Antarctica

Chapter Five

There were times when Alexander felt close to being overwhelmed, but they never lasted long. He liked to think of himself as the kind of man who thrived under pressure. That didn’t mean he enjoyed constantly being stressed by the multitude of responsibilities he had taken on, but solving problems was in his nature, and he preferred to stay busy and be involved in as much as possible. In many ways, the success of the Antarctica lab and his own career were closely linked.

When he was still a young man, he had believed that his service in the second World War would be the most stressful time of his life. Surely, things would be easier from that point on. But then he had gotten involved in his family’s business and eventually founded his own company, which was by no means an easy thing to accomplish. For several years he had felt like the work was never-ending, but in truth it was only the beginning.

In fact, he had originally joined the expedition to Africa as a way to take a short vacation from work, which seemed positively ridiculous in retrospect. Ever since the day they found the sonnentreppe flowers, Alexander’s life felt like it just kept speeding up and getting more complicated and stressful. He was amazed at how much had happened. The early Progenitor experiments and studies, his engagement to Veronica and their lavish wedding, and then the construction of the Antarctica lab. All of that had taken place over just a few short years.

And now things were going to be even more complicated, he thought as he strolled down the hallway of the main lab, a folder full of papers under his arm.

In the year since he had arrived in Antarctica, things had proceeded rapidly. Their early work with the Progenitor was incredibly successful, even though Veronica repeatedly criticized their lack of progress. They had begun a number of long-term experiments designed to study the effect of the Progenitor on various tissues to study how they were altered by the virus. Learning the exact method by which the virus multiplied was of singular importance. There was simply so much to learn, and sometimes their biggest problem was simply deciding which of their many lines of research should take precedence over the others. Their staff had been increased again, from eight to twelve, and they planned to have as many as twenty by the end of the next year.

Shaw was not in his office, which was not unusual for him. Alexander left the folder on Shaw’s cluttered desk and went to ask one of the maintenance technicians where to find him. Outside in the cold, of course. Alexander sighed and went to the main entrance to get into his heavy coat, boots, gloves, and wool cap. The temperature outside was -25 degrees Celsius, equal to about -13 degrees Fahrenheit. Extremely cold to be sure, but not so bad that Alexander couldn’t handle it for a few minutes.

The glare always seemed more bothersome than the cold at first. Stepping outside during the sunny time of year was like walking into a spotlight, as the sun reflected off the sheet of ice and nearly blinded anyone not ready for it. Alexander shielded his eyes and walked around the side of the building, his boots crunching on the ice.

Shaw was standing with two other workers, pointing and gesturing intently as a crane unloaded steel beams from a flatbed truck nearby. The beams, like all the construction materials and equipment there, had come by plane. Shaw often wished that they could get supplies delivered by ship, but the closest usable shoreline was hundreds of kilometers away. Umbrella would have to build a dock for the ships and probably a road as well to bring everything to the facility, which was not considered feasible or cost-effective.

“Jack,” Alexander called out as he walked over. “Is everything going okay?”

Shaw turned. His face was covered in a scarf and he was wearing goggles to protect his eyes. “As a matter of fact, no,” he growled. “One of the planes got delayed. I only found out a few minutes ago. We were supposed to begin with the western edge of the new extention, but now we’re stuck with a load of steel we can’t use yet, and we’re already taken down the wall for the extension, so it’s exposed to the cold.”

“Delayed how long?”

“Tomorrow at the earliest.”

“Can you put the wall back up?”

“We’ll have to,” Shaw said, but he was shaking his head. “I suppose I’m late for our meeting?”

“I know you’re busy, old chap,” Alexander said somewhat apologetically. “Come inside and have a cup of coffee and I’ll make it as quick as possible.”

Shaw barked orders to some of the other men and then walked with Alexander back to the main building. Once inside, they both switched out of their cold-weather clothes and went to Shaw’s office. He poured himself a cup of coffee at Alexander’s suggestion, and sat down at his desk with a tired grunt. After a moment, he idly picked up the folder that Alexander had left on his desk.

“The updates on our experiment schedule,” Alexander said, lowering himself into a chair. “Plus the current team rotations. Veronica asked for an inventory so I gave you a copy as well.”

“Right,” Shaw said, flipping through the papers. “What about the disposal records?”

“There as well.”

Shaw nodded and set the folder down. “All right. I suppose she has more requests?”

