"

"Fair enough," Scotty agreed. "All right with you, Tony?"

"Of course. The three of us, then. Odd man goes with Hobart."

Tony and Scotty produced coins. With Rick, they walked into the living
room and lighted a kerosene lamp.

"Now," Rick said, and tossed his coin, catching it in the palm of his
hand and slapping it onto his other wrist. Tony and Scotty followed
suit. Rick uncovered first. He had heads. Tony uncovered and displayed a
tail.

Scotty groaned. "Shucks! I lose. It's one of you."

Rick held his breath as Scotty uncovered--another tail! He turned to
Zircon. "We dive, while Scotty and Tony stay topside."

"Good. Well, what are we waiting for?"

They changed quickly into trunks, then assembled their diving gear. Rick
took the front plate from his camera and put the infrared searchlight on
its mounting bracket. He changed to a fresh battery, then replaced the
film in the camera with the special infrared-sensitive film.

Whatever the infrared illuminated could be seen through special glass.
Rick had ordered lenses ground from the glass and had placed them in
frames made to fit into a face mask. These frames could be purchased at
any diving-equipment supply house. They had been designed for divers who
had to wear their own corrective glasses, and they suited Rick's purpose
to perfection. He handed a pair to Hobart Zircon, then inserted the
other pair in his own mask.

Zircon, Tony, and Scotty decided to take spear guns. Zircon chose Rick's
rubber-powered gun, while Tony selected the light spring gun. Scotty
chose the highest-powered gun they had, a new jet-type powered with
carbon dioxide.

Rick and Zircon connected their regulators to two freshly filled tanks,
then tested the equipment. Zircon tied a rope to his belt.

The big scientist drew them together for a brief conference.

"We'll swim out and cross the reef," he directed. "Then we'll swim along
the reef, staying as close as possible to the breakers. They will help
conceal us. When we approach the boat, Tony and Scotty will stop and
hold position. Scotty, are the binoculars waterproof?"

"Yes, they are."

"Then take them. Rick and I will go directly to the bottom at the base
of the reef. We will then proceed along the reef until we spot our
friends yonder."

Rick had an unhappy thought. "Suppose they see us?"

"We will try to prevent them from seeing us. However, if they do, I
suggest a retreat in as good order as we can manage. If t