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The officer hesitated asea faster than the pumps can keep up"

"How long do we have?"

"Hard to say Maybe another hour if the water stays clear of the boilers"

"What happened? There was no other ship nearby What did we collide with?"

"Iceberg Slashed our hull Damnable bit of bloody luck"

He grasped the officer's aro hold"

"Little chance of that, sir The e is already floating down in the hold"

"You uide me there"

The officer tried to shake his arm loose, but it was held like a vise "Impossible! My orders are to see to the starboard lifeboats"

"Soer said tonelessly "You're going to show o hold"

It was then that the officer noticed two discos First, the twisted, insane look on the passenger's face, and, second, the enit

als

"Do as I ask," the randchildren"

The officer stared du inside hiument or resistance The reddened eyes that burned into his, burned from within the depths of insanity

"I can only try"