Forever Begins Tomorrow Read Online Free PDF Page A

stood near the window, she tried one of the drawers.
    Locked.
    No matter. She pulled a slender piece of metal from the sole of her shoe and inserted it in the crack at the top of the drawer. The latch resisted her for a moment. Then she gave the little strip of metal a well-practiced twist.
    Smoothly and silently the drawer slid open.
    Smiling slightly, the woman pulled a sheaf of papers from the drawer and began to scan through them. After a moment she threw them down in disgust.
    Nothing!
    She unlocked another drawer and tried again.
    The results were no better.
    Nor were they improved by her third and fourth efforts.
    It was the fifth drawer that yielded results.
    The woman chuckled as she spread the papers out on Dr. Hwa’s desk. It was so amusing of the good doctor to assume that his “private” papers were safe here in his own office.
    How little he really knew!
    Humming softly to herself, she took a microcamera from her pocket and began to photograph the secret documents. As she shot each page, she glanced quickly over it. Suddenly she stopped and picked up the paper she was photographing to read it more carefully.
    A strange expression crossed her face.
    Moving as quickly as she could, she took the last three photos, returned the papers to their proper place, and ran from the room.
    Wendy’s first reaction when she was swept overboard was raw panic. That lasted about two seconds—as long as it took her to decide that since she was in the soup already, she might as well make the best of it and try to help the others.
    With no further hesitation she kicked off her shoes, peeled off her sweatshirt, and began swimming toward the spot where Hap and Ray had gone under.
    She hadn’t forgotten there was an enormous shark circling the area. It just wasn’t as important as the fact that her friends needed help.
    Several feet below the surface Trip continued to work furiously at the chain. As it pulled them deeper the clear water grew ever more dark and mysterious; it reminded Trip of the time he and Hap had been trapped in a tidal shaft in the island’s power plant.
    He grimaced. It was Ray who had gotten them out then. Now it was their turn; they had to get him loose!
    Trip looked up. The water at this level was so dark he didn’t expect to find much more than shadows.
    To his amazement, he saw a bright light above him.
    Amazement turned to horror as he realized that the metal sphere Ray was clutching had started to glow like a small sun.
    He redoubled his efforts with the torch. He didn’t know what that ball was, but he had a gut-deep conviction that it would be very unhealthy for them to be around it much longer.
    Above him, Hap was struggling desperately to disengage Ray’s grip from the deadly transmitter.
    Damn thing must have been set to go into action as soon as anyone tampered with it. I’ve got to get Ray away from it before it does… whatever it’s going to do!
    Hap’s struggle was complicated by the fact that he had to keep one hand clamped over Ray’s nose and mouth to keep him from drowning, leaving only one hand free to try to break his friend’s grip on the transmitter.
    If only he would wake up! thought Hap desperately.
    With a sickening flash it occurred to him that Ray might never wake up. He didn’t know how long the unconscious boy had been without air—or how long he could survive that way.
    When Hap realized he was facing the unpleasant possibility of being blown to pieces trying to protect someone who was already dead, he considered letting go of Ray and swimming away as fast as he could. Something deep inside wouldn’t let him. If there was even the slightest chance his friend still lived, he had to hang on and try to save him.
    Rachel fought to control The Merry Wanderer as the storm continued to whip the ocean into a frenzy. The waves were higher than ever, the rain falling so fiercely she could barely see ten feet