“I can’t say for certain, but I want to be prepared. That’s the most important part of any security operation—identifying potential risks and finding ways to mitigate them before anything happens.”
That seemed logical.
“I feel very protected, so thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
For a short time, they walked without speaking, their boots squeaking on the ice, Thor’s long stride making her work to keep up.
“What is the Three Hundred Club?” he asked out of the blue.
“It’s about putting your body through three hundred degrees of temperature shift.” Samantha had never seen the appeal of that. “First, you sit in a two-hundred-degree sauna and get hot. Then you leave the station naked except for boots, walk around the South Pole marker, and then head back into the sauna to warm up.”
He chuckled. “That sounds fun.”
“Why did you ask?”
“Some people are talking about doing it tomorrow night. I guess it’s supposed to get below minus one hundred. We Cobra guys were invited to join in. Have you done it?”
“No way.” Samantha laughed. “Patty did. My ancestors are Finnish—Park comes from Parkkonen—so I love the sauna. But streaking in the cold just sounds to me like a great way to get frostbite in sensitive places.”
The idea of being naked in front of the entire staff didn’t appeal to her either.
Thor chuckled. “If you’re hot from the sauna, it takes a while to feel the cold.”
“You’re going to do it?”
“Yes.”
She’d thought he was too focused on his job to do something so silly. But some part of her—the part that planned on watching—was excited about this.
Are you seriously going to gawk at his naked body?
Yes. Yes, she was.
They reached the stairs that led up to the SPT control room. She gave him a tour, explaining in basic terms the kind of research she did. “We’re looking at relic light— light from shortly after the Big Bang—by scanning space for a certain kind of electromagnetic energy. My work focuses mostly on galaxy clusters.”
He asked smart questions and understood more than she had expected, proof that he’d studied the sciences.
“Can we go up to the roof?”
He wanted to go outside again?
“Of course.” She led the way.
He stared up at the sky, clearly in no hurry to get back indoors. “I’ve never seen so many stars. Even in Greenland, the stars were never this bright.”
“The cold freezes the water vapor out of the air, and the atmosphere here is stable. That’s why it’s so clear. That’s one reason we do so much astronomical research here.”
He pointed with a gloved hand. “The Southern Cross. Musca over there. Tucana.”
She was surprised—and impressed. “Where did you learn your southern constellations?”
“When I left Sirius, I found I couldn’t go back to my old life. I traveled a lot. I spent some time backpacking in the Himalayas, Australia, and New Zealand. I met a Maori man who taught me how his people saw the sky. I tried to learn more.”
He hadn’t been able to go back to his old life.
What did that mean?