The Arctic had changed in their lifetimes, the ice melting faster every year, creating new dangers in a place that was already unforgiving. The boat rocked gently as they moved about their tasks, a rhythm they had known since childhood.

It was a quiet morning, the kind that lulled a man into thinking that the sea was calm, that nothing could go wrong. Until all of a sudden, a sharp jerk rocked the boat. Jacob was the first to notice the shift, a sudden shudder that ran through the boat like an electric shock.