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“‘He’d gone out on a fishing expedition and the bear attacked him. He had to shoot it to save his own life. Then he brought the body back for its fur.’”
    â€œTheo asked to see the body,” Uncle Stephen told them. “He’s posted several recent entries about the bears not getting enough to eat and he wanted to check this one out. It’s very unusual for a polar bear to attack a human, but this one appears to have been starving.” He looked grave. “I’m afraid global warming is taking its toll on their numbers. I’m sure you’ve heard all about the polar ice cap getting thinner.”
    Ben and Zoe nodded.
    â€œSeals normally build their birth lairs in the thick ice shelves, but because the ice has been thinner these last few years the seals can’t breed as well.”
    â€œAnd seals are the main source of food for polar bears,” said Zoe.
    â€œIndeed.” Uncle Stephen nodded. “The seals are full of fat, which in turn gives the polar bear a thick fat layer. This keeps them warm and enables them to go without food for long periods.”
    â€œWait a minute,” said Ben, puzzled. “If this bear’s already dead, what’s our mission?”
    â€œThe vet’s examination showed something particularly worrying,” Uncle Stephen continued. “The dead bear was a lactating female.”
    â€œThat’s awful!” gasped Zoe. “It means there could be motherless cubs out there in the wild.”
    â€œThe Arctic can be a very hostile terrain,” said Dr Fisher. “This mission will be your most difficult yet. You need to find those cubs before it’s too late.”

CHAPTER
TWO
    Ben and Zoe gazed at each other in excitement. This was like nothing they’d ever done before.
    â€œAny clues to where we should look?” asked Zoe.
    â€œThe blogger didn’t say where the bear attacked,” said Uncle Stephen. “That’s something you’ll have to find out when you get there.”
    â€œI don’t suppose she would have strayed far from her cubs,” said Ben thoughtfully. “Polar bears build birthing dens, don’t they? They make them in the snow on the land and stay in them for months.”
    â€œThey do,” said Uncle Stephen.
    â€œSo we find out where the attack took place and start our search there,” said Zoe.
    â€œExactly,” said Uncle Stephen. “Most bears give birth in December and January – usually to twins – and when the cubs are about two or three months old they start bringing them out. So our little orphans could have started exploring, but they’ll still be dependent on their mum for milk.”
    The door opened and a smiling young woman with a ponytail came in. It was Erika Bohn, Dr Fisher’s second-in-command.
    â€œI’ve just got the latest weather reports for Fairwood,” she told them. “Minus twenty degrees centigrade with snow showers.”
    â€œMinus twenty!” gasped Zoe. “That’s incredibly cold. And won’t it be dark most of the time?”
    â€œIt would be in the depths of winter,” Erika explained. “But as it’s March there’ll be about twelve hours of daylight, like here.”
    She tapped a screen and brought up a map of the Arctic Circle.
    â€œHere’s Fairwood,” she said, zooming in on the northern coast of Alaska. “That’s the village where the fisherman lives. I’ll take you there so you can find out more from him. Eager questions from a couple of kids won’t look suspicious. I’m going to pretend to be your mother and we’ll be tourists.”
    â€œThen you two will head off to search for the bear cubs while Erika goes further along the coast,” put in Uncle Stephen.
    â€œThere’s a new oil drilling project being proposed in the Arctic near to Fairwood,”
    Erika told them. “We’re fearful that