Page 5 of Gunn's Mission

Bubba Yates, one of Stone’s original hires, cussed softly. “Damn, sounds like a boondoggle to me, man. I don’t envy you. You’re gonna freeze your balls off.”

Chuckles sounded again.

Stone lifted his chin. “What do you say? Are you ready for your first solo mission?”

Gunn was more than ready. He’d been feeling a little cooped up and underutilized. So what if this would be a simple security detail? The idea of heading to an ice floe in the middle of one of the most unforgiving environments on the planet sounded like the kind of challenge that might get him out of his head. He’d spent too many months since the carrier accident feeling sorry for himself and everything he’d lost. He’d loved being on the teams. The adjustment to civilian life was killing him inside.

“I’m in,” he said. “When do I leave?”

Stone grinned. “Now. Go change into the warmest clothes you have. I’ll drop you at the airport. Hank already has his jet sitting on the tarmac.”

Gunn frowned. He didn’t have the right gear for an Arctic deployment. “I need to do a bit of shopping—”

Stone waved a hand. “I had your stats. His wife, Sadie, already has everything you’ll need, clothing-wise, waiting in a duffel for you on the plane. Hank has your equipment ready, too.”

“He was that sure I’d say yes?”

Stone shrugged. “Hank knows who he hires. Even though we’re growing, he has his finger on the pulse. Now, go get changed.”

Gunn pushed up and looked around the table at his Team Eagle buddies and then at his new Brotherhood teammates. “Guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Late that same afternoon,Gunn stared out the window of the helicopter. He was glad they were almost there. He’d been white-knuckled throughout the flight, memories of the carrier disaster playing in his mind.

Below, there were swaths of ice and blue ocean. As they descended, patches of ice separated by blue water became visible. One larger than the rest was where they were heading. When he’d been briefed at Polardyne, he’d learned that the “floating island” was only approximately five square miles. As they got closer, he noted that this particular floe was unremarkable, other than its size compared to the floes floating nearby and a long scar-like ridge on the east side of this particular hunk of ice. The rest of the floe looked flat. A grouping of buildings of modular construction was slightly south and west of the center on the floe. And yes, despite that scant evidence of civilization, his new duty assignment appeared to be the most inhospitable place he’d ever been. Not that he found that unappealing.

As they set down, stirring up snow that obscured the view of the buildings, he made out figures approaching the helicopter. One of the crew members opened the door, and they stepped out onto the ice. “Watch your footing,” the man warned. “The snow on top is only so deep. What’s under it is slick from frequent thawing and refreezing.”

Warning taken, Gunn shouldered his two large duffel bags and stepped off behind the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, who was there to investigate the death, the Polardyne executive who’d accompanied them, and a man in non-descript cold-weather clothing, who’d identified himself to Gunn as Lieutenant Commander Anthony Navarro of the U.S. Navy. Two members of the helicopter crew exited behind them.

As the rotary wings slowed, the snow settled. Two figures, whose sex was impossible to tell from a distance due to the amount of snow gear they wore, stepped toward them.

The first figure paused in front of the Polardyne executive and the RCMP officer. They spoke quietly for a moment, and then the Mountie turned to the two crewmembers and spoke briefly with them. They left the larger group and followed the second person who’d come to meet them to what looked like a warehouse building. The remaining member of the research facility’s staff indicated they should follow and turned to lead the group to the largest of the buildings.

Once inside, everyone began removing clothing in an anteroom. As soon as the person who’d led them inside removed their outer jacket, Gunn realized she was female and likely Madeline Russo, the project manager in charge of the site. He quickly shrugged off his outer jacket and toed off his boots. Walking in his thick thermal socks, he followed the group from the small outer room to a larger area filled with sofas, armchairs, and a large television. The woman settled onto a couch beside two of her team members. Gunn and Lieutenant Commander Navarro settled into armchairs while the RCMP officer and the Polardyne executive shared a small sofa. Gunn placed his two bags on the floor beside his feet.

The Polardyne executive, Clive Patton, cleared his throat. “We were alarmed to hear about Mr. Schild’s death.”

The black man sitting beside Ms. Russo snorted.

Ms. Russo put her hand on his arm. “We’re all disturbed.” She turned her attention to the Mountie. “We preserved the clothing we removed. It’s stored beside his body.”

The officer nodded. “I’m presently having his body moved to the helicopter. I’ll need to interview everyone on site individually.”

She nodded. “I’m making my room available to you while you’re here. We don’t have a private office here. I’ve placed two chairs inside. You’ll have privacy.”

Gunn noted that even without makeup and her dark hair tied back with a rubber band, Madeline Russo was a very attractive woman.

“You know we think someone else was on the ice floe, right?” the blond man sitting to her other side said.

The officer gave a curt nod and pulled a notepad and pen from a buttoned pocket on his cold-weather pants. “I heard that a groove was found on the edge of the ice.” He raised his eyebrows. “Did anyone think to take a picture of it?”

The blond man blinked and then shook his head.

“And I’ll assume it’s likely filled with snow now…”

“Yes, but I wasn’t the only one to see it,” the blond said. He tilted his chin toward a man with long hair and a scruffy beard. “Perry saw it, too.”

“Yeah,” Perry said, “it looked like the grooves our kayaks make when we pull them onto the ice. Long and narrow.”

---