Day Room

It was Barbie's turn on watch, and she stood by one of the slit windows at eye-level in the Day Room. The outside blackness was oppressive. Only the areas illuminated by the station's exterior lighting were visible. Everything else was pitch. It was hard to remain focused, but she did not want the rescue party to encounter the creature without warning.

If there was a rescue party.

There had to be a rescue party. April had reported the crash, which alone would have prompted Little America to send out an investigative team. And when her station went quiet, they would definitely have dispatched a crew. But where were they? It had been nearly five days.

Suddenly she stood up straighter and blinked. Leaning in closer, she cupped her hand over her face to block out the lights of the room.

"They are here!" she yelled as she saw the headlight beams of the approaching vehicles slicing through the night-time sky. "THEY ARE HERE!"

The other three women rushed into the Day Room from different directions, excited by their commander's words.

"Becky, open the garage doors," Barbie ordered as she hastily pulled on her parker, not taking time to zip and button it.

Her legs sank mid-calf in loose snow as she hurried towards the vehicles growing ever closer. Frantically she waved her arms and when the lead land rover pulled up next to her, the driver lowered his window and, shouting to be heard, asked, "Are you Lieutenant LeGrande?"

"I am," she answered, tugging open the rear door and climbing into the back seat. She pointed towards the square opening with the bright lights emitting from inside. "Park in the garage."

As he steered for the garage, he apologized for the delay in getting there, but snow storms had slowed them down. At one point they had to wait over twenty-four hours for a blizzard to subside.