Antarctica

Chapter Six

Veronica stood on an outcropping of rock overlooking the ocean. About twenty feet below her, waves slapped energetically against the rock, sending up mists of spray. But the weather was pleasant with only a bit of wind, so the waters were relatively calm. A few seagulls soared overhead.

“I have to admit,” she said, her hair rustling in the slight breeze, “it’s nice to be able to spend time outside in just a light jacket once in awhile.”

“I agree,” Alexander said, climbing up behind her. He put his arm around her and sighed, looking out across the vast expanse of blue. “I do miss spending time outside. It gets rather tiresome being trapped indoors all day, don’t you think?”

“Well, you know I’ve never been much of an outdoor person,” Veronica said.

“Yes, I remember when I took you to Surrey Hills for the first time.”

“It was very pretty.”

Alexander chuckled. “You were mad that your shoes got dirty.”

“They were nice shoes, Alexander. I liked those shoes very much.”

“Haha! Indeed! You still have them, I suppose.”

“I still have them, yes, but I didn’t bring them here. It’s not like I can wear them in the lab.”

“Yes, you’d have to change out of them every time you went outside.”

“That’s another thing it’s nice to be able to do here. I can go outside in a pair of sandals.”

“You see? It’s good to get away from work for a few months.”

Veronica nodded slowly, which meant she actually disagreed but was nodding to be polite. She had developed the habit during her years as a graduate student. “Everyone needs to take a break occasionally,” she admitted, “but I’ll be very happy to return to the lab and get back to work.”

“And miss out on a beautiful ocean view like this?” Alexander asked with a knowing smile.

Veronica stepped back away from the edge. “To be honest, dear, I only came out here to get away from the noise.”

“Ah, yes,” Alexander said, glancing back. “Not much we can do about that, I’m afraid. We’ll have to put up with it for a few more months.”

About five hundred meters behind them, teams of carpenters, masons, and contruction workers were building a three-story mansion at the top of a hill overlooking much of the western half of the island. Alexander had wanted to design the house himself, but work at the lab simply took too much of his time, and Veronica’s unexpected pregnancy had forced them to speed up their plans. As they walked back toward the site, Alexander watched some of the ongoing work and smiled to himself, occupied with thoughts of the future.

When it was complete, the mansion would be in a classic Victorian style, with large arched windows, a steep angled roof, a tall and imposing monument to the legacy of the Ashford family. At the moment, the mansion was still mostly unfinished, just a huge frame of wood and brick on top of a concrete foundation, but a year from now it would be magnificent. And soon after the mansion was complete, they would begin construction on the outbuildings, which included a smaller laboratory complex for them to use when they weren’t working at the main lab.

There were additional plans to build some warehouses and other buildings for Umbrella to use as storage for equipment intended for Antarctica or other facilities. Since Alexander owned the island, using it as an Umbrella site made sense both for him and for the company. In fact, Alexander wondered if they might even have to built dormitories for full-time staff at some point in the future.

Alexander and Veronica walked hand in hand down a short incline and circled around the construction to head to their current living quarters, a small cottage built for them while they were in Antarctica, meant to be just a temporary residence. It was a peaceful little building with plenty of room, but it was cheaply constructed and would only serve for a year or two until the mansion was complete.

“When do you think we’ll have a working telephone?” Veronica asked.

“Not for some time yet. They have to put the lines in and connect it to the mainland. It should be ready by the time the house is built.”

“And you’re sure that we can’t make telephone calls to the lab?”

Alexander shook his head. He’d already explained this to her before. “I’m afraid that’s simply impossible. We can’t run a phone line to the lab. Years from now, maybe. We’ll have to use the radio to keep in contact with them.”

Veronica frowned. “I want to make sure everyone knows how to use it. I absolutely have to be in regular contact with the team. Before I come back here I want to set up a schedule for someone to keep me updated about every single development, no matter how insignificat, multiple times a day.”

“Of course. We can set up the radio right in the main lab room, if you like.”

“Yes, we should do that.”

The Antarctica facility was not connected by phone to anywhere else in the world, although it did have its own internal phone system. Laying physical phone lines across the Antarctic Ocean would be prohibitively expensive and extremely impractical. They communicated with Umbrella and arranged all their supply deliveries and travel by radio.

There were two large cushioned wicker chairs on the porch of their cottage. Veronica sighed and settled into one of them, raising her feet up on an ottoman. Alexander sat down beside her and called for their hired housekeeper, a young Argentinian woman named Carmella, to ask for some cold drinks.

Veronica, as usual, could not take her thoughts from work. “I wish we could bring in two or three new people, but we can’t bring in anyone while I’m on maternity leave.”

