Colder Than Ice (22 page)

“What
do you mean?” Ewan asked.

“These
EPIRB’s are specifically designed for adverse environments. The regular
emission of a passive locating mark allows it to be picked by one of the
receivers we’ve here at the site. Rick handed the EPIRB back to Ewan.
“There, it’s good to go. Make sure it’s strapped to you or the vehicle at
all times in case you get a little off track.”

A
wide grin spread across Ewan’s face. “No worries, mate. I’m off before I
get roped into some other task.” He bundled his equipment into his
backpack and headed for the door. Ewan paused at the door and turned. “Get
that bottle of whiskey out. I think there’ll be plenty to celebrate
tonight.”

DIANNE
LEANT BACK in her chair looking content with the day’s proceedings and the
evening’s meal. “Things moved along pretty well today. The ice blades are
proving their worth, despite the need to regularly recharge them. Tomorrow
should see us well past the entranceway.” She clasped her coffee in her
hands to draw warmth from the cup. “Oh, and thanks for the meal, Michela,
that was pretty good.”

Michela
graciously nodded. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Speaking of eating, where’s
Ewan? I’ve never known him to miss a meal. Even when he was seasick he still
managed to keep something down.” The group chuckled at Ewan’s love of
food.

“Come
to think of it, I haven’t seen a lot of him since lunch. He didn’t end up
succumbing to the fate of getting stuck on the toilet did he?” Rob asked.

Allison
placed her knife and fork together on her plate. “I was there about half
an hour ago and I was the only one.”

An
uneasy feeling settled over Michela. Searching the group’s faces, her stomach
sank at Rick’s enigmatic features. “Rick, you wouldn’t know where Ewan is,
would you?”

Rick
wiped his plate with a bread roll. “As a matter of fact he did say
something to me this afternoon.”

Sarah
shifted in her seat. “And what would that be?”

“We
were talking about Antarctica and the other explorers who’d been down here. I
might have mentioned to him the idea this camp was a staging base and that
there might be other areas yet undiscovered not far from here. I think he
mentioned something about going and having a look for a couple.”

“Let
me clarify something with you, Dr. Winston,” Michela said in a dangerously
calm voice. “You had a discussion with a member of this team, someone you
know to be exceptionally enthusiastic, but relatively new to the
continent.” Rick nodded. “Knowing he’s been eager to please since his
arrival, you then discussed the likelihood of what might be also found around
here.”

Rick
folded his arms. “It seemed only fair to let him know what else is
possibly out there. Besides, things here are going at a snail’s pace.”

“Have
you any idea the danger you may have put that man into, or for that matter do
you really care?” Michela turned to Rob as he made his way to the door.

Rob
held the door as Allison followed him. “I’ll check our lodgings, boss, and
the ski-demons. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll
check the dig site and the loo, in case he headed back there.” Allison
closed the door behind her.

Michela
returned her steely gaze to Rick. “Dr. Winston, I swear to God this time
you’ve overstepped the mark. You’ve potentially risked the life of one of my
people. At least tell me you didn’t allow him to leave here without a radio or
EPIRB?”

Rick
held up his hands. “Hang on a minute. I didn’t tell him to go anywhere.
He’s a grown man, for Christ’s sake.”

“You’re
quite right. He’s a grown man and can make his own decisions. But I’ve a
sneaking suspicion this is one decision he’d have never arrived at had it not
been for you. Now, I’ll ask you again, did he leave here with a short-range
radio and EPIRB, and for that matter, did he give you a direction?”

Before
Rick could answer, Allison and Rob, shaking their heads, walked back through
the door.

“That
means he’s still out there. So, where was he headed, Dr. Winston?” Michela
asked in deadly calm tones as she rose from the table.

Sarah
reached across the table and grabbed Rick’s collar, and winced from the pain in
her back. “You bloody idiot. Have you any idea what kind of danger you may
have put Ewan into?”

