ANTARCTIC FIRE: A Harry Crook Thriller - Conspiracy in the Antarctic

by Chris Geater

  “We were not informed of his secondary purpose, our Governments know nothing of this I think,” Andrey again discerning.

  “Informally I am here to assess, informal because we don’t want our neighbours feeling that Australia who regulates this entire region has any concerns or suspicions, especially after the incident the other day.”

  “We are okay with this,” Veodore admitted looking over at Andrey who nodded and shrugged.

  “You will share your assessment with us no doubt Harry?” he asked smiling.

  “Hurry will work closely with us all, he is trusted individual, we have worked closely before,” Len said.

  “Ahhh, there is history with Harry and you Vasily, in your type of work,” Andrey nodded as he saw the situation for what it really was. “History is good, men have already proved to each other if there is history.”

  He raised his small vodka glass. “To history and men.”

  We all raised our glasses, for the fourth time since landing. If this keeps up I’m going to be history.

  Life at Progress consisted of a military routine, coffee, vodka and large quantities of food. Food of such high calorific value that my body temperature increased to a level where I could have survived outside, naked. Nirvana if your tendencies leant towards greasy meat and cabbage as most Baltic types did. I like a good hot stew on a cold night as much as the next person but nice to have the odd bit of fried chicken and coleslaw thrown in to balance it all out.

  The operation felt more like an isolated outpost than Davis, easy to feel that you have crossed the solar system into a small colony on some frozen planet. The Australian base felt more like home, gave the appearance of a sports club at a three star ski resort. The Russians made no such attempt, the facilities looked exactly as you would expect of a polar outfit, comfortable but practical, almost like the accommodation in a ship. Tradesmen and scientists mingled, smoked and drank together enjoying their camaraderie. Many originated from the frozen districts in northern Russia, Antarctica held no real surprises for them.

  The Russians were generous and humorous hosts, I was made to feel welcome making it all the more difficult to achieve my deceptive mission. Gathering information about PhaT felt like child’s play, the scientists enthusiastically gave away as much detail as I was prepared to absorb. Within a few days my understanding of their progress was such that I could brief an Australian scientist on how to produce the product.

  I spent some time with a friendly scientist called Zamorozka, apparently a nick name meaning ‘The Freeze’. He explained the process for extracting the PhaT organisms. Because of the extremely low temperatures required it was not possible to carry out the process in a liquid. The ice went through a type of super fine blender where about fifty percent of the organisms survived and were then separated using a type of osmosis where a form of liquid could be achieved at very low temperatures. They were placed in a small mold with sufficient ice for them to feed on. Once production achieved a certain level, the molded disks were packed in a special container and flown to Russia for various uses of which my friend Zamorozka wouldn’t elaborate. Apparently their errant scientist whose demise matched that of Michaels stole some of the disks with the intent to sell them to their Chinese neighbours. How one ended up near Davis could only be put down to the high winds during a recent severe storm.

  No members of the Zhongshan team appeared at Progress that I noticed, the good Colonel and his men were probably sulking or planning some retribution. Their weapons were returned the day Andrey and his men arrived back at Progress, a very frosty thank you was given.

  The Chinese referred to their area of operation as the East Antarctic Sector or the China Management District. This 19,746 square kilometres of the Australian Antarctic Territory came under their Ministry of Public Security Bureau 13, the Science and Technology Investigative Division.

  Every component of the Chinese government involved itself in security both internal and external. Their most important mission is to ‘Control the Chinese people to maintain the rule of the Communist Party’. Equally important to them was the efforts to clandestinely acquire foreign technology and sensitive economic information’. On the world stage China could not be accused of discretion in either intellectual property or military expansion. IP theft by China costs the US alone about $300 billion a year and the many disputed island bases established in the South China Sea are common knowledge. Almost inevitable they would be up to a little skulduggery in this wild southern continent at some stage. Given the build up my guess is their motivation is military. If I was right and they followed their standard MO for taking territory then their next stage would be an airbase followed by a large military base and onward from there. The whole of Antarctica was at risk of a Chinese take over. The impotent nations that shared the treaty would probably do absolutely nothing about it. I wasn't comfortable with that.

  On the third day after my arrival Len and I were standing on a rise looking over the Zhongshan station.

  “What you think Harry, up to mischief?”

  “Something going on Len, hard to say from this distance, shame you have no further intell, could be handy.”

  “Ahh, yes. No more than we see from here Harry. Thought you might see something you see before, trigger a memory, reveal a pattern.”

  I wasn't sure why Len would bring me here to look at a scene he had seen several times before over the past few days. But a plan formed in my head, I couldn't resist, I’m my own worst enemy.

  Len spoke as if he read my mind.

  “Meteorology predict a storm tomorrow, there will be no activity in our neighbours back yard.” He said.

  The previous day I had access to some aerial photos of Zhongshan enabling me to build my own map of the base. As my plan came together I realised that I could kill two birds with one stone. The Chinese were up to something as my discussions with several Progress team members revealed. My brief didn't cover gathering intel about their operation but I thought it prudent that a more accurate picture of the activity might benefit Australia, you just never know with the Chinese. Given the right circumstances and the predicted weather I might be able to sneak into Zhongshan and see what they are up to. Tomorrows storm could be the window I was looking for. Discretion was the golden rule. Chinese secret service, more commonly knows as ‘Panda’ and not because they are cute and cuddly, have a reputation for a no-rules approach to foreign espionage.

