Two o'clock came. The _Esperance_ people were divided. Terry and Davis were too apprehensive to sleep. Deirdre'd gone confidently to the yacht to turn in. The crew-cuts slept peacefully, too. Davis said uneasily, "I've got a feeling that the ... objects are at the surface, or very close to it, but that they simply aren't showing themselves. I think they're lying in ambush. The squid that was killed must have had trouble getting into the lagoon. They probably won't try to get the big ones in. They'll wait...." Terry shook his head. "We killed that little one--save the mark!--and its death was probably reported in some fashion. So maybe they'll use the big ones on the surface as bait for another kind of weapon. Foam, for example. We know how a ship simply dropped out of sight, as if into a hole." "I know!" said Davis drearily. "I told the flattop about that. But I don't think they really believe it." At two-thirty Davis and Terry went down to the yacht. They stood on the deck. They kept watch by mere instinct. There was no activity anywhere. Faint noises were coming from _La Rubia_. Maybe her crew was repacking the hastily loaded masses of squid-flesh. The last-quarter moon rose at long last, and shone upon the glassy-rippled water of the lagoon. Star-images danced beside its reflection. A little after three, quite abruptly, the Diesels of _La Rubia_ rumbled and boomed. The dark silhouette of the ship headed across the lagoon toward its opening. Terry swore. "She lifted her anchor without making a noise," he said angrily. "Her skipper wants to get to Manila with his catch before it spoils! Damnation! I told him not to leave without warning. Anything could be waiting outside!" He raced for the shore and the outboard motorboat. Davis shouted down the forecastle and pelted after him. Terry had the outboard in the water by the time Davis arrived. He jumped in and pulled the starter. The motor caught. The outboard went rushing across the water. Its wake was a brilliant bluish luminescence. The booming of the Diesels grew louder. Capitán Saavedra thought he had put over a fast one on _los americanos_, who had moved the fish from where he regularly captured them in vast quantities and gathered them in a lagoon where his nets tore. They had given him most of a monster squid, true, but they had reserved certain parts for themselves. They were undoubtedly the most valuable parts. So when labor officially ceased at sundown, _La Rubia's_ skipper only pretended to accept the idea. In the last hour his crew had quietly completed loading _La Rubia_ with squid. They'd been carefully silent. They'd lifted anchor without noise. Now _La Rubia_ headed for the lagoon entrance, heavy in the water but with precise information about what coral heads needed to be dodged. She had on board a cargo history had no parallel for. Her skipper expected to be rewarded with fame, as well as cash.