"Anything?" asked Doc Gale, wading past him and examining another

passenger.

"He's gone," replied Pin.

"So's this one."

"from what cause?"

"Can't tell yet.  No apparent injuries.  Dead only a short time.  No

indication of intense pain or struggle.  Skin coloring doesn't suggest

asphyxiation."

"if he last fits," said Pitt.  "The oxygen masks are still in the

overhead panels."

Gale quickly moved from body to body.  "I'll know better after a more

thorough examination."

He paused as Simon finished mounting a light unit above the doorway and

safely above the water.  The naval officer motioned outside, and

suddenly the interior of the passenger cabin was flooded with light.

Pitt surveyed the cabin.  The only noticeable damage was a slight

distortion in the ceiling.  All seats were in an upright position and

the seat belts buckled.

"Impossible to believe they just sat here half immersed in ice water and

died from hypothermia without making any movement," he said while

checking an elderly brown-haired woman for life signs.  There was no

hint of suffering in her face.  She looked as if she had simply fallen

asleep.  A small rosary hung loosely from her fingers.

"Obviously all were dead before the plane struck the ice," offered Gale.

"A valid answer," Pitt murmured, rapidly scanning the seat rows as if

searching for someone.

"Death probably came from toxic fumes."

"Smell anything?"

"No

"Neither do I."

"What does that leave us?"

"Digested poison."

Gale stared at Pitt a long, hard moment.  "You're talking mass murder."

"We appear to be headed in that direction."

"Might help if we had a witness."

"We do."

Gale stiffened and hurriedly looked over the white faces. "You spot

someone still breathing?   Point him out."

"Before we broke inside," Pitt explained, "a woman stared at me through

a window.  She was alive.  I don't see her now."

Before Gale could reply, Simon sloshed down the aisle and stopped, his

eyes bulging with shock and incomprehension. "What in hell?" He

stiffened and stared wildly around the cabin.  "They look like figures

in a wax museum."

"try cadavers in a morgue," said Pitt dryly.

"They're dead?   Everyone?   You're absolutely sure?"

"Someone is alive," answered Pitt, "either in the cockpit or hiding out

in the bathrooms to the rear."

"Then they're in need of my attention," said Gale.

Pitt nodded.  "I think it best if you continue your examination in the

slim chance there's a spark of life in any of these people.  Simon can

check the cockpit area.  I'll head aft and search the bathrooms."

"What about all these stiffs?" asked Simon irreverently. "Shouldn't we

alert Commander Knight and begin evacuating them?"

"Leave them be," Pitt said quietly, "and stay off the radio. We'll make

our report to Commander Knight in person.  Keep your men outside.  Seal

the door and place the interior of the aircraft off limits.  Same goes

for your medical team, Doc. Touch nothing unless it's absolutely

necessary.  Something's happened here beyond our depth.  Word of the