“It was as though, in one moment, he had become a stranger. And I a stranger to myself.”

“We did it!" I said, feeling limp with relief. "It actually worked!"Dr. Turgenev rubbed his forehead. "I had very big doubts.""Big doubts?" I said weakly.The Russian scientist shrugged. "I am pessimist," he said.”

“Behind us I saw the water, still welling up from the tunnel, curving round in a frothing serpentine torrent to plunge down the other descending passage. For a moment we all sat there and watched, numb and exhausted.”

“What do you make of him?" I asked Elizabeth. "Apart from the fact he's clearly insane?""What can he learn from Konrad's blood?" I said. "Except that he needs it in his body to live!""There is something ghoulish about it.""He's like a vampyre,”

“I had no idea there'd be so many Sherpas aboard!" exclaimed Miss Simpkins."I'm not a Sherpa," Nadira said. "I'm a gypsy.""Oh, my goodness!" said the chaperone.”

“Honestly," she sighed, "I don't know what kind of life we'll have together, with me always flying off in one direction and you in the other." I smiled. "It's a good thing the world's round," I said.”

“Everyone watched, wondering if this could be the same lunatic who'd nearly berthed his ornithopter in the restaurant. I swallowed, for it seemed he was headed straight for my table. He pulled off his helmet and a mass of dark auburn hair spilled out. Off came the goggles, and I was looking at the beaming face of Kate de Vries.”