Chapter 94 - The Prelude to Thunder

​Friday dawned in Ottawa covered by a dense layer of gray clouds that presaged the first great snowstorm of the Canadian winter. Inside the TD Place Arena, however, the climate did not depend on the exterior atmosphere, but on the implacable countdown marking the start of the men's short program. By six o'clock in the evening, the complex's hallways were a hive of regulated activity: television technicians adjusting the positions of high-definition cameras, ISU judges walking with rigid folders toward their climate-controlled suites, and security officials jealously guarding the access points to the final flight's locker rooms.