Hawker stayed with Green, while Symington and Belilo were each a hundred meters away in different directions. As night approached, Hawker huddled with his friend for warmth, whispering quietly the story of what had happened so far. He wasn’t sure how much of the tale Green could comprehend, but there were occasional flashes of awareness in the other’s eyes that reassured Hawker he was doing the right thing.
With the coming of night, the temperature dropped severely. Hawker’s uniform was specially constructed for temperature control, but he could do little for his hands and face. He checked to make sure the controls on Green’s borrowed uniform were working correctly; he didn’t want to have gone through all this trouble only to have his friend die of exposure.
After about three hours, with
