At the same time.
On the other side of Earth, in the Arctic Circle, three hundred kilometers north of Greenland.
The polar-night winds sliced through the white wasteland of death like icy blades. The temperature was approaching fifty below zero, and every exhaled breath instantly froze into ice crystals on their masks.
"Ma'am! Wind speeds have exceeded force twelve! The blizzard is getting worse! The helicopters can't take off or land, and we're about to lose our supply line!"
Inside a huge, specially designed stormproof tent, a communications officer shouted into his headset, trying to drown out the deafening wind outside.
Maria Hill stood in heavy polar gear, both hands braced on a holographic tactical table. Static had left her neat, short hair somewhat disheveled, but her sharp eyes remained fixed on the ground-penetrating radar scan on the screen.
"If the supplies stop coming, eat compressed biscuits! If the helicopters can't fly, haul everything in on tracked vehicles!" Hill's voice was colder than the blizzard outside. "Director Fury gave us an absolute order. Even if we have to turn this entire ice sheet upside down, we will find the target!"
"But ma'am, we've been digging here for three months!" The technical supervisor beside her rubbed his frozen hands, his voice trembling. "All we've found is ice and walrus bones. What exactly does the director want us to find? Some broken-down World War II submarine?"
Hill whipped her head around, her gaze cutting across the technical supervisor's face like a knife.
"You don't have clearance to know the objective. All you need to tell me is whether the deep scan results for Sector Three are ready."
The technical supervisor swallowed and hurriedly tapped a few keys.
"They are. But... the data is strange." He pointed to a blurred red shadow on