Off to his right, the concrete building projected from a low cliff on the edge of the plain. He watched the building. There were doors along the base,...two small recessed ones either end and large double doors in the centre. The cables that ran from the gantry structure entered the building at the side closest to him. The building currently seemed deserted. All the work centred on the pit, with many suited figures working on the frame. As he watched, a group broke away and started walking. "It's not far and I'm sure the police won't grudge us a bit more free parking." A true Scottish lass!" Yup!"It was indeed only five minutes away and two minutes later they were struck dumb by the quantity and beauty of the rings they were shown."Do you have any preferences, my Dai?" she asked almost timorously."No, my darling. Your ring: your choice."In the end she narrowed it down to four: emeralds and diamonds interspersed, an emerald surrounded by diamonds and two rubies in similar. She was on board? The Uralsk, I mean."The old Admiral nodded."We searched for days. All we found was a bit of floating wreckage. After the war, I thought she might have been picked up by the Germans and held somewhere. I made enquiries when our people were repatriated, but..." I'm so sorry," said Balardi, touching the old Russian's arm, "you must have loved her very much."Kuropatkin began to sob, now with less restraint.Kuropatkin remembered the Stoddards. Head of a vast American rairoad and. , but has a charisma and maturity far beyond her preteen years. When shes not at the beach in her small tight bikinis she dresses more like the teachers in her grade school than a preteen nerd girl. Cara has seen her in very tight earth-colored skirts with pastel blouses. Cara has noticed that Mandy has already developed a taste for sexy shoes, and babysits her 8 year old sister Meg every weekend for her divorced mom to save up money to buy those hot shoes. Whenever Cara visits for Sunday.