Page 3 of Gunn's Mission

“Murdered?” Em cried from the doorway.

Maddie sighed. She’d hoped for a minute or two to regroup her thoughts. “Go back to the common area. We’ll be with you when we’re done in here.”

She glanced at Nate. “We need a camera. We’ll have to upload images.”

Nate nodded and left the room, herding Em away from the doorway.

An hour later, Maddie walked into the common area where her team of researchers was whispering among themselves.

“Is it true?” Hanna Weber asked before Maddie took her seat.

Nate kept silent as he took a seat on the well-worn sofa beside Maddie and rubbed a hand over his face.

Maddie faced the group. “Mateo was strangled to death,” she said quietly. “His only wound was a ligature mark around his neck. We assume that was the cause of his death.”

Eric raised a finger. “When Perry and I were searching the northern edge of the floe, we discovered a track mark, like the hull of a small boat or kayak. Something was pulled out of the water onto the floe.”

Everyone was silent. The idea that anyone else would be out here in one of the most remote locations on the planet was preposterous. But Maddie couldn’t help wishing it were true. More unthinkable was the possibility that one of the six remaining members of her crew was a murderer.

“I contacted Polardyne,” she said. “They’re going to send a helicopter to retrieve Mateo’s body. They’ll have Canadian law enforcement officials here as well.”

“Are they evacuating us?” Em asked. “I mean, I’m certainly unsettled by all this, but our work here is unfinished. It would be such a waste. Mateo wouldn’t want our work to end.”

Maddie drew a deep breath. “They offered to take back anyone who wants to leave, but they will also be sending someone—a security expert of some sort, who will augment our team, at least until we find whoever is responsible.”

Everyone shared glances. Eric rubbed a hand over his face and sat back with his arms stretched across the back of the sofa. “I’m staying. The core samples and the temperature readings from the ocean below are too important. This is bigger than us.”

Nate leaned over, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped. “The data from my deep-sea drags have already noted a definite surge in plankton population. Until someone gets research vessels that can withstand the ice out here to provide a platform for research, we’re all there is. I’m staying.”

All around the room, one by one, the members of her crew declined Polardyne’s offer to remove them from their floating island, but then everyone’s attention went to Em.

Tears leaked down her face. “I can’t. You know Mateo and I…” She swallowed hard. “This was our last winter in the north. We were heading back to the University of Colorado to unpack everything we’ve learned. We had research positions lined up; we were joining the faculty as adjunct instructors…” She shook her head. “I can’t stay.”

Maddie was saddened, but she understood. “I’ll let Polardyne know.” She glanced around at those scientists who would stay behind. “It’s going to be a few days before the helicopter arrives. In the meantime, we continue our work, but no one goes out alone. You don’t leave without letting me know exactly where you’re heading and for what reason. And we go armed. Do you understand?”

Eric cleared his throat. “Mateo’s research…?”

Part of Mateo’s research had been highly classified. She didn’t have a clue what he’d been doing, and as far as she knew, no one else here did either. Maddie glanced at Em.

She shrugged. “His work was need to know. He didn’t discuss it with me. All I know is it was funded by the Pentagon.”

“I have his office key,” Maddie said. “I took it from his pocket. Tomorrow, Eric, I’ll need your help downloading his data and removing his hard drive from his computer. Both of those are going back to HQ in Nunavut.”

She stood. “It’s getting late, but you were all on the ice today. You need to eat.”

There were groans.

“I don’t know if I can,” Em said.

“You’ll try,” Maddie said, her tone firm. “We’re going to look after each other. If anyone’s struggling, let someone know. The kitchen has been thoroughly sanitized, and there’s a huge pot of stew in the fridge. Even if you think you can’t eat, you must. We can’t have anyone getting sick out here.”

Nate pushed up. “We can eat out here in the common area. I’ll heat it up and let you know when it’s ready.”

Maddie gave him a grateful smile. She figured it would be a while before anyone could contemplate sitting at the kitchen table without the image of Mateo’s lifeless body haunting them.

CHAPTER2

“Gunn, you’re from Minnesota, right?”

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