Antarctica

<--Previous Chapter|Next Chapter-->

Chapter One

Gigantic waves crashed against a wall of crystal blue ice. The ocean rolled and heaved with incredible force, powerful enough to crush ships into driftwood. Waves slammed into the ice cliffs with a deafening roar, spraying water and foam fifty feet high, to splash upon the vast sheet of ice raised above the churning waters. It did not seem possible that such a violent scene could exist on Earth. It might as well have been a view of some distant moon of Jupiter, or a planet of ice in some far away galaxy.

High above the swirling maelstrom, nothing but a tiny speck in the sky, flew a single-engine, four-seat airplane. It wobbled and rocked uncertainly against the buffeting wind, the buzzing sound of its propeller drowned out by the roaring ocean below. Ice had formed on the wings and frost lined the edges of the small windshield. The plane made its way over the edge of the cliffs, gratefully leaving the ocean behind as it began its descent to solid ground. They had reached Antarctica.

The entire horizon was nothing but a flat landscape of pure white. The pilot had to shield his eyes against the glare as he checked his controls. According to his instruments, the plane was still on course, but he couldn’t see anything except an endless plain of ice and snow. Finally, he spotted his destination, almost gasping with relief at the sight. He made a slight adjustment as he calculated their rate of descent. There was no convenient runway lit with blinking lights for him to aim at, just a small cluster of buildings in the middle of literally nowhere.

The plane angled downward, roughly parallel to the line of buildings. It was hard to accurately judge the plane’s altitude above the ice by sight alone, but the pilot carefully positioned the plane and began his landing procedure.

He held his breath as the plane zoomed across the surface of the ice and the wheels touched down, bouncing once, then twice, before he managed to keep the plane on the ground. Using the brakes only made the wheels slide across the ice, risking the plane sliding out of control, so the pilot simply cut the engine and held the plane steady as it rolled to a stop on its own. When they finally stopped, he leaned forward in his seat and rested his head against the stick, mumbling a quiet prayer to himself.

A large mittened hand slapped down on his shoulder. “Excellent work, my good man!” came a jolly, booming voice. “Wonderful flying! You got us down safe and sound!”

The pilot, a man named Rawlings, nodded in tired agreement. He unbuckled his belt with trembling hands and moved to open the plane’s narrow door. A blast of freezing air whipped into the plane, and he had to squint against the bitter cold as he climbed out, hopping down to the ice. Bracing himself, Rawlings held out a hand to help his first passenger disembark.

Alexander Ashford stepped out of the plane and looked around with a beaming smile. There wasn’t much to look at except for a few buildings in the distance, but Alexander scanned the whole horizon with a curious eye. He stood with his hands on his hips and admired the scenery, like an explorer discovering a new land for the first time.

He stood a burly six-foot-two, and his already substantial frame was padded with a thick fur parka to keep the cold at bay. He was an Englishman down to the core, with typically pale skin, intense brown eyes, wispy light brown hair, and a thin mustache. Still grinning to himself, he slapped his hands together to warm them, and turned around to help his wife down from the plane.

Veronica Ashford was the visual opposite of her husband. Standing at a petite five-foot-one, she had an attractive round face with bright blue eyes, full lips, and long, luxurious brown hair that was currently wrapped up and tucked under her thick scarf. She stuck her mittened hands into the pockets of her thick purple coat and peered out around the barren sheet of ice.

“Well, here we are,” she said with a sigh. Her breath puffed out in a white cloud.

“Indeed,” Alexander replied.

Rawlings came over and said, “Sir? Do you want me to get your bags?”

Alexander pointed in the direction of the buildings. “Just a moment. Here comes our welcoming party. I’m sure they can take care of it.”

“I apologize for not landing closer, sir. I mean, with the ice and all.”

“Think nothing of it, my good man. I couldn’t have landed the plane better myself.”

Four people were walking across the ice, all bundled up in heavy coats, gloves, and wool caps. When they were within earshot, Alexander called out, “Ho, there! Is Shaw among you? I hope he’s not too busy to come out to greet us himself!”

The man in front lowered his hood and the black scarf wrapped around his face. He had a pair of hard gray eyes under heavy black eyebrows, and his face was grizzed and unshaven.

