The door was opened by a surprised looking dark haired man. “Who… Vergen? What are you doing out here?”
“It was about time to make a run through the weather stations up on the ice cap and Mytzi had a chance to get away, so we took the chance at a pre-Christmas family jolly.”
He stepped back from the door so they could enter. “Good for you. And nice to see you all.”
“Likewise. And what about you, Bob?”
“Oh, keeping on with things here,” he said as he closed the door behind them. There were half a dozen other people in the room lined with desks. In the middle was an open hole in the floor which led to a hole in the ice. Beside the hole sat a shiny metal device that several people were checking over.