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Leilani was alreadyin frohtly north It was a hot wind like the Santa Anas of California or the siroccos of the Sahara It felt like a hair dryer on his back, but Kurt didn’t care

He and Leilani worked rapidly The b

oat was equipped with a half dozen separate handholds and a pair of cleat handles up front In a minute, the lines of both parachutes were tied off to these eight points and were snapping taut as the chutes billowed out in front of the boat

They filled like sails, and the boat began toby the two parachutes as if they were a pair of ht more and more wind, the boat picked up so as fast as it had with the outboard running, but at least it was going

Kurt had no idea where a wind in these doldruain andany day

Gusts blew in, the lines snapped and strained, yanking the boat forward

“Hang on!” Kurt shouted for at least the third or fourth ti to be a wild ride”

CHAPTER 42

AQUA-TERRA’S BRIG SAT ON THE LOWEST LEVEL OF THE island that was above the waterline Now back in their luxury cell, Paul, Gamay and Marchetti were similarly at their absolute lowest For exactly fifty-three minutes Jinn had kept the solar reflection, the swirling gusts and the heat

Paul Trout had never seen the inside of a tanning booth in his life, but it felt like the observation deck had been turned into just that, with heat and blinding light added for good measure

It had been a surreal experience as reflections danced across Aqua-Terra in a dizzying, almost hypnotic display Because the tiny ht they reflected alsoit iet a sense of it, like being in a swirling fog and yet knowing that it was made up of billions of independent

And as hard as it was to look at the decks and structures around theth of tiht for most of the fifty-three minutes As a result, hish it, brought on by minor swells that hadn’t been present an hour before Wind currents stirred up by the reflected heat swept across the shi It was breathing,In a way, it was as beautiful as it was terrifying

Eventually the ti the sea of diaed and the ocean looked like any other throughout the world

“I feel like I fell asleep on the beach,” Paul said, amazed at how taut and red his skin was

Across from hih the large hile Gamay sat beside him and attempted to apply soue