The final night before abandoning the north coast's medical bunker failed to bring the rest the team so desperately needed for the long journey to Ottawa. At three in the morning, the cabin remained plunged in a dense penumbra, but the master bed of the rehabilitation suite stood empty. The subtle, distant, and rhythmic echo of a pair of blades striking the ice in the distance betrayed Bek's location. Sleep had entirely eluded him; every time he closed his eyes, the images from the cafeteria by the large window projected in his mind like a choreographic nightmare.
