The engine quit. Just a last rattling sigh, then nothing. The Mikkelsen drifted the last little bit, nosing into the thick ice at the edge of the cove with a low groan. Then it stuck. The quiet after was so big it made her ears ring.
Elena sat at the wheel, her hands frozen to it. She waited. Listened. No wind for once. Just a deep, frozen silence. The boat wasn't moving again. This was it.
She'd been sailing through grey water and grey sky for days. Storms outside, storms in her head. And now here. Svalbard. The top of the world. It didn't look like a place for secrets. It looked dead. Black rock, white snow, white sky. Everything the same flat color. No sun. Just a dull grey light that didn't change.
Her body hurt. A deep ache from the cold and from never sleeping right. She stood up,
