SSSD - Samples

“Can we talk about what we found in the ice?” Alison asks bluntly, looking back and forth between Julie and Signe. “What was that? I couldn’t see it clearly, but you guys obviously know what it is.”

Signe’s reaction is little more than a mild look on her face, but Alison senses apprehension and annoyance, although they are not very strong. Signe isn’t really mad; she’d just prefer it if Alison hadn’t noticed anything.

Julie is likewise annoyed, a little more strongly, but not at Alison. Something else is bugging her. Is it the stuff in the ice? Or the tension with Linda and Golda? That’s not clear.

“It is metal,” Signe says finally. “Unusual metal.”

“How unusual?” Alison asks. “Unusual in what way?”

There’s silence. Julie and Signe are looking at each other again.

“That is difficult to explain,” Julie says finally. Is that a refusal to try?

“Can you try?” Alison presses.

“Rare metal samples are in the care of Linda,” Signe says firmly. “It is separate from our work.”

The locked lab. Alison isn’t stupid. She cocks her head and peers suspiciously at Julie.

“Those samples that were missing from our records. Linda took them. That’s why you weren’t worried about them,” she says.

Julie nods.

“But you’re mad,” Alison notes.

Signe snorts and Julie smiles bitterly.

“Golda and Linda have something on the side.”

Signe sighs. “There is a certain scientific curiosity,” she says slowly, selecting her words in English carefully.

“They’re cutting you out. Why?” Alison’s eyes widen. “Is that why Niv is here? Some secret shit going on?”

Signe and Julie just look at her. Right. They can’t confirm or deny anything, especially since they probably don’t officially know. It’s starting to make sense. Rare metals are super important to the global economy, especially when it comes to making chips and stuff. Meanwhile, Norway is super rich because they just have the good luck to be sitting on tons of valuable resources.

But nobody owns this place or these resources. Golda is starting to make more sense; she has a science background, but she’s not a scientist. She’s more like a CEO. Norway’s understandably trying to control the flow of information, not just for scientific purposes, but economic ones as well. If there’s something valuable here, they want to make sure that they’re the ones to benefit from it.

Well, Alison is on board with that.

“OK,” she says, giving the two scientists a reassuring smile. “I think I understand.”

Under the blanket, Julie puts her hand on Alison’s thigh.

“The sample,” she says, shooting Signe a look.

Signe grins. “The sample,” she confirms.

They both look expectantly at Alison.

Right. Right. These two are scientists. They couldn’t care less about the economic implications of whatever’s going on. They care about the climate and knowledge. They aren’t annoyed at being left out of the project because of prestige or glory; they just want to know what’s going on.

“We only found one sample,” Alison confirms. “Just the one.”

Julie and Signe both look approving. They want that second sample for themselves, and Alison can respect that.

“Good,” Signe says, uncapping the vodka. She takes a drink and offers it to Alison. Not wanting to look like a wimp, Alison takes a small pull. It’s fiery and frankly tastes foul, but she manages not to make a face. She hands it to Julie, who rolls her eyes, then drinks as well.

Alison feels better. She has some context for what’s going on.

Then she notices that she can’t see through the windshield anymore. The condensation inside has begun to freeze. The temperature in the snowcat is dropping fast. Yesterday, she leaned into over-the-top CCL vibes to achieve a certain goal. This is different.

“Guys,” she says, and her breath comes out in a cloud. “Are we going to talk about efficient heat transfer? How long are we going to be here?”

Signe and Julie exchange a look. They aren’t afraid, but there’s a certain resignation in place. They both have doctorates; it’s not as though they don’t understand basic physics as well as an undergrad does.

“You are right,” Signe says. What follows is equal parts awkward and hilarious. They have to take the blanket off, and three people trying to undress in such a small space is comedy gold. With all the bumping and struggling, it’s the first time that Alison has seen Julie properly smile and even laugh. It’s a long, difficult two or three minutes before they’re back under the blanket. Alison was planning to go fully nude on CCL principle, but she backed off that when she saw that the two Norwegians were stopping at underwear, logically.

Now, there’s plenty of skin contact and though it takes a moment to defrost the freezing that occurred while the blanket was off, things are quite toasty between the three of them. The Norwegians are utterly unconcerned with the closeness; nudity and contact are not inherently sexual for them the way that they are for Alison.

Pragmatism has its time and place, and this is that time and that place. At the same time, it’s not as though there’s anything else going on. Alison isn’t shameless enough to act like a boxer in a hot tub with strippers, but it’s only logical to share heat properly.

Should she snuggle Julie? Or Signe?