Hot & Cold

by Susannah McFarlane

  Antarctica was like a desert, a cold, white desert interrupted by giant, jagged icebergs that soared up to the skies. But A1 was right. While the ice might look smooth and flat from a distance, up close it was a much rougher ride. There were deep crevasses everywhere, giant cracks in the ice that could open up without warning. EJ would have to move quickly but carefully.

  As she rode along, she saw blobs of grey along the ice. Blobs of grey that were there one moment and gone the next. Odd, thought EJ and perhaps worth investigating. She turned towards one blob and as she got closer she could see that it wasn’t a blob at all, it was a seal! A seal that popped its head up onto the ice before diving down again.

  ‘Sorry for thinking you were a blob!’ said EJ, laughing. ‘Let’s see what you really are.’ EJ took a photo of another seal with her phone, pressed ‘go’, and within seconds a photo and text appeared. EJ had used her animal app that could identify every animal in the world.

  ‘You’re a Weddell seal,’ said EJ, ‘and a very cute one,’ she added as she looked at the seal’s small head and whiskers and a mouth that almost looked like it was smiling. The animal app told her that Weddell seals spend nearly all their time under the water, popping up through cracks or holes in the ice. The seal seemed to look at EJ and then dived down again, back on its way—which is what EJ needed to be doing too.

  She pulled away from the seal hole and sped up a bit. Way up above in the crystal clear blue sky, a solitary bird was circling overhead. She took another photo with her phone. The bird was a skua, like a seagull but browner and bigger. And meaner. EJ saw it and wondered what it was hunting.

  A bit further on, she saw penguins, hundreds, maybe even thousands of them coming out of the ocean and starting to waddle across the ice. Emperor penguins? She wasn’t sure. They didn’t seem big enough. Again she took a photo, pressed ‘go’ and waited. The information appeared on the screen, confirming EJ’s thoughts. These ones were Adelie penguins and they were indeed smaller than the Emperor penguins. But it wasn’t all bad news. The Adelie penguin ground was not far off from where the Emperor penguins should be—and where EJ12 needed to be. She was close but she needed to hurry.

  EJ switched the snowmobile to turbo and sped across the ice shelf and it was not too long before another black mass loomed up in the distance—more penguins. And, as she got closer, EJ could see that these ones were taller and with distinctive bright yellow ear patches. There was no need for EJ to check her animal app. She had found the emperor penguins, which was just as well because she needed to make the payment in ten minutes.

  EJ kept her cool and remembered that A1 had said that there was an abandoned hut near the penguin grounds. These huts had been used by the early explorers but were now deserted, or were they? SHINE thought Dr Hill might now be using one. EJ scanned the area with her binoculars but could see nothing. She re-checked her map. According to the map, there should be a hut on the other side of the mountain just ahead. EJ sped on around the base of the mountain and soon found herself outside an old wooden hut, built right up against the mountain where it would have been protected from blizzards. It looked as if it had been there for years. Maybe too many years—with loose planks and tin falling off the roof, the hut had obviously seen better days. A metal sign was hanging from one corner of the roof.

  Wow, 1950, that’s old! thought EJ. EPP—Emperor Penguin Point—this is it.

  There was no way she could take Shinemobile 3 inside with her, so she hit the green button marked ‘ED’ next to the ignition and waited. Eco-Deco was just one of the clever eco-friendly SHINE inventions that ensured their agents didn’t leave their gadgets lying around all over the world. (Not only might they be discovered, but it would be littering!) EJ watched as Shinemobile 3 began to decompose. It was a smelly process, like burping—or sometimes, worse, farting—and EJ knew better than to stand too close. She moved back and as she waited, she again noticed the large skua circling above her. Odd. She then heard a large belch from her snowmobile and turned back to see that it had not decomposed completely but transformed. There was now a purple snowboard lying on the ice. Cool, thought EJ, as she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. That may be useful later...

  EJ moved closer to the hut and as she did, she noticed something odd. Attached to the very old, broken-down hut was a very modern, not-broken-down steel door. And on the door was a keypad and small sign.