Michela
quickly leaned across the table and forced Sarah’s fingers open. “Stop
that right now. Our main effort here should be finding Ewan.” After
ensuring Sarah wasn’t about to resume her grip, Michela turned to Rob.
“Can you get me a map and then make up an emergency kit? We’re going to
have to go and look for him. Now, Dr. Winston, where did he go and what time
did he leave?”

Rick
straightened his collar and stood. He cast a baleful glance in Sarah’s
direction and then traced a line on the map on the wall of the hut. “He
said this was the route he was going to take and he left about four hours
ago.”

Allison
looked at the map and roughly measured the distance between the camp and Ewan’s
destination. “That’s no more than a twelve to thirteen mile round
trip.” She raised her eyes to Michela. “He should have been home
hours ago.”

Michela
rapidly calculated the time to reach the extremity of Ewan’s location.
“What was his radio frequency? Did he have his EPIRB turned on?”

“He’s
on a 94.20 frequency and, yes, I did turn his EPIRB on before he left. I don’t
know what you’re worrying about, I’m sure he’s lost his way, that’s all.”

Rob
stepped up to Rick, his quiet voice barely masking his anger. “Mate, you
could really do with a clue right now. There are a million and one things that
could go wrong down here. Something as simple as a breakdown, without the right
emergency shelter, could mean the difference between life and death. You really
are some piece of work.”

Michela
intervened before Rob did physical damage, although her own fingers were
itching to do the same. “This is getting us nowhere. Rob, go and prepare a
ski-demon for travel and I’ll finish packing the emergency kit.”

Sarah
put a restraining hand on Michela’s arm. “I’ll come with you. If he’s
injured he may need medical help.”

Michela
shook her head. “No one’s better suited, but you’ve only started to
recover. Sitting behind me on a not very well cushioned snow mobile won’t help
your back.” She held up her hand to halt any protest. “I’m sorry.
You’re going to have to stay here. Besides, if Dr. Winston steps an inch out of
line while I’m gone, I want Rob to hold him down while you sedate him.”

Rick
sat up. “You can’t do that. It’s against the law.”

Sarah
wheeled on him and winced at the sudden movement. “You’re not in Australia
now, mate, you’re in Antarctic territory. If you think for a minute I wouldn’t
take pleasure in sedating your sorry ass then you’ve got another thing
coming.” She reined in her anger and returned her gaze to Michela, who was
busy packing a small rescue pack. “You sure as hell can’t go alone.”

“I’ll
go with you,” Allison said.

Michela
turned to Allison, aware that the idea of being on the back of a snow mobile
with her couldn’t be all that attractive. “Okay, but go and get your
extreme weather gear on. It’s going to be cold on the back of the vehicle. Could
you also ensure Rob packs enough rope for about a hundred yard drop and the
rappelling gear as well? We may just need it.” Allison nodded and Michela
picked up the radio from the table.

“Ewan,
this is Finlayson site. Do you read me, over?” She released the prezzle
switch and received only the static of radio waves. “Ewan, Ewan, this is,
this is, Finlayson site, Finlayson site, do you read me, do you read me?”
Michela doubled everything, hoping the silence was no more than a bad
connection. Again silence filled the room. “Ewan, it’s Michela. Do you
read me? If you can, but can’t speak, press the prezzle switch twice
over.” The radio remained silent.

She
placed the radio back on the table. “Either his radio’s run out of power
or he’s not next to it.” Even as she uttered the words, she felt a chill.
I’m
getting a bad feeling about this.
She turned on the portable-locating
receiver for the EPIRB and she almost immediately got a signal keyed into
Ewan’s EPIRB.

Michela
turned to the others. “At least we’ve got a pretty good idea of where he
should be located. Sarah, Allison, and I will keep in contact by short-range
radio. We’ll be on Ewan’s frequency in case he calls in. I’ll give you radio
checks every half hour so you can plot our progress in case we have a breakdown.
The EPIRB will be on at all times, so you should be able to pinpoint our
location.”

Rob
entered the hut. “Ski-demon’s good to go, boss.”

