Colder Than Ice (12 page)

“I
don’t know about you two but I’m about ready for bed and if I stay here any
longer, someone’s going to try and get me into theirs.” Sarah cocked her
head toward the group she’d just visited.

Michela
smiled as she removed her hand from Allison’s light grasp. “Yes, well, you
will get yourself into these situations, won’t you? Alli, you right to
go?”

Allison
stood and pulled her purse from her bag. “I’ll just fix up the bill.”

Sarah
watched Allison until she was a safe distance from the booth. “What was
that all about? Did I interrupt something?”

Michela
quietly laughed as she stood. “Not at all. She was merely thanking me for
saving her in New Zealand.”

Sarah
smiled. “That’s a relief, because I’m here to tell you, you’ve got a
not-so-secret admirer in Maddi.”

Michela
glanced at the group and straight into Maddi Walker’s appreciative gaze.
Gallantly tilting her head in Maddi’s direction, she smiled and turned to
Sarah. “Yes. Well something tells me she’d be a bit of a handful and not
one after long term commitment.”

“Maddi
would be devastated to discover you’d worked her out in less than one
meeting.” She nudged Michela good-naturedly. “Given she’s on the same
ship as us, you’ll have to tread warily.”

Michela
visibly cringed, while at the same time a twinge of excitement coursed through
her. “Great. Just what I need. An oversexed God’s gift to women on the
same boat as us. Give me strength.”

MICHELA
LET OUT a relieved sigh that her team was present for the ship’s final brief
before sailing. The final day on the Australian mainland had been a frenzy of
activity, with cargo manifests confirmed and personal equipment checked one
final time.

The
authoritative tones of
Durville’s
captain forced her mind back to the
meeting.

“Dr.
DeGrasse, are you with us?”

Michela
looked up. “Yes, I’m sorry, captain, I was doing one final crosscheck.
What was it you said?”

“I
was recommending that your team get a final good meal inside of them before we
get into open water. If you remember from your first trip to the continent,
maintaining your energy is important, especially if you suffer from
seasickness.”

“Thanks,
captain. By the looks of some of them, they’ve indulged in nothing more than a
liquid diet over the past few days and could do with some solid fare.”
Michela looked at Ewan. He was already green and they hadn’t yet left the
harbor.

Feeling
a tug on her arm, she turned to Dianne. “You didn’t mention you’d been
down to Antarctica before.”

Michela
realized she had the immediate attention of her group but was reticent to yet
again upset the captain.

“Yes.
I was down there a little while ago, but I broke my leg in the opening days of
training and was evacuated home,” she whispered.

Michael
Gribbin groaned and held his head in his hands. “Not more bloody training!
I thought we finished that in Christchurch.”

Michela
patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. There won’t be too much. I’m sure
you’ll be over your hangover by then.”

The
group chuckled lightly, resulting in the captain clearing his throat. They
again returned their attention to the front of the room.

“I
KNOW DINNER isn’t going to seem like such a good idea, but at least try to get
some food inside of you. If you’re unlucky enough to be seasick during the
voyage then the last thing you’re going to want to do is eat.” Michela
turned to Sarah, who was busy tucking into her meal with gusto. “Did you
manage to chat with the ship’s doctor?”

Sarah
swallowed and nodded. “Yep. He’s more than happy to have some of the
workload taken off him. So after dessert it’ll be needles all round.”

Ewan
dropped his fork. “Needles. What for?”

“It’s
only a precautionary measure, but there’s a greater chance of fighting
seasickness if you have a needle while you’re still well.” Sarah wickedly
smiled. “I promise I’ll be gentle.”

SARAH
WAS ONE of the first of the group to recover from seasickness and she quickly
checked on the rest of the team before volunteering her services to the ship’s
overtaxed medical staff. After an hour of confined spaces filled with less than
savory aromas, she was in dire need of fresh air.

