4 Beware—polar bear!

Chapter Four BEWARE—POLAR BEAR! Kiki gasped. "Connor, look!" Connor's face turned pale as he saw the giant paw print. "We have to be careful, Kiki," he said. His voice was quiet. "Polar bears look cute, but they are incredibly dangerous. They're stealthy hunters—fast, too. And their jaws are unbelievably powerful. Let's get back to the Beagle.

We might need to make a quick getaway." "How will we see it?" Kiki said, glancing around. "It's white, and so's the snow..." "A polar bear isn't actually white," said Connor. Kiki stared. "What do you mean?" Connor grinned at Kiki's expression. "Its strands of fur aren't white—they're transparent and hollow. That means the fur scatters the light, so it looks white." "That must be good for camouflage," Kiki said. Connor nodded. "And underneath their fur, their skin is black to absorb heat from the sun better. They're amazingly well adapted to life in the Arctic!" he said. "Good to hear," Kiki said a little wryly as she scrambled on to the snowmobile as fast as she could.

"Just don't tell me how well adapted their teeth are next." Connor climbed on behind Kiki. "After the crash, Dr. Mikkelsen must have run away to hide," he guessed. "But nobody could outrun a full-size polar bear." Kiki shivered. She hoped Dr. Mikkelsen had a good hiding place. She pressed the "START" button. The Beagle roared to life. "Where are we going to look?" Connor shouted over the sound of the engine. Kiki studied Dr. Mikkelsen's GPS tracker. The signal was strong and steady, some way off to the west of the crash site. She directed the Beagle away from the cliff, carefully skirting the polar bear prints. Soon they were driving toward a broad plain of ice that seemed to stretch forever. Kiki had never seen anywhere so empty. She

frowned at the coordinates on the Beagle's dashboard. "The signal says Dr. Mikkelsen should be nearby," she called to Connor behind her. "Can you see her?" "There's nothing out here," Connor called back.

It was true. There was nothing in sight but the endless white horizon. Kiki put on the brakes. "I think it's time we called the Exploration Station," she said. The Beagle BEEPED in agreement. The sound echoed across the snow. Kiki pressed a button and a screen flickered to life on the Beagle's dashboard. "Hey!" said Tamiko, from the familiar black-walled surroundings of the Exploration Station. "How's the mission going?" Ollie appeared behind Tamiko. "Had a snowball fight yet?" he said. "We haven't had time for that," said Kiki. "We urgently need to find a research scientist who's disappeared. Her name is Dr. Mikkelsen. She had a snowmobile accident, but she didn't stay with the snowmobile and headed out here somewhere."

"And there's a polar bear," Connor added. Leah appeared. "A polar bear?" she said eagerly. "Where?" "That's the trouble," said Kiki. "We don't know. Can you help us? The GPS tracker is telling us that Dr. Mikkelsen is nearby, but we can't see anyone." "We could search for thermal activity," Roshni suggested. "Astronomers use the