The wing was supposed to act like a parachute and allow for stand-up landings. But they came in too fast and too high. Their knees buckled, and they did a double nose plant in the sand, but at least they were down.

They collapsed the wing, unharnessed the backpack and approached the body of a woman, who was curled up in the raft in a fetal position. Austin squatted next to the raft and felt her pulse. It was weak, but she was alive. He and Zavala gently rolled her over onto her back. Blood stained her jacket near the left shoulder. Austin pulled the first-aid kit from his pack, and Zavala went to open the jacket so they could inspect the wound. The woman groaned and opened her eyes. They filled with fear when she saw the two strangers.

“It's all right,” Zavala reassured her in his soft-spoken voice. “We're here to help you.”

Austin brought his canteen to the woman's mouth and gave her a drink of water.

“My name is Kurt, and this is my friend Joe,” Austin said when the color came back to her face. “Can you tell us your name?”

“Maria Arbatov,” she said in a weak voice. “My husband ...” Her voice trailed off.

“Are you with the expedition, Maria?”

“Yes.”

“Where are the others?”

“Dead.All dead.”

Austin felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. “What about the young woman? Karla Janos?”

“I don't know what happened to her. They took her away.”

“The same people who shot you?”

“Yes. Ivory hunters. They killed my husband, Sergei, and the two Japanese men.”

“Where did this happen?”

“The old riverbed. I crawled back to the campsite and put the raft in the river.” Her eyes flickered and she passed out.

They inspected the shoulder more closely. The wound wasn't fatal, but Maria had lost a great deal of blood. Zavala cleaned and bandaged the wound. Austin called the Kotelny on his hand radio.

“We found an injured woman on the beach,” he told the captain.

“Miss Janos?”

“No. Maria Arbatov, one of the expedition scientists. She needs medical attention.”

“I'll send a boat in immediately with my medical officer.”

Austin and Zavala made Maria as comfortable as possible. The boat arrived with the medical officer and two crewmen. They carefully loaded the woman aboard and headed back to the icebreaker.

Austin and Zavala hooked up the paraglider. The takeoff went much smoother than their icebreaker launch. As soon as they had gained altitude, Austin steered the paraglider along the river. Alerted by Maria, they kept a sharp eye out for the ivory hunters. Minutes later, they made a soft landing in the permafrost near the old sheds. They slipped their side arms from their holsters and cautiously made their way toward the settlement.