Free The Arctic Code by Matthew J. Kirby

and with a backward glance that would probably have been a glare, she marched out of the plane.
    Eleanor felt a sudden, violent shiver. Back in Phoenix, she thought she knew cold. But this Alaskan cold had moved its assault from her face to the rest of her body, as if determined to make sure she knew it was something else entirely.
    â€œYou need a mask,” Luke said. “Did you bring one?”
    Eleanor nodded.
    â€œWell, don’t just stand there like a fool. Go get it.”
    Eleanor hurried to her pack, pulled out the mask, and put it on, just as she’d practiced. Her face warmed a little, which felt better, but the biggest difference was the air. It no longer bit on its way into her lungs.
    â€œBetter?” Luke asked.
    â€œBetter.” Her voice had taken on that same metallic muffle.
    â€œGood,” he said. “Now get off my plane. This is as far as you go.”
    â€œWhat?” Eleanor almost laughed. He couldn’t be serious.
    â€œYou heard me.” He firmed up his stance. “End of the line. Off. Now.”

CHAPTER
8
    â€œL UCIUS F OURNIER !” B ETTY HAD COME BACK INTO THE cargo hold. “You are not leaving her stranded here.”
    Lucius?
    â€œBetter here than stranded in Barrow,” he said.
    â€œI won’t be stranded,” Eleanor said. “My mom is there.”
    Luke stared at her a moment through the dark lenses of his mask. “Your mom is in Barrow?”
    Eleanor hesitated before answering. “Close to Barrow, yes. That’s what I’ve been trying—”
    â€œWhy the devil is your mom in Barrow?”
    â€œShe’s a geologist,” Eleanor said. “She works for an oil company.”
    Luke turned toward Betty.
    The woman put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “Don’t look at me that way. You’ve only got one choice here, and you know it.”
    Another moment passed, and then Luke flipped both hands in the air. “Fine. Betty, get your crap off my plane. Kid, let’s go.” He stalked away through the hold.
    Eleanor turned to Betty. “Do you need help?”
    Betty laughed. “Not as much as you will once this plane takes off. But don’t let him fool you. Luke is a good guy underneath all that, and that’s a rare thing up here. You better get going, though, unless you want to stay back here for the rest of the flight.”
    â€œThanks.” Eleanor grabbed up her pack and followed after Luke. She found him waiting at the bottom of the ramp.
    â€œThat all you brought?” he asked.
    Eleanor nodded. Then she looked around. She was now immersed in the sea of ice she’d seen from the plane, the sheet flat and unending to the horizon on all sides. They were on an airfield, but the buildings and hangars looked more like battered bunkers. Everyvehicle Eleanor saw had tank treads instead of wheels. Every person she saw moving around wore layers and layers of armor against the cold and walked with head and shoulders down. Their appearance created the impression that Fairbanks was a city at war, under constant siege from the cold and the ice.
    â€œThis way.” Luke led her to the front of the plane, then up a motorized staircase.
    Eleanor followed him up and through the door into the cabin.
    There were three rows of passenger seats, four to a row, two on each side of the aisle. Luke pulled the door closed, latched it with a big lever, and removed his mask. Then he ducked into the open cockpit at the front and took the pilot’s seat.
    â€œSit anywhere you want,” he called over his shoulder as he stretched a headset over his ears.
    â€œOkay.” Eleanor took off her mask, replaced it in her pack, and tossed the pack into one of the seats. Then she climbed up into the cockpit and slipped into the copilot’s chair beside Luke.
    He lifted an eyebrow at her. “What are you doing?”
    She buckled in. “You told me to sit anywhere I