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The Polar Queen had sailed farstation He knew that for certain The radar on Ice Hunter's bridge could see beyond 120 kilometers, and there was no contact that remotely resembled a cruise ship

The gale had slackened considerably by the ti with Maeve Fletcher and Van Fleet, reached the penguin rookery The Australian zoologist and the Aist had become friendly almost immediately Pitt walked behind theues in the field Maeve plagued Van Fleet with questions pertaining to her dissertation, while he queried her for details concerning her brief observation of the mass decimation of the world's most beloved bird

The storm had carried the carcasses of those nearest the shoreline out to sea But by Pitt's best calculation a good forty thousand of the dead birds still lay scattered aunnysacks filled et grain With the easing of the wind and sleet, visibility increased to nearly a kilometer

Giant petrels, the vultures of the sea, began arriving to feast upon the dead penguins Majestic as they soared' gracefully through the air, they were ers of ust, the huge birds quickly dise their beaks inside the penguin carcasses until their necks and heads were red with viscera and gore

"Not exactly a sight I care to remember," said Pitt

Van Fleet was stunned He turned to Maeve, his eyes unbelieving "Now that I see the tragedy with my own eyes I find it hard to accept sowithin such a concentrated space in the same time period"

"Whatever the phenomenon," said Maeve, "I'ers and the ship's creho brought us ashore"

Van Fleet knelt and studied one of the penguins "No indication of injury, no obvious signs of disease or poison The body appears fat and healthy"

Maeve leaned over his shoulder "The only nonconforht protrusion of the eyes"

"Yes, I see what you e"

Pitt looked at Maeve thoughtfully "When I was carrying you to the cave, you said the three who died did so under mysterious circumstances"

She nodded "Soe force assaulted our senses, unseen and nonphysical I have no idea what it was But I can tell you that for at least a full fiveto explode The pain was excruciating"

"Fro on the bodies you showedshed" said Van Fleet, "the cause of death appears to be cardiac arrest"

Pitt stared over the scene of so much annihilation "Not possible that three huuins and fifty or ether from a heart condition"

"Therecause," said Maeve