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No one spoke They all seeo It was as if they all suffered a personal loss Pitt and Giordino were at ho the on a vast sea, felt an awful sense of emptiness coupled with the dread of helplessness The latter feeling was particularly enhanced when a shark's fin abruptly broke the water and o the raft

"All your fault," Giordino said to Pitt in mock

exasperation "He's ho wound"

Pitt peered into the transparent water, studying the sleek shape as it passed under the raft, recognizing the horizontal stabilizerlike head with the eyes hts on the tips "A hanore him"

Shannon gave a shudder and moved closer to Pitt and clutched his arm "What if he decides to take a bite out of the raft and we sink?"

Pitt shrugged "Sharks seldo"

"He invited his pals for dinner," said Giordino, pointing to twothe water

Pitt could see the beginnings of panic on the faces of the young students He nestled into a comfortable position on the bottom of the raft, elevated his feet on the upper float, and closed his eyes "Nothing like a restful nap under a warm sun on a calm sea Wake me when the ship arrives"

Shannon stared at him in disbelief "He must be mad"

Giordino quickly sized up Pitt's scheme and settled in "That makes two of us"

No one knew quite how to react Every pair of eyes in the raft swiveled fro sharks and back again The panic slowly subsided to uneasy apprehension while the

Other sharks joined the predinner party, but all hearts began filling with newfound hope as the Deep Fatho the water in a spray of foaraphic fleet could drive so hard Down in the engine rooust Burley, a powerfully built man with a portly sto diesels, closely observing the needles on the rp for any signs of e, Captain Frank Stewart gazed through binoculars at the tiny splash of orange against the blue sea

"We'll coines," he said to the helmsman

"You don't want to stop and drift up to them, Captain?" asked the blond, ponytailed man at the wheel

"They're surrounded by a school of sharks," said Stewart "We can't waste time with caution" He stepped over and spoke into the ship's speaker system "We'll approach the survivors on the port side