She counted out ten paces, sending the light from side to side. Nothing flashed in the beam, so she turned right and paced off another ten steps. Turning around, she counted off her ten steps again, muttering under her breath, then another ten more. Again she turned, heading away from the tractor. Only five paces this time, before turning across her path.
Five or ten minutes later, her heart was pounding and her hand wouldn't let go of the flashlight. She hadn't found the crank, but the way the wind was cutting through her clothing she couldn't stay out any longer.
Vic shivered in the heat of the cab as Ming wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
“You shouldn't have stayed out in the cold that long,” Ming told her. “That coat isn't warm enough for this weather. You need something much heavier if you're going to stay out in the cold.”
“Yes, mother.” Vic's teeth chattered so much she could barely understand herself.
“I'm not your mother, or your nanny, but you need to take better care of yourself.” Ming, rubbed Vic's body, hard and fast building up friction. “You need to think first and do second.”
Vic just nodded, clenching her jaw to stop her teeth from moving.
“Someone has to find the crank,” Vic said when her teeth finally stopped.”
“I'll look,” Doc replied. “I was watching when Gus started the engine. You just stay here and warm up.”
Vic slumped back against Ming, sharing the passenger seat as the two gorillas had spread out over the rear bench. By the time she looked up Doc was gone.
#
Doc stretched in the driver's seat. The last ten days had been tough even for him. Without the Briggs, they had had to keep the big engine going all the time. He had found the crank. It had flown about five feet further than Vic had gone, but after Gus broke his arm, nobody wanted to start the engine unless they had to. Everyone smelled; bathing was out of the question. The only thing they had been able to keep clean was Gus's arm, which was mending slowly. The gorilla normally healed very quickly, but the tractor's medical kit was extremely limited; so Gus was going to be down a limb for a while. The one good thing was that everyone was still getting along although tempers were getting short, especially Vic's and Ming's.
They were high enough now that the air was getting thin, almost too thin. The last refueling stop had been a mess; even Kehla had struggled with the drums, and she was almost as strong as her husband. The worst part had been listening to Gus's complaints that they weren't letting him help. It had been one of the few times that Doc had heard Ming tear a strip off someone other than Vic.
“How's it going?” Vic broke the silence from her usual position in the passenger seat. Strands of greasy red hair framed her face, escapees from her ponytail. Ming's hair was in even worse condition, making Doc glad he wore his as short as he did.
“Well enough,” he replied. “If my reckoning is right, we're only about twenty or thirty miles from Hansen's forward base.”
“And you're sure Gilly took the airship there?”
Doc shook his head. “I can't be sure, but it's the only place in Antarctica he could have taken it that we could reach.”
She grinned. “That works for me.”
“That's the spirit.”
They both fell silent, letting the rumble of the engine in front of them do the talking. Ice crunched under the tracks. The scene reminded Doc of nothing more than some of the trips he had taken as a teen in the long lunar night. For a moment, only the Moon in the sky told him he was still on Earth.
The tractor lurched as a sharp cracking sound broke through the rumble of the engine. The headlight flashed across the icy landscape, and then dove into a crevasse that appeared in front of them.
“Hang on!” Doc yanked back on both side handles, locking the rear treads. Steel screamed against the ice as the tractor swept forward inexorably, pulled by the force of gravity.
Doc braced himself against the floorboards just in time; the nose dropped and the tractor careened down the slope. Something heavy smashed into the back of his seat, and then Gus's good arm wrapped around his waist.
Ming slid head first between the seats, screaming. Doc dropped the side handles and tried to reach for her, but Gus's arm held him tight. Her voice cut off, as a grinning Vic leaned forwards and scooped her up.
“Isn't this fun?” Chunks of ice bounced off the cab, almost drowning out Vic's voice, but Doc's ears were sharp enough to catch it.
