Natural instinct made it a plunderer, a hawk of the sea in search of surface life, usually fish. Its bill was long, narrow and powerful with a horny hook at the end.

For several minutes more the marine vulture hung suspended, then suddenly it swooped skillfully toward the water. It seemed to reach its goal with one stroke of its great wings, leveling off just above the sea with its long bill turned down.

Floating below was a huge blob of bright green fluorescent dye in the center of which was a tiny speck—a yellow, inflated life vest with the straps untied.

The ocean rover flew on, its powerful strokes rocking its light body, its forked tail trailing. After a short distance it stopped just above the water again with its head bent down.

A plane’s wing, kept afloat by air in one of its tanks, gleamed in the morning sun. Just beyond were several floating cushions, an oil slick and scattered pieces of wood—all that was left of BAT 29167.

The man-o’-war bird rose into the heavens and began circling. Higher and higher it soared as if following the air paths to the very sun itself. It seemed to be little more than a black sail in the sky when its head stopped turning from side to side and its eyes became fixed on a small, bobbing object in the distance.

An occupied life raft rode gently on the rolling sea.

Henry Dailey pulled his life vest closer about him and looked skyward. “I’m glad to see the sun,” he said to no one in particular. “For a while I thought I wouldn’t.” He turned to Alec, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “The Black’s a good swimmer, Alec. Don’t worry about him none.”

The navigator spoke up. “I wish that groom could’ve swum a little. He fell off the wing when the raft slipped away from us. I still thought he’d make it but his straps must have come loose. He went down and didn’t come up.”

The captain said, “You’ve told us all that before. Stop blaming yourself. You did what you could for him in the time we had. We all did … and we’re still a long way from being safe.”

“Sea-Air Rescue must have been alerted by now,” the navigator said a little desperately.

“Don’t sound so grim, ol’ buddies,” the copilot said.

“We’re long overdue,” the navigator went on, even more urgently than before. “Somebody oughta have missed us by now.”

Alec lifted his face; it was that of an old man, tired and beaten. “You’re sure … you’re sure the Black didn’t go down with the plane?” he asked Henry again.

The trainer nodded his head. “I’m sure. All the horses got clear right after we did; that’s what cut the raft loose from the ship. One of them got caught in the launching line and broke it.”

“You saw the Black? You’re sure?”

“He was right there with them. An’ I saw him again a minute later when they started swimmin’. We had to keep them away from the raft so their hoofs wouldn’t tear it wide open.”

“That … that was the last time you saw him?” Alec asked.

Henry nodded again. In the rough sea he’d been lucky to see the horses at all, but he wasn’t going to tell Alec that. It was enough that only one human life had been lost … so far. As the captain had said, they were still a long way from being safe. Henry turned to the copilot, who was letting out a small hydrogen balloon to which a radio antenna was attached.

The crewman caught Henry’s gaze and smiled grimly. “This is a friend of mine,” he said, patting the small but compact radio transmitter at his side.