QUOTE : Look, Skipper,” he whispered. “Do you see—they’re not eating it. They don’t even have any mouths. They’re simply chopping it to pieces. That’s exactly what happened to Dragonfly.” “You’re right. They’re dismantling it… like… like a broken machine.” Norton wrinkled his nose. “But no dead machine ever smelled like that.” Then another thought struck him. “My God—suppose they start on us! Ruby, get us back to shore as quickly as you can!” Resolution surged forward with reckless disregard for the life of her power cells. Behind them, the nine spokes of the great starfish—they could think of no better name for it—were clipped steadily shorter, and presently the weird tableau sank back into the depths of the sea. There was no pursuit, but they did not breathe comfortably again until Resolution had drawn up to the landing stage and they had stepped thankfully ashore. As he looked back across that mysterious and now sinister band of water, Norton grimly determined that no one would ever sail it again. There were too many unknowns, too many dangers. He looked back upon the towers and ramparts of New York and the dark cliff of the continent beyond. They