By evening, Bruce had made his way to Lapland, 1200 miles north of NordGen HQ. The landscape was a cross between the montane foothills of the Scandinavian Mountains and tundra. The taiga forests of pine, spruce, and larch met the tree line, giving way to shrubs of dwarf birch, willow, and grasslands. U-shaped glacial valleys carved out from the mountains framed Torneträsk, a former glacial lake. Beside the surrounding mountain peaks, there was no snow cover in the lower valleys, despite the subzero temperature. Now, in the middle of fall, the days were short, offering at most five hours of daylight.
The scientist who greeted him at the reception of the research station's main building introduced herself as Liselotte. She apprised Bruce she'd been the one working back late when Langstrom appeared. Liselotte was clear to Bruce she had little beyond this encounter to suggest where Kirk could be now but would help him. The research station consisted of the main building and a half-dozen other buildings. Beyond these were five field huts used for shelter and storage.
"Since we took the call from Dr. Romanenko earlier this morning," she said, "we've checked each of these facilities, with no sign of Langstrom."
The station had several vehicles, none of which Langstrom had taken. Liselotte suggested to Bruce she could go with him looking for Langstrom in the field, using the field huts as outposts. Besides the road next to the research station, she explained there were no others. Liselotte cast doubt on Kirk having arrived by vehicle in the first place. She suggested the greater likelihood was he'd arrived by train, which connected to Stockholm daily. South of the research station, she explained, was wilderness for hundreds of kilometers. There were sporadic outposts to access food or shelter, devoid of humans except intrepid hikers. To the immediate north and east of the research station, the Torneträsk lake stretched across 130 square miles. At a depth of 550 feet, were Kirk to have drowned, there'd be little hope of finding him.
If Kirk had managed to hitchhike, or board another train, the Norwegian border was only 20 miles away, the coast twice as far beyond it. Were he to have hitched a ride in the other direction, he could be anywhere between Abisko and the northernmost Swedish city of Kiruna.
Bruce accepted Liselotte's offer to join him in searching for Kirk. With little evidence Kirk had gone in any direction, Bruce opted to focus on the wilderness of the south. It seemed like a game of roulette to Bruce, with no option suggesting a better probability than another.
Bruce and Liselotte agreed to make use of the research station's helicopter and one of its pilots to make a reconnaissance. This occupied them for the first couple hours of the morning. The mountain wilderness south of the research station was in the opposite direction to the field huts. They prepared to camp overnight, were they to alight from the helicopter. The area was in a rain shadow. This protected it from harsh winds and precipitation by the Scandinavian Mountains. It also allowed for a milder climate given the latitude.
It seemed improbable Kirk could have traveled so far in under a week without preparation. They set the Akkajaure lake as the furthermost demarcation for their search, 60 miles away. If Kirk had kept to the valleys, rather than scaled any mountain ridges, it was possible he could've gotten this far. But the area was in isolation from the nearest roads, accessible only by experienced hikers. They would go as far as checking the handful of cabins around the Akkajaure shoreline, one of few habitations in the area.
If still empty-handed, Bruce could only try the roads to Kiruna and Norway. The hope would be Kirk's behavior might've made him conspicuous to the locals before the trail would run cold once more.
The helicopter cruised beside Sweden's highest peak, Kebnekaise, 25 miles south of the research station. Liselotte pointed out a bright red vest on the valley floor. This was the Langstrom had been wearing, she exclaimed to Bruce over the sound of the rotors.
"You're sure?" yelled Bruce in reply.
"Yes, I recognize the two yellow stripes along the side."
"Do you think we should set down here, and explore on foot?"
"Let's make use of the helicopter to explore a radius from this point," she yelled back.
The window of daylight would be working against them, twilight starting around 2pm until 9am the next morning.
There was another research station in Tarfala, a valley beside Kebnekaise. Liselotte said she could radio Tarfala from the helicopter, to see if they'd seen signs of Langstrom.
Bruce listened in on the exchange in Swedish. Liselotte affirmed the team in Tarfala had encountered Langstrom. She conferred with the helicopter pilot for several minutes in Swedish, then turned to Bruce.
"If we touch down here now, we must stay. The pilot said the valley experiences katabatic winds traveling down the mountain during sunset. At this elevation, they come off the snow field and glaciers flowing into the valley. The air cools quicker and becomes dense and heavy, sending the air down the mountainside much quicker. Sometimes it's only 10 knots, which is about 20 kilometers an hour. Other days it can be 100 knots or more, which is about 185 kilometers an hour. Our pilot's not a pro. He's one of our technicians at Abisko who supports the scientists. He's only used his pilot license to transport our staff to field sites. I agree, it's asking too much of him, and puts us all in danger."
Bruce understood, agreeing to set the helicopter down at the Tarfala Research Station. Liselotte radioed Tarfala, affirming the station could accommodate Liselotte and Bruce.