They skidded about ten yards down the crevasse and then hit a ledge; Doc hauled on the steering wheel, trying to regain control. They bounced off the ledge and then the far wall of the crevasse. The tractor broke loose from its trailer with a screech of rending steel, slid sideways and finally came to a stop, wedged securely into the ice. Surprisingly, they were almost level. Thinking quickly, Doc yanked the tractor out of gear.
Two more chunks of ice bounced loudly off the roof and then everything was silent except for the rumbling engine. Doc took a deep breath, feeling the thin air burn, and started taking stock of the situation. “Everyone all right?”
“Can we do it again?” Vic grinned over Ming's shoulder. “That was fun.”
She winced visibly as the smaller woman punched her in the side. “I was kidding.”
Doc sighed. “Now is anyone else hurt?”
“The grown-ups are doing well enough back here,” Gus replied, unwinding his arm from around Doc's waist.
“Are you alright, Doc?” Kehla asked from her position behind Vic's seat.
He stretched, twisting his neck until it cracked, and then nodded. “I think so. Your husband makes an excellent seat belt.”
“He is good for some things.”
Ming twisted around in Vic's lap to face the rest of the group. “Is he good for climbing with a broken arm?” She pointed upwards. “That's a long way up.”
“Especially at this altitude,” Vic added.
“What do you mean?” Ming asked.
“Take a deep breath,” Vic told her. “We must be at least ten thousand feet up, and that means we're only getting about two thirds as much air as we do at sea level.” She shrugged. “That climb is going to be a challenge.”
Kehla poked her head between the seats. “More to the point, what do we do when we get out of the crevasse? Freeze to death on open ice?”
Doc shook his head. “We walk. I figure we're only about twenty miles from Hansen's forward base.”
Vic shivered ostentatiously. “So a nice climb to warm up and then a long walk across the ice cap.” She grinned. “It sounds wonderful.”
Thirty minutes later, they were ready to go. It had taken a little discussion, but they had finally figured out an order of ascent. Doc and Vic were going first, carrying a rope and some jury-rigged pitons. Once they were up, Ming would follow, then Gus, and finally Kehla. Everyone had a small pack with food and water, and Kehla was rigging a sled they could haul up afterwards.
“Want to race to the top?” Vic's face was covered by her scarf, but her eyes shone.
Doc just looked up the ice wall in front of them. The group had made it up to the top of the ledge, where they huddled against the inner edge. Below them, the crevasse extended downwards at least a hundred feet, if not further, though anyone who fell would be more likely to find themselves stuck between the walls long before they hit bottom.
The first ten feet looked easy in the darkness, but Doc knew it wasn't going to be.
“Slow and steady, Vic,” he said. “Slow and steady.”
Cold seeped through his gloves as he grabbed the first outcropping. Taking a deep breath, he hoisted himself upwards. The crevasse was old, with ridges running along its length. They were almost halfway up before he had to cut his first hold.
Without an ice axe, he had to use a knife. Holding on with his left hand, he dug slowly at the ice, trying not to break the tip.
From there, the going got progressively more difficult. Doc cut the next three holds, and then had to switch off wit
h Vic. It wasn't just the cold, it was the toughness of the ice. Beryllium bronze held up better in the cold than steel, but it wore down faster.
It took them almost twenty minutes to climb the thirty feet to the surface.
Vic went over first, heaving herself onto the ice sheet. A moment later, Doc followed. Now that they were out of the crevasse, there was nothing between them and the wind. Icy blasts knifed through his scarf, as he knelt down on the rough ice.
Reaching into his pack, Doc pulled out a flare and set it on the ice about ten feet from the edge. He pulled the striker and stepped away, shielding his eyes. Everything went white as ten thousand candlepower illuminated the ice. Doc blinked rapidly to protect his eyes from the harsh light.
Even at shin level, the light highlighted every imperfection in the surrounding ice, from the smallest ripple to the tracks of their tractor pointing northwards toward the coast. The flare hissed behind him while he scanned the surrounding terrain. Apart from the obvious crevasse beside him, the ice was almost completely featureless. The wind carried a fine spray of ice motes that sparkled in the glare, cutting visibility down to a few hundred feet at most.
