Midnight Sun (39 page)

“
I
’
m
supposed
to
walk
to
the
end
of
section
seven
on
rounds.
”

“
Finish
it
later.
I
gotta
take
a
crap.
”

“
Again?
”
said
the
guard
with
a
voice
that
was
half
chuckle,
half
exasperation.
“
What
did
you
eat,
bro?
”

“
My
wife
is
trying
to
make
me
healthy,
”
said
the
distant
voice.
“
All
these
damned
vegetables
she
keeps
forcing
down
me,
I
think
she
plans
for
me
to
shit
myself
thin.
”

“Sucks to be you, dude
,
”
said
the
guard
with
a
slight
laugh.
“
All righty
though,
I'm
on
the
way.
”

The
guard
trotted
away
at
a
jog,
his
footsteps
making
a
high-pitched
rythmic
scratch
as
he
crossed
the
gravel
lot.
The
sound
of
his
steps
faded
until
the
ambient
noise
of
the
port
was
the
only
sound
that
rumbled
in
the
distance. An
excruciating
silence
hung
around
the
building
as
Mike
and
Mojo
waited
till
they
were
sure
the
coast
was
clear.
They
went
back
to
the
fallen
tree
and
climbed
out,
returning
the
way
they
had
come.

Alaska Railroad Maintenance Yard

Anchorage

Monday,
June
20th

10:05
p.m.

Silence
lay
thick
like
a
blanket
around
the
warehouses
at
the
end
of
the
train
depot.
Pastel
shades
of
pink
colored
the
evening
sky,
sparkling
across
the
tight
cluster
of
glass
high-rise
hotels
in
the
distant
downtown
center.
It
was
after
ten
o'clock
and
the
sun
still
hung
above
the
horizon,
lulling
the
city
into
a
strange,
half-awake
feeling,
an
odd
combination
of
the
bright
intensity
of
early
evening
and
the
quietness
of
late
night.
The
angle
of
the
light
stretched
shadows,
creating
dark
crevasses
between
buildings
and
in
low
spots
on
the
ground.
In
a
few
hours,
sometime
around
midnight,
the
sun
would
descend
just
beneath
the
horizon,
rendering
the
sky
a
flat,
dull,
not-quite-twilight for several hours
as
it
circled
the
top
of
the
globe
and
rising
again
before
five
a.m.
to
full
brightness.

The
clank
and
scrape
of
rail
cars
on
tracks,
the
rumble
of
engines
and
the
voices
of
workmen
floated
from
the
distance
on
the
warm
evening
breeze
that
wafted
through
the
open
windows.
Neither
woman
was
a
stranger
to
spending
long
hours
in
places
just
like
this.
Surveillance
operations
were usually
little
more
than
long
periods
of
staying
awake
and
waiting
with
the
knowledge
that
what
you
were
waiting
for
was not likely to
happen
while
you
were
watching.

“
So.
”
Hilde's
voice
broke
the
silence.
“H
ow
did
you
and
Marcus
meet?
”