By the time Ora drove onto the wind rippled sand dunes at the boat launch, the ascending tide had already covered most of the moaning sandbank. Powerful searchlights on the underway raft cast long shadows from the pilings. The air-cushion vehicle's mysterious crew motored closer to where the meteorite crashed, but they had to navigate slowly through a maze of barnacle-encrusted poles.

Dr. Payne asked Janaki to stop at the entrance of the disappearing sandspit. As the planetary scientist grabbed the metal detector and pick-axe she thanked Janaki for the ride and said that it was too dangerous to drive out any further. Suddenly the magnetic pizza sign on the back seat shot out through the open door leaving a trail in the sand as it was drawn by the otherworldly magnetism of the space rock.

"Because science! Probably." Janaki cheered.