Both Pitt and Austin are 'Special Project Directors' with NUMA. Why does Pitt never work with the Trouts on projects?
Also, when Pitt is off saving the world from another dastardly fiend, why doesn't Austin and his team help out?
I know I am being pedantic but I need to know!

Hi Gamay let me try and help if not I'm sure Dirk will jump in.

Pitt and his team are headed Special Projects whilst Austins team are called the Special Assignments Team.
Austin said once in Serpent "Basically we handle jobs outside the realm of NUMA's ordinary tasks" IE trouble shooters.
Pitt and Al originally were to fix problems encountered on NUMA sites and projects but due to there extrodinary tallents at being in the wrong place at the right time hey what ever!!

As for why they don't help each other out I'm sure they could but you will find that both teams started around the same time and the adventures tend to happen to each other probably at the same time ish.
Hope that help a little Dirk may be better at explaining.

I would love to see Dirk and Kurt have roles in the same novel, but I can see why it may not work for Dirk and Kurt both to play the main roles in a novel. However, I sometimes wish that Dirk and Al could play some role (even if they could just give advice or a helping hand) in a Kurt novel and vice versa. It sometimes seems very unrealistic for them to have such little interaction.

Anyway, what is going to happen when Dirk takes over Sandecker's position?

Welcome pierre@sarocks.freeserve.co.uk !!

Good question regarding Dirk as head of NUMA. In my opinion he won't be satisfied shuffling papers in his inbox and drumming his fingers on his nice shiny desk, so I would say he'll be out and about, "on location" watching out for Dirk jr. and Summer. Dirk Pitt has never really struck me as the ideal Sandecker replacement for I've always imagined the Admiral as being far more of a shrewd, politicly savvy operator. Can't wait to see how it pans out myself.

Cheers

Think it would be great fun if the two pairs (Pitt & Giordino and Austin & Zavala) did work together at least one time. After all, there have been occasions when Pitt has also acted without NUMA/government oversight/consent too!

Paul Trout remarks that if the world is or isn't in need of saving, Dirk and Al are available. (White Death, Chapter 9)

But since Admiral Sandecker, Rudi Gunn, Hiram Yeager and St. Julien Perlmutter play parts in both the adventures of the Special Projects Team and the Special Assignments Team, one wonderful adventure could intermingle the entire NUMA team. Well gee, Giordino and Zavala are already headed that way...

Can't see Pitt behind a desk yet either. ;)

...or why not have Kurt and Al on one team and Dirk and Joe on the other??
I have a quick question...does anyone know why Cussler made St. J. so large? I love his character. I relate to him because I am a history teacher and St. J. is a huge history buff!

You can't mix the two. They have such different variations. And you can't have too people that demand all the attention of the readers than bring another two in that wouldn't be right. As for trout, who knows? w: