by Laura Quimby
I closed my eyes. Please be quick. One swipe of the huge paw, with its sharp claws, and it would be all over. Dad had been right all along—expeditions were dangerous. The elements, the treacherous terrain, the wildlife can all harm a person who got in the way.
But nothing happened, and when I opened my eyes, I noticed a green bit of plastic dangling from one of the bear’s ears. It looked like the same tag that was on Charlie’s ear. But it couldn’t be. I searched the horizon. Through my snow-crusted goggles, all I saw was the desolate landscape receding for miles.
“Charlie!” I yelled, my voice scratchy and foreign, sounding like a croak for help. But Charlie was gone. Only the bear remained.
I heard a rattle and clanking jingle. The bear had grabbed the reins of the sled and begun to pull it easily, as if it were a toy. It nudged my leg with its muzzle to move forward and then roared with a deep rumble. So I followed. What else could I do?
The polar bear pulled the sled, and I walked along, side by side with this huge majestic creature that could rip my head off in one second flat. And then I could have sworn I heard a word, a single word, drift on the air. Maybe it was my imagination. Or just in my head, but the word was strong.
I was snow-crazy, for sure. Hypothermia made people crazy with cold, made them see things like giant polar bears pulling a sled. But I wasn’t about to argue with a bear. If it wanted to pull the sled, I was going to let it. I wasn’t strong, but with a little help I was stronger than I had been.
We just had to keep walking. We had a long way to go. I was so cold. I leaned into the bear, which blocked the wind with its massive body. It never wavered. We were a strange team, plowing our way through the blinding, snow-crusted wind. The light grew darker and darker. I was so tired. I couldn’t help pull the sled anymore, and I wondered if Dad’s pockets were stuffed with gold and that was why he was so heavy, and just like a magical fairy tale, a spirit bear had ambled into my dreamscape to save me.
The bear made me climb up onto its back. I clung to its thick white fur. He was warm and strong and pulled the sled along behind us.
I don’t know who or what Charlie was: an angel or an alien being. Was he the boy Icarus, fallen out of the myth, fallen from Mount Olympus, who never landed in the sea but in a frozen bed of snow, drowning in wind? White roared around me. The cold was a cocoon that clung to me. I was delirious. That’s what dehydration and hypothermia do to a person. They make you see things like snow ghosts and polar bears. West was right. The cold was a monster, biting at me with its razor teeth.
White had a wide mouth. White had come alive.
My goggles were so crusted with ice that I could barely see. In the distance I saw my mother standing on the ice, wearing her stained T-shirt and mud-caked boots, her nose sunburned. I smelled the sweat on her neck. She had come to rescue me and take me home. She had dug me up like a frozen doll buried in the snow. She cradled me in her arms and rocked me like I was her precious daughter. Tears fell from her eyes in frozen droplets of ice like diamonds. I was going to be OK. I would be home soon. I wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep. I leaned into the soft fur of the bear.
Mom just stood there. She would die dressed like that; she would freeze to death. Her skin would shatter like glass. I waved to her. “Mom! I’m over here!”
She didn’t move, not even a shiver. She was a mythical goddess, and so was I, riding my polar bear with a prince magically trapped inside. The cold was no match for us—let the angry white world eat us alive.
“Mom!” I yelled. “You came for me!”
Then I saw what she had in her hands. She raised a tranquilizer gun. “I’ve come for the bear.”
But I knew what she really wanted. “You can’t have him. He’s mine. I freed him from the ice.”
“One last chance,” she said, and raised the gun.
“You’re just jealous because everything you dig up is dead, and I found a living thing, a real boy with wings. He can fly, and he can mimic things, and change himself—he speaks through dreams, Mom. He’s incredible.”
I paused, my brain stalling out, screeching to a stop. That was it. Charlie was alive. That was what mattered.
