryce asked. "She's just a kid."
    "This 'kid' is the one who put the hole in my shoulder and sank our boat," Indy said. He unzipped her flight jacket, then stopped. "Uh, Mystery. Would you mind?" he asked.
    "Love to," Mystery said as she came forward and began to probe unknown pockets. "We've got a can opener, a compass, and some pocket change." She handed the things to Indy and dove into another pocket.
    "Pay dirt," she said as she withdrew a .25-caliber automatic.
    Bryce took the gun and slipped it into his pocket.
    "Keep searching," Indy said.
    "Papers," she said. "Looks like a passport and some other official-looking documents. Oh, look at the red ribbon. Isn't that