She
walked to the bow of the ship, and was surprised to see Allison, clothed in her
wet and cold weather gear, standing legs astride as she rode the rise and dip
of the ship in the mountainous waves.

As
if sensing someone beside her, Allison turned. “This is great. It’s just
like catching one of the old Sydney-Manly ferries on a really rainy day. You
could stand at the bow of the ship, open to the wind, and get soaked by the
spray as you crossed in front of Sydney Heads. It was terrifying and yet
exhilarating at the same time.”

Sarah
laughed. “I remember. I think all Sydney-siders did that at some point in
their life.” She motioned with one hand at the rough seas, leaving the
other hand safely grasping the railing. “But I don’t think they were
anything like this—this is magnificent.”

Allison
nodded as she hung on and rode the waves, like a cowboy riding a bronco.

“How’s
Rick coping? Has he managed to keep anything down?”

“He
managed to keep down a little broth this morning. But at the rate he’s going,
he’s going to run out of clothes. I swear he deliberately misses the bloody
barf bag and throws up on himself.” Allison shuddered.

Sarah
shook her head. “I don’t know how you put up with him.”

Allison
shrugged. “I suppose it’s something you don’t have to worry about.”

“You
saw what happened at the coffee house then?”

Allison
snorted. “It was hard to miss it.”

“Does
it bother you?” Sarah watched Allison give the matter some thought.

“It
did at first, but I don’t think I was looking at it from a total perspective. I
was more focused on the fear factor.”

Sarah
chuckled. “Ah, yes. Evil lesbian openly preying on unsuspecting straight
women.”

“It
sounds awful when you say it like that, but I guess that’s how I felt,”
Allison said. “Michela gave me a different perspective on it though,
asking me to see it from a heterosexual viewpoint. It made sense when she put
it that way.”

Sarah
nodded.
That must have been a new concept for you, Michela.
“Yes,
she’s a smart woman, our Michela, and fortunately she seems to be recovering
from her seasickness as well.” Sarah pointed to the doorway. “Maybe
we should go in now. I don’t think it’s all that good to spend too much time
out here.”

SARAH
WATCHED AS the
Durville’s
pilot boat struggled against the waves
surrounding Macquarie Island. She wasn’t surprised to be joined by Allison.
“How’s Rick?”

Allison
shrugged. “He’s not too bad. He’s upset that the rest of the team are up
and moving and yet he’s still suffering. Sometimes he can be such a baby. So
where are we in terms of our trip?”

“We’re
about half-way. In fact, it mightn’t be a bad idea to try and get Rick onto
some solid ground. Macquarie Island’s annual stores have to be unloaded and
that should take a while. A walk on solid land may be just what he needs.”

Bending
over the railing, Allison watched the stores preparation on the deck below.
“So how do we get there?”

“There’re
two options. The first is the pilot boat.” Sarah pointed to the small
craft valiantly battling its way toward shore.

Allison
groaned. “Given his condition, I think that’s out of the question.”

Sarah
laughed at Allison’s frustration. “I know what you mean. There’s the air
option. There’ll be a helo that will carry under-slung loads between here and
the station location.” She stopped, suddenly aware of Allison’s silence.
“What’s wrong?”

Allison
hunched her shoulders and shoved her hands into the pockets of her wet weather
jacket. “I can’t go up in one of those things.”

“What
do you mean? They’re quite safe.”

“They
may be but I had a bad experience with one once. I was in one that crashed into
water. If we hadn’t been taught the crash drills before I went up in the damned
thing, I don’t think any of us would have made it.” Allison shuddered.
“Planes, yes, helicopters no way.”

“That
leaves a small problem. Rick’s too ill to be walking around Macquarie Island
alone and I wouldn’t trust any of the guys not to get him into more
trouble.” Sarah went through her list of options. “What about Di? Do
you think she’d mind?”

Allison
shrugged. “I don’t think so. In fact she said something about wanting to
see some penguins up close, especially the ones that look as if they’re wearing
a bad toupee.”

