Dry Ice (12 page)

After a moment of nearly awkward silence, Nik extended his hand and they shook. “Welcome to TESLA.”

“Thank you. I’m so glad to be here. I’d have kissed the ground out there if I hadn’t known my lips would freeze to it.”

“So that’s what you were up to. I thought your legs gave out.”

She smiled. “They did.”

“Nervous flier?”

“Angels would have been nervous on that flight.”

Nik laughed again, displaying straight white teeth framed by his easy smile. “I’ll take your word for it. Where are you headed now?”

“To find Fred Tate and Tim Bamberger, who flew in with us, and then the three of us need to go to wherever Greg is.”

“If they’re not here, they must be in the dining room. You haven’t seen Greg yet?”

“No, I’ve been in the clinic choking down electrolyte fluid,” she replied with a wry grin. “But I do need to see him. Is he around?”

“He’s in his office. I’ll take you there. We can cut through the library to get to the dining room,” he said, and led her out of the lounge.

Tess stopped short at the next threshold and looked at him, not hiding her incredulity. “Books? You guys shipped real
books
down here? Haven’t you heard of e-readers?”

“You don’t like books?”

“I love books, but it had to cost fifty thousand dollars a crate to get them down here. For that kind of money, I can live without the paper cuts.”

“Come on, Tess. Remember how everyone bitched about the lack of them up at HAARP?” Nik laughed. “Greg remembered that. Don’t get me wrong: he’s still a colossal pain in the ass about most things, but then he demands something like this on our behalf and, well, it almost makes him human.”

Tess glanced at him again, one eyebrow slightly aloft. It was a look meant to tell him that he was heading into awkward territory. He picked up on it immediately and gave a short nod.

As appalled as she was by what it must have cost to furnish the room—any of the rooms she’d seen so far—Tess had to admit she was soothed by the sight of all those hard-bound treasures. They really did make the place feel warm and friendly.

“Anyway, apparently he—Greg—decided that this eighteenth-century English country house look would keep the place cozy and keep people a little less stressed out. You know how he is; the pace we keep down here is close to your basic churn-and-burn doctoral program. Never rest on your laurels, keep asking, keep working, keep striving, question everything and everyone—except him.” Nik gave her an easy grin.

“Is it working?”

“So far. Most of the team has been down here for more than a year, and we haven’t turned into a reality TV version of
Clue
yet. No fights, no murders, no Mr. Green in the dining room with a bloody hammer.”

Tess smiled. “I guess it’s true that some things never change.”

“Meaning?”

“You’re the self-appointed neighborhood smart-ass.”

“As ever. Gotta keep the tone light,” he replied with a satisfied look.

She nodded, then returned her gaze to slowly pan the room. “So the whole place is like this? I mean, I studied the layout, but most of the photographs in the file were of the arrays.”

“No. The work spaces are very high-tech and uncluttered and bright. The personal quarters and common areas were designed to provide a visual and mental change from the work spaces.”

“Does that work? Does walking down those stairs give you that ‘ah, I’m home’ feeling?”

Nik resumed walking. “In its own way. Given the hours we keep—which are self-defined and therefore pretty odd—it’s nice to be able to literally leave the work behind when you leave the third floor. You pass through that high-security doorway and go from the twenty-first century back to a calmer one.” He shrugged. “When your entire world is narrowed down to about twenty thousand square feet, every little bit of artifice helps.”

“So, speaking of working hours … If you weren’t expecting the flight, what was everyone doing up and dressed at four
A.M
.?”

“Like I said, we keep crazy hours. But, normally, not that many are up now. Today is a special day, though. It’s April 27th.” He glanced at her. “Ring any bells?”

“Will I be graded on this?”

“I’ll give you a pass since the date would be different at McMurdo. Today is the last day that the sun will rise above the horizon here at the Pole. We’ll be performing a little ritual later in the day, and we needed to prepare.”

Tess laughed. “Ah, yes, the rituals. I won’t ask. I’ll just look forward to it.”

