That operation had happened shortly before Thor joined the company. But this conversation wasn’t helping Samantha. “There won’t be any bullets flying when we land. The cold is the only real threat to us on this operation.”
While Thor answered Samantha’s questions about the selection process for Sirius, Jones and Segal drifted into a discussion about the movieThe Thingand the possibility of finding space aliens or dinosaurs frozen in the Antarctic ice.
Samantha stared at Thor. “Onlysixguys make the cut each year?”
“That’s only if they can find six guys who qualify.” Thor would forever be grateful that he’d made it. He wasn’t sure where he’d be otherwise. Two years on the ice had helped him put Afghanistan behind him. It had saved him. “The year I joined, only five men made it. The last was cut at the end after losing his temper.”
“That’s really strict.”
“When you’re out on the ice for four months at a time with one other person and a team of sled dogs, you can’t afford to be emotional. They only take people who can keep their heads in a crisis.”
“You must be very level-headed.”
He was—most of the time.
Jones pivoted in his seat. “This dude is ice cold. You’re talking to the great-great-grandson of a god. He’s a direct descendant of Odin, you know. That’s what the official Danish genealogical records say. I’ve seen the PDF.”
“Odin? The Norse god?” Samantha looked up at Thor.
“Yes. Obviously, it’s not true.”
“Ask him about the time he denned with a mama polar bear, because that’s real.”
Thor laughed at the shock in Samantha’s eyes. “He’s exaggerating. I—”
The pilot’s voice cut him off. “I just got a report that a plane lifted off from Vostok a short time ago. Radar shows them heading for the crash site. They’re farther out than we are, but you’re going to have company.”
* * *
Samantha exhaledas the plane came to a stop, her hands still gripping the arms of her seat, her knuckles white. It had been a rough landing, but at least they hadn’t tumbled into a crevasse. “Good grief!”
Wind buffeted the small aircraft, its propellers still running.
She stood, put on her hat, hood, snow goggles, mask, gloves, and headlamp, the satellite schematics tucked inside her parka. “What about the other plane?”
Thor rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder, his gaze meeting hers. “Let us worry about the plane. You focus on the satellite.”
The men moved quickly, pulling out rifles and putting on masks, headlamps, goggles, and gloves.
“Rifles over your shoulders. Pistols holstered.” Thor took a rifle and the steel lockbox out of his gear bag. “We’ll set up the tent on her windward side to create a windbreak and offer some shelter.”
Lev grabbed a large duffel bag. “I’ve got the tools. Jones, grab the tent.”
Thor turned and shouted to the pilot. “How much time can you give us?”
“It’s minus eighty with a wind chill of minus one-ten. No more than twenty minutes, if that.”
Samantha’s stomach knotted.
Twenty minutes. What they were asking of her seemed impossible, and yet she had no choice but to get the job done. If any of the plane’s systems froze, they would die. If they got caught in the storm, they would die. If she didn’t retrieve the components, lots of other people might die.
You can do this.
If she could access the components, that is.
“I’ll go first and make sure the ice is stable.” Thor opened the door, letting in a gust of frigid air. He walked a path to the satellite and back, then returned for her and helped her down the stairs.
She pulled her hat down over exposed skin that burned, turned on her headlamp, and looked out on devastation.