Pitt followed Gunn up a steep ladder to the next deck and into a small cabin that must have been designed by a closet-maker. The only comfort, and it was a large one, was a cool blast of air that emitted from an overhead ventilator.

He stood in front of the opening for a moment and soaked in the cool breeze. Then he straddled a chair and leaned his arms across the top of the backrest, waiting for Gunn to give the briefing.

Gunn closed the porthole and remained standing. "Before I begin, let me ask you what you know about our Aegean expedition."

"I only heard that the First Attempt was researching the Mediterranean for zoological purposes."

Gunn stared at him, shocked. "Didn't the admiral supply you with any detailed data concerning this project before you left Washington?"

Pitt lit another cigarette. "What makes you think that I came straight from the Capital?"

"I don't know," Gunn said hesitantly. "I only assumed that you…"

Pitt stopped him with a grin. "I haven't been anywhere near the States in over four months." He exhaled a puff of smoke toward the ventilator and watched the blue haze swirl into nothingness. "Sandecker's message to you simply stated that he was sending me directly to Thasos. He obviously neglected to mention where I was coming from and when I would arrive. Therefore, you expected me to come soaring out of the blue sky four days ago."

"Again, I'm sorry," Gunn said, shrugging. "You're right, of course. I figured two days at the most for that old tin duck of yours to fly from the Capital. When you finally flew into that fiasco at Brady Field yesterday you were already four days late by my schedule."

"It couldn't be helped. Giordino and I were ordered to airlift supplies into an ice probe station, camped on an ice floe north of Spitzbergen. Right after we landed, a blizzard hit and grounded us for over seventy-two hours."

Gunn laughed. "You certainly flew from one extreme in temperature to another."

Pitt didn't answer, but merely smiled.

Gunn pulled open the top drawer of a small compact desk and handed Pitt a large manilla envelope that contained several drawings of a strange looking fish. "You ever see anything like this before?"

Pitt looked down at the drawings. Most of them were different artists' conceptions of the same fish, and yet each varied in details. The first was an ancient Greek illustration on the side of a vase. Another had obviously been part of a Roman fresco. He noted that two of them were more modern stylized drawings, depicting the fish in a series of movements. The last was a photograph of a fossil imbedded in sandstone. Pitt looked up at Gunn questioningly.

Gunn handed him a magnifying glass. "Here, take a closer look through this."