“Thanks.
Sarah, could you get onto Wills Station and let them know what’s going on? Tell
the Station Leader I’ll give her a full run down when I get back.”

Sarah
followed Michela out the door and to the now running snow mobile. “Not a
problem. Just find him, okay?”

Having
added the necessary extra layers of clothing, Allison was ready to go. She
handed a bundle to Michela. “I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty
of taking these off your bed.”

Michela
gratefully received her gear and put it on. After conducting one final radio
check and confirming the EPIRB and the locating beacon were operating, the two
hopped on the vehicle and sped off in the direction Ewan had taken.

THEY
MOVED ACROSS the ice as fast as could be managed while trying to search for
someone, pausing only occasionally to check their bearing with the EPIRB
receiver. Despite their cruising speed, there was no sign of Ewan or his snow
mobile.

Michela
scanned the white landscape.
By the strength of this signal, we should be on
his location any moment now. So why can’t I see him? A
chilling thought
flashed through her mind. She pulled the vehicle to a fast halt and looked
around.

Allison
tapped Michela on the shoulder. “Why have we stopped here? I can’t see any
trace of the ski-demon.”

“How
strong is the signal?” Michela calmly asked, despite her growing sense of
foreboding.

Allison
pulled the range finder from her jacket and checked the gauge. “This says
we should be right on top of it, or at least within a three feet radius.
Why?”

Michela
carefully surveyed the ground around her. “Ewan’s here all right, but I’ve
got a bad feeling we’re in the middle of a crevasse field. Whatever you do,
don’t get off the snow mobile, not for the moment anyway.”

Allison
looked around her. “A crevasse field?”

“Yes.
These ones are a little different to the ones in Mount Cook. The depth of the
ice here means they can be very deep, sometimes over half a mile. The snow
bridges that form across the crevasses aren’t all that deep, four or five yards
or so. This means you can often be right in a crevasse field and never know it.
Sometimes the bridges give way.”

Allison
scanned the landscape and saw a depression in the ground, mere yards away,
hidden in the endless white. “Over there, at about two o’clock to where we
are, it looks like there’s a break in the ground.”

Michela
turned her head. There was a definite break in the ice. She closed her eyes, a
part of her not wanting to go and look down the crevasse, and yet knowing she
had to. “I’m going to have to go and check that out. I want you to stay on
the snow mobile; you’ll be my anchor. I’ll also get you to tie off an anchor rope
to the ice. This’ll embed itself deep in the surface, hopefully with at least
some degree of depth.”

Michela
pulled a hydraulic gun from the emergency bag and tied one end of her climbing
rope to the anchor. “I’m going to rig myself up to check out the hole.
Under no circumstances are you to get off the ski-demon, do you understand
me?”

Allison’s
concerned eyes searched Michela’s face. “What happens if you fall through
the ice?”

“I
should be okay. I’ll be on a rig and will be able to pull myself back up if
anything happens. But, if everything goes to hell in a hand basket, I want you
to start the ski-demon and very gently turn the throttle to get any slack out
of the rope. Disengage the anchor and then use the vehicle to pull me up. We
may be lucky at the moment, the snow mobile seems to be on reasonably firm
ground. Hand me that bag will you please?”

Michela
took the bag from Allison’s shaking hands. She rummaged through it and pulled
out the climbing equipment before handing the bag back to Allison. She put the
rappelling harness on, hooked on the rope, and checked the xenon light on her
headlamp. “Can you get out the mechanical ascenders and the xenon glow
sticks?”

Allison
rummaged through the bag and pulled out two lightweight left and right-hand
ascenders, plus a handful of glow sticks. She tore open the packaging for the
xenon glow sticks and handed the ascenders and glow sticks to Michela.

Michela
nodded her thanks and stuffed them in one of the pouches hanging from the
harness on her waist. “Is there a little hook and spool-looking thing in
the bag? That’ll allow me to lower one of the glow sticks further into the
crevasse if necessary.” Allison checked the bag and handed over the small
spool as Michela checked her equipment one final time.