  My plan included a look inside the large new buildings that were already completed and into which Len observed most equipment had been placed during the past few shipments. I assessed various escape contingencies from my current observations on the hill and confirmed their viability.

  “I noticed you brought your canon with you Hurry, are you expecting much trouble from your Russian hosts?” Len didn't miss a trick. He was referring to my .45 calibre Baby Eagle which operated as a more carte blanche style weapon rather than surgical.

  “We all have our favourites Len, don’t judge me.”

  “Of course, no judgement intended,” he replied. “But we have shotguns that produce less collateral damage.”

  If the Baby pokes her head out of my jacket during the recce collateral damage will be the least of my worries. Shooting your way out of a well manned and armed Chinese Antarctic station was not my idea of a Sundays outing and hopefully something I could avoid. However the best laid plans often go awry and I would rather go out knowing that the Baby had caused considerable concern amongst our Asiatic colonialists.

  “Not many men patrolling late at night our men tell me, maybe no men at all in bad weather,” Len pointed out.

  My understanding was that thirty or forty minutes in a good blow is about all a person can handle. I would have to be pretty quick, get in, get out.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  If a meteorologist stayed in bed and predicted a storm every week in this part of the planet they would invariably be right. True to form, the ubiquitous white out obscured what
could have been a lovely sunset some of which have been quite something since my arrival south of 67° Lat. However my main mission entailed a different kind of observation and grateful for the cover I pushed into the wind and followed the old gravel road towards Zhongshan. Strong gusts almost blew me off my feet as the ice particles reduced visibility to mere feet. The wind effect was greater when your profile almost doubled due to the amount of clothing worn to keep you alive even though I wore as little as was prudent to allow maximum movement. A fine balance between hypothermia and agility. Tyre grooves made navigation possible as I shuffled along the planned route inland towards my objective.

  Once the grooves curved slightly to the right I diverted left that would take me behind a small hill between Progress and Zhongshan and towards one of the small inland lakes and close to the Chinese station. Despite the lack of visibility the frozen lake would be almost impossible to miss and sure enough within a few minutes I stumbled onto the ice and began to follow the shoreline. Eventually a small jetty appeared which I knew placed me close behind the cluster of new buildings that were of particular interest.

  I made my way in the general direction keeping a sharp eye out for a possible but unlikely guard. One of the buildings became visible through the white and a circumnavigation of the two story high structure told me something about the Chinese mindset regarding security. Three normal doors and two large roller doors allowed access to the inside all of which were locked securely and constructed of steel. My set of Sparrow creeper picks that glow in the dark were perfectly suited to working the lock on one of the doors. Prior to opening I slid a small thin piece of plastic around the perimeter but could not feel any alarm device, not a fool proof action and very much depended on the type of alarm sensor.

  I ventured into the dark cavernous void, my LED torch illuminated the absence of an alarm system on the door frame and no visible movement sensors noticeable on the wall beams or ceiling. The crowded warm interior held a dozen or more large machines designed for polar activity, considerably larger than the standard Chinese Jonyang traverse vehicles, nicknamed ‘John Wayne’ by the Australians. The tracks looked a little strange in the shadows appearing much wider than average indicating they were very heavy machines requiring above average weight distribution.

  Often popular amongst polar design vehicles was the ability to rapidly egress in the event of an occasional crevasse, the odd shape of these didn't lean towards ease of embark or disembark and looked like they wouldn't be able to carry many people or much equipment. I ventured towards some snow mobiles that were larger than normal and had a strange configuration on their rear. Close up it became apparent that these were no standard scientific expeditionary tools but rather lethal purpose built two man machines about the size of a small car and with what looked like a variation of a .50 calibre machine gun mounted on the rear for utilisation by the passenger. A satellite and radar mast sat a metre or so above the driver near the front. Several of these little killers lined the rear wall, four tracks where wheels might be like our Can-ams but these were camouflaged with a pattern of white and light grey whereas our machines were highlighted using bright paint to make them as visible as possible, better for search and rescue. I couldn't see these babies used for scientific research all that much.

  They sure meant business when it came to the China Management District although several mini gunships weren't a real threat to the security of the region. The Australian Antarctic Territory was almost as big as Australia in area and over half the size of China, the Antarctic continent is twice the size of China and basically inhospitable most of the year. Geographically China would need a seriously large expeditionary force to make any difference but in their favour Antarctica has no army and very few people to resist a hostile force.

  Similar security existed for the next large building although the lock kept me busy for longer and I made a bit of a racket, with the noise of the storm it didn't matter. The door opened into what looked like an air lock, a small room with another door leading to what I assumed was the interior, probably helped keep the heat in and the freezing cold air out. I pulled it open and stepped into the darkness which immediately turned to day as several lights turned on. Standing in front of me were half a dozen mechanic type personnel with dirty overalls surrounded by large machines in various stages of assembly or repair. These mechanics had replaced their spanners with small sub-machine guns, looked like the 9mm version of their CF-05 that hold 50 rounds in a long cylinder on top of the barrel, nasty in close combat. I shouldn't have made such a racket with the lock but my fingers were close to frozen and that’s the excuse I'm sticking to.

