Out of the Ice (15 page)

I must free myself.
Now I was swimming through the scarlet water. Fake blood, make-up-department blood. Special effects.

Drowning me. Going under. Can’t breathe.

I woke gasping for air, thrashing out my hands trying to swim. I touched Kate’s warm skin. She was snoring gently.

Tomorrow, I promised myself, trying to calm my breathing, I would return to Fredelighavn and see if my mind had turned to toast, or if there really was a boy – who I could find.

9

T
he weather had its own ideas. Later that day we awoke to the rocking, howling chaos of a blizzard. Kate lifted her head briefly off the pillow. ‘Looks like we won’t be going anywhere.’ She plonked down again and snored loudly.

I checked my watch – 3pm. Outside was a whiteout, visibility zero. I hauled myself up and Skyped Georgia, but found there was very little I wanted to tell her. I let her know the results of the penguin autopsy.

‘That’s odd. No cause at all. Even natural causes would show something, wouldn’t they?’ she said, her face drawn and strained.

‘Exactly, that’s what makes it so unlikely. I still think they’re doing something.’

‘Could it have died of fright?’ she asked.

I stopped. In my exhaustion yesterday, that hadn’t occurred to me, and yet it was so obvious. ‘Perhaps,’ I said. ‘It would fit with the behaviour of the penguins at the rookery, if someone had gone down and disturbed them. But then, why weren’t there more who’d died? And why was the penguin in a cupboard?’

‘I don’t like what you’re reporting at all. The sooner Professor Koch arrives the better. Not being sexist, but I think having a man there with you would make me feel better.’

‘That
is
sexist. But having another ally would be good. When’s he coming? I’ve not heard from him.’

‘Not for another week, unfortunately. There were a few problems with the second operation. He’s having to recuperate in hospital.’

‘Poor guy. Will he be up to it at all?’

‘According to him, yes.’

‘Georgia, I don’t suppose you could come down? You could fingerprint around Fredelighavn.’ I knew she always brought her fingerprint kit to Antarctica, just in case she needed it in an investigation as Station Leader. Several of us joked about it but last summer there was a kleptomaniac glaciologist and Georgia had actually used it, with its portable ultraviolet lamp, fluorescent powders, and lifting tape for prints.

‘That’s
dusting
for fingerprints.’ Georgia corrected me.

‘Exactly. To see who’s been down there – in the cinema and the other buildings. And also,’ I paused, and Georgia leaned forward in anticipation. ‘I was wondering if we might be able to put up some small surveillance cameras?’

Georgia sat back. ‘Whoa. This is an EIA, not a criminal investigation.’

‘Except if people have been going down there unauthorised.’

‘Cameras? No. As to the fingerprinting, let me think about it. We’ll see.’

We’ll see.
That didn’t leave me hopeful. It was a phrase my mother used that inevitably led to permanent deferment of whatever had been asked.

Georgia signed off, warning me to stay vigilant. I hadn’t told her that I might have seen a boy in the ice cave. I knew it would sound too strange and unbelievable.

Which proved I wasn’t too toasty.

Hunger stirred but I didn’t want to leave the warmth of my room and brave the blizzard. I spent the next few hours writing notes on everything, all the while wondering if Connaught was hacking into my computer and reading these too? That would be a violation of my Antarctic Council-endorsed mission. Surely Connaught wouldn’t risk it? But then, if he’d switched my photographs . . . The idea filled me with a deep weariness.

I lay down quietly beside Kate and thought about Hamish: the terrible day I’d lost him, and the unconditional love that had swept through me as I held him and bathed him. The unconditional love I still felt. I acknowledged his birthdays, and every Christmas I imagined him. But in my mind he was blurry: changing from a newborn to a child, to older – it was more a sensation of love. To suddenly imagine him so vividly and concretely was different. Surely it made no sense?

Except, as odd as it seemed, if the boy in the ice was real.

•  •  •

At 9pm I woke Kate and we battled through the blizzard, holding on to guide ropes, slung from building to building, until we reached the mess hall. There was no one sitting at the tables.

‘Damn, I’m starved, there’d better be something left,’ said Kate as she lurched towards the heated food stand. There were two tiny plates of roast of the day, whatever it was – just the same grey meat slathered in gravy. I could see Guy cleaning dishes in the kitchen, his skinny body bent over a sink as he scrubbed vigorously. He was alone.

