Polar Quest

by Alex Archer

  Garin leaned closer to her. “You’re extremely agitated about something. Is it your time of the month?”

  Annja drove a right cross into his gut so fast he had no time to stop it. He doubled over and Annja kneed him as his head came down. Garin dropped to the ground, clutched his face and stayed there trying to get his wind back. “That…wasn’t…necessary…”

  “Apparently, it was,” Annja said. “Make any more cracks like that and your world is going to get a lot more painful.”

  Garin held up his hand. “All right. A truce.”

  “Fine.”

  He got back to his feet, rubbing his nose. “You really want to know why I’m here?”

  “Yes.”

  He sighed. “Fine. I will tell you.”

  19

  “So go ahead and tell me.”

  Garin looked around, as if convinced someone might be listening to their conversation. After a full minute of his not saying anything, Annja shook her head.

  “There’s no one there, Garin. Now spill your guts already or I’m going to get impatient.”

  He frowned but kept his voice low. “I heard there were strange artifacts being found down here.”

  “From where?”

  “I’d rather not say,” Garin said. “It’s a very privileged source and if I reveal it, I’m quite certain it will dry up. I’d never have access to that information ever again. And I think it’s in my best interests to protect it.”

  “Yeah?” Annja sighed. “All right, whatever. So you heard a rumor. And what—you just decided to come on down and see for yourself?”

  “Something like that.”

  “But what made this dig such an interesting one to you? What piqued your interest in this rather than a dinosaur dig in Montana, for example?”

  Garin sighed. “Annja, how long have we known each other?”

  “Probably too long. You’re like a bad set of luggage—I can’t get rid of you. You and Roux. I’ll be stuck with you guys forever at this rate.”

  A small smile played across Garin’s face. “You know, it’s quite likely you will at that.”

  “Lucky me,” Annja said. “So what made you come down here?”

  “The possibility that an otherworldly race created these artifacts. I need to be certain whether or not they were, in fact, created by extraterrestrials,” Garin said.

  “Well, join the club. But as we were discussing, I don’t think we’ve got anything even remotely significant that might prove these are alien artifacts. In fact, I’m quite certain there’s a more rational explanation for all of this,” Annja said.

  “Are you really?” Garin looked vaguely amused. “And just what makes you so certain?”

  “It’s nothing I can verbalize,” Annja said. “Call it a gut reaction. Sometimes I have very strong intuition about this stuff, and right now, it’s not saying these are from another world.”

  “And this intuition, is it a result of being with the sword that you possess?”

  “Maybe.”

  “No maybes about it,” Garin said. “I would suggest that your instincts and intuition have become far sharper since you’ve come into possession of the sword than in the time before you had it.”

  “Even still, it tells me these are not alien in nature.”

  Garin nodded. “Well, it just so happens that I agree with what your intuition is telling you.”

  “You do?”

  Garin laughed. “You seem so shocked. Why is that?”

  “I thought you had your own theories about this stuff. And I guess I thought you were hoping that maybe they were alien in nature.”

  “Perhaps at another time I would have. But I’m far more excited about the prospects of what these artifacts truly represent than the wishes of people who like to dream about little men in spaceships.”

  “There’s the condescending tone I was waiting for.” Annja grinned. “At least you’re being truthful. As near as I can tell.”

  Garin pointed at the triangular serpent item Annja held in her hands. “We’d better get this up to the surface and then get back or your little buddies are liable to think you’ve gone and had your way with me.”

  “Well, good heavens, we wouldn’t want them thinking that now, would we? Those fantasies are never going to materialize anyway,” Annja said.

  Garin placed his hand over his heart. “Woe that you tease me so.”

  “Yeah, right.” Annja walked away and along the trail toward the surface. Garin followed along behind her, his footsteps echoing throughout the caverns.

  “When was the last time you spoke with Roux, anyway?” Annja asked.

  “Why?”

  “Call me curious.”

  Garin sighed. “The less time I spend communicating with the old man, the better. He has no appreciation or zest for life. All he wants to do is commune with the voices of the past. He lacks the ability to see his own future.”

  “What do you see for your future?” Annja asked.

  Garin shook his head and was silent for a long time.

  Annja waited, curious to see what Garin would say next.

  He finally spoke. “I would like to see what else there is. What happens now. Clearly Roux and I have a part to play in your development. Neither one of us aged before the sword was recovered and you assumed ownership. And thus far, neither of us has aged since then.”

  “You thought you might, though, didn’t you?”

  “Honestly? Yes. I think both of us did. Of course, I don’t think Roux would ever admit that. He’s much too much of an obstinate fellow to ever allow us entry into his grand vision for himself.”

  Annja smiled. “But you have no such troubles.”

  Garin spread his arms. “I am without guile, milady.”

  “Yeah. So where’s that bridge you wanted to sell me, too?” Annja walked farther up the trail.

  Garin caught up with her. “Annja, if I laid all my cards on the table, would you even recognize them as such? Face it, from the very first time we met, you’ve done nothing but suspect me of foul play at every opportunity.”

