The Nexus Colony (24 page)

T
he reverberating echoes of the excavation that had been filling the ice cavern for the past several hours were abruptly silenced. Ruger was several yards away with Abbott moving some of the larger fractured chunks, which had become the routine to clear away the icy debris. They were all tired as hell, and Ruger was about to suggest to Abbott that they call it a day. Both of them noticed the prolonged moment of absolute silence. The discovery, at first, was too unbelievable to comprehend.

Ruger looked across the distance to see the others crouched together in the wide alcove they had been gouging out for the past several hours. The dig so far had produced nothing but groans of exhaustion and faces of silent complaint about the futility of it all. Their discouragement and disparaging words up to this time dissipated in one incredible moment. Unrecognized by the human element in them all, it was to be the beginning of a new journey. The alien world of
The Ice
was only the next threshold.

It had been Grimes’ turn to dig. He pulled away from the wall a huge fractured chunk. The dark, shadowy image was still deeply encased within the solid ice wall, and at first they weren’t even quite sure that what they thought they were seeing was even thinkable.

Huddling close to the discovery, Allison reached behind her to retrieve the lantern, shining it closely on the ice wall. No one spoke a word. No one believed it possible. Ruger and Abbott, sensing something extraordinary, quickly ceased their activities and huddled next to them.

Ruger excitedly searched around behind him. “Where’s the small geologist’s hammer?” Grabbing it from across the floor, he gently pushed his way between Grimes and Almshouse.

Abbott grabbed his shoulder. “Be careful, Mike,” he warned softly. “If that’s what it really is, don’t break it off.”

“I can’t make out if it’s still attached to a body,” Ruger responded.

“It must be,” Grimes replied. “Or at least the main body looks like it’s still in there.”

Allison shifted the lantern around, casting different lighting patterns on the ice wall to see if they could get better perception on the image.

“Try the carbide,” Lisk suggested. But it made no difference.

“Give me the chisel,” Ruger requested.

Deftly, Ruger slowly and carefully chipped away at the ice encasing the appendage. Whatever it was attached to, the arm appeared to be extending outward from the main body trunk, although at the moment they couldn’t make out any more than a darkened mass.

Several minutes passed as Ruger continued to work on removing the ice from around the arm. The only sound was the echoes of steel striking steel. Ruger paused to rest. Even though the arm was still encased in ice, there was no doubt about it. It was definitely a hand with five distinct finger appendages. No one spoke what was on everyone’s mind.
Is it, or is it not…human?

“Don’t chip any more away from the arm,” Abbott ordered. “I want this thing intact. Can we get it out of there intact?”

“Yeah,” Ruger responded. “Yeah. I think so. But I can’t guarantee it’s still intact inside
there.
”

“How much weight can that rig of yours haul?” Abbott asked.

“About five hundred,” Ruger responded.

“Think we can come in under that?” he asked, referring to the projected weight of the entire body mass once they dug it out of the wall.

“We’ll have to,” Ruger replied. “Or else we won’t be able to get it out of here.”

Abbott fumbled in the gear bag for another hammer and chisel, handing it to Lisk. “Let’s double up and get that thing out of there.”

“Don’t lose sight of one thing, Marsh,” Almshouse said.

“What?” Abbott responded, pausing.

“We’re still looking for a structure. I’m more convinced now than ever that its back there.”

“So am I,” Grimes agreed. And then added, “Who knows? We might find more of these.”

Abbott said, “Let’s keep digging in this alcove and forget the other one. I want this thing out of the wall.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Allison asked.

Abbott quickly responded, “Get it to the surface and get it out of Antarctica.”

“Where’s it going to?” Grimes asked, taken back by Abbott’s rather abrupt answer.

“Not our concern,” Abbott replied.

“What do you mean,
not our concern
?” Allison asked.

“Just what I said.”

Allison looked at his callous face. “This is one hell of a discovery, Marsh,” she said. “This is probably the body of some long lost explorer who somehow got trapped down here who knows how long ago? I think you’d better notify
somebody
of authority about it,” she said indignantly.

“I am,” Abbott responded. “I’m turning it over to the
ultimate
somebody.” He turned to Ruger and Lisk. “Keep digging. We’ve got to get it out of there as quickly as possible. I’m going out to call up to the surface. Be right back.”

With that, Abbott moved out of the alcove and onto the floor of the crevasse below the opening to the surface. They heard him calling Prall on the radio.

Ruger was exhausted. He knew that all of them were exhausted if he was. But excitement was flowing through all their bodies. They remained focused on the task being performed by Ruger and Lisk.

“You don’t really believe what you just said, do you, Allison?” Grimes asked.

“About what?”

