Chapter 1
Prologue
"Good morning, Nutarniq!"
This sentence was heard almost every morning in the small, icy Northern Alaskan town of Nutarniq. At 8 a.m. sharp, the cheerful voice of radio broadcaster Olivia Mathers would flutter into the radios scattered across the scarcely populated town. In the local diner, the volume would be turned up for the national news and people would enter and listen. Talk was idle, and the radio seemed to be the most important thing around, aside from the breakfast special, that is.
And of course, the radio was extremely important. The town was home to a good 100 people, give or take a few. As a town, it was barely recognized on a map due to its unimportant residence in the high North of Alaska. The town was so remote, the closest mall was located 49 miles south in the larger city of Martotok.
The only way news came in or out was by the radio.
On the outskirts of town, a small building with a large cell tower waned in the unwary presence of a large snowdrift. The building look relatively old, with peeling red paint and frozen guywires connected to the cell tower. The door looked as if it was made of heavy steel, with an industrial handle. The paint on the handle was worn off due to the many times it had been gripped, turned, locked and even jammed.
For five years straight, Olivia Mathers and her co-worker Eric Segla have been providing the small town of Nutarniq with information from this shabby building.
But on that day, unlike any other morning, a good portion of the locals were gathered in the small diner that resided in the center of town. Children drank orange juice from their sippy cups while adults clutched warm mugs of coffee. Pancakes flopped onto plates and waffles were covered in maple syrup (maple syrup that traveled a good distance to end up in the diner, mind you) while local Inuits spoke in their graceful language and others simply said hello.
But, they were all waiting.
It was 7:58 in the morning on January 6th, the day that marked Olivia's 2,190th broadcast. January 6th was the day she first started airing, five years ago. The day that that many of locals have been waiting to celebrate for, well, five years.
At 7:59, Olivia was re-reading her papers. Ten seconds later, Eric joined her and handed her a mug of coffee. Her fingers twitched over the 'On Air' button as she adjusted the mic in front of her. She glanced at the analog clock above the door and as the second hand flickered over the twelve, the red button was pushed.
As the radio crackled on, the whole diner was ushered into silence.
She was live.
"Good morning, Nutarniq!"