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Daylight finally appeared, filtered by a peculiar gray an to burn away the icy haze and the sky turned a soft orange-white The ethereal lightthe fjord look like tombstones in a snow-covered cemetery

The scene surrounding the crash site was beginning to resemble a military invasion A fleet of five Air Force helicopters had been the first to arrive, ferrying an Army Special Service Force of heavily ar an patrolling the entire area An hour later, Federal Aviation accident investigators landed and set about e for reed and removed the bodies to the helicopters, which quickly airlifted theue at Tule Air Force Base

The Navy was represented by Coht and the unexpected appearance of the Polar Explorer All halted their grisly chores and turned their eyes toward the sea as a series of loud whoops froed mountains

Dodging newly-for low and opaque, and the winter's first bergs, which resembled the ruins of Gothic castles, the Polar Explorer came about slowly and entered the mouth of the fjord for a time the ash-blue sea hissed quietly past the scarred, and then it turned to white

The immense prow of the icebreaker effortlessly bulldozed a path through the ice pack, heaving to less than fifty e

Knight stopped engines, cliraciously offered the facilities of the ship to the security and investigation teams as a command post-an offer that was thankfully accepted w

ithout a second's hesitation

Pitt was impressed with the security The news blackout had not yet been penetrated: the story given out at Kennedy Airport revealed only that the UN flight was overdue It was only a ot wise and blew the whistle

"I think loomily

He was sitting in the pilot's seat of the NUMA helicopter, trying to drink a cup of coffee before it froze ,Must be colder than a Minnesota dairy cow's tit in January"

Pitt gave his friend a dubious look "Hoould you know?

You haven't been outside your heated cockpit all night"

"I get frostbite by looking at an ice cube in a glass of Scotch" Giordino held up one hand, five fingers an all spread

"Look at that I'm so stiff with cold I can't make a fist"

Pitt happened to glance out the sideand spotted Co over the ice froo door when Knight reached the boarding ladder Giordino id breeze engulfed the interior of the chopper