Colder Than Ice

by MacPherson, Helen

  She returned her gaze to the vehicle’s interior and closed her eyes as she thought about the sleeping arrangements for the move to the base.

  Michela had broken the news before they’d left. As Allison watched Michela make the announcement, she wasn’t surprised when Michela looked directly at her. It was as if she was daring me to speak out. For the majority of her adult life, Allison had either slept by herself or with Rick. The sleeping in the dongas still gave her a degree of space but the compact tent would be cramped with four people and this would certainly be different to what she was used to. This, as well as the animosity between her and Michela, made the arrangements all the more uncomfortable.

  Despite the time approaching six at night, it was still broad daylight outside. Summer in Antarctica. Allison sighed. It’s certainly going to be strange going to bed and waking up in the light.

  MICHELA WATCHED AS Michael breathed a sigh of relief when the vehicle they’d been tossed around in all day finally shut down its engine.

  “Thank Christ. That noise is worse than any nagging I’ve ever had to put up with,” Michael said.

  Rob laughed as he checked the brake. “I don’t know about that, mate. You should reserve your judgment until you’ve heard Sarah in full voice.”

  “Are you right there, gob on a stick,” Sarah retaliated in mock tones. “I’ve heard your fair share of whines when we’ve been stuck together. In fact there’re times when you’ve almost driven me to drink.”

  Michela attempted to work the cricks out of her back. “Anybody would think you two are husband and wife the way you carry on. Now comes the fun of setting up camp for the night. How are the winds out there, Rob?”

  Rob tapped one of the vehicle’s panels. “Pretty calm at the moment. She’s blowing at about ten mile an hour, with gusts up to fifteen.”

  “Good. I guess we better get set up,” Michela said. “Rob, can you check with the other two drivers to ensure they’re okay?” Rob nodded and left the cabin.

  “Ewan, can you, Michael, and Rick start setting up the men’s tent? Sarah, could you see to the setting up of the blizzard lines between the tents and the vehicles, in case we’re hit by a storm? I’ll organize Di and Alli to help me put up the women’s tent. Cooking tonight will be under tent arrangements, using the small gas stoves we have. Other than that, we’ll look at a seven-thirty departure tomorrow morning.”

  FLAT ON HER rapidly freezing backside, Dianne struggled to hold the canvas in the prevailing wind. “Did you say this was a pretty calm breeze?”

  Michela nodded as she centered the main pole. “Yes. This is pretty tame.”

  Alli battled to control her edge of the tent. “It’s a bit different to the one we put up at Mount Cook. At least there was shelter there. This place is flat as a pancake and other than the vehicles, there’s not much to protect us from the bloody wind.”

  Michela masked her surprise at Allison’s contribution and preoccupied herself with the tie down ropes of the tent. Maybe things have settled down a bit. I really should apologize for what I said the other day, but I think I’ll wait until things are a little more private. And who knows, her moods can change so quickly. This might be just a lull in the storm.

  “What are you doing?”

  Michela looked up from her work. Rob, obviously finished with his discussion with the other drivers, looked ready to kill Rick, Michael, and Ewan. The three were getting ready to throw their belongings into a tent that looked like it could be blown over by the first decent wind to blow their way.

  Michela, Allison, and Dianne watched in amusement as the four men argued until Rob proved his point by kicking one of the tent anchors. The tent collapsed on cue, and Rob made sure it was erected correctly.

  Michela ensured the blizzard rope connected the three tents to the vehicles and a field toilet—for anyone who wanted to brave the cold—was secure. After a makeshift meal of re-hydrated pasta and vegetables, accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate, the respective groups settled for the evening.

  ALLISON WOKE FROM a relatively sound, yet cool night’s sleep and found a sleeping Michela uncomfortably close to her. At first startled, she realized she must have rolled into the centre of the tent sometime during the night. What now greeted her was Michela’s face, snugly encased in the loft of her Antarctic-weight sleeping bag. Careful not to wake her, Allison took a moment to observe Michela.

