Garner questioned the Baker Team their entire flight to Lan Su. He listened and made summary notes in a kind of informal debriefing, just to get a rough idea about what had happened to his men while they were missing in action.
By the time they landed at Lan Su, the base was shrouded in darkness and silent.
Garner didn’t stay with them but left again soon after, just as Trautman had ordered him to.
When they reached their quarters, the Baker Team dispersed, each to his own bunk quietly, and each still wearing their filthy clothing.
Krakauer and Danforth wasted no time diving straight onto their bunks, dirty clothes and all.
Unlike the others however, Delmore, Messner and Coletta went on to check the state of their equipment instead.
That’s when the mission felt, and was, finally over.
Even though that mission had been an unparalleled success, the Baker team B had at any rate, suffered two losses. Once you considered how close the team members were and the kind of team they were, those losses couldn’t be thought of as minor at all.
In reality, they were anything but minor.