“Who is in that tent?” the Russian asked. “We are happy to help if you are having trouble. You must get back into the air soon, yes?”
“Thanks, but we’ll manage.” Segal sounded like he was enjoying this. “There’s a storm headed this way. You might want to worry about your own safety.”
“What are you saying?” The Russian sounded truly surprised.
“Didn’t you know? We’re going to be racing to get back ahead of it.”
Thor took over once again, cutting through the strut in a second place and removing it from the module. He tried to pull the GPS unit out, but it was attached to something on the other side. “It’s still bolted in somewhere, and my hands are too big to get back there. When you can feel your fingers again, see what you can do.”
Samantha drew her hands out of her pockets, reached inside the module. “It’s bolted into something. There’s no way the saw will fit in here. Maybe I can shatter the casing and retrieve what’s inside. They didn’t tell us to bring this back in one piece.”
“I like the way you think.”
She retrieved the hammer and chisel and gave the alloy casing that surrounded the GPS unit a few hard blows. “I’m in.”
She dropped the tools and fought to free the component’s internal workings. When she drew her hand out again, Thor’s headlamp caught it.
Blood frozen on her palm.
He took her hand. “You cut yourself.”
She stared at her palm. “I didn’t feel it.”
“Get your hands in your pockets, and step back into the tent. I’ve got this.”
He reached inside and ripped out chips, circuitry, and some kind of processor, dropping them in a steel lockbox. “Is that everything?”
He stepped back, slid his hands into his pockets, his fingers completely numb.
Samantha looked. “I think that’s it.”
She unzipped her parka, drew out the schematics, and stepped back into the tent and out of the wind to study them. “Yes, we’ve got it.”
“I’m going to escort you back to the plane and get you and the components safely onboard again.” Thor put on his gloves, locked the steel box, and shouldered the bag of tools. “If they’re going to make a move to steal this, they’ll do it now. Once you’re out of the cold, we’ll break the tent down and join you.”
“I understand.” She put the hand warmers in her gloves and slipped her hands inside them. “Be careful.”
“We will.” Thor stepped around the side of the tent, cold wind hitting him hard.
There, not twenty feet away, stood six men with headlamps, their path blocked by Segal and Jones.
* * *
Samantha focusedon taking one step after the other, relieved she’d done what she’d been sent to do. Now that she wasn’t distracted by the job, the cold had become unbearable, the shelter of the plane seeming so far away. But it wasn’t over yet.
There were still the six Russians behind her—double the number of Cobra men. If she, Thor, and the others got safely aboard the plane, they still needed to take off and make it back to the station so the pilot could get back to McMurdo alive.
Too cold now to be afraid, she took one step after another.
Thor tucked an arm through hers, steadying her, helping her to go faster. “Keep moving. You’re almost there.”
As they neared the plane, the pilot opened the door and lowered the stairs. “I was about to come after you. We need to go—now. That storm is moving in faster than we thought it would.”
“We’ll get the tent and be right back.” Thor helped Samantha up the steps, setting the bag of tools and the steel lockbox near her feet.
Then the stairs came in, and the pilot shut and locked the door.
Warmth.