father had said.

'This is no way to live,' complained Orinon, slumped on the sled beside Katya. 'I have been talking to Timothy. He says that in America there are shops that are larger than ten of our campsites put together. He says that if you stand at one end of these shops you cannot even see the other end. Inside, there are thousands of types of food. Just take this thing they have, it's called chips. They fry potatoes in oil and it comes in a hundred tastes!'

Katya nodded. 'I've heard of it. Kiara told me.'

Orinon smacked his lips. 'I want to go there.'

'But things are different there now,' said Katya.

Orinon shook his head somberly. 'Yes. If only Tuuq had come back from America we would know exactlyhad studied the coastline. But there was absolutely no one to be seen. All water traffic had stopped. The port had shut down. Even the road and highways were deserted. Where had everyone gone? The only movement they could see would be during the night when figures moved about in the dark. After a week, a few of the ship's crewmembers took a small boat into the harbor to investigate. They didn't return.

Fuel was running low. When the captain heard the Russians on the radio, he knew that they were still operating sea traffic. The captain decided to dash the Far Eastern Russian port city of Petropavlovsk hoping to refuel and get news.

Just two hours from their destination all contact with the Russians died out. A terrible storm