“Actually, the truth is that our wake-sleep cycles are shot. I hope you’re braced for Big Eye,” Nik said, referring to the condition that afflicted nearly everyone who wintered over. Part insomnia, part attention-deficit disorder, with a few other more physical issues thrown in, Big Eye was the traditional name for the peculiar emotional fragility that frequently accompanied the complete disruption of the body’s circadian rhythms coupled with extreme isolation.

“How could I forget about Big Eye? It’s one of the joys of the Ice,” she replied drily.

“It’s not as bad here as it is at some of the other stations. We try to combat it. All the lighting is in the natural spectrum, and the fixtures are set to get brighter and dimmer to simulate daylight, twilight, whatever. It’s Greg’s attempt to keep everyone in sync. Here we are.”

Nik stopped at the entry to a sitting room slightly smaller than the one they just left. This one sported a large-screen TV on the wall. The sofas and chairs in the room were more casual than those in the other room, and were suitable for sprawling.

The television was dark, and the only occupants of the room were the two Flint executives who had flown down with Tess. They sat side-by-side on a couch studying papers spread out on the low table in front of them. Greg was nowhere to be seen. Tess felt her mood, which had lightened considerably while chatting with Nik, become somewhat grim. Greg’s conspicuous absence was not only a slap in the face professionally, but personally as well.

He should be here—somewhere—to greet us.

The two men stood up as Nik and Tess entered the room.

Tess smiled as she came to a stop near where the two men were standing. “Nik, I’d like you to meet Fred Tate and Tim Bamberger. Fred is Flint’s deputy general counsel and Tim is the vice president of human resources for research and development. This is Nik Forde, assistant research director.”

“Nice to meet you, Nik. Thanks for being part of the team,” Tim said, shaking hands. Fred followed suit, then turned to Tess.

“Is Greg meeting us here?” she asked, forcing a smile.

“I’ve just gotten an email from him. Greg is in his office, expecting us,” Tim replied diplomatically.

Nik turned to face Tess. “It’s not unusual. Greg has always believed that rank has its privileges. He prefers having the mountain to come to Mohammed,” he said lightly.

“In that case, let’s party on,” Tim replied, his voice so dry that it made Tess bite back a laugh. The four of them left the room.

*   *   *

“So,” Nik said, stopping at the top of the circular staircase that had brought them to the upper floor, which housed the scientists’ offices.

The corridor here at the top of the habitat was indeed, as Nik had said, a different world. The walls, floor, and ceiling were sleek, stark, and white. Abstract prints lined walls that were closely punctuated by anonymous doors that bore no nameplates or numbers, but each sported a small device that could read the strip on a smart card and another that read biometric data.

“Yes?” Tess replied absently, concentrating more on remembering how many doors she’d have to pass before finding Greg’s office. According to the schematic she’d studied, his was the tenth on the left from the top of the staircase she’d come up.

“I think this would be a good time for you to answer the question I asked you out in the Delta,” he said, his tone conversational and a little too smooth. “Why are you here, Tess?”

An odd mixture of amusement, annoyance, and even a little admiration ran through her as she looked into eyes that were dark, warmly familiar, and openly curious. His grin was charming and his voice meant to disarm. She glanced at the other men, who were watching her, probably for a cue.

“You’re still adorable, I see,” she replied with a smile that was slightly forced.
And dumb like a fox.
“You’ll be brought up to speed, Nik. But I need to see Greg before I say anything.”

Nik didn’t miss a beat. “I’m not so sure he wants to be seen.”

“That’s his problem.”

Her words weren’t delivered sharply, but Nik raised an eyebrow anyway and gestured that they should continue walking.

Taking a surreptitious deep breath, Tess tapped on the door Nik had indicated led to Greg’s office.

The door opened after a brief wait and then Tess stood face-to-face with Greg for the first time since that awful conversation fifteen years ago. Her stomach flipped at the sight of him.

He’d aged somewhat, but little about Greg had actually changed. He still had most of his hair and it was still thick and wavy, although the dark blond was well streaked with silver. His eyes were still bright blue and as warm as the glaciers ringing the continent on which the five of them stood. His clothing was still expensively geekish, his posture still steel-rod-for-a-spine straight.

Nope, not much has changed.