  Sleep softened Michela’s face, making her seem even calmer than she usually was. That’s one thing that does bug me. Apart from the other day and despite my goading, she always remains calm. How does she do that? What do you hide behind that beautiful mask of yours, Dr. DeGrasse?

  Allison’s eyes widened in surprise. Despite their disagreements, she couldn’t help but admit that Michela was attractive, and even more so when she was angry. Michela’s exasperated words echoed through her mind: “What is it that really bothers you, Dr. Shaunessy? That I had great sex or that it wasn’t with you?” At the time she’d been outraged at the mere suggestion, but as she replayed the scene in her mind, she was unsure that her first reaction was an honest one.

  Allison knew they reacted to each other like fire and ice, always fighting for the upper hand. But as she recalled the fleeting moments when they touched, she swore she felt a current pass between them. Remembering her rescue from the crevasse fall, she couldn’t help but admit to the comfort she’d experienced in Michela’s arms. While the moment had been fleeting, the warmth Michela had generated had stirred something in her, something that had been dormant for so long.

  And then there was the incident in the coffeehouse. When I touched her hand I felt something and, by the look in her eyes, I think she felt it too. Allison returned her thoughts to the present. Michela was so close, her hot breath lightly tickled Allison’s face. Warmth filled the pit of her stomach.

  The shaking of the tent interrupted her thoughts and Rob’s concerned tones filtered through the canvas. “Sarah, are you awake in there?”

  Michela awoke from an exceptionally erotic dream and found herself mere inches away from Allison. Still half-asleep, Michela reached out to Allison but her hands were trapped in her sleeping bag.

  “Sarah, get your sorry ass out here. We’ve got an emergency!”

  Michela unzipped her bag, sat up, and quietly cursed as she pulled her ice-cold boots on. “What’s the matter?”

  “It’s Michael. When I woke up this morning he was complaining of pains in the chest.”

  Sarah pulled the remainder of her body out of the bag and headed for the door.

  Michela put a hand on her arm. “We can’t afford two patients. Please put your boots on before you head out.”

  Cursing, Sarah grabbed her boots. “Did he say how long he’d been suffering the pains?” She drew the laces tight and stuffed them in the top of her snow socks instead of tying them.

  “He said he thought he had indigestion for a while, but figured it had something to do with the meal last night. Rick cooked and I swear he takes cooking lessons from you,” Rob replied.

  Sarah pulled on her beanie and sunglasses and left the tent with Michela. “Rob, under the front passenger seat of your vehicle is my medical kit. Can you get it? I’ll meet you at your tent.”

  Sarah crawled into the tent and found Rick and Ewan sitting in their sleeping bags. Michael, in obvious pain, was on the other side of the tent.

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Rick declared. “How was I to know that red stuff wasn’t tomato but chili sauce.”

  “I don’t think this has anything to do with your cooking. Now if I could please have a little quiet.” Sarah barely acknowledged Michela as she passed the medical bag to her. “Can you tell me how you feel?”

  Michael grimaced. “My chest hurts like all buggery.”

  Sarah reassuringly rubbed his arm. “Can you describe the pain?”

  “I feel as if someone’s put a huge concrete block on my chest and I’ve got a hell of a pain down my left arm. Damn it, if I could j
ust get comfortable, this bloody feeling might go away.”

  Sarah quickly took Michael’s pulse and temperature and checked his breathing. She retrieved a small bottle of pills from her bag and spilled one into her palm. “There’re a couple of things this might be, so I’m going to try and rule out these as I go. This,” she motioned at the pill in her hand, “is glycerol trinitrate and is commonly given to angina patients. If it’s going to work, then it will do so in a very short period of time. Now, I’m going to place it under your tongue.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?” he asked before Sarah put the pill under his tongue.

  “If it’s not successful then you may be having a heart attack. Either way, we’re going to have to get you back to Wills Station where they’ve much better medical facilities to deal with this. Ewan, can you keep an eye on Michael? If there’s any change in his condition, can you let me know? Michela, could I have a word with you outside?”

