Jove stretched out in bed, not tired, but lacking for much else to do. He'd seen some books in one of the other dorms, a fat stack of fantasy and sci-fi paperbacks, but he suspected if he started one he'd lose himself in a deeper state of escapism than he currently wanted.
He heard fast footsteps coming down the hallway and sat up. Kira was hurrying toward the entrance chamber, clearly with some kind of objective. Lacking much else to do, Jove got up and followed her.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"A flare went up about twenty miles from Termina, toward Port Sirius," she said. "It has to be Ryan. I wouldn't normally risk going out that far in this weather, but he wouldn't send up a flare unless he was in serious danger."
Jove frowned, remembering how low the visibility was outside. "How did you see it?"
"I didn't. Termina's sensors picked it up. Let Aster and Eve know that I should be back within two hours, three at the most."
She was already pulling on her outer layers. Jove shook his head.
"There's no way I'm letting you go alone," he said. "Regardless of what's going on."
"We can't all go," said Kira. "We don't even have four working snowmobiles here, at the moment."
"We don't all need to go," said Jove. "Just me and you. In case a crevasse pops out of nowhere."
His mother gave him an appraising look and slowly nodded. "Fine. But I'm leaving now. Start getting ready."
"What's going on?" Eve came into the hallway from the command center.
"I'm taking Jove with me to go find Ryan," said Kira. "You need to stay here."
"I wasn't offering to join you," said Eve, hugging her shoulders. "Still have a lingering chill from my earlier foray outside. Be safe."
He pulled on his snow gear and followed his mother into the entrance chamber. They went through the usual process, which once more reminded him of an airlock of sorts, and then they were outside.
The cold air and whipping wind reintroduced themselves to him with bitter intensity. Kira loped off toward the shed, moving with a haste that spoke of her concern for the missing scientist.
Jove felt conflicted as he again thought about what the relationship between his mother and Ryan must have been. He suspected they'd been close, which chafed at him for reasons he couldn't quite place. How close, exactly? The two of them, all alone for indefinite periods of time in Antarctica. He reeled in his imagination and focused on the snowmobiles.
"The block heaters didn't reset when the power came back on," muttered his mother. "Fuck. They aren't going to be easy to get started."
"We'll figure it out," he said.
One of the snowmobiles refused to start, one was still needing repairs, but the remaining two eventually purred to life after some repetitive coaxing. Kira pulled Jove in close and spoke against his ear over the sound of the engines.
"I'm going to go pretty fast," said Kira. "If you can't keep up, it's for the best that you turn back early."
He grabbed her elbow, not roughly, but making a point. "I already told you I'm not going to let you go alone. I'll keep up."
"I hope you do. Otherwise, please, Jovian… don't put yourself in danger."
"I won't."
He let go of her elbow, seeing that interesting edge of appraisal in her eyes again. She turned and looked off toward the horizon, and they both climbed onto their snowmobiles and set off.
Almost immediately Jove understood the cause for his mother's concern. Visibility was minimal. The sharp bite of the wind raked over any bare patch of skin on his body that it could find. He could see his mom's snowmobile ahead of him, but were he to lose sight of it, keeping any semblance of a sense of direction would be borderline impossible.
He imagined venting his complaints about the conditions to Eve, the mocking smile or dismissive barb she'd likely respond with. He didn't think he was too competitive with his sister, as his mom had said earlier that day. He was just sick of being compared to her in everything - usually unfavorably.
The extremities of his body slowly began to go numb as minutes passed by amidst the swirling, shapeless near-whiteout conditions. He knew his mother had said that she'd found Ryan's flare, but he found himself doubting whether that meant they'd be able to find him in practice. It was like setting out to sea on a rumor of an island, but no map, no certainty, no visible landmarks for direction.
He saw her wave an arm and then slow to a stop after they'd been riding for nearly an hour at a decent clip. Jove brought his snowmobile to rest next to hers. He could see disturbed snow ahead of them, along with a massive snowbank. Chunks of plastic, along with one broken snowmobile ski lay strewn across the ice.
"This is where the flare went up," said his mother, in a distracted voice. "Leave your snowmobile running. It'll save us from struggling to get them started again."
She immediately started jogging over to the snowbank. Jove followed behind her, joints stiff from the ride, hands and feet halfway numb. Any thought of his own condition was immediately forgotten when he saw the body in the snow.
Jove felt like he was watching himself in third person as he and his mother slowly made their way forward. Ryan lay curled in the fetal position, clearly dead.
Gashes marred his back and neck, frozen blood pooled underneath him, though not as much as Jove would have expected. Bits of insulation escaped his torn jacket and snow pants, dancing like dandelion seeds in the whipping wind.
Ryan's stiff, frostbitten fingers clutched his phone. Jove narrowed his eyes as he noticed numbers written in blood next to the body. He swore under his breath, mind reeling.
"How is this even possible?" he asked. "I didn't think there were any large predators in this area. There aren't, are there?"
Jove stared at Ryan's lifeless form, his mind struggling to comprehend the brutality of the scene before him. Kira's voice cut through the howling wind, her tone unnervingly calm.
"We'll have to set his body in a snowbank and leave a marker. It's the best burial we can give him in these circumstances." She knelt beside Ryan, gently touching his cheek with her fingers. "Those numbers are likely the lock code for his phone."
Her composure sent a chill through Jove, distinct from the biting Antarctic cold. How could she remain so collected in the face of such violence? It was only when he turned toward her that he noticed the tears welling in her eyes, freezing halfway down her reddened cheeks.
Without a word, Jove stepped forward and embraced his mother, pulling her tightly against his chest. Her stoic facade crumbled as she let out a single, silent sob, her body trembling in his arms.
"I'll handle the body," Jove murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "You don't have to see him like this anymore."
Kira nodded, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she drew a shuddering breath. "Thank you."