As the flare sputtered to its death, Doc pulled a couple of pitons from his pack and sank them as deeply as he could into the molten ice that surrounded it. Once the pitons were set, he stood up and turned to Vic.
“Better keep moving, it will take a few minutes to freeze into place.”
Vic nodded, looking more like a shambling mound of fur than a woman. “How cold is it up here?”
“I don't have a thermometer, but I'd say about minus 90.” Doc smiled behind his scarf. “Not counting the wind chill.”
Vic stamped her feet in place a few times, and then started walking around the pitons. “I can't see too well yet.”
“Me neither, but the flare was the best way to set the pitons.”
It was another half hour before everyone was at the top. Gus wanted to pull the sled up the rope, but Kehla wouldn't let him. Instead, she had joined Doc and the two of them had done the work in only a little more time than Gus would have taken alone. Ten minutes later, they were ready to go.
#
Her hour was up. Vic groaned as she got off the sled, and into the wind. Her mouth was too dry to swallow, and her lungs burned from the freezing air. Every breath cut like a knife, and the wind just made it worse. Four hours pulling, followed by an hour riding didn't seem like a bad idea on the surface, but getting back onto the ice was another story.
Still, she smiled at Gus as he clambered onto the sled. After wrapping the end of the rope around her mitts she slipped it over her shoulder and leaned in. “Ready.”
Doc waved from up front, and Vic started to pull. She was fourth in line, with Ming, Kehla, and Doc in front of her. The first couple of steps were easy, she just focused on Ming and put one foot in front of the other. Ice crunched under her feet. It felt like she was walking on the Moon. The worst part was the darkness, there was only a sliver of the Moon in the sky and her flashlight was long dead.
Above her, the Aurora Australis arched across the sky like a blanket. Vic shivered under its illusory warmth, once again putting one foot in front of the other. Her world shrank to Ming before her and the sky above them. She had to suck each breath deep, letting the cold all the way into her core just to get enough oxygen.
Her scarf shifted, creating a tiny gap beneath her goggles. Particles of ice ripped through the opening, hitting her skin like sandpaper. With a groan, Vic moved her scarf back up to cover her face. Then it was back to the monotony, footfall after footfall.
After an hour, Gus was back, and now it was Vic's turn to take the lead while Doc rode behind. Before they switched, he leaned in towards her.
“Just keep Sigma Octantis to your left shoulder.”
“That's easy for you to say,” Vic muttered through chattering teeth. “We don't all have your vision. I can hardly see Sigma Octantis.” She tried to glare at him through her goggles. “Point it out, and I'll find my own pointers.”
Doc nodded, his head barely more than a lump on top of his body. “It's there.”
Vic followed his gaze, finding the south pole from Crux and the Pointers. Squinting, she caught a star just above the horizon, and set her guide. She pointed. “That good?”
“Good.”
Doc turned and made his way back to the sled. Vic watched him go, then turned her gaze back to Ming, who was rubbing her arms and stamping her feet in the cold. Vic smiled softly at her, though she knew Ming couldn't see her expression, and then turned resolutely forward.
“On your bicycles, people.” Vic took up her own rope again and started forward.
Where the first hour had been boring, this one was anything but. No more trudging along without thinking, not when everyone depended on her. One step after another, but now her eyes were upwards, focused on the stars. Vic had to keep awake, walk without falling into a trance.
Her clothes weighed on her. Inside, the fur lining was greasy and weighed down with sweat. She didn't have enough breath to walk and talk at the same time, so she counted cadence under her breath. Not too slow, not too fast; Vic had learned the perils of winter sweat as a girl in Siberia.
At least she didn't have to worry about losing the stars to sunrise down here at midwinter.
This was her second stint in the lead, and she was losing energy. They had been going for almost ten hours now, and they were running out of time. As best she could tell, they were about fifteen miles from the crevasse, and hopefully no more than five miles from Hansen, Gilly, and the airship.
