16

Bjorn was happy to find Ante busy frying eggs and sausages in the kitchen. There was something about the man´s simple down to earth being that made Bjorn feel relaxed just seeing him do his morning routine over by the stove. Ante handed Bjorn a plate with two eggs, three sausages and baked beans, while commenting on Bjorn´s early arrival for breakfast, telling him how happy John will be to see him early in the check point office, which Ante referred to as the glass cage.

"He is probably hungry, and eager to get you up to speed on the little routines out there so that he can come in from the night shift," Ante continued, before going on to suggest that Bjorn take a thermos of coffee, or some other hot drink with him to help him while away the hours.

Bjorn ate his breakfast quickly, and was already on his way out with a thermos of steaming hot coffee, when Thomas and Espen appeared in the dining room kitchen. He greeted them briefly on his way out and felt a great sense of relief as he got out in the cold, only wearing is army sweater as protection against the weather. However, temperatures were a great deal warmer that morning, and he was told by Ante that the glass cage was heated, so no jacket was needed.

In fact, only the coldest winter days required a jacket in the glass office, and even then, some preferred to stick with just wearing a sweater, rather than wearing a bulky coat. And a relatively mild spring day was certainly not an occasion to dress up as if it was the middle of winter.

Bjorn hurried over to the check point office, eager to get started, and finally get settled into what would soon be his daily routines. John was happy to see Bjorn a full half hour early, but was no less eager to go off to breakfast as soon as possible, and gave Bjorn a very quick introduction to the tasks required by him for his guard duty.

He showed Bjorn the little control panel with buttons to open and close the barriers on either side of the glass cage, and he pointed out the alarm button and hotline phone which could communicate either directly with Frank, or function as an intercom through which emergency messages could be broadcasted alongside the alarm.

Finally, John handed Bjorn the key to the gun rack on the wall behind them, reminding Bjorn that he should not take out the gun for anything but self defence. "The check point is only a barrier and not a defensive military position," John continued, repeating the instructions Bjorn had already received in Oslo, before leaving for the arctic. "If there is a revolt in the colony, the checkpoint should be vacated, the army proper should be contacted, and any fighting should be left to properly armed personnel further up the valley to Neiden."