quot;Grumman?quot; said trader. quot;From t  t ;

    Sam Cansino, an old acquaintance and a texan like Lee Scoresby, sat in tel and tossed back a s glass of bitingly cold vodka. e of pickled fisoo tell him more.

    quot;o a trap t fool Yakovlev laid,quot; trader  on, quot;and cut o tead of using regular medicines, ed on using tuff t aint a true moss. Anyely roaring  instructions to aking star sigo get ts rigongue, and boy, ongue like barbed oug everytartar, by initiation?quot;

    quot;You dont say,quot; said Lee Scoresby, tipping more vodka into Sams glass. er, crouc  along her back.

    Lee  afternoon, borne to Nova Zembla by tcoation. tic drifters stopped to exc or leave messages for one anot several days t, ing for a contract or a passenger or a fair  now.

    And  c ural for people to gatalk. it passed came more ne time of year, too; part of trange regular formations of stone on t long c of t and torn t....

    And tinued to roll in from trangest imaginable lig forms could be vaguely seen, and mysterious voices heard.

    Altoget ime to work, wel was full.

    quot;Did you say Grumman?quot; said tting just along ters rig, ;artar all rig tribe. I saartar name; Ill t in a minute.quot;

    quot;ell,  t,quot; said Lee Scoresby. quot;Let me buy you a drink, my friend. Im looking for ne tribe  ;

    quot;tars. At t of t s called— a river t comes do tage.quot;

    quot;A; said Lee. quot;I remember it no. And Grumman ?quot;

    quot;; said ter. quot;I tribe recognized ed  drilling. It goes on for t;

    quot;A accounts for team ;t bunc t it . If t d make even more sense. But you kno mans curiosity  go. ell  ts, and ts of rap of Yakovlevs; leg laid open, and ing ts of t bloodmoss, taking emperature, ces on every damn trange man. tced  urned ;

    quot;Is t so?quot; said Lee, ty of Serafina Pekkala.

    quot; ,quot; said ter. quot;A cake it. If you dont, its your o if bad to you. Its like o make a c do is c;

    quot; ; said Lee. quot;If  ;rong,quot; said Sam Cansino. quot;Maybe faito anot; Lee guessed. quot;I  s of some magic object, I dont kno mig could protect anyone ory?quot;

    quot;Yes, I ,quot; said ter. quot;

    was.

    tried to make ell, but Grumman killed ;

    quot;; said Sam Cansino, quot;t  eyes on, and I didnt kno;

    quot;S; said tening in. quot;Youre talking about Stan Grumman? ;

    quot; o ; said Lee Scoresby.

    quot;O mixed up in to Bering-land. Last I ,quot; said ter. quot;Killed outrig;

    quot;I ; said Lee Scoresby.

    quot;No, youre bot; said t;and I kno who was

    t on Sakhere was an avalanche.

    Grumman  sa ;

    quot; I cant understand,quot; said Lee Scoresby, offering ttle around, quot;is ing for rock oil, maybe? Or  somet measurements, Sam.   be?quot;

    quot;tarligerest  t;

    quot;I kno; said ter. quot;Up tain tory belonging to te Academy. to tell you. I kno;

    quot; dyou  to kno; said Sam Cansino.

    quot;; said Lee Scoresby.

    tion isfying t it stopped ty at once. tion turned to topic on everyones lips: tastropaking place around them, which no one could see.

    quot;t; said ter, quot;t up into t ne;

    quot;t; said Lee.

    quot;As soon as t into it,quot; ter told tly.

    quot; first  in my kayak and looking nort by c ead of t  straigains, rees, and fields of corn, forever into tell you, friends, t oiling fifty years to see, a sig. I  calm sea  a back t;

    quot;Aint never seen a fog like t; grumbled Sam Cansino. quot;Reckon its set in for a mont youre out of luck if you  money from Stanislaus Grumman, Lee; t;

    quot;A artar name!quot; said ter. quot;I just remembered  sounded like Jopari.quot;

    quot;Jopari? ts no kind of name Ive ever ; said Lee. quot;Mig my money, maybe I can c. Ill go ask at tory, see if to.quot;

    tory ance to th, and Lee Scoresby hired a dog sledge and driver.

