Terminal Freeze

30

The crowd in the Operations Center had grown even larger. The last time it had been this crowded, Marshall thought grimly, was when Wolff ordered the emergency meeting after the vault was found empty. At that meeting, there had been shock, dismay, disbelief. This time, the prevailing mood was fear. It was so strong that Marshall could almost taste its metallic bite in the air.

He stepped into the room and was at once approached by both Wolff and Kari Ekberg.

“How’s Toussaint?” Wolff asked.

“He’s half frozen, he’s suffered a broken ankle, and he’s sustained numerous nasty lacerations to the legs and arms. But he’ll survive. He’s raving-we had to sedate him heavily with some meds from the military’s stockpile. Gonzalez has rigged up temporary restraints-even with the tranquilizers, he’s been quite a handful.”

“Raving?” Wolff echoed. “What about?”

“It’s pretty incoherent. He said he was attacked in the infirmary, knocked about a lot, then dragged outside.”

“Who would have done such a thing?” breathed Ekberg.

“According to Toussaint, it’s not a who,” replied Marshall. “It’s a what.”

Wolff frowned. “That’s crazy.”

“Something hung him up like a side of beef. That hook was a good ten feet off the ground.”

“A polar bear wouldn’t do something like that,” said Wolff. “And it couldn’t move in and out of the base with impunity. The man is clearly delusional. What was he doing in the infirmary, anyway?”

“It seems he was trying to sneak a shot of Peters’s corpse.”

Wolff started. Then his face darkened. “Did he get it?”

“Hard to say. There was a camera in the infirmary-Gonzalez had his men check just now. But it was badly damaged, the video feed was blank. All you could hear was the audio, Toussaint murmuring ‘no, no, no’ over and over again.”

“Did he describe what attacked him?” Ekberg asked.

“Not in any detail.” Marshall paused, trying to recollect the frantic torrent of babbling he’d heard while stabilizing Toussaint. “Said it was huge-big as a station wagon.”

Wolff looked skeptical.

“He said it had more teeth than you could count. Not big, but sharp as razors. He said they wriggled.”

Wolff’s look of skepticism increased. “Not likely, is it?”

“I don’t know. Razors would account for all those marks on Peters’s body.” Marshall paused again. “And the eyes. He kept talking about the eyes.”

Ekberg shuddered.

“He said it sang to him,” Marshall added.

“I think I’ve heard enough.” And Wolff turned away.

“There’s something else,” Marshall called after him.

The network rep stopped without glancing back.

“Peters’s body is missing.”

Marshall and Ekberg watched Wolff exit the room. They stood for a moment in silence. People were huddled in small knots, heads together. Their tones were muted, barely whispers. In marked contrast to the rest was Davis, whose shrill complaints and expostulations had been instrumental in spreading the news in the first place. She was standing in a far corner, loudly demanding personal military protection.

Ekberg nodded toward Carradine, who was sitting in a corner by himself drinking cocoa from a Styrofoam cup. “He’s offered to take everybody back,” she said.

“You mean, back down to Yellowknife?”

“Wherever. Away from the base. He said he’d be able to fit almost everyone in Ashleigh’s trailer.”

“Might not be a bad idea-if he sticks to a safe route and doesn’t do any hotdogging.”

“Wolff overruled him. Said it was too dangerous.”

“Well, being around here is getting more dangerous by the minute.” Marshall glanced at her. “Would you leave? If Carradine got the green light, I mean.”

“Depends on what Emilio does.”

“You don’t owe him anything. Besides, now I know what you really think of him.”

“What I really think of him?”

“You didn’t exactly make a secret of it this morning.”

Ekberg smiled ruefully. “I can’t deny he’s something of an ass. But most directors I’ve worked with are. You need an inflated ego if you’re going to put your personal stamp on something as big and complex as a prime-time documentary. Besides, I didn’t just sign on with Conti-I signed on with the show. That’s how it works in this business. I’m the field producer. I stay through the final cut.”

Marshall smiled back. “You’re a brave woman.”

“Not really. Just a very ambitious one.”

Marshall became aware that somebody was standing at his elbow. Looking over, he saw Jeremy Logan watching them. He may be an academic, Marshall reflected as he nodded at him, but he’s like no professor I’ve ever known.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Logan said. “I was hoping to have a few words with Dr. Marshall.”

“Of course. I’ve got to do what I can to reassure the troops anyway. I’ll speak with you later, Evan.” And Ekberg moved away.

Marshall turned to Logan. “What’s up?”

“A great deal, it would seem. Let’s find some place a little more private. We can talk there.” And Logan motioned toward the exit.