Antarctic Affair (9 page)

“Poor things,” she looked distraught.

“It’s part of nature’s grand plan,” he said. “It’s
hard to watch when you see an attack, harder still to photograph it, but we
can’t interfere.”

“Moments of insanity?” asked Georgina suddenly, looking
at him from under her mascaraed lashes.

His eyes widened in surprise. “Moments of insanity,”
he agreed softly.

“So when last did this baby explode?” asked the
documentary maker, Max Copeland in his booming Texan drawl. “A thousand years
ago? Ten thousand years ago?”

“Try ten years ago,” Taj offered with a grin,
thinking how much Max looked like J.R. Ewing from Dallas, complete with
broad-brimmed cowboy hat. All he needed to perfect the image was a big fat cigar.
Georgina stumbled and he instinctively gripped her arm to stabilise her, only
to instantly let go, remembering that he wasn’t supposed to be helping her.

“Ten years?” she panted, trying to catch her breath.
For the last half hour they’d been hiking steadily uphill over what looked exactly
like a lunar landscape.
 

“It is an active volcano, yes,” a seismologist from
Vancouver informed them. “The most recent eruptions took place in
1991-1992.
 
Even today the seafloor
inside the caldera is rising rapidly in geological terms.”

“What’s ‘rapidly’?” asked Georgina.

“About thirty centimetres a year,” he replied. “It’s
classified as a restless caldera with a significant volcanic risk.”

“Great!” both Georgina’s eyebrows shot up and she
glared at Taj. “And how come no one thought to mention this to me?”

“Thought you knew,” said Taj with a shrug.

“What if it decides to erupt right now? Then what do
we do?” She looked worried from Taj across to Don.

“It’s not going…” Don began, but Taj cut him off.

“It’s a risk you take when you climb an active
volcano,” he said vaguely. “But if it does come to that I’m afraid our chances
of survival are minimal. A sudden collapse of the caldera would have
potentially devastating effects for anyone on the island at the time.”

Don gave him a sideward glance. Georgina stumbled
again, this time he let her fall, but she managed to grip hold of a rock and
stabilise herself.

Lance, the seismologist added excitedly, “It’s true,
the ash fall, possible pyroclastic surges, tsunami and tidal oscillations would
prevent us from reaching the beaches. Airlifting us off would be impossible.”

By the sounds of things anyone would think he was
looking forward to such an event.

“Oh God,” whispered Georgina. “We’re all going to
die.”

Don made a suspicious coughing sound.

Taj said, “At least we’ll die doing something
exciting. How many people can say they saw an active volcano erupt?”

“Is that all you really care about?” she asked him
angrily.

He shrugged, “Pretty much, as long as I get a quality
photo.”

“Taj, have I ever told you that you’re insane?” asked
Don, shaking his head.

“No more so than you, my friend,” Taj was quick to
reply.

Lance cleared his throat. “This volcano is
constantly monitored for seismic activity. Currently no eruption is
anticipated, but even if it was, we’d know long before it erupted. You needn’t
worry.”

“Thank you, Lance,” she said gratefully, glaring at
Taj.

Don chuckled.

Onwards and upwards they climbed over the strange
dark earth covered in slippery scree. Don was out in front, followed closely by
Taj who kept a close eye on Georgina, even though he was determined to push her
to the limit of her endurance. He and Don purposely set a gruelling pace, but
surprisingly she was keeping up with the rest of the group. Considering she’d never
been mountain climbing or even hiking before, she was doing impressively well. He
gazed at her now, determination written all over her usually poised face. Sweat
was making the make-up around her eyes melt and smudge, he’d have to change her
nickname to panda soon. She’d nibbled off all her lipstick and her hair was
becoming increasingly dishevelled. This was probably the worst he’d ever seen
her look, but strangely he found her vulnerability endearing. She was trudging
along gamely, chatting to Lance, who, Taj suspected was developing a bit of a
crush, judging by his pink cheeks and the way he was gazing at her.

As they headed up the steepest part of the ascent
all conversation faded and the only sounds to be heard were the crunching of
hiking boots on the dark mineral-laden ground and the soft panting of the less
fit members of the group. After another hour the volcanic earth turned grey and
then white with snow. Don finally called a halt. They’d reached the rim of the
crater.

Taj saw Georgina collapse on an icy boulder, her
shoulders sagging.

She looks wacked, he thought with a tinge of guilt. He
went over.

“How are you holding up?” he asked.

She gazed up at him wearily. “When I get my breath
back I’ll let you know.”

At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humour.

He looked around, wondering where the best vantage
point to take some shots of the view was. From up here there was a 360 degree
panorama of the island and the flooded caldera.

He heard Georgina groan and wiggle her toes.

“What’s up?” he asked.

She grimaced, “My feet are killing me.”

She took off her boots and peeled off her socks to
reveal large broken blisters on her heels.

“Ouch,” he frowned. “That looks sore.”

“I guess I should have worn them in first,” she sighed.
She really did look exhausted, poor girl. Her hair band had slipped back and
pink tendrils were stuck to her cheeks with sweat. Her skin had gone all
blotchy from the smudged make-up. She looked a sight.

“I would have thought you of all people would
appreciate the dangers of new shoes,” he said wryly.

She gave him a caustic look. “Thanks. I don’t
usually have this problem, but then I don’t usually hike up volcanoes in my
spare time.”

Feeling sorry for her he said, “I’ll go and see if
Amy has any plasters. I think she’s carrying a medical kit.”

Five minutes later he was back and handed her a couple
of plasters. “These should help till we get you back on board.”

