Giants of the Frost Read Online Free Page A

temporary insanity resulting in kleptomania. Gunnar said, "You really are an incurable skeptic, aren't you?"
    "The Queen of the Skeptics," I said with a royal wave.
    "Life on Othinsey may very well dethrone you, your highness," he said, smiling.
    "I doubt it."
    He shrugged. "It's cold. Let's go back to the sheltered side of the island."
    "Let's." I followed him into the trees and we made our way back to the station. Gunnar told me about his holiday plans—he was going to Amsterdam with some friends from Oslo—and I resigned myself to five days of thesis-writing before turning up to work again for more endless synoptic observations and data recordings. The near future seemed pointless, and I realized that if I hadn't caught Adam out, I would have been marrying him this coming weekend.
    Gunnar sailed off on the Jonsok and I spent the rest of my long, long weekend decompressing in my cabin. A package from my mother came on the supply boat—I had phoned her on day two to ask for my bedspread and a few other things out of my bedroom—and I managed to make my new space a little more appealing. I spent one crazed, furtive morning writing a long letter to Adam about how glad I was that we weren't married, then tore it up before I was insane enough to send it. I worked on deciphering my stained field notes to write up my thesis and, best of all, I slept. I liked Othinsey a lot better when I wasn't witnessing it at 3:00 a.m.
    My first day back at work commenced with the dullest staff meeting in recorded history. Magnus set the mood with an eye-wateringly long rundown about how important certain matters of administration were. I spent most of it counting the number of people in the room (seven—Gunnar was away and Maryanne didn't usually attend staff meetings); calculating the number of fingers and toes in the room (139—Carsten was missing the pinky off his left hand); and coming up with an average number of digits per person (19.857142 recurring). Then each staff member in turn had an opportunity to discuss problems they had faced in the last month. I began to draw spaceships in the corner of my notebook. By the time it was my turn to contribute, I had an entire starfleet capable of neutralizing humankind once and for all. •
    "I have nothing to add," I said. "I'm slowly grasping the basics of the work." Magnus glanced at his diary. "Hmm. Well, by the end of the month we'll be relying on you to have more than the basics. You're on duty solo from Wednesday the twenty-eighth until the following Wednesday."
    "Why's that?"
    "The World Meteorology and Climatology Conference is on in Switzerland. All the other meteorologists are going. I have to attend as I'm receiving an award. Gunnar's been working on a temporary automatic data collection schedule, but you'll have to launch the balloons and do as many synoptic reports as you can during waking hours."
    I wondered if Magnus had factored my insomnia into his plans. Based on his behavior so far, it wouldn't surprise me. "Do I have to get up every three hours?"
    "No, no. Unless there's something unusual going on, like a storm. I know it's a lot to expect of you, but it's unavoidable. You don't have to keep regular hours. As long as the balloons go up and the Institute gets some figures from time to time. If you get into trouble, Frida and Carsten are here to help."
    "No, we're not," Frida said, tapping her diary with her pen. "Remember? Carsten and I are going to my sister's wedding in Bergen."
    How ghastly: Frida and Carsten were a couple. He was at least twice her age. Why hadn't Gunnar told me this juicy tidbit? Boys never understand the importance of gossip.
    A frown crossed Magnus's brow. "Is that this month? I'm sorry, I forgot." I worked it out before Magnus said it. With all the meteorologists away, Gunnar still on holidays, and Frida and Carsten off the scene, that left Maryanne and me on the island alone for a week. I started devising ways to get rid of Maryanne too. The