“I’ve already talked to the other directors. The plan is to add two new positions next year, and then five more by the end of the year. I think that should be sufficient.”

“Yes, that would help. And I’ll have the final decision on who we hire?”

“Technically, I will. But naturally, I’ll choose whichever candidate you recommend.”

Carmella returned with a tray with two glasses of iced tea. Alexander took one and sipped at it while relaxing in his chair. They could still hear noise from the nearby contruction, but it was faint enough that it didn’t bother them. Veronica had wanted to build their temporary dwelling on the other side of the island entirely, but Alexander had managed to compromise with her and had it built close enough to monitor the construction but far enough away to provide privacy and cut down on the noise.

“I’ll have to talk to Aubrey and the others before we open the lab back up,” Veronica said absently, gently swinging her glass in her hand so the ice cubes clinked together. “Those first few weeks are going to be so hectic. We need to coordinate ahead of time to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Let them have a few weeks off before you call them,” Alexander suggested gently. He knew that if Veronica had her way, they would still be working in the lab. But the rest of the team needed to get away and have some time to relax. Everyone else had already returned to their home countries for the next couple of months, until the sun returned to Antarctica.

“I know,” Veronica said. “I can’t call them right now anyway, with no phone. I’ll have to visit Rio Gallegos to make the calls. I’m just hoping I can get through.”

They had debated whether to live on the island or to rent a house in Rio Gallegos for the duration of their forced vacation. Living in the city would obviously make their lives easier in many ways, but Alexander had desired to spend their time close to the site of their future home, and Veronica had liked the idea of living on their own private island. The mainland was only twenty kilometers away, although at the moment they had to make the trip by boat. At some point, Alexander wanted to get a private helicopter.

Alexander let the conversation drift off for a few minutes as they sipped at their drinks and enjoyed the pleasant weather. Then he said casually, “I take it that you’re still determined to ignore my suggestion to wait until the baby comes?”

“Of course,” Veronica said without hesitation. “There’s just too much work to do. This is such an important time, Alexander. We’ve finally completed the initial rounds of testing and we’re set to begin some of the first-stage genetic cross-analysis. I’ve been planning some of those projects for years. I can’t just take unnecessary time off at such a vital moment in our research.”

“I’d hardly call it unnecessary.”

“There’s no reason for me to stay here until then. It’s almost five weeks from the time we open the lab until my due date. I’m not just going to sit here and communicate with you and the team by radio for five weeks.”

“I’m just concerned, you know,” he said, for probably the twentieth time, since they had already had this conversation several times before.

“I know you are. And if I’m being honest, I’m a little worried too. But if you were in my place, you would do the same thing.”

Alexander didn’t really have a response to that. After all, he didn’t plan on staying at home for that period of time either. Even if Veronica chose to stay home until the birth, Alexander was still going to help get the lab up and running again, and then come back when the due date was closer. And after they had their child, he would certainly return to Antarctica before Veronica did. Although in his defense, he had greater responsibilities at the lab then she did.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea for a woman in your condition to be traveling back and forth by plane,” he said, knowing that he wasn’t going to change her mind at this point anyway. “If something happens at the last minute, we can’t just call a taxi and drive you down to the hospital.”

“Everything will be fine,” she said confidently. She placed her hands on top of her stomach in an instinctive protective gesture, even though her pregnancy was only just beginning to show. “I promise I’ll go over it with my doctors many times before we leave. If there are complications of any kind, then obviously that will prevent me from going back to the lab. But I don’t think there will be any problems.”

“All right,” Alexander said, conceding defeat. “I suppose Jack won’t be happy about it. But then again, he’s not happy about much of anything these days.”

“He takes his job very seriously. I admit that he and I don’t agree on very much, but I’m glad he’s the one managing the facility. He’s a good man.”

“That he is. I’m very happy he decided to continue his contract. I practically had to get down on my hands and beg him,” Alexander chuckled.

“Well, if it will make him feel better, tell him he doesn’t have to worry about me. I promise that I’ll fly back here a full week before my due date, just to make sure I’m prepared in case the baby comes a bit early.”

“He’ll appreciate that, I’m sure.” Alexander nodded to himself and added, “It will make me feel better too. Anyway, forgive me for pressuring you about it.”

“It’s fine, darling, really.” She reached over to him and placed her hand on top of his. “It’s just inconvenient timing, that’s all. Next time, hopefully we won’t be right in the middle of something important like this.”

That made Alexander smile, and he squeezed her hand. “Next time?”

