Last of the rational actors at the end of the unnatural world

THE BLIZZARD WAS expected to last two more days and, as the sun wouldn't rise for another thirteen, the phrase 'dark and stormy night' definitely applied - even if the sense of midwinter gothic was heightened by events elsewhere and discussions about something far more serious than weather. The prospect of ending it all had been mooted during the annual midwinter feast, causing serious dissension amid the traditional costumery and viewing of The Thing. Perhaps too much bootleg liquor had been consumed. Or maybe it was just that the monster was supposed to be inside the station, where it could be contained, for why else have a base in the first place? But there it was and here they were – handpicked for health and sanity, as everyone who worked in the station had ever been; debating mass suicide like entirely reasonable people, which they remained even under the circumstances.