“Here I am, Alexander, you old fool.”

“Haha!’ Alexander barked, walking over to him. He shook Shaw’s hand forcefully and slapped him on the shoulder. “Jack, it’s good to see you, old chap! Damn good to see you!”

“And you as well, Alexander,” Jack Shaw replied in a more restrained tone. “Good to finally have you here. We’ve prepared for your arrival, but there’s tons of work to do, as I’m sure you know.”

“Of course, of course,” Alexander said. “We can deal with all of that later. You know I have total faith in you.” He turned and waved his hand at his wife, who was standing respectfully a few meters away. “Come, dear. Allow me to introduce you to my old partner, Jack Shaw. Or re-introduce you, I should say. Jack, you remember Veronica, I presume? You met at the Christmas Ball at the Knight’s Club, four or five years ago.”

“I remember,” Shaw said, taking Veronica’s hand. “Lady Ashford, a pleasure to see you again. I apologize for missing your wedding. I hope our little community here lives up to your expectations.”

“Thank you, Mr. Shaw,” Veronica replied. “I’m excited to finally be here. It’s been a long trip. I’m looking forward to getting to work.”

Shaw introduced the other three people with him: a biologist from Switzerland named Maurice Aubrey, and a pair of technicians from Argentina named Denis and Ricardo. Shaw referred to the Argentinians as “locals” as a droll kind of joke. Argentina was over one thousand kilometers away, but almost all of their supplies were shipped from there, and it was the closest thing they had to a local neighborhood.

Alexander introduced their pilot Rawlings and then slapped his hands together briskly. “All right, now that all the introductions are out of the way, how about we go inside and warm up? Rawlings, can you help Denis and Ricardo with our luggage?”

Shaw spoke up. “You’ll need to taxi the plane closer to our storage warehouse in order to refuel. You might as well park inside the hangar and unload from there.”

Rawlings seemed upset that he hadn’t thought of that himself. It had been a long flight and the difficult landing had rattled his nerves a bit. He nodded and said, “Yes, of course, that’s a good idea. I’ll bring the plane over.”

They left Rawlings to get the plane started, and began the trek back to the compound. Denis and Ricardo split off from the others and headed to the warehouse to meet the plane there.

It was bitterly cold and windy outside, the temperature hovering around -15 Celsius, but Alexander didn’t seem to even notice the cold. He was in a positively joyous mood as they marched across the ice. Holding onto Veronica’s hand, he pointed to the buildings. “That’s the main lab there, the large one. But that’s just the first stage of construction. We’re planning to expand it significantly next year. Isn’t that right, Jack?”

“Yes,” Shaw replied through his scarf, which he had returned to his face. “There are several additions planned. That’s why the buildings are spread out the way they are.”

The entire compound consisted of five completed structures and three that were still being built. The main building was the central hub, two stories tall, complete with fully-functioning biological and chemical laboratories with a wide variety of scientific equipment. There was also a secondary lab building with more advanced capabilities for studying the special qualities of the biological samples the lab would be dealing with. Next to that was a small square structure which housed a special vault for their biological samples. A long rectangular building off to the side of the labs served as living quarters for all the current staff, but there were enough rooms for double that number.

The largest building was a combination warehouse, plane hangar, and vehicle storage facility, where much of their equipment and supplies were located, including most of the construction machinery. Under construction was another lab building, a second storage area, and a communal building for recreational activities. All around the entire compound area were signs of the construction, including vehicles like backhoes and small cranes, with piles of metal scaffolding and long stacks of lumber. Everything at the entire site had been flown there from South America.

Veronica looked around with a calculating expression and finally nodded her approval. “Very impressive. I had honestly expected less. You’ve done an admirable job, Mr. Shaw, given the obvious difficulties.”

“Thank you. And please, you may call me Jack.”

“Do you want to to go our quarters first?” Alexander asked. “It’s already been quite a long day. Perhaps we could take lunch while Jack brings us up to speed about all the work they’ve been doing.”

“Not yet,” Veronica said, already heading towards the main building. “I want to see the lab.”

Alexander smiled. “Of course, my dear.”