  What language is that? Not one that EJ recognised (and, having completed the SHINE intensive language course, she could, besides other things, ask for a hot chocolate in fifteen different languages). So if it wasn’t a language, EJ decided that it must be a code.

  But what sort of code? EJ looked and looked but nothing jumped out at her. She wrinkled her nose and kept looking, waiting for a pattern to appear. You never really know what you are looking at with codes, thought EJ. Does one letter stand for another, does a number really mean a letter, is something missing or is something added? Hmmm ... She had no idea but she had to hurry—there were just five minutes left to make the payment.

  EJ looked at the first word:

  The word sort of looked normal, except for the H. It was the same with the second word:

  In fact, it was only the first letter of each word that looked out of place. EJ wondered what would happen if she took all the first letters out. She used her finger to draw a line through the first letter of each word on the frosty surface of the sign.

  Hmmm, not as helpful as I thought, said EJ to herself. It still looks weird but maybe slightly less weird than before. I wonder what would happen if I put different letters back. Worth a try, but which ones? EJ studied the words for a while and then suddenly she saw it.

  Invited guests? Guests, party guests—I must be in the right place. EJ then looked at the keypad next to the sign. It was just like a mini automatic teller machine at the bank. Swipe card. A1’s guess had been right. Emperor Penguin Point was where EJ had to make the payment. But had she got there first? There was only one way to find out.

  Quickly and with only seconds to spare, EJ took out her Invisi-Pay card and swiped. She confirmed the pin and pressed ‘OK’ for the payment to proceed.

  The screen flashed and the words ‘Confirm amount’ appeared.

  EJ keyed in ‘$20,000,000’, taking a deep breath at the thought of such a huge sum of money and for a moment she was distracted by wondering how much chocolate that would buy. Then she pressed ‘OK’ and almost immediately, a silver envelope emerged from a slot under the keypad. The invitation? It certainly looks like one and, for that amount of money, it better be some party.

  EJ ripped open the envelope and pulled out a silver card with black writing. A small silver whistle fell out and landed on the ice. As she picked it up, her hand brushed the ice and for a moment, her skin felt warm. Strange, she thought, but forgot about it as she slipped the whistle into her pocket and began to read the card inside.

  Volpol. That was the first word of the code but what could it mean?

  EJ turned the handle of the door, pushed it open and gasped. It certainly wasn’t what she expected from the outside. Inside, there were no more old pieces of wood, there was only stainless steel—stainless steel walls, a stainless steel table and then another door, a stainless steel door with the words DANGER VOLPOL PIPE ACCESS POINT on it.

  On the table was a bottle of water. EJ picked up the bottle and read the label:

  Water. This was about water? But how? There was nothing else in the room to give her any clues so EJ walked over to the second door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She took her charm key, twisted it and inserted it into the lock. With only a little jiggle, the key turned and the door opened.

  If EJ was surprised by the first room, she was completely stunned by where she was now. She stepped on to a metal platform overlooking a huge hole that ran both deep down into the ground and straight upwards. Lit by small lights fixed along the rock wall, the tunnel ran up and down the centre of the mountain and in th
e middle of the tunnel ran a large pipe. The Volpol Pipe.

  EJ leant over to touch the pipe but quickly jumped back—it was hot! Hot? How is that possible? Here in Antarctica? And then EJ realised that the pipe wasn’t the only thing that was hot. As she stood there, she felt her feet warming up through her boots. The metal of the platform was hot—hotter than the footpath on a summer’s day. All the ice on her boots had melted and she was now standing in a pool of water—a pool of hot water.

  Where is the heat coming from? EJ had no idea but she knew someone who might—Elle. Elle had called her geography project ‘Amazing Antarctica—Unbelievable Facts’. She had spent ages on it, uncovering little known facts and figures about the area. She might know why it was hot when it should be cold. It was certainly worth a try. It was time to use the BEST app. EJ phoned her friend, who answered immediately.

  ‘Hi again, what’s up?’ Elle knew from the special ring tone that it was EJ calling—EJ OM and in need of Elle’s help.