Wordlessly she took them from him and ripped the
backs off. A soft moan escaped her lips as she applied them to her shredded
heels. It was all Taj could do not to go to her assistance, but he had to stick
to the plan! He’d already given her the plasters - that was enough. He needed
her to suffer, so that she’d be too sore and weary to accompany them on the
next excursion.

“Let’s rest here a while. We can descend into the
crater in about twenty…” he glanced at Taj, “make that fifteen minutes.
Everybody fine with that?” shouted Don, addressing the group. Everybody nodded
and went off to explore nearby rock formations or to collect water and dried
lava samples.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have come along,” suggested
Taj feeling more than a little guilty.

“I’m sure you would have enjoyed that,” she said
curtly, sending him a knowing look. He froze. Had she worked out what they were
up to? Surely not?

“What do you mean,” he asked innocently.

“Then you wouldn’t be bothered by my stupid
questions, would you? You don’t have to pretend, I know you don’t want me
around.”

At his guilty look she added, “Luckily for you I’m
too exhausted to ask any questions at the moment anyway.”

He let out a shaky breath. She wasn’t aware of the
plan, but she was smart enough to work out what his intention had been.

She pulled her socks and shoes back on and stood up.
He moved away from her to set up his tripod which he’d lugged up in a special
lightweight camera bag.

He got to work and concentrated on photographing the
barren, lunar quality of the landscape and the sweeping vista around them. He
found Antarctica so unique, unlike anywhere else in the world.

“Wow!”

He turned around. Georgina was staring into the
caldera and expression of wonder on her enraptured face. Despite her wayward
hair and blotchy face, in that moment, she looked beautiful.

“This is magnificent,” she said waving her arm at
the snowy horseshoe-shaped caldera flooded with cobalt blue water. “I can see
why you come here to take photographs.”

He didn’t reply. He was bothered by the fact that despite
being everything he disliked in a woman, she was still growing on him faster
than a polar front coming in from the south. She was distracting him from his
work, but not because she was grilling him with silly questions, but because in
between the painfully stuck-up attitude he saw glimpses of a bright girl with a
fantastic sense of humour. He suspected that when she wasn’t so busy being a
spoiled brat, she’d actually be a lot of fun.

Although she had tried to hide it, Georgina was
furious with Taj - and Don for that matter. How stupid did they think she was? She
knew what they were doing and there was no doubt they were in cahoots. Those
two were as thick as thieves. From the moment they’d left the ship, they’d gone
out of their way to make this excursion as difficult as possible for her. Even Lance
had commented on the crazy pace at which they’d hiked up the mountain. Luckily
for her she could finally put all those hours on the Stairmaster at gym to good
use. If they wanted her to suffer, they’d have to try harder than that. She
didn’t have buns of steel for nothing! She looked down into the crater and for
a moment her determination faltered, but then she gritted her teeth. Even if
she broke every single one of her French-manicured nails she would see this out
to the end, and beyond. From now on she was going to stick to Taj Andrews like
glue. And she was going to ask questions. Lots of them. Hers was going to be
the most thoroughly researched cover story in the history of cover stories. That
will teach him to try and thwart me, she fumed.

Don called the group together and they began
slipping and sliding down into the steaming crater. Taking a deep breath
Georgina ripped off her hair band and used it to tie back her tangled and
sweaty hair. There, that was much better. She set off after the group, leaving
Taj to pack up his tripod and follow at his own pace. She took a particularly
bad slide next to Max the producer, who was waxing lyrical about the
documentary opportunities in Antarctica. The gravel beneath her feet suddenly gave
way and she slid a couple of metres on her backside, frantically trying to get a
grip with her boots. Max reached out with one arm, encircled her waist and
effortlessly and lifted her back onto her feet. She stared at him in surprise.
He was so wide, she’d just assumed he was overweight, but she realised now he
was built like a wrestler and not fat at all.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

He winked at her and carried on talking, barely
missing a beat.

“I’m thinking the abandoned whaling station we saw
from the summit - there must be some footage of past expeditions somewhere - juxtaposed
with the natural aspect of the penguins and seals. Those critters are totally
cute! I hear some species are even endemic to this part of the world.”

Amy rolled her eyes at Georgina, but her husband
Claude didn’t seem phased and launched into a long narrative about at least
eighteen species of moss and lichen which have not been recorded elsewhere in
the world.

Georgina laughed and said to Max, “I don’t think you
were talking about lichen, were you?”

There was some loud scraping as Taj fell into line
beside them.

“Look at that,” he murmured excitedly and squatted
down to photograph a hissing geyser that looked like it was about to explode
skyward at any moment.

Max twirled his fingers next to his temple to
indicate he thought all photographers were crazy, which made Georgina chuckle.

The setting at the bottom of the crater was worth
the scramble. Impossibly blue water lapped at the icy stones along the edge of
the flooded caldera, creating a soft tinkling sound as the ice knocked together.
Hot springs bubbled away merrily and the hikers gathered around some of the
cooler pools to soak their tired feet.

“You’re not going in?” Taj asked her when he rejoined
them some time later.

She said woefully, “I’d like to, but if I take my
boots off again, I don’t think I’ll have the will power to put them back on.
You may have to leave me here.”

“It’s not a bad spot to camp out,” remarked Taj,
looking around.

“It’s magical, actually. I’m so grateful I got a
chance to see it.” She glanced at Taj who looked like he was about to say
something, but then changed his mind.

“Coming along on the expeditions with you was such a
great idea,” she gushed, patting him on the arm. “I’m so glad you thought of it.”
Then with a sparkle in her eye she spun on her heel and went in search of Amy.

Don called the group together, “Guys, we’re going to
have to move out. The wind is picking up and I want to be back on the ship
before it turns nasty.”