then joined them.
Thor was in the middle of a conference call. Despite the situation, she couldn’t help but notice once again how attractive he was, his razor stubble and navy-blue cable-knit sweater giving him a rugged look.
He would never be interested in you.
Samantha had no illusions about her attractiveness to men. She had straight hair that wouldn’t curl, a plain face, and breasts that barely filled a B cup. Worse, she had a doctorate in astrophysics.
We intimidate men, Samantha. Most of them want to be smarter than their girlfriends. That will never happen with us—unless one of us dates the ghost of Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking.
That had been Patty’s theory.
Who cares anyway?
They were about to leave on a mission that would probably get them all killed. Why was Samantha wasting time wondering what Thor might think of her?
“What about activity at Vostok?” he asked.
A man’s voice answered. “Strong winds have kept them pinned down for the past few days—a stroke of luck. The Pentagon has directed us to take a hard line against anyone who attempts to steal these components. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
The Russians were in on this? That wasn’t just a crazy theory?
So much for her starry-eyed notions about international scientific cooperation.
No more vodka for you, Vasily, you bastard.
Thor was looking at a satellite image of the continent. “Thanks for the update. We’ll check in again shortly before we fly out.”
And then the butterflies hit, dancing in Samantha’s stomach.
She couldn’t believe she had agreed to do this.
“Dr. Park, it’s good to see you again. I didn’t realize you were the expert assigned to this mission. Thanks for joining us.”
“Please just call me Samantha. Titles seem pointless down here.”
He acknowledged her with a nod. “You’ve studied the schematics?”
“I haven’t had a lot of time, but, yes, I have looked at them.” She’d been surprised at how similar some of the components were to the SPT’s positioning system.
“You’ll have more time to study them on the flight.” Thor turned his laptop so the others could see the satellite image. “There is a Condition One storm moving toward McMurdo Station, as well as a storm moving inland from the east that will pass over the crash site before veering north. We’ve got a twenty-hour window to get to the site and back to the station so that our pilot can fly safely back to McMurdo.”
Samantha held up her hand to stop him. This was all moving too fast. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Have any of you done anything like this before? Have you worked in Antarctica? Because, frankly, this mission is suicidal. You have no idea what they’re asking you to do, what they’re asking me to do. Also, I can’t remember your names, except for Thor’s.”
Thor’s brow furrowed. “You’re right. We should tell you a bit about ourselves.”
A good-looking Black man with a goatee reached out, shook her hand, his brown eyes warm. “I’m Malik Jones. I served with the US Army Rangers for ten years. I’ve never been to Antarctica before—or the Arctic for that matter. But I have served on many rescue operations around the world.”
The one with thick dark hair and hazel eyes spoke next. “Lev Segal, formerly with the Israeli Defense Forces. I’ve never worked in this environment, but Isaksen has.”
Samantha met Thor’s gaze. “Lance was right. You are mercenaries.”
“Private security.” Thor took a sip of his coffee. “I served with Denmark’s Huntsman Corps before joining Sirius Dogsled Patrol. I spent two years patrolling Northeastern Greenland with a team of sled dogs during Arctic winter. We patrolled for up to four months at a time, traveling on sea ice, going overland, living in the open, sleeping in tents in temperatures that sometimes fell below minus fifty Celsius.”
She stared at him, her exchange with him yesterday evening coming back to her.
Are you lost?
I was just watching the aurora.
Enjoy the view, but don’t stay out too long. The cold sneaks up on people.
It’s not too bad right now.
He hadn’t been trying to act tough. He was accustomed to the cold.
He went on. “The biggest difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic is the humidity. Greenland is humid. We sometimes got a meter and a half of snow in twenty-four hours. Here, it’s very dry, and we’re at a much higher elevation. The wind is worse, and the temperatures are more extreme. This is your second winter here, right?”
She nodded, still taking in what he’d told her.
A meter and a half of snow in a