“About this being some explorer trapped down here.”

“What else can he…or she, be?” Allison replied.

“That’s exactly what he or she is,” Almshouse said. “An explorer. The only question is, how long ago was the exploring done?”

“My God, Peter,” Grimes responded. “Do you realize what we’ve found? Do you know how long this body has been trapped here?”

Almshouse was nodding, speculating the same time frame. “As long as the structural beam,” he replied. “As long as whatever lies beyond this wall of ice.”

Lisk kept chipping away at the ice opposite Ruger. “The sooner we get this thing removed,” Lisk said, “the sooner we find out and the sooner we can get the hell out of this place.”

They all paused and looked at him. Ruger especially, remembering the disturbing conversation he’d had with Abbott back on the surface right before the descent.

Ruger reached his hand out, stopping the hammer blow of Lisk. “You know something we should know about, Al?” he asked. “What’s going on out here? I mean, what’s
really
going on?”

Lisk looked at him, at them all. “If you all haven’t figured it out by now…”

The cavern was momentarily silent. Then Lisk resumed chipping away at the mysterious figure encased in the ice.

Allison demanded, “I want to know
right now
what’s going on around here! Are we in any danger? Mike? Are we?”

Lisk stopped again. “I think we’re in more danger from
The Ice
than anything else,” he lied.

“That’s not what she means, Al, and you know it,” Grimes said, angrily.

Lisk paused, sighing. “They haven’t shown any hostility to this point. That’s why we’ve kept going. They’re usually hostile right up front.”

“Tactics change, Al,” Grimes said, soberly. “This thing here might change the whole scenario,” he added, gesturing at the body.

Lisk did not immediately reply. Turning to resume the dig, he said, “Just be thankful we’re still in control. That’s all that matters.” It didn’t placate Ruger, who angrily chipped away at the ice.

An hour later, the ice-encased body was free from the ice wall. It appeared to be intact. Sliding the frozen mass surprisingly easy along the floor, they maneuvered it out to where the crevasse opened to the surface. Ruger and Abbott had rigged up a canvass stretcher from one of the large equipment bags. It was sturdy enough to bear the weight once they hauled it to the surface.

When the body had been completely dislodged from the wall, the group stared silently at the haunting figure that lay frozen solid encased within the translucent ice mass. They had chipped away as much as they could without jeopardizing destroying the body mass. It was about five feet tall. Very definitely humanoid.
Not necessarily human
, as Almshouse had pointed out.

“It’s got two arms, two legs, and a head, that’s for sure,” Allison commented, shuddering at the grotesque image.

Grimes closely inspected the image, pointing out the fact that the position of the body was contorted. The outstretched arm was what they had first discovered.

“Looks like its got hair,” Almshouse said. “But I’m not sure.”

“Too distorted to tell,” Lisk said. “Might be blackened from the ice burn.”

“What’s the estimated weight, Mike?” Abbott asked.

“We’re way under,” Ruger responded. “It’s not as heavy as I thought.”

“Let’s get it into position,” Abbott ordered. “I’m going up first. Al, you take over. Make sure this thing is properly secured to the cable when I send it back down. I don’t want any screw-ups.”

“Roger.”

“And what do you expect us to do in the meantime?” Allison protested.

“I expect you to keep digging, Dr. Bryson,” Abbott replied, giving the order to Prall on the surface to wind in the cable. Abbott slowly rose into the air.

Despite Ruger’s notion that the project should be terminated for the day, even he realized that they had to keep digging for a little while longer.

“Time is all we’ve got going for us now,” Abbott rationalized before he left the crevasse floor.

“Time is what we’ve got against us,” Ruger countered, but Abbott didn’t hear him.

A short time after the initial impact of the astonishing discovery wore off, Ruger and the group were back in the alcove gouging away at the ice wall, which seemed to be fracturing much easier the deeper they dug. In the back of everyone’s mind was the possibility that they might find more bodies.

Ruger sensed that the time must be past four o’clock. Everyone was exhausted, notwithstanding the fact that the closed quarters of the ice alcove offered little ventilation, and the fumes from the Coleman lantern were starting to give everyone a headache.

But they kept digging. Compelled by the very essence of human inquisitiveness, they kept at the task despite exhaustion. Abbott may have been absent from the excavation site here in the crevasse, but there was no mistaking who was in charge. Not even Ruger was defying him at the moment. With a mighty lunge of the bar, frustration finally getting the better of him, Ruger plunged the iron rod deep into the wall. His powerful blow caused a huge chunk of the ice to fracture. During the moment of silence that followed, the excitement…and trepidation, was about to begin all over again.

