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Kurt handed oneto Joe and kept the other for himself He took a sip and then nodded toward the weather report “What’s the word?”

“No stor at a disturbance co in from the west”

It was March, which meant it was early fall in the southern hemisphere The worst of the weather would not hit for another rees latitude they’d entered an area known as the Roaring Forties At this latitude, the Great Southern Ocean encircled the Earth uninterrupted by land It could brew up a monster storm whenever it chose

“So far, we’ve been lucky,” Winslow said “Butto hold”

“Quiet before the storm?” Joe asked

“So like that,” the captain said

“We have to keep going,” Kurt said, “even if the weather hits hard”

Winslow seeree

“We won’t let you down,” he assured Kurt “But if there’s a point at which the danger to the ship and crew becoreat, I’ll have toship, but she wasn’t built for a full-on gale”

Kurt nodded The captain was e of the mission, the captain’s ould hold sway “What about the others?”

Joe pointed to the chart “Paul and Gamay are aboard the Gemini”

On theway out of formation

“Why is she so far behind us?”

“She had to coapore”

“Frustrating,” Kurt said “But it’s worth the wait to get Paul and Gamay on the team What about the others?”