I was not interested in the dead, their bones or tusks, fossils, old clothes, clay pots, or buried stuff—precious as they were to my parents—I was looking for the living, for breathing, talking, walking people. I wanted to make friends and meet interesting people, like Kyle and Charlie, Justice and West. I might even make a few adversaries, too, like Katsu and Ivan, and a few in between like Randal and Jake. In that second, I understood what I was digging for, and it was all the colors bleeding into one—that’s what the color white was—all the colors.
White wasn’t alone.
I gasped, a smile cracking the ice on my face. I was thrilled to be awake and alive, and more than anything I wanted to go home. I waved my arm high in the air, but my mother just adjusted the sight on the tranq gun.
She fired. But I was too quick and dove in front of her prey. The dart pierced my snowsuit down to my skin and flooded my body with hot venom. I tumbled from the bear’s back. Sinking into the snow, heavy as a feather. The sled was still there, but I couldn’t move. I had to sleep, to rest, to close my eyes and dream.
The bear picked me up in its arms and carried me. The bear would save us. It would save Dad. The stars spun above me in their dark painted sky. Only humans would make a fake sky. That’s what Zoey said. The little green aliens were laughing their butts off at us. I turned to the bear and said, “Look out for Pluto, will you? It needs all the friends it can get.”
Then I closed my eyes.
I felt myself sinking into a dark pool of calm. Snow buried me inch by inch, like the sand-swept deserts of Egypt swallowing up its kings. I felt the moist, earthy soil of the jungle pulling me under, snaking vines tying me down, like a doll played with by little girls a long time ago. But like Charlie, I was still alive, awake deep inside, a flame flickering in my chest. A rumbling sound penetrated my sleep, rousing me, pulling me back to the bright white surface.
Exhaustion had frozen me in place. The sound grew closer and closer, and I could see a spot of light moving toward me. Within seconds, I was lying in the center of the circle of light, the helicopter hovering above me like a giant metal bee, whipping the snow around my head. Justice’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Hold on, Maya. Help is on the way.”
I tried to wave, so he would know I heard him. With a lurch in my stomach, I realized the bear was gone. The helicopter must have scared him off. But the sled was still behind me. Where had Charlie gone, and what had happened to the bear? Were they the same creature? I searched the small sphere of light, but there were no tracks in the snow.
As the rumbling motor of a snowmobile got closer, relief flooded through me, and I relaxed into the snow.
When I woke up in the infirmary, I was warm, too warm. Buried under an electric blanket, I felt sweat drip down my neck. I kicked a feather comforter off my flannel-clad legs. That was when I noticed that I was surrounded. West, Kyle, and Justice were positioned around the room, trying to stay out of Dr. Kernel’s way. When our eyes met, Kyle’s face lit up with a goofy grin. Justice gave West a high five. And West said, “Rescue mission accomplished.”
Dr. Kernel maneuvered around my bed to check my IV. The first thing she told me was that Dad was going to be fine. Randal had arranged to have him flown to the nearest hospital. The fall on the ice had left him with a mild concussion and a broken ankle. Dr. Kernel said that head wounds sometimes looked worse than they really were. He needed some stitches for the nasty gash, but that was all.
Relieved that Dad was going to be fine, I told my story about what had happened out at the skeleton site with Ivan, Charlie, and Dad. I also told them about the polar bear and Charlie. (Well, almost all of it. I left out the part about Mom and the tranquilizer gun. As fantastic as everything else was, I knew that part had to be a hallucination.)
“Honey, the cold does th
ings to people’s minds,” Dr. Kernel said, clearly not buying my polar bear story.
“What do you mean? I was there. I think I would remember a bear.” My throat was raw.
“When we found you, you were dehydrated and had hypothermia. You were barely conscious,” Dr. Kernel said, her face tight with concern.
West stood in the doorway to the infirmary. “Happens to the best of us.”
“No, I was fine. And the bear helped me. He saved my life.” I realized this sounded made up, but it was the truth. A giant friendly polar bear with a tagged ear, just like Charlie’s, had carried me through a snowstorm. Kyle sat at the foot of my bed. Justice listened intently.
