Colder Than Ice (19 page)

“So,
you set up the Web, but how do you work out where to start?” Rob asked.

Allison
slapped Rob on the back. “That’s where you and Sarah come in. The GPS
reading you guys took when you were out here all those months ago will be the datum
point where I position the mother node. I’ll spread the rest out in a circular
radius of about five yards, to see what we pick up. From there it’s like a
jigsaw puzzle, only you work your way outwards. If we can find the edge of the
building, we mark it and trace that line until we come to a corner. We’ll
continue to trace the next line until we finally have the rough outline of a
building. This is then pegged out and we take the dig from there.”

Rob
nodded. “Bloody amazing. Now I know you guys normally go at this sort of
stuff with shovels and the like. I suppose that’s where these blades fit into
the picture.” He pointed at the blades resting up against one another.

“Right
again. I hadn’t seen these used until we gave them a trial in Sydney, but I reckon
they’ll speed up things quite a bit.” Allison turned a blade over and
revealed a small switch. “They’re battery operated and work much like a
delicate flat-bladed jackhammer. The difference between this and a normal
jackhammer is that the actual blade is super-heated, allowing it to cut through
the ice like a knife through butter. You adjust the heat and power by flicking
these two switches.” She pointed to a green and purple switch.

Ewan
carefully took the blade out of Allison’s hands. “I can’t wait to give
this bad boy a try. But isn’t metal brittle? What’s to stop it from being
affected by the extreme cold conditions?”

“You
see how light they are?” Rob and Ewan took turns holding the tool and
nodded. “The metal in the casing and the blade is aircraft grade titanium.
This means it’s non-corrosive and can withstand extreme variations in
temperature as well as pressure. Super light and super strong and I might add
super expensive. That’s why Rick will run you through a couple of lessons
before we unleash you on the dig site.”

Rob
handed the tool back to Allison. “Well, Skip, tell us when you’re ready. I
better get back to the daily power check. You coming, Ewan?”

Allison
grinned at their enthusiasm and returned her attention to the Web.

TWENTY-FOUR
HOURS later Allison was pleased to see a partial picture of the hut begin to
take shape. As the picture built up, she adjusted the position of the Web.
Engrossed in the correct placement of the mother node, she almost missed Rick’s
excited voice over the ever-present wind.

“Dianne,
Alli, come here!” Rick detached his ice axe from his belt and made a cut
in the ice as Allison and Dianne strode to him.

Rick
stood up and stepped away from the hole. “Look. I was placing out one of
the nodes when I noticed a discoloration in the ice off to my right. When I got
closer I realized it could only be wood. This is obviously some part of the
roof of the hut. There’s no need to continue on with the plotting, we can start
here.”

“It’s
great that the building isn’t as deep as what we thought it was, but don’t you
think we should find another access way?” Allison asked.

Rick
raised his brows and blinked in surprise. “Are you crazy? This could cut
days, maybe weeks off our excavation and give us the opportunity to explore other
remote sites or caches that might be around here. If this building’s configured
like most of the other huts of this era, then it will have reinforced skylights
for use when the normal entrances were snowed-in. These could form our access
points.”

“That
may be the case if the building wasn’t buried under so much ice,” Allison
said. “I’m worried about the integrity of the structure. Your idea may
result in the building caving in on someone who’s in it.”

Rick
threw his hands up and walked away before turning back to Allison and Dianne.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Alli, don’t be daft. What happened to your spirit
of adventure? You weren’t so cautious last year during that cave dig in
Perth.”

Allison
forced herself to remain calm. “That was completely different and you know
it. We weren’t in the middle of a continent whose closest surgical help is over
nine days away.”

Rick
turned to Dianne. “Come on, Di. Can’t you see how much time we could save
here? It’s a bit risky but we’ve all been in tighter situations.”

“Sorry,
but I have to agree with Alli. There’re safety issues at stake, not to mention
what a collapse would do to the possible artifacts inside. Plus, not all of the
workers here are skilled at digging. Take Rob and Ewan. I’d hate to see their
enthusiasm accidentally result in injury.”