Vic squinted, the stars were getting fainter. A gust of wind caught her in the side, and she stumbled. Back on her feet, she saw a wave of blackness blot out the stars as an icy spray blasted across her goggles.
“Ugh,” she grunted.
Tightening her grip on the rope, she pushed herself forwards. One more step, just one more step. Her world narrowed to the ice underfoot, and the wind on her shoulder. Vic shook her head to clear it, and then glanced upwards. Nothing, it was as if the stars had been blotted out.
“Ah!” Ming's voice came weakly from behind, carried away by the wind.
“What happened?”
“She tripped,” Gus boomed over the wind.
“I'm fine.”
Vic shook her head, Ming didn't sound fine. “Are you sure?”
“Don't worry about me, I can keep going.”
“Okay,” Vic called back. “Take a minute and then let's get moving.”
Looking at the sky was fruitless, the only constant was the icy wind. Frozen needles clawed at her clothing, digging for any way inside. Vic clamped her left arm tight against her side, shielding Ming's repairs from the wind. She wanted to punch something, but forced herself to stand still, hunched against the wind.
“Need help?” Doc appeared beside her, his approach covered by the storm.
Vic shook her head tightly. “Did you see the clouds come in?”
“No, I was meditating.”
She nodded, rubbing arms against her chest. “We can't stop.”
Doc reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “I know. I figure we have about three hours at most.”
This time Vic shivered for real. “Drop the sled. Keep the ropes.”
“Already planning on it.”
She took a deep breath; the air burned all the way down. Doc was optimistic about three hours. Two was more like it, and the longer they stood around, the worse things were going to get.
“I'll take the lead; you keep the others together.” Vic smiled behind her scarf. One throw of the dice all or nothing; she'd take those odds.
Gesturing for Doc to join the others, Vic closed her eyes. The wind howled in her ears, but she forced herself to ignore it. She let the wind wash over her, the ice blasting against her goggles. Vic turned slowly, left and then right, trying to recapture the feeling. She loosened her scarf so the wind scored at her cheek. The pain made her wince, but she
needed to feel the wind.
Then she felt it; she had the direction.
Wrapping her scarf back around her face, she straightened up and squared her shoulders. The sky was still black and starless, but she didn't care. Vic had her line.
Throwing the rope back over her shoulder, she started forward. The wind was her guide, and her worst enemy. The ice it carried blocked off the stars, and sucked the heat from her bones. It was the one constant in the darkness.
One foot in front of the other, toe the line and keep it straight. The rope weighed on her shoulder, loaded down with responsibility. Vic kept her hands and feet moving. Doc's winter gear was good, better than anything else on the market, but even it wasn't meant for this kind of cold.
Her hands and feet felt like nothing more than icy lumps, pulsing with pain in time with her heart.
Ming cried out behind her, and it was all Vic could do not to spin around. “What's wrong?”
“Ming tripped,” Doc replied. “I'll carry her.”
Vic swallowed, relishing the pain as a sign she was still fighting. If Ming couldn't walk, she couldn't keep warm. The clock was ticking faster.
“I've got her,” Doc called from behind.
Vic didn't say anything, she just started walking again.
Ice crystals bounced off her goggles, weighing down her scarf. They weren't melting, but she had no extra strength to knock the off. It was all she could do to hold the rope and keep moving. They had to reach shelter soon.
She blinked, feeling the weight of her eyelids. It was an effort just to keep them open.
Something caught her eye, forcing Vic to squint beneath her goggles. She wasn't sure, but she thought there was a faint glow up ahead. At least she thought there was. Whatever it was, it was where Hansen's base should have been.
Ten minutes later, she was sure there was a light ahead. Too low to be the Moon, it had to be something on the ice. Vic's heart pounded in her chest, lightening the weight in her legs. This was the last throw of the dice; and if there was one thing she knew; it was that none of them were going down without a fight. They all depended on her; Ming depended on her. With a grim smile, she strode forward.
Attacked Beneath Antarctica Page 6