    It  easy to find someone o risk t Lee artar from to take er a lengt of haggling.

    t rely on a compass, or  impossible. ed by otic fox daemon for one,  t of ting the way.

    Lee, ic field urbed as everything else.

    topped to bre;t;

    quot;, t ;

    quot;Many tion. My people remember. All long time ago, many tion.quot;

    quot; do t it?quot;

    quot;Sky fall open, and spirits move bet , ts close up ter a  che

    sky is ts.quot;

    quot;s going to ;

    quot;Same t only after big trouble, big  ;

    t tell racking sloions and  outcrops of dim rock, dark til the old man said:

    quot;Observatory up too crooked for sledge. You  go back, I  ;

    quot;Yea to go back  a spell. Ill be t;

    Lee Scoresby set off, er tucked into t of , and after iff climb found a clump of buildings suddenly above  been placed t  t o a momentary lifting of ter a minute it closed in again.  dome of tory, a smaller one a little ration buildings and domestic quarters. No lig permanently so as not to spoil telescopes.

    A fees after alking to a group of astronomers eager to learn ed as astronomers in a fog. old t everyt topic   Stanislaus Grumman tronomers  or in o talk.

    quot;Grumman? Yes, Ill tell you somet ; said tor. quot;e of ;

    quot;Surely not,quot; said y. quot; ;

    quot;No, I t language e, any;

    said tor.

    quot;But I agree, ainly a member of t—quot;

    quot;No, no, youre ; said someone else. quot; t not as a geologist. I alk .quot;

    tting, five of table in t served as tion room, and more or less everytes, one  ttle community o or, if only because roduced a cion. t to speak, and terrupted:

    quot; do you mean, a paleo-arc? Arcs already study  anot of it?quot;

    quot;udy  back muc, ts all. ions from ty, ty t; the Pole replied.

    quot;Nonsense!quot; said tor. quot;Utter nonsense! tions ty t;

    quot;Under t; said t;ts t. According to Grumman, tic field cically at various times in t, and tually moved, too, so t temperate areas became ice-bound.quot;

    quot;; said one of tes.

    quot;O  ions o ograms of

    unusual rock formations.quot;

    quot; all?quot; said tor.

    quot;Im only reporting, Im not defending ; said the Pole.

    quot;lemen?quot; Lee Scoresby asked.

    quot;ell, let me see,quot; said tor. quot;It   time.quot;

    quot;, ions in tic pole,quot; said t;But  of no or seen any of ; talked on for a ing reminiscences and offering suggestions as to   to breo ly: quot;C t;

    ttle. Lee  urally taciturn, but prompted by er,  break in tion to see t  orange eyes. ell, t are; but er y and suspicion in t thing of.

    And t. Suddenly ablis, so o include on its staff a representative of terium, to act as a censor and suppress tical discoveries.

    So, realizing tell me, gentlemen —do you o knoo tion of Dust?quot;

    And instantly a silence fell in tuffy little room, and everyones attention focused on t ly. Lee kne er able,  along  on a co face.

    Finally tled on t;I beg your pardon.  somets forbidden to kno;

    t;ion of t, Mr. Scoresby?quot;

    quot;From a passenger I fle; Lee said easily. quot;t it  from t ioned it seemed like t o. I took it to be some kind of celestial t it puzzled me, because as an aeronaut I knoty uff.  is it, any;

    quot;As you say, a celestial p; said t;It ical significance.quot;

    Presently Lee decided it ime to leave;   to keep Umaq ing.  tronomers to tory and set off dorack, feeling o the ground.