Veronica smiled back. “Of course. I don’t plan to stop with one child. I know you want a big family. We’re not building that huge mansion over there just for three of us. I fully intend to have more children.”

Alexander had not truly voiced his desire out loud, but he did wish to have a large family with several children, even five or six if Veronica was comfortable with that many. He himself had four siblings, and his parents had only stopped there because his mother’s final pregnancy had developed a number of complications. Veronica had also come from a larger family, so it felt natural to them to have lots of children, despite their time-consuming careers. Their mansion, when complete, would have seven or eight bedrooms, and Alexander hoped most of them would become occupied.

He and Veronica sat back and watched the sunset. At this time of year, down at the lab it was dark all day long, and here the days were still fairly short. A little while after the sun went down, the workers put their tools down for the day, and the construction supervisor came over to talk with Alexander for a few minutes. Then the workers all went to the boats to return them to the mainland. Carmella, the housekeeper, finished preparing their supper and then she said goodbye for the day as well, leaving with the workers. They would all return first thing the next morning. Alexander and Veronica remained the only people on the island.

Alexander brought out their supper, roast fish and creamy noodles, and they ate it together on the porch. It was definitely a nice break from being at the lab, he thought, where they had to eat all their meals in their rooms or in one of the lab offices, since the cafeteria still was not staffed. The menu at the lab left a lot to be desired as well. Alexander sincerely hoped that once they hired a few more scientists, they would finally bring on a full-time cook to work in the kitchen. Better food would also improve morale.

Once again, he went over the upcoming projects at the lab. They would be busier than ever once work started back up again, but Alexander was looking forward to it. The first construction project was finally connecting the vault, where the Progenitor samples were kept, to the secondary lab. Then they would complete the recreation building and finish some improvements to the residential building before beginning another addition to the main lab. And they would be doing all this with much more emphasis on the science team, which was finally getting some results and entering into more advanced experiments. Add Veronica’s pregnancy to all of that, and Alexander felt like he would be running around like a madman trying to keep on top of everything.

It would all work out, he was certain of it. Alexander didn’t necessarily consider himself an arrogant sort of man – although others might disagree – but he strongly believed that he could accomplish any goal he set his mind to. Founding their Antarctica lab had been one of the biggest challenges of his life, but he had done it even when others told him it was impossible. He felt like everything else would be easy in comparison. The hard part was done, now they just had to finish the work and reap the well-deserved benefits.

And the benefits, he thought to himself, would be substantial. Not just money, although there would be plenty of that. Alexander, being born wealthy, viewed money as a given. Even if the project utterly failed, Alexander would still be fairly rich. Money was not his goal, and neither was fame.

He knew Veronica was obsessed with the Progenitor because she wanted to be a world-famous scientist. She wanted her name in newspaper headlines as the scientist who had solved the puzzle of the Progenitor and ushered in a new revolution in modern science. She wanted her name right beside Einstein and Newton in science textbooks. Her ambitions were without limit, and Alexander had always been drawn to ambitious people like that because they matched his own energy, even if their personal goal was somewhat different. Veronica’s intensity and utter dedication to science had been what attracted him to her in the first place.

But Alexander didn’t desire fame. Like money, fame would merely be a side effect. What Alexander really wanted – what drove him to succeed ever since he was a child – was to do the impossible. He had always taken on the biggest challenges, the most daring exploits, and succeeded through sheer force of will. For his entire life, he had sought out challenges that others claimed could not be overcome, and he had overcome every single one. If he put his mind to something, whether it was climbing a mountain or starting his own company or building an advanced scientific laboratory in the most inhospitable place on Earth, he would see it through. He had surmounted every obstacle ever put in his way, and proven every one of his critics wrong, time and time again.

Success was in his blood. Alexander did not truly believe he was capable of failure. So when more pessimistic men like his friend Shaw warned him about all the problems and difficulties they were surely going to have, Alexander just smiled and nodded, because he knew he could solve those problems and overcome those difficulties. It might take a bit of time and hard work – success never came easily, even for Alexander – but he would eventually do everything he set out to do.

He envisioned a time, perhaps only a year or two from now, when the lab complex would be complete and fully-staffed, and their research would have already led to numerous breakthroughs in Progenitor research. And then, maybe another few years along the line, they would finally unravel all of its mysteries and lead the way in the future of medical science. He imagined all kinds of scientific and medical advances as a result of their research.

Before long, the Umbrella Corporation would be a world leader in medicine and pharmaceuticals. Alexander and Veronica could take some time to have another child or two, and eventually have the large family they both dreamed of. The thought made him smile.

The future was looking very bright indeed.

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