Sarah
laughed. “You mean the Royal Penguin? I like the Rockhopper Penguins
myself. They’re the ones with really outrageous eyebrows.”

“Are
you going to go ashore?”

Sarah
nodded. “I’m going hiking with Maddi.” She paused at Allison’s
doubtful look. “I can see what you’re thinking but it’s purely platonic.
There’s a nesting breed of albatross called the Light Mantled Sooty albatross
and they’re beautiful. The sailors often referred to them as the Blue Albatross
because of their remarkable color. The weather was so bad last time I was down
here I never got a chance to see them.”

Allison
stepped back from the railing. “I think I’ll wait until you download the
photos. I better go and see if Di’s available to take Rick onto the
island.”

MICHELA
SAT AT the small desk in her cabin as she reviewed the trip to date.
The
break on the island proved to be just what the team needed.
Even though the
team had only been together for a short while, they were already finding the
surroundings a little close for comfort.
This is just the sort of research
that will aid my thesis.
She sighed at a knock on her door. “Come
in.”

Years
of inbred courtesy and more than a modicum of nervous tension forced Michela to
stand when Maddi Walker entered the room.

“Dr.
DeGrasse, what are you doing here, locked in your room on the evening of such
an inauspicious event?”

Michela
shook herself out of the awkwardness she felt at Maddi’s presence.
“Catching up on my research. What’s the occasion?”

“The
captain tells me tonight we’re to cross the Antarctic Convergence. You remember
what that is, don’t you?”

“From
what I recall, it’s the down south version of crossing the equator, or
something like that. I’m a psychologist, not an oceanographer.”

“And
a very good looking one at that.” Maddi laughed as Michela realized she
was blushing. “I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you. I believe in speaking my
mind.”

Michela
stumbled for words that wouldn’t make her sound as if she were the oldest love
starved teenager on the planet. “I’m sorry, I mean thank you. It’s been a
while since I’ve received such a compliment.”

Maddi
shook her head in mock disgust. “If others are blind, I’m certainly not.
Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Convergence initiation
ceremony. There’re a few drinks afterwards and it might be my last chance to
unwind.”

Michela
knew Maddi was hopeful of more than merely her presence at the party. While
she’d never been so forward with a woman, she found Maddi’s approach exciting
and her body reacted to the thought of the evening ahead. “After an offer
like that, how could I refuse?”

“YOU
KNOW, I think Rick would’ve loved to see this,” Allison shouted into
Sarah’s ear.

Sarah
looked at the group dressed in varying degrees of gaudy clothes. “It’s
unfortunate that the short break on Macquarie Island didn’t help. I swear we
were no sooner under way than you were looking for me to give him a shot.”

“So
what’s this about?” Allison asked.

Sarah
leant toward Allison to be heard over the rowdy gathering. “Have you ever
crossed the equator?”

“Yes.
I was on a cruise years ago. We celebrated the crossing with a big party and a
bloke dressed up as Neptune blessed us with his alfoil trident.”

Sarah
laughed. “This is much the same. Technically it’s known as the crossing of
the Antarctic Convergence. It’s where the colder southern oceans of the
Antarctic Circle meet the warmer northern waters, forcing the southern waters
to plunge below the warmer waters. These proceedings are probably a little more
feral than your crossing of the equator. No one gets hurt, but there are some
very suggestive comments made at times. If you’re easily offended, now might be
a good time to leave.”

Allison
shook her head. “No, I’m not that easily offended. Besides, I’ve spent
enough time looking after Rick. At least tonight I’d like to see a little more
than the smelly insides of our small cabin.”

Sarah
nodded. “It’ll probably do you good to have a break from each other. I
suppose he’s pretty tired of being treated like an invalid, as much as you’re
tired of playing nurse.” She pointed at Neptune’s first victim. “Here
comes the first unfortunate soul now.”