  “Uh, that’s because you’ve been plotting foul play every time I’ve run into you.” Annja shook her head. “Cripes, Garin, it’s not like you’re off fund-raising for orphans or something. You’ve tried to kill a lot of people I’ve known. Probably even me on occasion.”

  Garin leveled a finger at her. “You don’t know nearly as much as you think you do. Let’s get back to the reason we’re here.”

  “Fine,” Annja muttered, unwilling to let Garin know how much he unsettled her.

  “Annja, if these artifacts aren’t from an alien world, then they must be from Earth, right?” Garin asked.

  “That would be the logical assumption, yeah.”

  “But then there’s the problem of the history. Humans didn’t start developing until long after the carbon date stamp of these items.”

  “Well, supposedly.”

  “Oh, please, you don’t mean to tell me that you think there could have been an early race of humans with the intelligence to design and manufacture these things, do you? Where’s the proof? Wouldn’t we have found skeletons by now that would corroborate such a theory? Wouldn’t the scientists have been able to tell that they were older bones but more developed?” Garin asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, where are they?”

  Annja said nothing.

  “They aren’t there because there weren’t any prehistoric races of humans out there living in some fantasy world,” Garin continued.

  “You don’t think so, huh?”

  “No. I don’t. And I don’t think you do, either.”

  Annja shook her head. “Don’t tell me what I’m thinking, Garin. I don’t like people who put their own thoughts into my head.”

  “Fine, fine. But I can see it in your eyes.” Garin leaned in closer. “And you do have such beautiful eyes, Annja.”

  She looked up at him. Damn him for being so utterly charming
when he wanted to be. The way he looked at her, it was as if he was trying to decide if he could eat her in one bite or if he would just slowly devour her.

  As much as she hated to admit it, there were times when she loved being ogled like that. She knew enough about the vibe Garin threw to know that any time spent in bed with him would be utterly and completely earth-shattering.

  She also knew that there was a strong chance she would never emerge from his lair alive.

  Trust was a big issue between them.

  Annja blinked and Garin withdrew. Had he been trying to hypnotize her? She wouldn’t put it past him. He’d been around long enough to learn a whole array of tricks. He didn’t need a crystal dangling from a pendulum to put her under.

  Dangerous, she decided. Garin was simply far too dangerous.

  “I wish you hadn’t blinked, Annja. It could have been magical.”

  Annja ran a hand through her hair. “Oh, Garin. Here we are in the middle of a dirty, filthy dig in a mountain in Antarctica and you think that you can just charm me into your bed?”

  “Why not?” he asked with a sly smile.

  “For one thing, it rates about a zero on the romance meter. I tend to take things a bit slower.”

  “We can go slow. I’ve got all the time in the world.”

  Annja smiled. “Nice try, buddy. It ain’t gonna happen, though, so let’s say we cut the corny attempts at seduction and stick to the important thing here—figuring out who made these items.”

  “Fine,” Garin said. “But I still say I could have had you in another couple of minutes.”

  Annja ignored his comment. “Your theory then is that these weren’t made by aliens or by a race of prehistoric humans. Is that it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then who made them?”

  Garin smiled. Ahead of them, the entrance to the shelter loomed. Annja could see people moving about inside the shelter. She turned to Garin. “Come on, tell me what you really believe.”

  Garin shook his head. “I’m afraid we’re out of time. Please see the receptionist for a slot next week.”

  “Garin.” Annja punched his arm. “I want to know what you think is so damned important about these artifacts.”

  “You’ve been asking the wrong questions, Annja,” Garin said. “And for me to go ahead and just give you the answers without you doing the work involved wouldn’t be any kind of fun, now, would it?”

  “I could do without having to work for the answer every once in a while. I expect most people could,” Annja said.

  Garin nodded. “Sure, but there’s no fun in it.”

  “So?”

  “The goal is always to have fun, Annja. Always.”

  “Why is that?”

  Garin sighed. “Because fun is the only thing I have left. Everything else has been stolen from me in this cruel world. I don’t age. I don’t get sick. I don’t die. If I can’t have fun, then truly, I am lost forever.”

  Annja looked at him for a moment. Garin caught her eye and she saw it coming. First the crow’s-feet at the edges of his eyes started to crinkle inward. And then the lips parted. She saw his teeth. And then heard him laughing.

  “Did I fool you?” he asked.

  “Not even close. I know you too well.”

  Garin sighed again. “Ah, well, that’s probably true. Well, here we are. Let’s get this logged in and then you and I can take a nice shower together. How does that sound?”

  “As appealing as a bout of food poisoning,” Annja said. “I’ll take a pass.”

  Garin smiled. “Well, just for that, I’m not going to tell you how I think these items were made by animals. So there.”

  20

  Annja lay on her bed inside the shelter with her hands behind her head on the pillow. She was tired. And grumpy. Being alone seemed like the best thing to do.

  She’d spent the better part of the afternoon digging in the cavern with Dave and Zach. Despite deep excavations, they’d found nothing else aside from the piece Annja had dug up earlier in the day.