  They crawled out of the tent and went to the shelter of the cold, but windproof sno-trak. Sarah closed the door of the vehicle and faced Michela. “Mate, I don’t think the angina tablet’s going to do any good whatsoever, but it can’t do any harm at this stage. In fact it may calm him a bit.” Sarah removed her beanie and vigorously scratched her head. “My guess is he’s having a heart attack, how serious I’m not sure. But we need to get him back to the station and fast. If he crashes here I’ve got no hope of saving him.”

  Michela nodded. “I’ll contact Maddi. She mentioned the long range helos they have at the Wills. Let’s hope our comms are working.”

  Sarah snapped the lock of her medicine bag shut. “There’re two helos at every station and they always fly in pairs because of the conditions down here. They’ll be able to cover the distance. It’ll be more an issue of how soon they can get here. I better go and see how Michael’s doing.”

  Michela pulled the satellite phone from where it had been secured for the journey. “While you do that, I’ll contact Maddi and let her know what’s going on. Can you get Rob to give me a GPS reference so I can relay our location?”

  “Sure.” Sarah closed the door.

  As Michela fiddled with the phone, she felt a blast of air.

  Allison climbed in and struggled to close the door. “Rob says Michael’s had a heart attack. What are we going to do?”

  “Yes, he has, but Sarah’s got it under control. In the meantime I’m going to call back to station and get him evacuated to Wills.”

  Allison nodded as she rubbed her cold hands together. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No. Hang on, yes. You can keep everyone busy by getting the camp ready for travel. Pack everything except the tent Michael’s in. In the off chance we can’t establish communications we’re going to have to return to Wills Station.”

  “But if he’s suffering a heart attack, won’t that be too long? Won’t he die?” Allison’s unease was evident.

  Michela looked into Allison’s eyes and covered her hand with her own. “He’s going to be fine, but I need you to keep everyone else busy. Can you do that for me please?” Allison nodded. “Good. Now I’ve really got to see if I can get this phone to work.”

  Alone in the sno-trak, Michela pressed all the necessary buttons and flicked all the required switches and then attempted to place a call, only to get static. She silently cursed. What had Maddi said about solar flares? Michela searched her memory. The flares had the capacity to knock out communications for hours or possibly days. Great. We’re in the twenty-first century and our technology is still thwarted by something completely beyond our control. She tried the phone again and got the same result. Forcing herself not to scream in frustration, she tried one final time. This time the connection dropped through and Maddi’s disjointed tones echoed down the line. Michela wasted no time in explaining the situation.

  “So Sarah thinks it’s a heart attack?” Maddi asked.

  “Yes,” Michela said.

  “If that’s the case we’ll send the long range helos out to you. They should be there in just over an hour. Do you have a GPS reference for me?”

  “Yes, Rob’s passing it to me now.”

  “Got it. Hang on a minute.” Maddi shouted a series of instructions to someone. “Right. They’ve got the info and they’ll be there as soon as possible. There’s no sign of bad weather so it should be smooth sailing. I’ll send the station’s doctor so he and Sarah can do a quick medical assessment before Michael’s transported back here.”

  “What’s the plan once you get him back there?” Michela asked.

  “The Yank Chinook we’ve been using to ferry some of the stores from the ship to the station’s still here. There’s a medical facility at Kennedy Station with a surgical capability and it is better equipped to handle such cases. I’ll speak to the pilots about the possibility of flying him there for treatment. Depending on how he responds will determine what happens next. Suffice to say, I strongly doubt he’ll return to the expedition.”

  “I sort of expected that. We’ll have to reallocate tasks and share the cooking. My main interest is his health.”

  Heavy static echoed down the line. “I’m losing you so I’ll sign off. The helos will be there shortly. Have the guys mark out a landing zone for them. Both Rob and Sarah know how to mark out a LZ. I’ll keep…ou…osted on Mi…aels…dition.”

  Before Michela could reply, the line went dead. She returned the hand-piece to its cradle and went to make preparations for the helo’s arrival.

  In little over an hour the helicopters landed on the makeshift LZ created by Rob and Ewan. While Michael’s condition hadn’t deteriorated, it hadn’t improved. After Sarah’s quick briefing with the Wills Station doctor, Michael was put on a stretcher and loaded onto the first helicopter for the return journey to Wills Station.