“Always. She wants more lab animals, which would require a larger animal enclosure. When we connect the lab buildings next year, I was thinking we could add a section across from the current space.”

“If we connect the lab buildings next year,” Shaw said wearily.

“We’re not falling that far behind, are we?” Alexander asked.

Shaw shrugged and leaned forward on his elbows. “Not really, I suppose. Maybe I’m just being pessimistic. But we have a lot of projects to juggle, Alexander. Connecting the vault to the secondary lab is going to be a challenge as it is, plus all the additional work to be done. The recreational building is still unfinished, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I have noticed,” Alexander said in agreement. “And for now it can stay that way. The other work takes priority, of course.”

“We have a few weeks of sunlight left before the darkness comes,” Shaw said. “We have to finish the extension before then, and we have to run lines for electricity and water. That absolutely must be done before we shut down and send people home for the winter.”

“I’m sure we have enough time. As you said, we haven’t actually fallen very far behind. Things are still very close to being on schedule, a fact that the other Directors are pleased about.”

“Well, thank the Heavens that the Directors are pleased,” Shaw muttered, picking up his coffee.

Alexander crossed one leg over the other and set his hands in his lap. “Come now, Jack. You have to admit that we’ve accomplished remarkable things. A fully-functional advanced scientific laboratory in Antarctica. How many people at Umbrella said it couldn’t be done? You must be proud of what you’ve achieved here. None of this would have happened without you.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Shaw replied. “You could have gotten Reginald Horner to oversee construction. He would have done a fine job.”

“Horner didn’t know about the Progenitor,” Alexander said. “He wasn’t part of the team. That’s why I wanted you here, Jack. I needed someone who understood all the risks.”

Shaw sighed and leaned back in his chair. “The truth is that I’m tired, Alexander. Tired of the damn cold and so many stupid little problems. Yes, we managed to build the lab, but keeping this place running is a constant struggle. I signed onto this project for four years, you remember. My four years will be up soon.”

Alexander kept his expression neutral. He knew very well that Shaw’s contract was nearly up. “Are you thinking of leaving the project? I know it’s a lot of work, but you’re the best man for the job. There’s no doubt about that. You know I would very much prefer to continue working with you.”

“I know,” Shaw said evenly. “But I don’t like this place. I want to go back to England. You can’t tell me that you actually enjoy living in this frozen wasteland.”

“Well, I suppose ‘enjoy’ isn’t the word I would use,” Alexander admitted. “But I like the challenge of being here, I appreciate the work we’re doing. We’re at the forefront of modern science.”

“The Progenitor is dangerous,” Shaw said bluntly. “Sooner or later, we’re going to have an accident. You must know that.”

“We won’t,” Alexander assured him, not for the first time. They had had this conversation more than once before. “Everyone knows the dangers. We all know how vital it is to take every precaution. Now, I admit that some of our safety procedures are still a work in progress, but we’re improving them every day. By this time next year, they’ll be ironclad.”

“I don’t think so,” Shaw said, shaking his head. “People always make mistakes. Accidents can always happen. Isn’t that why we built this facility out here, to minimize the possibility of the virus spreading and infecting innocent people?”

Alexander could not argue that point. Isolating the Progenitor was indeed one of the primary reasos they chose Antarctica. Doing this kind of work in the middle of densely-populated England had always made the board of Directors at Umbrella nervous, Alexander included.

“We’re going to figure it out,” he said confidently. “It might take five years, or ten, but we’ll figure out how the Progenitor works. I know we will. Isn’t that worth the risks we’re taking?”

“You’re the one taking risks,” Shaw said. “I’m not a scientist. I’m not working up close to the Progenitor. And I didn’t say all of this was a mistake or I didn’t believe in it. But once this contract is up, I’m going to let someone else deal with it.”

“You still have some time. Think it over, Jack. I’d hate to do this without you.”

Shaw sipped his coffee. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

Alexander let the subject drop. He knew Shaw very well and felt he could persuade him to stick around. Despite his statements otherwise, Shaw was the kind of man who liked being in a position of importance, and he thrived when tackling a problem that other people thought was too difficult. In that respect, he and Alexander were very much alike. It was unlikely that Shaw would find another position in Umbrella that would grant him the authority he had here, and certainly none that would present the kind of unique challenges that offered him the job satisfaction he required.

“Well, we can talk about it later,” Alexander said. He smiled and leaned forward a bit, glad to be able to transition to another topic he wanted to talk about. “As a matter of fact, I have some other rather important news to share. Would you like to hear it?”

