SSSD - Open the door

Ro opens the door and pushes it inward. It creaks softly, revealing Golda’s office. A lamp is on inside.

“Hello?” Ro steps hesitantly inside. “Golda?”

There’s no one here. Golda might be in charge, but her office is by no means lavish, although there are a few nice touches on the wooden desk, like a lovely set of fountain pens. The lamplight is soft and golden, contrasting with the harsh glow of Golda’s laptop.

Ro cocks her head; that’s a MacBook on the blotter, not one of the PCs that the Norwegians use for work. Nothing strange about that, but it must be Golda’s personal device.

Ro circles the desk, pausing to consider the small plate of biscuits that sits beside a cup of coffee. Slowly, Ro reaches out and places the side of her index finger against the cup. It’s cold. Frowning, she puts her hands on the desk and bends forward to peer at the computer.

Gmail, but in Norwegian. It’s not an official device, and it’s not using the vaguely Outlook-like system that the science team uses for all their work. Both Alice and Ro have had to use that system before, and they know how to switch it from Norwegian to English. But that only changes the readability of the program, not the contents of any documents or emails.

Ro grabs the mouse and switches it over, going into Golda’s email as strange thoughts worm their way into her brain. Her ability to read Norwegian is severely limited, but Norwegians use Arabic numerals. And some of these emails contain English and English characters. SNB? SNB? What is that? Because Golda has several emails from that which obviously have to do with money. Large amounts of money.

It’s probably nothing. Golda is an important figure and probably has business with funding and procurement.

The lights come on in the hallway and Ro hears footsteps. She looks up to see Julie and Linda come into view, drawn to the open door.

“Golda?” Linda is saying. They stop at the sight of Ro.

“Hi,” Ro says, embarrassed. “I’m snooping.”

Linda looks deadly serious. And suspicious. Julie’s tense as well, although not to the same degree as Linda.

“What are you doing?” Linda asks.

“I just said snooping,” Ro replies before she realizes that word might not translate well. “I saw the light on in here.” She points at the floor. “So I came in to look.”

Julie’s eying the MacBook. So she’s noticed it too, but do the rules about authorized devices apply to the boss? Probably not.

“Hey, guys,” Ro says, moving toward them.

Before she can go on, there’s a shout from down the hall in Norwegian.

Linda and Julie whirl.

<What is it?> Linda calls out and Ro hurries after them.

It’s Marit down there.

<She’s gone!>

<What?>

Niv emerges from the kitchen to see them all dash past. She hesitates, then jogs in the opposite direction.

Ro, Julie, and Linda pile into Medical to find the bed empty.

<Marit?> Julie says.

Marit shakes her head. <I wasn’t here.>

<Did you check her room?>

<What’s happening?>

They all turn to see Golda in the doorway. No one’s acting sleepy. Was Ro the only one in bed?

<Birgitte is gone,> Julie reports.

“We should check her room,” Ro says.

Golda turns at footsteps. Niv arrives at a jog. She has a Nylon holster in her teeth and a pistol in her hand. She’s awkwardly thumbing bullets into a magazine to load it.

<Why do we need that?> Julie demands.

Niv mumbles something, but the holster in her teeth makes it unintelligible to Ro.

“I’ll check her…” Ro trails off. She was about to say that she’d check Birgitte’s room, but she has noticed something. “Guys.”

The Norwegians are jabbering at each other rapidly.

“Guys!”

That gets their attention. Ro points at the drop of blood on the floor. It stands out obviously on the white tiles.

Everyone else looks down. Golda moves, and they push out into the hallway to find a second drop. There’s a third a little farther down. No one speaks. Niv slaps the magazine into the pistol and racks the slide, then removes the holster from her mouth and pushes the pistol in before attaching it to her belt.

The trail leads toward the radio room. Linda opens the door and hits the lights. Birgitte isn’t there.

<Here,> Golda says. The trail goes on past the map room. It’s harder to spot on this concrete floor. They all stop. Ahead are the stairs down to the basement, totally dark. Niv switches on the lights, which pop and flicker feebly.

It’s noticeably colder down there, even though that’s where the furnace is. They can hear it rattling and coughing down there; it always does that. Niv pushes to the front and starts down.

Ro hates the basement. She’s only had to come down a few times, and always with Marit, but it’s dim, unnecessarily complicated, and basically unfinished. It feels like an underground cavern, not part of the outpost. There are problems with the floor, with parts of it roped off because it’s not stable, and bits where you have to cross these wooden slats that have been laid down where the original floor has failed.

<Birgitte?> Marit calls out.

They spread out; the basement has several large areas and passages connecting them. Supply and fuel storage, the furnace, a backup generator… it’s a lot of stuff. Ro picks up a big flashlight and switches it on.

“Hello? It’s cold down here, Birgitte,” she says. “We literally just saved you from hypothermia. Can we not do that again?”

The furnace falls silent for a moment and Ro pauses. Puzzled, she pans her light down at the ground under her feet.

Between the slats that she’s standing on, she sees pale skin and a familiar eye.

“Birgitte. Oh my god,” she says.

It’s like she’s hiding. Ro hurriedly pans her light around, eying the stacks of boxes and supplies. Lots of hiding places down here.

Should she call for the others?

Or ask Birgitte who she’s hiding from?