Once they were inside, Shaw directed them to a side room where they could hang their coats and take off their boots. Aside from the entrances and main foyer, no one wore their outside footwear in the building, or else they would track water everywhere. It was only marginally warmer inside than outside, so most of them wore long-sleeve shirts or even thin jackets underneath their lab coats. Alexander and Veronica had not brought other shoes with them, but there were a few pairs of extra slippers available.

“We’re working on improving the heating system here,” Shaw said. “The furnace in this building sadly isn’t up to the task. You’ll be happy to know we have a different one installed in the residential building, so it’s not nearly as chilly there.”

Maurice Aubrey, the Swiss biologist, served as their tour guide. He was happy to take the lead and show Veronica the layout of the labs. He was a very thin and lanky man with round glasses, and he spoke with a slight British accent even though he was Swiss. Both Alexander and Veronica, being British themselves, liked him right away.

“Most of the equipment has been tested and calibrated,” Aubrey said, showing them several rows of chemical analyzers and diagnostic scanners. “Right now we only have a small staff, of course, but we’ve already started some initial testing. Nothing too complicated. We wanted to wait until you were on site before we got into the more advanced work.”

Veronica nodded and looked over the equipment, most of which was still almost brand new. In the corner of the room were a few crates of equipment that hadn’t even been opened yet. As she walked around and checked to see what they had, Alexander could see her eyes sparkling with the possibilities.

“There’s just six of you, is that right?” she asked.

Aubrey nodded. His glasses slid partway down his nose and he pushed them back up. “Yes, myself and five others.”

“In your opinion, how many more people do we need for a full research staff?”

“My opinion?” Aubrey said, perhaps surprised he was being asked. “Well, I think if we had four teams of five researchers each, that would give us a lot of room for different projects. Plus a leader for each team to coordinate the lines of research.”

Veronica turned to Alexander. “Do you think that’s feasible? Can this facility staff that many? I don’t mean our physical capabilities here, I mean actually hiring an additional fifteen to twenty people?”

“It would take time,” Alexander admitted. “Surely not within a year.”

“There’s also the supply issue,” Shaw pointed out. “Right now, we’re doing fine, but the more people we bring in, the more shipments we’ll need. We’re relying on local contractors to bring in what we need, but I think we should consider developing a real transport system, complete with our own planes and pilots.”

“I’ll talk to the other board members,” Alexander said, scratching thoughtfully at his cheek. “I think we’ll have to bring in some revenue before they agree to more funding. Our first priority should be completing the construction we’ve begun, and then increasing staff.”

Veronica seemed to accept that as an answer, and turned back to Aubrey. “Okay, let’s see the rest of the lab. I want to see how you arranged the preliminary examination systems. Also, I’d like to see the current supervision flowchart.”

“Certainly,” Aubrey said, leading them down another hallway. There were some small conference rooms complete with blackboards and overhead projectors, a number of supply rooms, and several small offices.

They went through half a dozen lab areas, with Veronica asking pointed questions and Aubrey giving quick and knowledgeable answers. For the time being, they kept to the ground floor, as the second floor was not fully furnished and most of the rooms were currently empty.

In one of the labs, two scientists were going over some computer printouts. Aubrey introduced them as Roger Cartwright and Lewis Forsythe, two researchers from the United States. As Aubrey had explained, they were mostly working on setting up the equipment, and had not done very much in the way of actual research. Until now, they did not have anyone on site with the authority to decide exactly what work they would be doing.

Veronica looked down at the organizational flowchart she had requested. She rubbed her eyes for a moment and sighed, “The local day here is still Thursday, is that right? Forgive me, we’ve been traveling across so many time zones, I’m not sure what day it is.”

“Yes,” Aubrey confirmed. “Today is Thursday. The local time is half past one.”

“Okay. This afternoon I want to meet with the entire team. I would prefer to do it right now, to be honest, but I need to change out of these clothes and get something to eat. I want to get a few things ready today so we can start in earnest tomorrow.”

“There’s no hurry, my dear,” Alexander said smoothly. “We’ve only just arrived.”