Ruger had reached the end of the ice wall. Lisk hurried behind him, picking up the lantern to shine it on what had unexpectedly been revealed. No one spoke. They were all familiar with it. Only this time, it wasn’t broken fragments. It was a complete structural panel, and it appeared to be intact. Frantically, as if on cue, they began tearing away at more of the ice. The subtle curvature became more evident. There was no longer any doubt. They had found the dome that up until a few moments ago, had still been pure conjecture.

V
andergrif was carefully studying the smallest piece of panel, sipping coffee with one hand and holding the artifact up to the light with the other. “I still marvel at the lightweight construction,” he mused. “How in the hell can they make something so strong, yet so flexible and lightweight?”

“It’s not really as strong as we think,” Maislin commented, picking up one of the other pieces and gently tapping it on the edge of the table. “Yeah. You and I, Anton…we couldn’t even begin to damage this piece of panel if we wanted to, could we?”

Vandergrif replaced the artifact onto the table.

“But think about it, Anton,” Maislin continued. “We’re still holding
pieces
of that construction.
Broken
pieces. This thing was built by an alien technology capable of making things the human race hasn’t yet even dreamed of. But yet when it comes down to it, good old Mother Nature showed ‘em who’s boss.”

Maislin replaced the artifact. “Ice, Anton.
Ice
,” he said. “Testament to how powerful the forces of nature truly are. Can you imagine what power the ice must have exerted to break apart a structure that modern man can’t even put a dent in?”

“Like milk freezing on the front porch,” Vandergrif mused.

Maislin smiled. “Showing your age, Anton,” he replied.

As the two men bantered, Korbett’s thoughts were still concentrated on what they all had been discussing after lunch. The incident with the camera equipment. Then the possibility of finding a crashed space vessel or a structure. Buried under solid ice, no less. But to pull off a major excavation effort like that in the middle of an Antarctic glacier…well, they might as well try to go back to the moon. Korbett reflected on their earlier conversation about digging up an alien find…

“All right,” Korbett had said an hour ago, “let’s put this all together in simple terms once more. We hit the top of a structure…at about two hundred feet for argument’s sake. Looks to be pay dirt. Artifacts five through eleven. Thing’s got some kind of a domed shape to it. We keep digging down along the surface until we hit what we think is the base. We’re at what?…”

“Thirty two and a half feet deeper,” Darbury replied. “Mathematical projection, of course, based upon the curvature of the panels. Assuming we find a
structure
in mathematical proportions to what we anticipate one of their habitats to be…”

Korbett cut him off. “Thank you, Willard. Thirty two and a half feet deeper,” Korbett echoed, always annoyed, yet fascinated by Darbury’s conceptualization of detail. “That gives us a depth of about two hundred and eighty feet.” He contemplated for a moment.

Maislin responded, “If we apply the average annual ice accumulation for the continent, we come up with a figure of…”

Before Maislin could pass the figure, Darbury jumped in, having already done the calculation in his head. “Two thousand years.”

Annoyed, Maislin reiterated. “Yes. Two thousand years.”

“No good,” Koslovsky replied. They all looked at her. “We can’t assume averages at all. We’re sitting on top of a glacier here.”

“She’s right,” Vandergrif agreed. “We’ve no possible way of accurately gauging the ice accumulation.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Darbury offered, drawing another supercilious glance from Maislin.

Korbett said, “Go on, Willard. You were saying?”

“You cannot gauge the ice accumulation for an exact timeframe, but you could certainly analyze a sample of the ice from the depth for its chemical content.”

Koslovsky responded first. “Willard is right.”

“Certainly,” Darbury replied. “They take core samples all the time. They might even have some from that area already.”

“Maggie? Would you check on it?” Korbett said aside.

Darbury continued, “It’s actually quite simple. Not getting the core sample, though. What I mean is, the concept is quite simple. The deeper the ice, the older the core sample. And the older the core sample…”

“…the older the ice,” Korbett said, finishing the sentence.

“Exactly,” Darbury responded.

Koslovsky added, “Science studies ancient temperatures by measuring the amount of oxygen dissolved in the ice. The colder the climate, the different amounts of certain types of oxygen compounds it contains.”

“Actually,” Darbury interjected, “it’s O-18. It’s a form of oxygen that can be easily quantified.”

“They also use radioactive dating,” Vandergrif added. “I’m not sure which method is used, though.”

Darbury was about to advise them of the method when Korbett cut him off. “It doesn’t matter. All I need to know is…could we establish a reasonably accurate timeframe by analyzing the ice at the base of that structure? All I want is a simple
yes
or
no
.”

“Yes,” Koslovsky replied, and after a moment, added, “And maybe no.”

“And what do you mean, Rula?” Korbett asked.