  One of the men dressed in a grey shirt and trousers covered in less grease than the others stepped forward and instructed me in perfect English to remove any weapons I may have on my person, gently place them on the floor and kick them towards the group. I complied. He barked an instruction and four of the mechanics surrounded me and gave a less than gentle frisking that revealed my favourite set of carbon fibre knuckle busters, a small throwing knife concealed in the side leather of my boot but fortunately missed the sharp bladed Ka-Bar TDI secreted in my furry hat. I was instructed to kneel with my hands behind my back where an attempt was made to secure them using zip ties. As one of the men placed the zip tie around my wrists I swung my elbow up into his nose then twisted round and wrapped my arm around his neck as he fell. Using him as a sort of shield I reached for my Baby Eagle still lying on the floor a couple of metres away. Something hard came into contact with my head and the lights dimmed then disappeared.

  Somebody drove an ice pick into the side of my head as I woke, fuzzy lights wavered around accompanied by a ringing crescendo in both ears. My eyes slowly focused as I attempted to reach for the spot on my skull that throbbed only to find my arms still secured behind me only now were attached to a cold steel leg that supported the bench against which my head rested. I sat on a hard cold concrete floor with my legs tied to each other at the ankles.

  The person kneeling in front of me was the Colonel who confronted us on the ice less than a week previously.

  His face showed a malicious grin as I regained consciousness.

  “Our Australian friend, welcome,” he said to no one in particular. “Maybe the first international thief in Antarctic history?”

  “I was lost in the storm, didn't know where I was,” I replied groggily, should have come up with something better but some brain cells were rebooting and taking their time.

  “You are either a common thief, or you are working for the Russian or Australian Governments. I am sure both parties will deny your existence which would make you a foreign criminal subject to our laws,” he said calmly with a smile.

  My hearing on the side of my injury didn't seem to be working properly, either damaged or full of blood.

  He stood and nodded to a man on my left who proceeded to deliver blows to my cheek and neck using some sort of long cane, it stung, a lot.

  “Why are you here, what is your purpose?” the Colonel asked. “Please tell me, save us both time. No need to be uncomfortable longer than necessary. Just tell us you are a spy and we can proceed in a civilised manner.”

  I blinked a couple of times and then replied, “Gee Confucius, sounds to me like you’ve got it figured out already.”

  The cane swinger stepped in again, my head swung to the left and then the right, blood flowed freely and dripped from my chin.

  The temperature in this room was far lower than the workshop where I had been captured. The Colonel threw the contents of a bucket over me. The water began to form ice on my face and jacket almost immediately. Some of the contents flowed into the front of my clothing where they had unzipped and undone some buttons, the cold took my breath away. One man stepped over and removed my hood and woollen balaclava while they threw another bucket, a strong smell of ammonia as cold urine, much of which entered my clothes front and back, washed some of the congealed blood from my face.

  “
Our people know I am here, you would be advised not to do anything silly,” I said through chattering teeth.

  “Nobody will do anything for you here, we can do what we want. You are a civilian, a deniable resource. Your people are weak, academics, there is no rescue coming for you. You will tell me, what are you doing on our base?” he asked again. “Who do you work for, why are you here?”

  I spat some piss, blood and phlegm onto one of his boots, said boot then connected to my chest as he stood, at least a minute passed before I could breathe again. He gave some more orders and two men removed my left boot and socks, the cold raced into my foot within seconds. Another bucket of water thrown as my foot froze. A lit butane torch appeared and the Colonel waved it over my freezing toes. The sensation of frozen and burning flesh was ten out of ten on the pain scale, it was up there in terms of what I had ever experienced. I screamed more in surprise as to how painful it was rather than just from the pain itself. I enjoy a little torture as much as the next bloke but this process especially adapted to the cold continent crossed the line, I really didn't know whether I could handle it for long at all.

  More water and then a five minute wait before the flame producing an even more painful result due to the reduced temperature of my foot. I kicked around trying to avoid the flame. He gave an order and a large concrete post lifted by two struggling men was laid across my knees immobilising my legs completely. Some more water and flame, the smell of burning flesh brought the contents of my stomach up all over my lap, I couldn't handle much more.

  “You will tell us what we need to know. Why are you here? Who do you represent?” The Colonel crouched, calm and sincere. “I have three options. One is to take you outside and down to the sea, leave you secured there until you simply freeze to death and then pop you into a hole in the ice to be ground up like beef by moving ice and eaten by the many number of sea creatures hungry for some sustenance. Two: keep you here until our ship arrives next week where you will be taken by helicopter and incarcerated until the ship returns to China. There the legal system will ensure your demise at the hands of an able bodied six man firing squad. Three: One of my men strangles you and leaves your body on the snow somewhere near here where someone will discover you in a month or so as the summer takes hold. I will think on that, you should also.”