they peered into
the darkness in the direction he thought of as "down lake." One of them
ran to a torch, pulled it out of its holder, ran back to the water's
edge, and waved it.

A signal! To whom?

Two of the men were kneeling just beyond the barge, and a moment later
they proceeded to get into the two flat-bottomed boats he had seen. What
they had been doing was untying the boats. He watched as they rowed out
onto the black lake.

They must be going after someone!

Rick hurried back the way he had come, following the path of torn cloth,
then the broken cracker crumbs. He would have to hurry. The Tibetans
might have gone after Long Shadow!

He retraced his steps at a pace that was half-walking, half-running. The
trail he had left showed clearly in the infrared light. In a few moments
he came out of the caves onto the lake shore once more, and he saw the
signal that had summoned the boats. A red light was now clearly visible.
He thought it was right at the point from which he had pushed off in the
Tibetan's boat.

A sudden thought struck him. Wouldn't they miss the Tibetan and the
boat? He hurried faster. Now and then he stopped to listen, and he could
hear the sound of oars in the water.

It didn't take long to reach his boat. When he leaned over the Tibetan,
frightened black eyes peered up at him. He tested the man's bonds. They
were tight enough to be effective, but not so tight they cut off his
circulation. He knew the gag was uncomfortable, but he didn't dare
remove it. As assurance that he meant no harm, he patted the man on the
shoulder. Some of the wild fright went out of the beady eyes.

Working quietly, Rick pushed the boat out into the water. He wasn't
afraid of being seen. Candles or torches didn't cast enough light to
penetrate the blackness as the infrared beam did. But he might be heard.
He had to be as quiet as possible.

He used only one oar, kneeling in the stern and paddling the
flat-bottomed craft like a canoe. The infrared camera, placed on the
seat with the beam directed ahead of him, gave him plenty of light to
see. Once in a while he turned the beam around. The two boats were
making good progress toward the red signal. The beam of the infrared
camera didn't penetrate far enough for him to see what or who was under
the red light.

He rounded the corner that had blocked his way and paddled silently
along the rocky wall. The two boats were out of sight now.

Rounding the corner gave