“Again, we have to keep in mind we’re dealing with a glacier. As we know, glaciers flow like rivers. First of all, we don’t even know if this hypothetical structure is attached to solid ground or if it’s
floating
along suspended in the middle of the ice flow. Though I doubt that.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” Maislin replied, turning to Korbett. “We would need to find that out first thing, Bill.”

“You’re right,” Korbett agreed. “Go on, Rula.”

“Well, even if we’re able to establish
that
…say a structure is sitting on solid ground…we still won’t be able to establish if the ice sitting
next
to it has been stationary or if it has been replaced over a period of time. There’s just no way to tell.”

“But…,” Vandergrif added, “we still should be able to get a good indication if we take a core sample from nearby where the ice may not be as mobile. Assuming the structure is on solid ground.”

“That still won’t solve the problem,” Maislin said. “Even if we drill down…what? Two hundred feet? And we establish an approximate age from some stationary ice, it still doesn’t mean the depth corresponds to it.”

They all contemplated for a minute.

“You’re right, of course, Eli,” Korbett finally said. He looked up. “All we can do at best is get a hypothetical guesstimate. But we should be able to get the age of the ice out there from the glaciologists.”

“And the core sample?” Vandergrif inquired.

“If we go that route, might as well take it from the team’s location,” Maislin suggested.

“Might as well just take it directly from the excavation site,” Darbury said. “What’s the difference at this point?”

“We could do both,” Korbett replied. “Then compare them. As a matter of fact, we should probably get three. One sample from the site, two nearby core samples. One near our structure, one somewhere off the glacier from the stationary ice.”

They all looked at each other.
How in the hell are we going to do all this?
Korbett mused.

“Couldn’t hurt, I guess,” Vandergrif replied, as if their whole course of action was going to be this simple.

“Next problem would be getting a drilling rig out in the field to get the core samples,” Koslovsky said, echoing exactly what Korbett was thinking about.

Korbett looked up. “That a problem?” he tossed out just to get a response.

“Might be,” she responded. “Presumably they use specialized rigs. I don’t know how easily they are transported. Especially under these conditions.”

“But they drill everywhere, don’t they?” Korbett asked.

“You would think so,” Vandergrif replied. “Obviously Rula is right. We might just have an insurmountable logistical problem here anyway.”

Korbett breathed a sigh of disgust. “Just what we need. More complication.”

“Guess we’d better check out the feasibility,” Koslovsky said.

Might as well,
Korbett thought to himself. “Maggie,” Korbett had said. “See if there’s a drilling rig available at McMurdo. Don't commit us to one, though. I just want to see if they’ve got a setup.”

That was an hour ago. Korbett didn’t think the issue was going anywhere, anyway. Maislin and Vandergrif were still across the room bantering. Maggie surprised them.

“Got something,” Maggie said from across the room where she was sitting at the computer table.

Korbett and the others moved over to the computer screen. When they read the words, it brought a snicker of amusement from Korbett. Wouldn’t have mattered one way or another as it turned out. It read:

“Shit,” Korbett replied amused, walking away from the computer, tapping his pencil in his hand. So there actually was a possibility. Everyone was silent for a moment.

“How friendly are we with the New Zealanders?” Koslovsky asked.

“I’m not sure,” Korbett replied. “But if we’re not, I sure hope we can kiss and make up.”

“These type projects under the Antarctic Treaty?” Darbury asked.

“I doubt it,” Maislin responded. “Too much money involved to sponsor the equipment.”

“They’re going to want in,” Vandergrif reminded them, stating only what was already on everyone’s mind.

Korbett walked over to the table and picked up his coffee, taking a long sip, the coffee obviously not hot any longer. “Compromise after compromise,” he said. “This whole damn project is nothing but compromises.”

Rula Koslovsky began to laugh. “For God’s sake, William,” she said. “Everybody on the Antarctic continent already
knows
what the hell we’re doing. What’s one more compromise?”

At least it brought a smile to Korbett’s face. “Ted Payne would shit if I had to tell him that he had to kiss the New Zealander’s asses to borrow a damn drilling rig.”

“He’d really shit if he had to tell the President,” Maislin commented.

Vandergrif began to laugh. “I’d pay to see that.”

“I have to admit,” Maislin responded. “I would, too.”

Korbett balked at the cold coffee. “Let me think about this.”

Darbury suddenly let out a cynical laugh.

“What’s so amusing, Willard?” Korbett asked.

“Listen to this conversation,” he responded, pausing to laugh more openly. “To think there’s even the remote chance of something being there…” Darbury laughed more. Korbett and the others only looked at him.
Maybe he’s right
, Korbett thought.
Maybe it was absurd.