Home again

 

After hearing Larry’s warning Mac wakes with a start and gets dressed immediately.  After a short conference Larry gets to work gathering intel.  You take a few maps, one personal log and a couple of souveniers (the pocket knife and ball cap with the CSA logo) for evidence.  You make sure to secure the parts of the probe that you came for and strap them to an improvsed sled.  Then you look for flammables.  The camp has a propane heater that suits your purposes.  You turn it on, set some clothes on fire in the other corner of the tent, and head out.

 

The walk back is a slow one, and dragging the heavy probe doesn’t help.  You are able to locate your camp in the near-darkness, but the wind and the cold make communication and orienteering difficult. Adding to the difficulty, your previous trail has been wiped clean by the wind and landmarks are sparse.

You collapse into your tent and get the heat going.  After a couple of hours Larry notices that his toes aren’t moving well.  You suspect frostbite in at least one of them.  Not wanting to risk further injury Mac takes the lion’s share of the watches.  While you’d prefer to both stay in the tent the risk of your adversaries coming back is too great.  Mac burrows out a small igloo to shelter him from the wind that looks out in the direction you came from.  You pass the next 36 hours in this miserable way. You leave behind some gear (rifles, camp stove, etc) as you heft the heavy parts of the probe into your packs and over your shoulders.  You watch the timers on your synchronized watches count down together and after the brilliant flash of light you are back in the lab.

Lab Techs in environmental suits greet you as you find yourselves standing on the Gate (thankfully, both conscious).  You are told to strip and are headed to a decontamination cell.  You are de-loused and will be kept in quarantine for three days.  You are separated and the questioning begins after you get some sleep.

The doctor looks at Larry’s toes and says that frostbite has set in on his left foot.  The smallest toe will likely have to be amptutated.   Larry is put under anthestesia while still in quarantine and a surgeon in white biohazard suit removes the smallest toe on his left foot.

 

Mac is still conscious and so spends the next three days telling his story over and over and over.  Every minute detail is explained. After Larry recovers he is subjected to the same.  About a week later you finally see each other again.

Col. Hodgeson debriefs you both and praises your work on the mission.  Your information was unexpected and valuable (though he doesn’t say how).

Due to the fact that Larry will need some rehab, you’re going to be given three months off between missions.  How would you like to spend them?  Larry will need to stay in the immediate area for at least 8 weeks, as he has rehab he must attend.  You are both instructed to do some more homework around physics and continue to work on your German. Other than that, the time is yours.  Remember that you are now flush with cash.  What ever will you do?