When the doctor and West stepped out of the room, I squinted at Kyle. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course. But no one else does,” he whispered. “What do you expect? They don’t know Charlie like we know Charlie.”
“You know what I think?” Justice said, lowering his voice. “I think you’re telling the truth.”
“Really?” I asked, relieved that another person—a grown-up person—believed me.
“I think you’re special. One day, stories will be told about your adventure. The myth of Old Girl, who called to the gods and was so strong of heart and spirit that a bear was sent to aid her. You are a strong and wise girl. You asked for help, and help arrived.”
“The myth of Old Girl. My mom would love that. I’ll have to tell her.”
“At least you’re OK,” Kyle said.
“What happened to Ivan?” I pushed my pillows up so I could sit up better.
Kyle answered. “After we realized that Ivan hadn’t gone to town, we came back. We caught him trying to raid the supplies. With some convincing, he told us what had happened and where you two were.”
“Where is he now?”
“Randal let him go.” Justice stared at the floor. “I wouldn’t have done it, but this is Randal’s station.”
“Let him go?” I couldn’t believe it. “Why let him go?”
“Randal didn’t want any trouble from Ivan’s family. Technically, Ivan didn’t hurt anyone. He just freaked out and stole a snowmobile. Randal thought it best to just get him off the station. He had West take him to the airport and put him on a plane home.”
“That’s not right. He kidnapped Charlie!” Kyle said.
“What happened to Charlie?” I asked.
No one would meet my eyes.
“Is he here? Did you find him?”
“The snow doesn’t seem to have any effect on him,” Kyle said.
A pang of guilt hit my stomach. “I had to leave him back there. He disappeared when the bear came, and then I didn’t see him again. Did you find him? Please tell me that he’s OK.” I would never forgive myself if he was hurt. Never. I still believed Charlie and the bear were one and the same, but neither of them was around when my rescue came.
Justice answered. “Yes, we found him. He returned to camp a few hours after we brought you back.”
Charlie had to walk the whole way back to the station by himself. My throat tightened. I should have been there for him, but all I could think about was myself and Dad and getting back to safety.
“Where’s he now?” I asked.
Just then Jake strolled into the infirmary and gave me a nod. Right behind him was Karen, who came over to my bedside. Stroking my hair, she said, “You don’t need to worry about him now. Take care of yourself.”
“Katsu has him locked up in the lab,” Kyle said.
My pulse quickened. We were right back where we had started. “What’s Randal going to do? He won’t let Katsu take him away, will he? He’ll do awful things to him. You all know that Katsu is going to experiment on him. He wants to clone Charlie. He told me.”
“Don’t get excited,” Karen said.
“You didn’t see Randal’s Icarus Project,” Jake said from the doorway. “Look, I’m no Benedict Arnold. I love my uncle. But he’s in deep with these guys. He’s going ahead with his plan. Katsu gets all the samples he needs, and then Randal goes public with Charlie and gets all the recognition for the discovery. No choice.”
“What are we going to do?” I said.
“We can’t do anything,” Karen said. “We’re dependent on Randal. This is his station and he controls what happens here. Remember, it’s his helicopter and these are his employees.”
“I’m sorry,” Justice said. “But Doctor Gardner is right. I have to do what Randal wants. This is my job, and he’s the boss.” He stood to leave. “Get some sleep.”
“I don’t like it any more than you do, but we all knew coming into this project that whatever was found in the ice belonged to Randal,” Karen said.
I felt tears well up, but I swallowed hard and brushed them away. “There has to be something we can do.”
West had returned and was leaning in the doorway. “Get some rest and get better. You’re lucky we found you. Today was a big win for us. A good day. We got our special girl back safe and sound, and that’s enough for me. Justice and I need to make sure the chopper is ready. Katsu is leaving in the morning, and the rest of you will leave in the afternoon.”