  ‘Hi Elle. You know your project on Antarctica?’ said EJ. ‘I don’t suppose you found out any amazing facts about hot things as well as cold?’

  Elle chuckled. ‘You mean you weren’t listening?’

  ‘Um, I think I had a guitar lesson during some of your presentation,’ said EJ quickly. ‘But please Elle, it’s important!’

  ‘Well yes, you wouldn’t believe it but there are at least three volcanoes at the South Pole and they are all still active. Can you believe that? One of nature’s hottest things in the middle of nature’s coldest environment. In fact, that was the number one amazing fact in my project. Why do you ask?’

  ‘Because I think I might be standing in one of those volcanoes.’

  ‘That’s awesome,’ Elle replied. ‘Did you know that the lava level is deep down in the Earth?’ Elle loved sharing her facts. ‘Its intense heat can cause glacier ice to melt leading to increases in meltwater.’

  ‘Meltwater, what’s that?’ asked EJ, remembering the water bottle label.

  ‘It’s just what you would think it is, Em. Water melted from the ice. Some people think we could use the volcanic heat to create more meltwater to make more drinking water but that would be a disaster. Sea levels would rise and global warming would be even more out of control than it already is. Luckily though, no one has been able to work out how to do it.’

  ‘I think maybe someone now has,’ said EJ looking at the pipeline. Shivers ran down her spine as she realised what Caterina Hill was up to. She’s using the volcanic heat to melt ice to make drinking water bottled as ‘Chill’. But how does she collect the water? How does the Volpol Pipe work and can I stop it? EJ needed to find out, quickly.

  ‘Elle, I’ve got to go.’

  ‘OK, but Em, if you are thinking what I think you are thinking, you can’t let that someone get away with this.’

  ‘I won’t.’

  EJ wasn’t going to let her friend down, again. She was going to stop Caterina, even if she wasn’t exactly sure how.

  EJ stood still, thinking about her next move. She needed to make another phone call, this time to SHINE HQ. She had hardly pushed the speed dial number on her phone when it was picked up at the other end.

  ‘Hello EJ12,’ said A1. ‘What’s happening out there?’

  ‘I think I’m getting warmer,’ EJ replied. ‘I cracked another code, the payment has been made, and I’m pretty sure we now know the what as well as the where and the who but I am still a bit unsure about the how. I think Dr Hill is using volcanic heat energy to melt the polar ice cap. Oh, and I now know the first word of the first code. It’s VOLPOL.’

  ‘What is Volpol?’ asked A1.

  ‘It’s an enormous pipe coming out from deep down in what I think is a volcano. I can hear gushing coming from inside the pipe. Do you think maybe the volcanic heat is making water in the pipe hot? That would mean the heat could be taken somewhere else.’

  ‘That’s possible. Hold on,’ said A1. ‘Let me check some things on volcanic heat.’ EJ could hear the sound of A1 on the keyboard and then, ‘You’re right, EJ. Water in the pipe could be being heated as it passes close to the hot rock around the volcano. But why transport the heat?’

  ‘I’m pretty sure Caterina is melting ice for bottled water. She’s turning the polar cap into a Polar Tap.’

  ‘Good work, EJ. With drought in many countries, the price of water is skyrocketing. Water is the new gold and Caterina loves gold. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was prepared to melt the whole polar ice cap for money—a chilling thought indeed. What else do you know about the pipeline?’

  ‘Not much more. I need to follow it.’

  ‘You do that EJ, and find out how to shut it down before it is too late. But don’t be late for the party either. We need to catch Caterina. Put your best boot forward, EJ12. SHINE out.’

  Best boot forward? What does that mean? As EJ looked up the tunnel, she wondered how she was going to climb up the tunnel with nothing to hold on to except a boiling hot pipe. She looked down at her feet and then smiled. Why didn’t she think of that before? Her special issue SHINE boots.