‘Guy?’ I called. ‘Speak to you for a moment?’

He jumped and came over.

‘That night of the fancy dress – did you serve me enough alcohol to get blotto?’

He stood mutely. Kate turned and stared at him. He flushed a deep scarlet.

‘So?’ said Kate firmly.

‘Not really.’ He turned on his heels and fled.

‘Wow,’ said Kate.

My mouth went dry.

‘So you probably did have your drink spiked,’ said Kate. ‘My guess would be by Jasper, because he’s the one you were with. And I bet it’s not the first time he’s done that to a woman down here. Lucky he didn’t fancy you, and was only trying to make you look like an idiot.’

Goosebumps rose up my legs at the thought of Jasper spiking my drink and then helping us in the lab.

‘But his story matched Travis’s.’

‘Hate to tell you, but Travis might not be a friend either.’

My face burned. I didn’t want to believe that.

We sat down and ate our meals in silence.

•  •  •

Kate stood over the centrifuge, checking the blood samples. She peered at the vials and pressed a button. On the desk, a small battery-powered printer started to whir, and the results were spat out. Kate grabbed them, studying the figures.

‘Damn. All completely normal.’

‘Well, that proves the point – the penguin was switched. Or it died of fright.’

‘Well, it died of
something
. As soon as this blizzard’s over I want to go back.’ Kate’s freckles stood out in her pale face, which had tensed up. ‘I want to go through every single house and shed down there. See if they’ve hurt any other wildlife and find out what they’re doing,’ she said with fury. ‘Because that penguin didn’t just crawl into that cupboard and die of untraceable natural causes. And they know we’d know that. They’re laughing in our faces, Laura.’

She looked at the results again. ‘Anyway, at least we know now. I’d bet my life that Connaught’s up to something at Fredelighavn. And it’s such a horrible, sexist base, he probably thinks we’re just stupid girls who’ll never find out.’

•  •  •

Three days later the blizzard was still raging and Georgia was still deferring an answer on the fingerprinting equipment, worried about jurisdiction. In the meantime I’d come up with an alternative plan. I walked down the passage and knocked on Travis’s door.

‘Who is it?’ he called blearily.

‘It’s just me. Laura.’

The door opened with lightning speed. Travis stood grinning, wearing blue-striped flannel pyjamas that matched his eyes. With his tousled hair, he looked dangerously cute.

‘Come in,’ he said, standing back. ‘What can I do for you?’

I made small talk about the blizzard as he poured us both a strong coffee, and then I told him about the fresh popcorn and film in the cinema. His eyes widened as I outlined my idea. Travis gulped his coffee then poured another cup before he spoke.

‘We’d be breaking safety protocol.’

‘Will you do it?’

He sighed. ‘You know I will. But if anything happens to you down there . . .’

‘It won’t, I promise. I’ll find a way to repay you someday.’

‘No need.’ He smiled. ‘We’re friends. And I’d like to know what happened to that poor penguin as much as you do.’ He poured a third cup of coffee and blushed. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask . . . Do you think when Moose and Simon and I went diving, we could have hurt the penguins?’

I stiffened. ‘Well, that depends on what you did there.’ I held my breath, desperate to hear the answer, and praying it wouldn’t destroy my trust in him.

‘Like I told you, we went diving and looked in a few houses.’ Travis grew sheepish. ‘And when we were on the beach, after our dive . . .’ He glanced out the window, to the white cloud of lashing snow. I waited, tense.

‘We walked up to the rookery.’ His eyes shone. ‘And the penguins attacked us.’

‘What did you do to provoke them?’ I asked sharply.

‘That’s the thing, nothing. I swear. Absolutely nothing. We just walked up to them and they attacked. We felt really bad. And they bit deep into our hands and legs.’

I tried not to show my relief. Not only was it exactly what had happened to Kate and myself, it formed a pattern of behaviour.

‘And, now we’re having this heart to heart, did you really not touch anything in the houses?’ I asked.

‘A few cigarettes. Well, more than a few. They were really good.’

‘Where did you find them?’

‘In a shed.’

‘I think I know the shed. Like a quartermaster’s store?’

Travis nodded guiltily.

‘Was that box full when you found them?’