Tess met his gaze again and corrected herself. The look in his eyes was new. Harder, meaner— She stopped there, not wanting to start conjecturing.

What the hell.
Crazier.
He looks wild on the inside.

Something about seeing Greg standing there, rigid, made Tess unconsciously correct her own posture, adding another inch to the several she already had on him.

Not the best move, judging by the visible pulse that leaped suddenly at the base of his throat.

“Dr. Beauchamp. What a surprise to see you again.” After a heartbeat’s hesitation, Greg stuck out his hand.

Tess glanced at it, then looked at his face again. “Is it?”

He frowned at her.

“A surprise,” she added, then took his hand, shook it once, and forced a smile. “It’s been a long time, Greg.”

His eyes narrowed at her familiarity, as she knew they would. “I see you have renewed your acquaintance with Dr. Forde.”

She nodded. “Perhaps you remember Fred Tate and Tim Bamberger from corporate,” she said, gesturing to the two men standing just behind her. “There are a few things the four of us need to discuss before—”

“Yes, we have much to discuss,” Greg said, interrupting her. “But first I need to speak to the crew of that plane. Where are they?”

Tess’s eyebrows shot up at his sharp tone.
That
plane
?

“They’re in the large sitting room,” Nik answered smoothly.

Without a backward glance, Greg turned and began walking down the corridor, his movements abrupt. With mute surprise, Tess watched him go. There were a whole lot of things not to like about this situation. She glanced at Nik to see if he thought anything was out of the ordinary, but his expression hadn’t changed.

“Well, that was pleasant,” he said as Greg moved out of earshot. “It’s nice to know that he’s forgiven you.”

“Ancient history.”

“No way. I’m a constant reminder,” he said with another easy grin. “You may not be aware of it, but I was first runner-up and got the crown and sash that you tossed at his feet.”

She snorted—it wasn’t quite a laugh—and said, “I imagine you gave him an equal and opposite set of headaches.” She turned to the other two men. “Let’s not be late for the show, guys.”

They began retracing their steps.

“Is Greg normally this erratic?”

Nik looked at her in surprise. “Was he?”

Wasn’t he?
Hiding her dismay at his answer, Tess replied, “Maybe that’s the wrong word. His departure just now was a little … abrupt. I remember him being more likely to order someone out of his office or demand someone come to him, than to dart away like that.”

“‘Dart’? What’s with these words?” Nik laughed. “You weren’t in his office, so he couldn’t tell you to leave it, and the people he wants to see are in another room. They wouldn’t all fit in his office.”

Nik’s non-answers struck her as somewhat disingenuous, so she smiled and dropped the subject, but filed away her questions. “You stayed in Gakona for a few years after the fellowship ended. How did that go?”

“I stayed there for about seven more years.” He shrugged. “It was fine. I liked the money, I liked the work, and I liked the other researchers. Greg was the only thing I didn’t like.”

“But you came back to work for him again, down here. What prompted that?”

“Same things, pretty much. Bleeding-edge research, good people, great money. Greg’s personality is really the only trade-off. His work ethic and ability to finesse the science haven’t changed. They’re still awe-inspiring. Given my history with him, I consider myself damned lucky to be here.”

Nik’s words held no hint of sarcasm, and Tess couldn’t help but look at him with mild surprise. Which he noticed immediately.

“Of course, if you ever repeat that, I’ll have to kill you,” he pointed out.

She smiled. “So, it’s been okay working for him?”

“Depends on how you define ‘okay.’ He’s a complete prick on a good day. And I’ve never known anyone in such dire need of getting laid.”

“A mental image I could have done without,” Tess muttered as she heard the two men behind her stifle laughter.

CHAPTER
8

By the time they caught up with him, Greg was facing the flight crews, most of whom had gotten to their feet. Judging by the openmouthed astonishment on their faces and the white-knuckled grips some of them had on the mugs of steaming coffee in front of them, he had already launched into a diatribe.

Tess entered the room and stopped slightly to one side of Greg. Nik was a step behind her. The other two men remained standing near the door. The security team, which Tess hadn’t seen since getting off the plane, stood leaning against the wall at the far side of the room.