and make him rub his hands together in pity. The eastern shore of

Greenland was lined with mountains, and it was a desolate and barren

sight. In all of the thousands of square miles that comprised eastern

Greenland, there was a population of less than five thousand.

The sky was deep blue-black and roiling with clouds that held snow.

One did not need to touch the white-capped waters far below to know

the water temperature was below freezing and the tossing torrent was in

liquid form only because of the salt content. The thin rime of ice on the

wings and the edging of frost on the windshield added to the image, but

the thick ice cap that covered Greenland, barely visible through the

windshield ahead, lent it the most chilling and ominous feel.

46 CLIVE CUSSLER

Cabrillo made an involuntary shiver and stared out the side window.

"We're ten minutes out," the pilot noted. "The report advises wind

of only ten to fifteen. It should be a cakewalk landing."

"Okay," Cabrillo said loudly over the noise from the engines.

The men flew along in silence as the rocky outline loomed larger.

A few minutes later Cabrillo heard and felt the turboprop slow as it

neared the outer edge of the airport's pattern. The pilot steered the plane

from his crosswind leg onto the downwind leg that would take them parallel

to the runway. They flew for a short distance and Cabrillo watched

the pilot adjust the flight controls. A minute later the pilot turned on his

base leg, then flew for a short distance and turned again onto his final approach.

"Hold

on," the pilot said, "we'll be on the ground shortly."

Cabrillo stared down at the frozen wasteland. The lights lining the

runway cast a pale glow against the afternoon gloom. The markings on

the runway came into and out of view in the blowing snow. Cabrillo

caught sight of the slightly extended wind sock through the haze and

growing darkness.

The airport at Kulusuk, where they were landing, served the tiny

population of four hundred and was little more than a gravel runway

tucked behind a mountain ridge along with a couple of small buildings.

The nearest other town-Angmagssalik, or Tasiilaq, by its Inuit namewas

a ten-minute helicopter ride away and had three times the population

of Kulusuk.

When the turboprop was just above the runway, the pilot gave it

rudder and straightened it out against the wind. A second later he kissed

the runway as light as a feather. Rolling across the snow-packed gravel,

he slowed in front of a metal building. Quickly running through the postflight

checklist, he shut down the engine then pointed to the building.

"I've got to fuel up," he said. "You might as well head inside."

8

AT THE SAME instant Cabrillo was landing at Kulusuk, the pilot of the

Hawker 800XP was just shutting down his engines at the airport at

Kangerlussuaq International Airport on the west coast of Greenland.