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"Nothing like the feel of terra firma to rejuvenate one's soul"

Pitt sat down and rested, too tired to dance for joy at being off the water He slowly rose to his knees before standing up For a few round to steady hi about in a small boat had affected his balance The world spun, and the entire island rocked as if it floated on the sea Maeve immediately sat back dohile Giordino planted both feet fire After a few minutes, Pitt rose shakily to his feet andwalked since the abduction in Wellington, he found his legs and ankles were unfeeling and stiff Only after he'd staggered about twenty in to loosen and operate as they should

They hauled the boat farther onto the rocks and rested for a few hours before dining on their dried fish, washed down by rainwater they found standing in several concave ian to survey the island There was precious little to see The whole island and its neighbor across the channel had the appearance of solid piles of lava rock that had exploded fro the surface before being eroded into low mounds If the water had been fully transparent and the islands viewed down to their base on the seafloor

, they reat dra like island, in a desert sea

Giordino paced off the width froe was only 130

hest point was a flattened plateau no ht The landmass curved into a tear shape that stretched north and south, with the ard arc facing the west Froth was no more than a kilometer Surrounded by natural seawalls that defied the swells, the island had the appearance of a fortress under constant attack

A short distance away, they discovered the shattered reh and dry in a small inlet that was carved out of the rock by the sea, evidently driven there by large storm waves She was a fair-sized sailboat, rolled over on her port side, half her hull and keel torn away from an obvious collision with rocks She ined, Her upperworks had been painted light blue with orange undersides Though the ed and intact The three of the inside

"A grand, seaworthy little boat," observed Pitt, "about twelve meters, well built, with a teak hull"

"A Ber her hands over the worn and sunbleached teak planking "A fellow student at the marine lab on Saint Croix had one We used to island-hop with it She sailed remarkably well"

Giordino stared at the paint and caulking on the hull appraisingly "Been here twenty,by her condition"

"I hope whoever became marooned on this desolate spot was rescued," Maeve said quietly

Pitt swept a hand around the barrenness "Certainly no sane sailor would go out of his way to visit here"

Maeve's eyes brightened, and she snapped her fingers as if so deep in her memory had surfaced "They're called the Tits"

Pitt and Giordino glanced at each other as if not believing what they had heard "You did say `tits'?"

Giordino inquired