  When the helicopters were no more than specks on the horizon, Michela marshaled the team and refocused them for the journey ahead.

  Over the ensuing days Michela received regular updates from Maddi about Michael’s condition. Some days she managed barely thirty seconds of discussion with Maddi before the communication link went dead. But it was enough for Michela to relay to the rest of the members that Michael had stabilized and was going to be okay.

  Michela was relieved at further good news—that the U.S. Army had volunteered to fly him out in about a fortnight on one of their re-supply flights to Christchurch. From there he’d be repatriated to Australia.

  WELL INTO THEIR ninth day Rick shook Allison awake.

  “What?”

  Rick pointed out the window. On the horizon, they could just make out the orange rectangle that would be their mess and work area over the ensuing weeks.

  Allison smiled. “After so many damned months, we’re finally here.”

  Chapter Six

  My Darling Charlotte,

  It seems so much has happened since my last entry. After five days of continual unloading, we managed to have all our stores on solid ground. There was time for one final festive dinner on the craft that had so bravely ferried us here. The following morning we watched as it slowly made its way through the pack ice and onwards toward Tasmania. The captain has agreed to rendezvous with us in four months time, before the colder weather closes in and makes movement by water impossible. This should give us sufficient time to make our observations of this great white land.

  Our movement to the camp was slow and not helped by the prevailing winds that seemed to blow from the continent’s inner regions. The dogs that survived the sea journey proved a blessing, speeding up what would have been a long traverse if made by men alone. The establishment of our base has been my first priority, however this hasn’t always been the focus of the rest of my crew. I can hardly blame them and their eagerness to explore, however we must finish our accommodations before we can even consider exploration. All my love,

  ERF

  Antarctica—2009

  DIANNE, RICK, AND Allison scrambled out of their sno-trak before it had
barely come to a halt and scanned the landscape in an attempt to see the remains of the building. Ewan joined in the excitement, kicking the ground, as if trying to unearth hidden treasure.

  Michela and Sarah waited until Rob shut down their vehicle before joining the rest of the team.

  “Where is it? Is this the right spot?” Dianne asked.

  Sarah nodded. “We’re in the right location but the hut’s completely buried by over one hundred years of snow and ice.”

  Rick headed back to the BOB-trak and the team’s stores. “Let’s break out the blades and start digging.”

  Michela lightly grabbed his arm. “Not so fast. There’s a list of things that have to be done before you even start digging, not the least of which is setting up our camp. There’s no point in starting to dig if you’ve got nowhere to sleep and eat.” She looked at the disappointed faces of the group. “I know how you feel but trust me. Finlayson’s hut’s going nowhere.”

  Rob rubbed his hands together. “Okay, boss. What needs to be done? The sooner we finish, the sooner we can start on this digging stuff.”

  Michela nodded her thanks to Rob. “First, we have to off-load the stores from the two vehicles returning to Wills Station. Once that’s done there’s accommodations, electricity connection, toilet construction, establishment of the mess and work area…”

  “God, we’ll barely be finished and it’ll be time to leave,” Dianne said.

  Michela held up her hand. “If we all pitch in it should only take a few days to get the base camp completely established. Then there’ll be plenty of time for you to start your excavation.”

  Sarah stamped her feet; her gloved hands firmly wedged in her armpits. “So who’s doing what? I’m getting cold standing around here doing nothing.”

  “We’ll all unload the two vehicles returning to base and then the tasks will be as follows. Rob, I’d like you to be responsible for rigging electricity to the mess hut and the accommodations huts.” Michela made a map in the light covering of snow. “This is how I’d like the camp laid out. You can all see the mess hut and the solar panels behind it.” The group nodded. “I want you to think of the mess hut being at twelve o’clock. At nine and three o’clock, I’d like each of the apples to be set up. Alli and Rick will be in one and Di and I will be in the other. At six o’clock will go the googie and that’s where Ewan, Rob and Sarah will bed down. Ideally I’d like to see the distance between the buildings to be no more than thirty yards. I know this sounds close, but once the weather sets in it will make safe movement around the site a lot easier.”