Page 25 of Gunn's Mission

He noted that her room was a mess.

She laughed softly. “Yeah, I know. Nate always says a messy room is a sign of a disordered mind.”

“Or a sign of someone who has better things to do.”

She grinned. “Someone who gets it. Nate thinks I’m a slob—which is why we keep separate rooms. I’d drive him nuts.”

“Well, Maddie and I are heading out. Be sure to stay safe.”

She snapped a salute. “Will do.”

Gunn grabbed his holster and satphone from his room and headed to the mudroom to don his cold-weather gear.

When he was finished, he waited outside the door, taking in the changing landscape. The last couple of days’ snowfall had laid a blanket of fresh powder over the buildings and ground—a little over a foot, by his reckoning. The door behind him opened, and he glanced back.

Maddie smiled then pulled up her neck cover to shield her nose and cheeks. “I told the others we were heading out and how long I estimate we’ll have before conditions worsen.” She held up her radio, then stuffed it into her jacket pocket.

“No rifle?” he asked.

“Not today. You’ve got my back, right?”

He nodded and followed her out to the garage. She went to the snowmobile she’d used the previous day, and he would’ve gone to the one beside her, but she wagged a finger. “We all claim our own; maintain our own.” She pointed to the one behind hers. “That was Mateo’s, and you used it yesterday.”

He watched as she got the snowmobile dolly, then stepped forward to take it from her. He slipped it under the chassis of her machine, lifted the skis off the ground, then pushed it out onto the snow and returned to move his as well.

When he pulled down the garage door, she was already seated with her hood up and goggles in place. “You know, I’m perfectly capable of moving my own machine.”

He shrugged. “Have to do something to earn my keep, or I’ll feel completely useless.”

They rode straight to the site, keeping an eye on the clouds overhead. Although the sun had risen, the clouds kept the day looking like twilight. The snow seemed thicker and fluffier than the snow around the camp as they moved across the floe. The tracks Maddie’s machine made were the only evidence of humanity until they neared the site with the yellow tripod standing tall against the horizon.

Gunn dismounted to follow her to the platform, his boots sinking deep with every step and crunching on the older, underlying snow.

She lifted her goggles and removed her glove to pull out the case and transfer the data cards. Then, she checked the display. “Looking good,” she said.

Because he wasn’t keen to go back to the facility immediately, he asked, “Do you want to swing by the others’ sites and see if they need any help?”

She glanced at the sky. “I’ll let them know we’re on the way.” Maddie quickly radioed Eric that they were heading their way.

When they arrived, Nate and Eric were wrestling the drill over Nate’s hole. Maddie and Gunn walked up beside Eric.

“Hanna didn’t come out with you?” Maddie asked.

Eric shook his head. “She said she had paperwork to catch up on.”

“A hand…?” Nate grumbled as he bent over the drill, getting ready to lift it across to the hole.

Gunn joined them, and soon, the drill was widening the walls enough that he could drop his “bucket.” After Nate took several samples, Gunn helped Nate load the drill back on the sled.

Maddie kept giving worried glances at the sky. “Are you two heading straight back?” she asked Nate and Eric.

“We have no desire to be caught out here in a blizzard,” Eric said.

Gunn climbed over his machine while Maddie called Em and Perry on the radio, but they didn’t respond.

When she glanced back at Gunn, he shrugged. “We should swing by.”

Twenty minutes later, they arrived to find Em and Perry arguing beside their platform. Em’s arms moved in expansive gestures while Perry stood leaning toward her, his hands on his hips.

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