  Garin, meanwhile, had refused to make himself available for elaboration on his cryptic statement about animals creating the relics. He’d been busy with Colonel Thomson throughout the day, reassuring him of elaborate security measures that Annja was certain weren’t even necessary.

  Zach and Dave had gone for dinner, leaving Annja alone in the shelter. She had feigned a lack of appetite to get them to leave without her. She simply didn’t want to be in the mess hall and forced to talk with people when she could be alone, relaxing and trying to wrap her mind around the situation and why she felt she was being played on many different fronts.

  Her first source of frustration was with the attempt on her life. Whom had she angered to the extent that they wanted her dead? Sure, there were plenty of people across the globe who would not shed a tear if she happened to get eaten by a great white shark or hit by a blimp, but would they bother to track her down to a remote research station in Antarctica to take her out?

  She didn’t think so. That meant that she’d run afoul of someone local and not back in the outside world. But the only two candidates for that were back at McMurdo in Gallagher’s. She wondered if Dunning had had any luck tracking them down.

  Had the two nitwits followed them to Horlick? Zach had insisted he might have seen another Sno-Cat back behind them. Was it possible someone was keeping tabs on her? And if so, who was it and why?

  That brought her to Zach and Dave. Annja felt comfortable enough with Zach. She knew him and they’d worked together in the past. She trusted him implicitly. And besides, with his failed marriage looming over his head, Zach didn’t really seem to be capable of planning some elaborate scheme. The dig was the one thing he could actually concentrate on to the exclusion of all the bad things happening in his life.

  He needed this dig as a distraction from his personal life. She knew the feeling.

  What about Dave? At times, he moved and acted like a bumpkin of sorts. Their first meeting in particular hadn’t impressed Annja. He’d used his strange speech patterns to disarm her suspicion and put her at ease. If she thought he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, she wouldn’t figure out his true intentions.

  But later on, Dave had let the disguise slip in spots. And when he did, he seemed a lot more formidable than he had before. While Annja wasn’t necessarily convinced he was a full-on government agent, he sure had a way about him that made her think there was a lot more to him than he showed.

  Garin’s sudden appearance had surprised Annja far more than anything else that had happened thus far. She hadn’t seen him for months. And to see him striding about the camp in his military regalia made her want to break out laughing.

  He was there for a reason. But she had no idea what it could be.

  And the dig site itself confused her. She’d been on plenty. And she’d uncovered evidence before of ancient settlements. But this was completely unlike the others. Except for the discovery of the four pieces, there was no evidence that a race of people had lived here at all.

  Of most concern to her was the fact that there weren’t any skeletons. Nor were there cave paintings, or other tidbits that usually accompanied the dig sites she’d been on in the past.

  It was as if someone had simply thrown four bizarre relics into the ground and then left.

  But why would they do that? And where did they go after that? Were there other places elsewhere in the world with such relics buried in them? Or was this simply one strange incident that would have no real resolution to it at all?

  As much as Annja hated to admit it, there were times when that was exactly what happened. For one reason or another, things wouldn’t add up. There would be loose ends and an impossibility at ever uncovering the truth.

  She hated that.

  She closed her eyes and let her mind drift. The two killers in McMurdo were, as far as she was able to tell, still back there. She could do nothing about them at the moment. And concentrating on them
would prove to be a distraction she didn’t want right now.

  She filed them away for later.

  Dave was another matter entirely. He was on the site and a constant fixture in Annja’s current situation. But fathoming what he was or what his motivations were would prove exhausting, as well. He didn’t seem to be an enemy, at least not yet. And he seemed genuinely concerned about Zach’s welfare, which meant he had to be at least somewhat okay.

  Annja filed him away, as well.

  Garin’s face swam into her mind’s eye. What was his deal? she wondered. Why was he here and what was he after? Did he really want the artifacts? He’d seemed only mildly curious about the most recent discovery and certainly disliked digging at the site. If he was truly motivated to find the relics, Annja would have expected him to be right at the forefront of the work.

  But he wasn’t. And his actions called him into question. But Annja knew that he was a slippery character. If he told her one thing, he might have meant another and he might still have six other stories.

  That concerned her.

  Annja opened her eyes. Outside her shelter, she could see shapes passing back and forth as people walked in front of the lights. She smirked at the thought of all the generators running on nuclear power. Who would have thought, she wondered, that this entire installation was being powered that way?

  She frowned. Wasn’t it a violation of international law or some accord that there was nuclear power on the continent? She vaguely remembered reading somewhere that all the nations with an interest in Antarctica had signed something swearing they wouldn’t bring nukes there.

  Of course, she was sure the Americans would swear it was their right to do whatever was necessary if they thought they’d stumbled upon something that might threaten their national security. And the other countries would clam up because no one wanted to get on their bad side. Annja sighed. No wonder our reputation elsewhere in the world is the pits.

  So what could she do about Garin?

  She sat up. Lying on her bunk wasn’t accomplishing a damned thing. She needed to get some answers. And soon. Her mind didn’t like a lot of unresolved questions about stuff she was so close to.