  EJ clicked her boots together. The boots became flippers. No, that won’t help, she thought, as she clicked again to get rid of the flippers and then clicked once again. This time she felt her boots rise up, and out came suction soles, with the words ‘For use on hot and cold surfaces’ printed on the side. These suction soles were made from an unmeltable, unfreezable micro-rubber. They would stick to anything—including mountain walls and hot pipelines—yet release as you lifted your feet.

  Keeping one foot on the platform, EJ stretched out her leg and put the other boot onto the pipe. It gripped fast but as she lifted her leg, it came away easily. Perfect, but how would she pull herself up? She needed something to grip the rock wall with as she climbed—a pick ideally, just like the one on her charm bracelet but obviously slightly bigger. She twisted the little charm, there was a loud pop and the mini pick became a maxi pick. Lucky charms indeed!

  EJ plunged the pick into the wall and began to climb. She would swing the pick up into the rock, make sure it held and then bring her feet up along the pipe. It was hard work but with the super grip of the suction soles she was able to move up the tunnel wall quickly, following the pipeline higher and higher. Thank goodness for the lights, EJ thought, I wouldn’t want to be in this tunnel in the dark.

  For most of the climb, the tunnel had been rock but now it had changed to ice. I must be at the top of the mountain now and this is the ice layer, thought EJ. I should soon be at the surface.

  Then suddenly the direction of the pipeline changed. EJ had expected that it would finally push out through the top of the ice but instead it turned and ran along under the ice layer horizontally. EJ was practically walking upside down as she began to follow the pipe in this new direction.

  She also noticed that the pipe had now split in two. There was still the red-hot pipe and this was so close to the surface that the heat from it was melting the ice above but now, just below it, there was another, larger pipe. This pipe was different though. It was a half-pipe sitting under the hot pipe, as if it was waiting to catch something from above. And it was. It was catching water, the large drips of water that the hot pipe was melting. Meltwater, water that then flowed down the pipeline. But to where?

  EJ was never going to find out in time walking one slow suction-step at a time. She would need to get up to the surface and follow the pipeline from above. She looked up at the thick ice. Using her pick would take forever. She would need something else, and watching the water drip down into the catchment pipe gave EJ an idea. She took out her phone and activated the laser app and pointed the red-hot beam towards the ice. Within minutes she had scorched an EJ-sized hole through the ice to the surface. Swinging the pick up, she pulled herself out of the hole and onto the icy peak of the mountain. She clicked her suction soles back into her boots and stood up and looked around.

  EJ could just see the little hut way down below and s
he could also make out the path of the pipeline running under the ice. It ran down the mountain and then along the ice plain with the melting ice forming a huge crack through the ice. If you hadn’t known the pipeline was there, you would have just assumed that the ice was naturally melting and shifting, creating natural crevasses. You couldn’t actually see the pipe. So the scientists could see that the ice was melting but not why. Caterina is clever, thought EJ, evil but clever.

  And then there were the penguins, thousands of Emperor penguins. In fact there was nearly more penguin-black than there was ice-white. It was like a sea of black—a noisy, squawking, waddling sea of penguins.

  And there, still circling above it all, was that skua again. What could it be looking at? EJ took out her binoculars and scanned the penguin colony. Between the legs of the larger penguins sat fluffy, grey chicks. Maybe the skua was hungry and was looking for unprotected chicks? EJ remembered her briefing—at this time of year the penguin chicks would have hatched and would be waiting with their fathers for the mothers to return from sea with food. While already quite large, the chicks still relied on their parents for food. It was the mothers that EJ had passed on her way to Emperor Penguin Point. Come to think of it, why aren’t the mothers already back with their families? Then EJ saw why.

  The crevasse the pipeline path had created had cut straight through the middle of the penguins’ breeding ground. It was going to prevent many of the mother penguins returning to the breeding ground and reuniting with their families. EJ scanned the breeding ground again. The pipeline had created such a long and deep crevasse that access to the sea was completely cut off, except for little break-away blocks of ice, like mini-icebergs, floating in pools of melted water. And sitting on one of those blocks was a penguin chick, stranded. And above it, that skua was still there, circling. Then it began to swoop, lower and lower towards the chick.