    And es do past  er. It he Skraelings owl daemon.

    But er sensed tened ime, and t missed.

    er could figoo, and soug t be close by, and reac .

    quot;Be; er said, and he whipped around, diving, as an arrow hissed over his shoulder.

    once. ting, as t to  later ting movement to ruggling to fold her wings.

    Lee Scoresby cocked ol and  to the mans head.

    quot;Rig; ; did you try t for? Cant you see rouble noo t;

    quot;Its too late,quot; said the Skraeling.

    quot;too late for ;

    too late to stop. I  a messenger bird. terium o kno Grumman—quot;

    quot; about ;

    quot;t t ot confirms . And t ot. You are an enemy of ts sions s gna t....quot;

    t ing sounds and raising and dropping fully.  orange eyes ain in t to die.

    quot;Reckon my bullet must  an artery,quot; ;Let go my sleeve and Ill make a tourniquet.quot;

    quot;No!quot; said t;I am glad to die! I syrs palm! You  deprive me of t!quot;

    quot;t to. Just tell me t;

    But o complete ion, because tle sing in tacked by assassins. s daemon was borne upward by cyr.

    ts in ture: an ecstatic straining toe.

    er clicked ongue.

    quot;S; sake ;

    quot; t t;

    quot;No, ; s;Not by our c by  take every advantage ime. Go on, take to a.quot;

    Lee saook to t teep drop into rocky darkness, and  fell for a long time before . Lee ed killing, alto do it times before.

    quot;No sense in t,quot; said er. quot; give us a c s to kill.

    Damn it, Lee, ed to die. t;

    quot;I guess youre rig;  tol away.

    At t of to move.

    quot;tell me, Umaq,quot; Lee said as t off back to tation, quot;you ever ;

    quot;O; said t;Everybody kno;

    quot;Did you knoar name?quot;

    quot;Not tartar. You mean Jopari? Not tartar.quot;

    quot; o ;

    quot;You ask me t, I o say I dont knorut;

    quot;I see. So w;

    quot;You better ask ribe. Better go to Yenisei, ask t;

    quot;ribe ... you mean tiated ;

    quot;Yes. You better ask t dead, maybe ;

    quot;;

    quot;In spirit oo muc;

    And .

    But o tation, Lee  at once to t could give o the Yenisei.

    Meanvian queen, Ruta Skadi, fles, tated by flood or landslide. It ain t trange range scents in t unkno attacked t and o be driven off o rest on, ts range.

    Still, some of ts s t made a tasty meal, and tage of er. It migo live in, but for tral forms t drifted like mist over ted near streams and loer. In some lig all, just visible as a drifting quality in t, a rransparency turning before a mirror. tcrusted t once.

    quot;Are t; said Ruta Skadi as tc stood motionless at tract of forest.

    quot;Alive or dead, t; Serafina replied. quot;I can feel t from   to go closer t;

    ters seemed to be eart t, luckily for tcer t day, t ters could do.

    It  a river crossing,  over a loone bridge beside a stand of trees. te afternoon sun slanted across tense green out of ty gold out of t ric tcravelers making for t, some in s, t  t to fly down and look more closely when she heard a cry of alarm.

    It came from ting at trees, and as tcream of tral forms pouring across to flo toheir prey.

    ttered. Serafina urn tail at once and gallop a staying to  as ion.

    quot;Fly locers,quot; Serafina told ;But dont interfere till I command.quot;

    t ttle band contained cs, some   t see ters, and ters  interested in tead for ts. One old ed on a cart

    tle ca Skadi o  t toer t approaco save her own life.

    t, and noo and fro in frigood and clung togeters attacked ts. t ransparent s moved busily,  made Ruta Skadi sick to ce befell every adult in ty apart from two wheir horses.

    Fascinated and stunned, Serafina Pekkala fleried to ford to get a a Specter  up o tood -deep in ter, arrested and helpless.