‘Yes, it was. I’m really sorry. Are you going to report us? If you are, can it just be me? I don’t want to rat on my friends.’

‘Don’t worry. As long as you tell me everything, I won’t say a word.’

‘I have told you everything.’ His jaw was set tight. ‘So that’s it?’

‘For now.’

He grew even more concerned.

‘Forever,’ I smiled. ‘You’re off the hook. You shouldn’t have done it but, on a scale of badness, it doesn’t seem too awful.’ Knots loosened in my shoulders. My better instincts about Travis seemed to have been right.

He started to relax too, his face opening up again.

‘Where did you smoke the cigarettes – down there or back here?’ I asked.

‘Neither. We smoked them when we went across the island to Baldwin Glacier and camped out. It was incredible, they weren’t even stale. If you hadn’t come, we were going to go back and get the rest.’

‘You can’t do that.’

‘I know. Of course I know. I’m a reformed man.’

‘I hope so.’

‘Except, I’m about to break the law for you.’

I reached up and kissed his forehead. He smelled like salt air. He went to take my shoulder but I swivelled away.

‘You know, I don’t think my mother would like you,’ he joked. ‘She raised us boys to be honest.’

‘I’m almost old enough to
be
your mother and I’m giving you a free pass on certain activities for the greater good.’

‘Don’t say that,’ Travis pulled a face. ‘You’re not old enough to be my mother. You’re being grotesque.’

‘See you soon. And thanks.’

‘Just don’t say you’re like my mother ever again.’

I was laughing as I shut the door. The innocence of Travis’s confession gave me a sensation of lightness. And I didn’t know why I’d let down my guard and kissed him but it felt good.
Careful, Alvarado
, I told myself.
Don’t go being a fool.

•  •  •

The next day the blizzard stopped. Kate and I were careful as we packed food, water and emergency flares from the store. We didn’t want anyone to see us, even though the supplies weren’t very different to those I took every trip to Fredelighavn. There were just greater quantities, and we would actually be eating the food.

We signed out the Hägglunds. Kate and I sat up front as Travis put in a sick-leave application, claiming his lower back was playing up and he needed to rest. Then he grabbed a jemmy iron, leaped into the back cabin and hid. I drove out onto the icy road, pure white and pristine after the storm, as my plan started to unfold.

10

L
ight was playing on the houses, icicles glistening in fairy rainbows as they dangled from roofs and windows. Today Fredelighavn appeared like a magical wonderland.

I had fourteen hours before the sun sank low on the horizon, plunging South Safety into the deep blue of astronomical twilight. I would have liked to go straight up to the ice cliffs and look for signs of the boy whose face haunted me, but I couldn’t with Travis here. Instead I would search in houses, checking for recent habitation and the possibility of an entrance that led underground to the ice cave.

I was glad to have Travis with us; it made me feel safer. I led my troupe down to the bay, where Travis looked nervously up towards the Adélie colony. More penguins had arrived from their winter seas, and there were hundreds of thousands of birds nesting up the hill. The noise was even more deafening and a light breeze carried with it a strong fishy smell.

Adélies torpedoed out of the calm blue ocean onto the ice, and further out in the harbour they were plummeting from icebergs into the sea. Elephant seals sunned on the beach, and Weddell seals popped their heads out of the water. A pod of orcas – black and white killer whales – swam a little way out. I dropped my bag, pulled out my camera and started to film, soothed by the sight. Kate grabbed her camera and followed suit. Travis stood beside me, entranced.

Down the coast, in the opposite direction to the Adélie rookery, about a hundred more gentoo penguins had come ashore and thousands of chinstrap penguins had arrived. As the season was swinging into shape, it was apparent why Fredelighavn had been designated an Exclusion Zone for its extraordinary wildlife.

I was eager to head to a clutch of large houses on a rise towards Alliance Point, closest to the ice cave.

We moved up the hill and stopped outside a grand pink and blue two-storey house with a sharply sloping roof. Although the paint had peeled, the building was still attractive. I could feel Travis shifting from leg to leg with excitement as we turned on our torches and I flung the door open. A wide corridor greeted us, with immaculately waxed wooden floors. To the right was a magnificent lounge room, four times the size of those we’d seen to date. My heart was thudding. Could there be an entrance here down into the ice?