Rick
angrily shook his head. “Bloody women, you’re all the same. I’d be
surprised if we ever manage to find a way into this damn hut. Christ, at this
rate, it’ll be time to go home before we even have a building framework. If you
want to play it super safe then suit your bloody self. But if you think I’m
going to spend any more time laying out these bloody nodes in the freezing
cold, then you’ve got another thing coming.” Rick shoved his ice axe back
on his belt and stomped away.

Allison
looked at the nodes in her hands. “It’s far too risky. We can’t afford to
lose another member of the team.”

Dianne
patted Allison’s shoulder. “He’s frustrated that’s all. Tell you what. You
continue here and I’ll go and try to talk to him.”

Allison
watched Dianne head off in search of Rick and wasn’t surprised to see Sarah
head her way.

“What
was all that about? Rick came into the camp spitting chips.”

“He’s
frustrated over how slow things are and wanted to start entering the hut
through a skylight.” Allison looked at the markers already identifying
some of the outline of the hut. “You’ve worked here before. Am I being
unrealistic? Would it be safe to dig from the roof down?”

“If
this structure’s anything like the McKinley expedition hut then it’ll be
pre-fabricated wooden walls, and pretty strong at that. But I’d caution against
cutting into the superstructure. You should try to maintain its integrity. That
way, when you eventually start to cut through the ice, there’s still some
strength remaining in the hut. I guess your biggest task will be finding the
actual entrance to the building.”

Allison
nodded. “This shouldn’t be too hard once we’ve got an outline to work
with. If we can only find it before Rick loses his temper and decides to start
without the entrance.”

Sarah
chuckled at Allison’s exasperation. “He’ll cool down once he sees
sense.” She pointed to the wiring left behind by Dianne and Rick. “In
the meantime, how’d you feel about another pair of hands to help you put those
node thingies out?”

Allison
gratefully smiled. “Thanks. I had Ewan and Rob helping me yesterday, but I
think they both expected immediate results. When things were slow to happen
they found other jobs to fill their time.”

Sarah
picked up the netted bag of electronic nodes. “That’s not entirely fair.
Michela’s directions were that once we’d established the camp, everyone was
responsible for specific daily tasks. With the exception of the cooking and the
slop detail, this leaves a fair amount of spare time. If you’re not getting the
help you need, why don’t you speak with Michela?”

Allison
baulked at the idea. Although things between them had been pretty benign since
the incident at Wills Station, they certainly weren’t on rosy terms.
Sarah’s
right. After all, she’s the team leader and this is part of her job.
“I’ll
do that tonight over dinner, but for the moment I think the two of us can
manage.”

THE
FOLLOWING DAY, after a polite reading of the riot act by Michela, Allison had
more than her fair share of workers. While Rick remained conspicuously absent,
the rest of the team was helpful in setting out the Web and marking the
building’s outline.

By
late morning the digital tablet in the mess hut displayed a roughly rectangular
outline, about thirty-six feet long by twenty-four feet wide. Happy with the
progress, Allison called a halt and the team went to the hut and lunch.

ALLISON
GRABBED A spoon and fork and sat down at the mess hut table. She picked up a
dinner roll, broke it in two, and dipped it into her sauce.

Dianne
passed a plate of pasta to Rob as he filed through the food preparation area.
“You know. I’d forgotten how much you can do with this dehydrated
food.”

Rob
bent over and took in the aroma of a strong Neapolitan sauce, liberally spiced
with chili and garlic. “This smells great. You sure you don’t want to cook
next week as well? That’s my shift and I hate to say this, but make the most of
it, because next week you may starve.”

The
group laughed.

Sarah
nudged Rob as he sat down beside her. “Fibber. I know you can cook. I’m
looking forward to that Italian shepherd’s pie of yours. Lashings of mince,
onion, garlic, and peas in a wonderful beefy sauce, topped with mashed potato
and melted cheese.”

