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Page 385
rose and quietly prepared to leave the tent, pulling on his USAF parka and a new set of the awkward paper suit and boots. It's too late for me, he thought, but I should wear them to spare my tentmates the same type of death. This was an odd hour for a meeting, but then, the press plane left in three hours. Marchenka probably had chosen it because it was the only convenient time for her. He stepped out into the arctic night.
The fall of wet sleet and soft snow had stopped, and the sky was partially clear of clouds. Thank God for that, he thought. The first good sign. The plane could land more easily. He felt a little ray of hope. Arctic stars shone with a peculiar winter intensity. The drifting clouds parted, and Orion the Hunter dominated the zenith, his belt of diamondsthe birthplace of stars, the astronomers saidglittered with a hard, cruel light. For a moment Karmann stood with upraised eyes, looking at the starshot vastness. How easy it was at such a moment to assess the works of man at their true value. He stood as in a dream staring into a past so distant he had no means to estimate it. The light striking his eyes had left the dimmer stars a million years ago. In the presence of such grandeur, how could he, or anyone, believe that what was happening here was important?
He walked slowly down to the makeshift dock at the water's edge. Out at the anchorage, the sodium vapor deck lights of the Trudeau and the working platform gleamed bright yellow, out of place on that icy sea. A Canadian sailor on guard stepped from his shelter and challenged him. ''Who is it?'' Then, recognizing him as the camp's weird "tame Russian," he said in surprise, "You're up very late, Dr. Karmann."
"I need ride to icebreaker." He knew better than that. "I need a ride to the icebreaker," Karmann said carefully.
The man said doubtfully, "Nothing's going to begin out there for another two hours. Everyone's worn themselves out clearing the missile for the divers."
"I need to go there, please," Arkady insisted. "I have re-

 
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