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Returning outside, head against a sudden shift of wind, Gronquist dashed around the hut to a small snow-covered shed that protected the project's two snowmobiles He kicked away the ice that had formed around the bottom of the door and pulled it open Inside, a sled with all the efficiency of a candle inside a freezer to keep the interior air twenty degre

es above the temperature outside He tried the starter buttons, but the batteries were badly drained afterover Cursing in vapored breaths, he re on the ht on the fifth attempt, but the second played stubborn Finally, after -two pulls (Gronquist counted thehed to life

He hitched the tongue of a large sled to the rear catch on the snowine had had extra tiers were beginning to Turn numb

The others had already stacked the supplies and equipment outside the entryway to the hut when he rode up Except for Gronquist, they were all bundled up in down-filled jumpsuits The sled was loaded to the top of its sideboards in less than two ht, and they were ready to set off

"If they crashed through the ice," shouted Hoskins above the wind, "we et it"

"He's right," Graham shouted back "They'd be dead from hypothemiia by now"

Lily's eyes turned hard behind her skijocks get a move on"

Gronquist grabbed her by the waist and lifted her onto the snowmobile

"Do what the lady says, boys There're people dying out there"

He swung a leg over the seat in front of Lily and cracked the throttle as Hoskins and Grahaine's exhaust purred and the rear tread gripped the snow He cut a sharp U-Turn and took off toward the shore, the sled bouncing along behind

They swept over the uneven ice-covered stones of the beach onto the frozen fjord It was dangerous going The bearips wavered over the ice pack in a crazy ju it nearly ies until they were plowing up and over theh heavy surf And no a skill could prevent the heavily laden sled fro in their wake

Lily clasped her hands around Gronquist's great stoainst his shoulder She yelled for hinored her She turned and spied the bobbing light of the other snow on their tail

Without the drag of the sled, the overtaking vehicle, with Hoskins steering and Grahaht up and passed Soon all Lily could see of the other two h a trailing cloud of fine surface snow

She felt Gronquist tense as a large e of the light's ray Gronquist abruptly jaes of the front skis dug into the ice and the snow a piece of the plane's shattered wing He hten out, but the sudden twist of centrifugal force whipped the sled around like the tail of a maddened rattlesnake The top-heavy sled went into a wild skid, jackknifed against the snow in and it flipped upside down, scattering its load in the air like debris from an explosion

Gronquist shouted so, but the words were cut off as the flat side of a runner unerringly caught hi him off the snowmobile He was thrown in a wide arc like a demolition ball about to smash a wall The hood of his coat was jerked back and the ice rose up and struck his unprotected head