THIRTEEN
Jean deliberately turned his back on the storm outside. He preferred to be in the relative safety of McMurdo Station instead of the whiteout that had engulfed the rest of Ross Island. He wasn't the only one trapped in the station because of the bad weather – a bunch of scientists and technicians were due to replace the winter staff at the South Pole astrophysics station, which they all referred to as the Ice Cube. Jean wasn't sure if that was its actual name or some sort of nickname for whatever its official title was. Either way, they weren't happy to be stuck here instead of heading inland to start their research.
He'd joined them in drinking away their communal sorrows to the point where he was down to his last two bottles of whisky. If he didn't stop soon, he'd have nothing