Veronica looked at him and narrowed her eyes slightly, but her voice was light and there was a smirk on her lips. “There’s no time like the present, darling. I didn’t come all the way here just to procrastinate. There’s work to be done.”

Alexander chuckled knowingly and said, “Yes, dear, of course.”

“All right,” Veronica said, handing the flowchart back to Aubrey, “Please inform the others and set up a meeting for three o’clock, would you? We can meet in one of the conference rooms.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Aubrey hurried off to prepare for the meeting, while Alexander, Veronica, and Shaw made their way back to the main entrance. Shaw used the phone there and called the warehouse to check on the status of their luggage.

“Your pilot has decided to spent the evening here, and depart first thing in the morning,” he said as he entered the side room where Alexander and Veronica were putting their boots back on. “Seems he’s not eager to make that flight again right away. I don’t blame him. But I’ve been informed that your things will be in your room shortly.”

“Excellent,” Alexander said, hanging up his lab coat.

“The residential building has dining facilities, correct?” Veronica asked.

“Only a kitchen and a small cafeteria, I’m afraid. We don’t have a full-time cook, but I told Denis to get something ready for you. I would join you, but I already had lunch.”

Alexander said, “That’s fine, Jack. I’m sure you have plenty of work to keep you busy. How about you and I meet in your office in about an hour? You can get me up to speed while Veronica is busy with her meeting.”

“All right, I’ll see you then,” Shaw said with a nod, and then he added, “One more thing though. Don’t forget that this time of year, the sun doesn’t set. It’s going to take you both awhile to get accustomed to it. But we keep a pretty rigid schedule to make sure everyone sleeps and eats at around the same time. My advice is to take it easy for a few days until you’re settled in.”

“I understand,” Veronica said. “And thank you for the advice.”

They went back outside. It seemed even colder than before, although Alexander doubted the temperature had actually changed much. If there was one place on Earth that was not subject to the unpredictability of the weather, it was Antarctica. The entire continent was static and unchanging, like a place lost in time. There were many regions of the interior of the continent that didn’t even have names, where man had never travelled. Antarctica was the last truly unexplored place on the planet, which was why Alexander liked it.

He took Veronica’s hand as they walked across the compound to the living quarters. “Well,” he said, “I suppose there’s no going back now. You seemed satisfied with the laboratory. That’s good. And that man Aubrey seems to know his business. I know we just arrived, but all in all, I think that things here are progressing rather well. What do you think?”

“I’ll know more once I talk with the whole team,” Veronica said. “We’re obviously lacking in a number of fields. We have the equipment, but not the manpower. We don’t have enough scientists here, not nearly enough.”

“We’ll get everyone we need,” Alexander promised. “Once word gets out about the research we’re doing, we’ll have more than enough candidates willing to transfer.”

“I doubt that,” Veronica said with a quick shake of her head. “This is the last place on Earth anyone in their right mind would want to work at. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re still not fully-staffed five years from now.”

“Oh, surely it won’t take that long –”

“People want to spend time with their friends and families, Alexander. They want to go outside and take care of their garden. They want to head down to the pub after a long day at work. They can’t do any of that here. I think we’ll find very few scientists willing to work all the way down here in Antarctica. Frankly, I’m amazed we have six people already.”

“Don’t tell me you’re already having second thoughts,” Alexander said.

Veronica sighed and looked at him. “I know why you wanted to build here, darling. This lab is your dream project, but please remember that it’s not mine.”

“We had to built here –” Alexander started to say.

“We could have built in Finland,” Veronica interrupted. “Or Iceland, or Siberia, or northern Canada. Anywhere with a cold climate would be just as effective. Building the lab here is going to limit our ability to bring in the best minds, and we both know it. Not to mention all the difficulties getting supplies and equipment, like Shaw said.”

“It won’t be as bad as all that,” Alexander said, but there was no disagreeing with the obvious truth of Veronica’s words. “I hope you don’t regret coming,” he added gently.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my criticisms to myself,” Veronica promised. “Besides, I’ll need to focus all my energy on getting the best out of the scientists I have. But remember that I would much rather be doing this research somewhere closer to home. I love you, but I’m not even here for your sake. I came here for the science and the science alone.”

<--Previous Chapter|Next Chapter-->