Once the world was big, and no man in his lifetime could circle it. But through the centuries, science has made man's lifetime bigger and the world smaller. Now the farthest corner of the Earth is as close as a pushbutton, and time has lost all meaning as manmade devices speed many, many times faster than sound itself. Here, near the top of the world, free men struggle with the elements to create some measure of defense to protect that selfsame freedom.