The suddenness of the temperature shift left her feeling disoriented.
“I’ll grab you a heated blanket.” The pilot disappeared toward the front.
“Thank you.” She peeled off her gloves with stiff fingers, took off her goggles and mask to find her eyelashes covered with frost.
Shivering, she walked with wooden steps to her seat, took the blanket from the pilot, and wrapped it around her parka, tucking it beneath her chin, the warmth heavenly.
Outside her window, Thor, Malik, and Lev faced off with the Russian team. The six men finally turned and trudged back to their plane. While Malik kept watch, Lev helped Thor take down the tent. Then the three men ran toward the plane.
The pilot opened the door again, lowered the stairs. “Let’s go!”
The men climbed aboard one at a time, stowed their gear, and stripped off their masks, their eyelashes and Malik’s beard white with frost.
The pilot raised the stairs, went to close the door. “We’ve got company!”
In a heartbeat, Thor and the others had their rifles in hand.
Samantha’s adrenaline spiked.
A Russian, still masked, walked up to the door, hands raised, speaking in panicked English. “Our plane—its fuel line is frozen! Please, take us back with you.”
Thor, Malik, and Lev shared a glance, their expressions hard.
“It could be a ploy, a way to grab the package,” Jones said.
Segal spoke to the man in Russian, then turned to Thor. “This guy is scared shitless. I think he’s telling the truth.”
Thor seemed to consider this.
Samantha had to say it. “If he’s telling the truth and we leave them, they’ll die, and the world would rightly blame us.”
There was no one else to come along and rescue them out here.
Thor turned to the pilot. “Can the plane carry seven more?”
Seven? Of course. The six men, plus their pilot.
“Fuck.” The pilot let out a gust of breath. “We don’t have enough oxygen for everyone. You’ll have to share. The extra weight means we’ll use more fuel and take longer to get back—ifwe get back. Can you control them?”
Thor seemed unruffled and in command of the situation, his confidence reassuring. “No problems there.”
“Then get them on board. We needed to leave five minutes ago. Our propellers and fuel line might freeze, and then we’re all dead. I’m going to get us moving.”
“Take this and lock the cockpit door behind you.” Thor handed him the lockbox with the components. “Segal, tell our new friends we’re taking their weapons. They’ve got thirty seconds to get aboard.”
Lev shouted something to the Russian, who motioned to the others.
Samantha watched, pulse racing, as desperate men scrambled across the ice, running toward their only chance at survival.
But what if they were lying? What if they had concealed weapons and hijacked the plane? What if they killed them all and simply took the plane?
One by one, the men climbed on board, handed their rifles to Malik and Lev. When the last one had made it, Thor pulled up the stairs and secured the door. Samantha noticed that he still had his pistol, as did Malik and Lev.
They weren’t taking any chances.
He shouted to the pilot. “Let’s go!”
Lev and Jones stowed the rifles. Then Segal spoke to the Russians, who sat on the floor alongside the ferry tank with no safety belts. From Lev’s gestures, Samantha could tell he was explaining that they would have to share oxygen. The Russians nodded and began taking off their goggles and masks. And there among them was Vasily.