“The morning!” I blurted out. “So soon?” I couldn’t believe it. Charlie was slipping away. It was all ending so fast.
Karen tucked in the comforter around me. “How about I go check on getting something to eat for all of us?”
Once everyone else had left, Jake, Kyle, and I stared at one another in silence for a few minutes. No one knew what to say. It was Jake who spoke up first. “Are we just going to sit around and do nothing, or are we going to plan a little jailbreak?” He smiled wide.
“I’m up for a jailbreak,” Kyle said.
“Me too.” We had to at least try to rescue Charlie. The others might work for Randal, but we didn’t.
“Now we just need a plan,” Jake said.
“How do we know we can trust you?” I asked. “No offense, but it’s not like we’re best friends. And you are Randal’s nephew.”
“Yeah, why do want to help us?” Kyle asked. “Your uncle is going to be pretty steamed at you.”
Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. “Look, I’m not a PhD kind of guy. I don’t claim to be a scientist. Heck, I don’t know much of anything but filmmaking. I watch stuff. I’m like a witness to what goes on. And I don’t like what I’ve been seeing around here.”
“Really?” I wondered if he hadn’t also taken a good look in the mirror. “You take after your uncle.”
Jake glanced at the floor. “I don’t like how I’ve acted, either.”
“You can be kind of rude with that camera,” Kyle said.
“I know it. I’m an opportunist. I step on toes to get what I want. Just like my uncle and now Katsu. And that’s not right.”
“This sounds good, but how do we know that you’ve really changed?” I asked.
“Yeah, what’s the catch?” Kyle asked.
“I can’t prove that I’ve changed.” He shrugged. “I still want to get Charlie on film. Maybe I could get an interview before we help him escape?” He looked sheepishly at us, and both Kyle and I shook our heads. At least Jake was being honest. He wanted to document Charlie for his film. That I could believe.
“We have to figure out how to break Charlie out of the observation room and then what to do with him once he’s free,” Kyle said.
“I’ve been thinking about that. And something keeps going through my head,” I said, then turned to Jake. “Remember the night I went outside and found your camera equipment set up under the tarp?”
“You mean when you heard voices and wandered out in the snow, thinking that the big tarp was Randal?” Kyle laughed.
“Yes, dork.” I play-kicked him with my fuzzy slipper.
“How could I forget?” Jake asked. “I thought you had messed up a whole night of filming. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with what you were filming.”
/> Jake raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“We all saw the Icarus Project. The creature had wings. She was real,” I said. “You and Randal have been tracking her.”
“So what does this mean?” Kyle asked. “How will that help us rescue Charlie?”
“She’s still out there,” I said. “What if Charlie and the snow ghost are related? What if they’re connected? Somehow the same species?”
Kyle’s eyes lit up. “Charlie’s a snow ghost … I see where this is going.”
“What if the reason she appeared the same time that we brought Charlie to the station was that she was looking for him? That she came back for him?”
Kyle nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“When Charlie and I were at the dome, I’m pretty sure he referred to himself as a snow ghost. He said he wanted to go home. I thought he was just mimicking me, but now I think he was talking about himself.”
Both Jake and Kyle stared at me.
“Look, I’m up for anything,” Jake said. “If you can get him out of the lab, I’ll help you.”
“We just have to figure out how to break Charlie out of the lab,” Kyle said.
But I already had an idea.
After what happened with Ivan, Katsu convinced Randal that Charlie would be safe and secure only at his lab in Japan. Randal had no choice. He agreed to let Katsu take Charlie. That meant we only had one night to free Charlie. The next day, he would be leaving the station with Katsu to be ushered off to some lab in Japan. Randal had a debt to Katsu, and Charlie was the payment. A contract was a contract.
Well, I hadn’t given my word to anyone, and I had a plan to break Charlie out of the lab and set him free. The plan was simple, as all good plans are. It was also crazy and probably not going to work, but I was pinched for time and had to move.