Arctic Thunder Read Online Free Page B

the winter when the sun stays below the horizon. I think it happens in December and January. Then it starts to get twilight and the sun comes back above the horizon. It gets light in the morning and afternoon this time of year, but not as strongly as it does once summer comes.”
    Mike glanced out the window again.
    â€œCan you see anything, honey?” Jeannie asked.
    It was snowing. Big, fluffy flakes swirled in the air outside the plane, making visibility almost impossible. Mike pressed his face as close to the window as he could and squinted, focusing on the ground below, but the utter whiteness of the world outside made his eyes sting. As the plane continued to lose altitude, the land started to take shape — more frozen lakes, more dwarf trees, more rocks, and more snow, a lot more snow.
    â€œThis is so exciting!” his mother gushed, gripping his arm and looking over her son’s shoulder. “What can you see, Mike?”
    â€œWell, Mom, I see this white stuff floating in the air. And I see this white stuff all over the ground.
    Oh, wait a second. Yeah, I was right. I see white stuff all around a lake that has this frozen stuff covering the surface.”
    â€œOh, stop it!” she said, feigning a light slap on his arm. “I bet that white stuff is full of snowmobile trails just waiting for you and your dad to explore.”
    Mike stared at his mother, a puzzled expression creasing the bridge of his nose. “But we don’t have a —” He stopped speaking when he noticed his mother’s smile broaden. Leaning forward, he glanced at his father, who nodded. “You mean we have a … a …”
    Ben laughed. “We have two snowmobiles.”
    â€œHoly crap!” Mike cried. “I thought you said you hated snowmobiling. Didn’t you say it’s a lazy man’s hobby and that only guys with big bellies who are too lazy to ski or skate and who love to drink litres of beer on the weekend like to skidoo?”
    â€œThis is different, Mike,” Ben said. “It’s not like a southern hobby here. We can snowmobile from our back door into the bush and take our pick of trails to hunt or just explore and watch caribou and other animals. And in the summer we can jump into our boat on the Mackenzie River and find some new channel to explore every time we go out.”
    Mike couldn’t contain himself. “Oh, my God. We don’t have two —”
    â€œNo, we’ll only have one boat, but it’s a pretty nice second-hand speedboat that I got from one of the other RCMP officers in Inuvik.”
    Mike grinned. Maybe, just maybe, this was going to be the adventure his father had promised.

CHAPTER 4
    T he thud of the plane making contact with the runway and the force of the brakes as the plane quickly decelerated forced Mike back into his seat, his head sinking into the cushion. A fine cloud of snow created by the jet engines blew up around the windows, highlighted by the brightness of the landing lights as the plane slowed down and prepared to taxi to the terminal. With the cabin lights dimmed, once the snow settled outside the plane Mike got a better view of his surroundings.
    There was a slight, pinkish-orange band of light across the sky. The light around the band of colour was powder blue, which wasn’t quite right as a description, though. Mike had trouble putting his finger on what was so different about the hue. He had never seen anything like its soft, misty, textured look. “Out of this world” came to mind. And given the fact they had just landed in Inuvik, Mike figured that might not be far off.
    If the terminal in Yellowknife was forty times smaller than the one in Edmonton, then this one was at least eighty times smaller. Mike watched as an airport worker swung two illuminated orange wands back and forth over his shoulders, directing the plane toward the building. He strained his neck, trying to see the front of the