n westward...." Ashe hunched over the crate table in
the mat-walled house. He did not look up as Ross entered. Karara's still
damp head was bowed until those black locks, now sleeked to her round
skull, almost touched the man's close-cropped brown hair. They were both
studying a map as if they saw not lines on paper but the actual inlets
and lagoons which that drawing represented.

"You are sure, Gordon, that this _is_ the modern point to match the site
on the tape?" The girl brushed back straying hair.

Ashe shrugged. There were tight brackets about his mouth which had not
been there six months ago. He moved jerkily, not with the fluid grace of
those old days when he had faced the vast distance of time travel with
unruffled calm and a self-confidence to steady and support the novice
Ross.

"The general outline of these two islands could stand for the capes on
this--" He pulled a second map, this on transparent plastic, to fit over
the first. The capes marked on the much larger body of land did slip
over the modern islands with a surprising fit. The once large island,
shattered and broken, could have produced the groups of atolls and
islets they now prospected.

"How long--" Karara mused aloud, "and why?"

Ashe shrugged. "Ten thousand years, five, two." He shook his head. "We
have no idea. It's apparent that there must have been some world-wide
cataclysm here to change the contours of the land masses so much. We may
have to wait on a return space flight to bring a 'copter or a hydroplane
to explore farther." His hand swept beyond the boundaries of the map to
indicate the whole of Hawaika.

"A year, maybe two, before we could hope for that," Ross cut in. "Then
we'll have to depend on whether the Council believes this important
enough." The contrariness which spiked his tongue whenever Karara was
present made him say that without thinking. Then the twitch of Ashe's
lip brought home Ross's error. Gordon needed reassurance now, not a
recitation of the various ways their mission could be doomed.

"Look here!" Ross came to the table, his hand sweeping past Karara, as
he used his forefinger for a pointer. "We know that what we want could
be easily overlooked, even with the dolphins helping us to check. This
whole area's too big. And you know that it is certain that whatever
might be down there would be hidden with sea growths. Suppose ten of us
start out in a semi-circle from about here and go as far as this point,
hea