[OOC: Sorry for the length of this post, just moving us along. :)  ]<br/><br/>Rachel caught a few minutes of sleep. Afterward, Lucas relented enough on the uniform policy to allow her to wear heavy arctic gear, including coat, pants and boots, as long as she wore the costume underneath. Rachel was also supplied with heavy, polarized goggles and a hood.<br/><br/>Outside the weather had calmed somewhat, the wind subsiding. The temperature was still bone-numbing, but Rachel hadn't realized just how violent the wind had been until it was gone.<br/><br/>She, and the other team members, were fixed up with harnesses strapped around their chest and waist with a hook in the middle.<br/><br/>"We'll all be hooked to a wire," Maria said. She was decked out in full arctic gear, her face hidden behind thick goggles and a hood. She pointed to a large winch and generator with six separate cables protruding from it. "The wire will slowly let out, allowing us to make our way down."<br/><br/>The clouds had parted somewhat, revealing blue sky and the brilliant sun. The goggles were a necessity; with a landscape of all white snow and ice, the sun's rays reflected sharply, making it difficult to see without protection.<br/><br/>Deter stood at a pile of duffel bags full of equipment, hooking a net around them with the help of several base crew members. These were to be lowered along on its own wire. Deter was dressed the same as Maria. Lewis stood about, wearing her coat and goggles. However, her leather clad legs lacked any extra protection, and she seemed untroubled by the cold.<br/><br/>"Ready?" a woman's voiced asked. Rachel turned to see a fifth member of their team, Dr. Parker, in full arctic regalia.<br/><br/>"I wasn't aware you were going, Dr. Parker?" Lucas said. He stood beside Rachel, shivering in his own thick suit. He wasn't going down the hole, but he was keeping an eye on operations.<br/><br/>"Yes, I want ..." Dr. Parker began, interuppted by a yell.<br/><br/>"Schauen sie heraus!," the German-speaking Deter cried, staring toward the chasm.<br/><br/>One of the base crew members was walking perilously close to the edge of the drop-off. He looked up as Deter called, then the ice broke beneath his feet. With a cry, the man fell into the chasm.<br/><br/><br/><br/>