“Sure,” Shaw said with a shrug. “As long as it doesn’t involve more construction.”

“Haha!” Alexander laughed. “No, no construction this time. But Veronica and I are, uh, making something, you might say. We’re going to be parents. Veronica is with child.”

Shaw sat upright with a jerk, nearly sloshing is coffee. Alexander got a small thrill from surprising his old friend this way, as Shaw certainly had not expected to hear it. A rapid succession of emotions crossed over his dark eyes. Surprise, obviously. But there was some concern and maybe a flash of jealousy? He quickly recovered and set his coffee cup back down.

“Well,” he said deliberately, “congratulations are in order, I’d say. Good for you, Alexander. I’m very happy for you both. I take it that’s what prompted Veronica’s flight back the other day?”

“Yes, she thought it was best to go to her doctor to make sure.”

“How far along is she?”

“Just a few months. She’s not showing yet.”

“Of course.”

“Her woman’s intuition, you know,” Alexander said. “She told me last week she felt something was different, so we scheduled the doctor’s appointment right away.”

Shaw seemed to be thinking about something, and then said, “Have they determined her due date, then?”

“She’s due in early October. Not the most convenient time of year, I admit, but I suppose you can’t always plan this kind of thing. She’ll have our child a few weeks after we return from the winter shutdown.”

“You might as well stay home until then,” Shaw suggested, although he surely knew the response he was going to get.

Alexander chuckled, “I’m not even going to try and convince her to do that. She’ll want to work right up until the due date, I’m sure. I’ll have to talk her into leaving at least a few days prior. The last thing we want is for her to go into labor here at the lab.”

“Definitely not,” Shaw agreed. “We don’t have the medical facilities for that.”

Alexander leaned back in his chair a little bit and sighed. “I admit that we weren’t planning to have a child so soon, but these things happen. She’s upset that it will interfere with her work, but I think our team is doing well enough that they can get by without her for a few weeks.”

“She plans to take maternity leave, then?”

“Yes, but she wants to return to work as soon as she can. We’ll have to figure out some kind of schedule for our work here, flying back and forth and so on. We obviously can’t raise a child here, but I don’t think either of us are planning to completely abandon our work for the next several years. We’ll have to hire a nanny, I suppose.”

Shaw grunted at that, and Alexander didn’t bother to ask him to elaborate. He already knew Shaw’s opinion on the topic. Although they had been friends and close co-workers for many years now, the truth was that they had very different upbringings. Alexander came from a wealthy family and was heir to a significant fortune, while Shaw had grown up in a middle-class working family. Shaw was almost instinctively dismissive of any behavior he viewed as representative of the upper class. Hiring a nanny to raise a child would be nearly offensive to him. Alexander, on the other hand, had grown up under the care of two doting nannies as well as his parents, and he did not think much about it. It seemed perfectly normal to him to have a nanny watch young children while their parents worked.

“Anyway,” he said, “we’re not going to tell the others just yet. But I did want to let you know, being a close friend of the family and all.”

“Thank you, Alexander,” Shaw said. “I appreciate it.”

“If we have a son, I’ll even name him after you.”

That elicited an honest laugh from Shaw. “Come, now, don’t be ridiculous.”

Alexander shrugged. “Well, it was just an idea. I’ll have to talk it over with Veronica.”

“Well, while you’re talking to her, try to convince her to stay home until after the baby is born,” Shaw said seriously. “We don’t have the equipment, or the medical staff, to handle something of that nature. Unless you intend to talk the Board of Directors into sending us an obstetrician.”

“No,” Alexander said with a rueful grin, “I don’t think they would pay for that. I promise I’ll talk to her. She might change her mind over the winter break, once she starts to show. I can’t imagine she’ll want to fly on a plane in her condition, but you know how headstrong she is. She’ll want to supervise the work right up until the last minute.”

“She could do that over the radio. You are her immediate supervisor, you know. You should just tell her to stay home.”

Alexander nodded, holding out his hands in defense. “Yes, yes, I agree with you. But part of my arrangement with Veronica about coming to Antarctica was that she would have total authority the lab complex. If she wants to be here in person, I can’t very well say no to that.”

Shaw grunted and took a drink of his coffee to avoid commenting on that.

Alexander smiled. “Don’t worry, Jack. It’s not going to be a problem. I’m sure everything’s going to work out just fine.”

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