Just before we hit the beach there had been thickets of broad-leaved squatty trees behind the ridges of sand, into which the marines had been headed for concealment. Now there was nothing of the kind. There was nothing but sand and silence--silence so deep that even breathing broke it into brittle bits. The three LCVP's were still with us, high and dry on the sand in the middle of the desert. Each was manned by a coxswain and a radioman. These six men--they were sailors, of course--were now sitting in their positions aboard the three crafts, like statues; as if they had been fossilized by the suddenness of whatever had happened. At first I thought something was wrong with me. Then the marines became uncertain, and when marines are uncertain the situation is definitely out of hand. If I was seeing things that weren't there, so were seventy-four other marines and six sailors. Captain Haggerty was giving the "assemble" signal and pointing to me. Even before he gave it the marines were walking slowly toward me, their weapons at ready, their eyes taking in all there was to see. I moved back to the central landing craft. "My radio is dead," I called. "How about yours?" "Nothing, sir. They couldn't be deader on Judgment Day!" I leaned against a corner of the LCVP and waited for the men to assemble. Nobody said anything. They just looked at me. I felt helpless. "First," I said, "let's make a check. I want to be sure I haven't gone completely daft! If what I say is true, say 'Aye, aye!' Got it?" "Aye, aye, sir!" "This is not the Yataritas Beach we all know--apparently!" "Aye, aye, sir!" the voices were low, hesitant, yet sure. "The Caribbean has disappeared!" "Aye, aye, sir!" "No jets! No APD! No _anything_ we know--except sand!" "Aye, aye, sir!" "And we have no communication with anything, anywhere. I've no idea what we ran into, but it happened just as we hit the beach." I looked at my watch. "And one more thing. We landed about ten minutes ago, at nine hundred. The sun says it's nearly thirteen hundred. My watch says it's oh-nine-twelve exactly." Officers and men looked at their wrist-watches. "Aye, aye, sir!" They all agreed to that. "The sailors are inside the--area--whatever it is, or they would be gone like everything else except the LCVP's. Somewhere behind the LCVP's, then, should be--" But I couldn't say it. Everybody could see that behind the LCVP's was the unknown desert leading away south to the brooding ancient mountains. Sergeant Eckstrom strode quickly to the rear of the LCVP's. That took guts, for he might have disappeared; but he didn't. He walked out onto the hot desert for twenty yards, turned and came back. That ended that. We were seeing what actually was there.