“If
that’s your version of ‘I can’t cook’ then I’d hate to see something you can
do.” Ewan swallowed a mouthful of pasta and blissfully sighed. “Don’t
get me wrong, Di. This is bloody marvelous.”

Di
grabbed her bowl and sat down on the last unoccupied chair at the table.
“Thanks for your feedback. I thought it made a nice Christmas lunch. Of
course, a glass of champagne would go down well too.”

Allison
looked at her watch and then shook her head. “What do you know. We’ve been
so busy I lost count of the days. I thought it was tomorrow.”

Christmas
greetings were shared around the group, with extra thanks to Dianne for her
effort.

Dianne
graciously acknowledged their thanks. “So how did it go out there this
morning?”

Allison
wiped the sauce that was dribbling down her chin. “Pretty good. Sarah’s
been keeping an eye on the digital image this morning. We’re really beginning
to see a shape.”

“So,
Alli, found any more internal walls lately?” Rob asked.

Alli
poked out her tongue at Rob. “Very funny. I thought I’d really found
something this morning and it was only a dividing wall. I’d completely
forgotten about those.”

Rob
chuckled. “They’re pretty good at holding up ceilings and the like.”

“Enough.
You’ve had your laugh for the day,” Allison said. “We still haven’t
cracked the door yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we find it this afternoon.”

Excitement
rippled around the table at the realization of what the discovery of an
entranceway would mean.

Dianne
sprinkled Parmesan over her pasta. “Then it won’t be long before we can
get a look at what’s inside. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep an eye on both the
digital tablet and the stove, but I really wanted to give this lunch my full
attention.” Dianne nodded at Sarah. “Thanks for your help this
morning. Once I’ve tidied up the mess I’ve made I’ll be ready to take over on
the tablet if you like.”

Sarah
twirled another batch of angel hair pasta onto her spoon. “I’m actually
enjoying watching the picture take shape. It’s a bit like a mystery really, all
the pieces coming together. Whenever you’re ready though, let me know. Besides,
leave the cleaning to the slops lady.” She pointed her fork at Michela.

Michela
tilted her head. “Is that right? I’ll have to remember that, Sarah,
especially since tomorrow it’s your turn.”

LATER
THAT AFTERNOON Allison was interrupted from the site by a call from Sarah. With
the wind blowing in the opposite direction, Allison couldn’t understand what
she was saying. She waved back at Sarah and carefully walked through the wind
to the hut.

Sarah
was hunched over the digital tablet, squinting at the screen. She leant back and
ran her hand through her blonde locks. “I think I’ve been looking at this
far too long.”

Allison
furrowed her brow. “I thought Di was going to replace you when she
finished cooking. Where is she?”

Sarah
shrugged. “I don’t know. She said she’d something to do and that she’d be
right back. I don’t know how long that’s been as I’ve been pretty preoccupied
with the puzzle unfolding right here.” She pointed at the tablet.

Allison
tried to discern the full outline of the hut, but it was too large for the tablet’s
screen. “Do you mind if I make a few adjustments?”

Sarah
stood. “Be my guest. I’ve been reluctant to fiddle with anything without
you guys giving me a hand. I’d hate to think my fat fingers or voice commands
resulted in losing the picture altogether.”

Allison
chuckled and sat down. “I don’t think there’s any chance of that. This
thing saves on a regular basis.”

“Yeah,
but you don’t know my luck with information technology. Electronics and I
haven’t always been compatible, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve managed
to completely crash a program.”

Allison
tapped on the program’s options. “Not to worry. Let me refine the clarity
of the picture and reduce it a bit to give us a better view.”

The
resulting image showed that the external dimensions of the building had
slightly detracted from its rectangular shape. Toward one end was a small
square structure, extending from the rest of the outline. Allison squinted at
the screen. “Tablet, scroll down.” She looked at Sarah. “I hope
this isn’t another internal wall.” The mess door opened and a shivering
Rob, Michela, and Ewan walked in.