Page 18 (1/2)

"Don't tell the oil companies," Maeve said with a thin smile "Or the whales will become extinct before next Christmas"

One woman asked for the vial and sniffed it "Can it be used as cooking oil?"

"Yes indeed," Maeve answered "The Japanese are particularly fond of whale oil for cooking and arine In fact the old whalers used to dip their biscuits in saltwater and then fry the blubber I tried it once and found it to have an interesting if slightly bland taste--"

Maeve was abruptly cut off by the scream of an elderly woman who frantically clutched the sides of her head Six other people followed suit, the wo

Maeve ran from one to the other, stunned at the look of intense pain in their eyes "What is it?" she shouted "What's wrong? Can I help you?"

Then suddenly it was her turn A daggerlike thrust of pain plunged into her brain, and her heart began to pound erratically Instinctively her hands pressed her teh the hypnotic spell of agony and terror, all their eyes see from their sockets Then she was struck by a tidal wave of dizziness rapidly followed by great nausea She fought an overwhel down

No one could understand as happening The air becahts took on an unearthly bluish glow There was no vibration, no shaking of the earth, and yet dust began to swirl inside the cavern The only sounds were the screams of the tormented

They began to sag and fall to the ground around Maeve With horrified disbelief she found herself iht itself inside out

One moment people stared at death from an unknown source Then inexplicably, an instant later, the excruciating agony and vertigo began to ease As quickly as it had come on, it faded and disappeared

Maeve felt exhausted to her bones She leaned weakly against the cask of whale oil, eyes closed, vastly relieved at being free of pain

No one found the voice to speak for nearly twohis stunned wife in his arms, looked up at Maeve "What in God's name was that?"

Maeve slowly shook her head "I don't know," she answered dully

With great effort sheeveryone still alive They all appeared to be recovering with no lingering effects Maeve was thankful that none of the e, especially heart attacks

"Please wait here and rest while I check the two ladies at the entrance of the tunnel and contact the ship"

They were a good group, she thought None questioned or blamed her for the unexplained event