Blood in Freezer Seven

[SFX: Polar wind. Metal door latch; generator hum]

NARRATOR: At Borealis Station, winter erased direction for one hundred days. Dr. Pavel Sorn disappeared on day thirty-two. His blood covered freezer seven, his tracker crossed the ice toward a crevasse, and the storm outside could kill a search team in six minutes.

MATEO RUSK: We wait for visibility.

KIRA SOL: His tracker is moving.

EDA LIN: Then he is alive.

VIK TORR: Or the tracker is not on him.

[SFX: Fridge freezer door close. Metal tray sliding]

NARRATOR: Freezer seven stored thousand-year ice cores. One rack was empty. Blood pooled beneath it, but no footprints left the room. Jonah tested the stain.

JONAH REE: It is Pavel's blood, diluted with core meltwater. Too much water for an injury this size.

KIRA SOL: Someone made a scene with a sample.

NARRATOR: The moving tracker stopped three kilometers away, exactly where Borealis kept its autonomous freight sled. The sled sent one final status: PAYLOAD DELIVERED.