Outpost (6 page)

'We
could bolt on an engine. A motor, a drive shaft, some kind of propeller.'

'Want
to hear my big plan?'

'All
right.'

'Any
attempt to sail our way out of here is going to involve weeks, maybe months at sea.
We would need to carry a shit-load of supplies. So I say we hitch a ride. Jump
a passing iceberg.'

'Seriously?'

'The
polar ice shelf breaks up each spring and bergs float south on the current.
They pass by, pretty much every hour. We could track incoming debris. Soon as a
decent-size berg is in range we use the zodiac to ferry men and supplies. Those
things move slow. Inertia. We would have twelve, maybe sixteen hours to make
the transfer.'

'Then
what?'

'Camp
on the berg. Put up tents. Eat. Sleep. We could tow a string of lifeboats
behind us. As soon as the berg hits warm water and starts to break up, we take
to the boats.'

'What
does Rawlins say about it?'

Ghost
shrugged. He poured coffee.

'Everyone
is pretty snug at the moment. Plenty of heat, plenty of food. But six months
from now things will be very different. People will be cold and hungry. They'll
be ready to roll the dice.'

Jane
joined Sian in the observation bubble.

'Let
me take over for a while,' said Jane. 'I'm wired on caffeine. Why don't you get
some sleep?'

Jane
positioned her chair in front of the microphone.

'Apex
Base, this is refinery Kasker Rampart. Do you copy, over?'

'This is Apex Base. Damn good to hear from you,
Rampart.' The guy sounded
tearful and exhausted.

'How
are you folks getting on?'

'Not
so great. The storm collapsed one of the tents and we lost a bunch of stuff.
Clothes. Bedding. Hope you got some good news for us,
Rampart.
We need it
.'

'We
are worried about the distance. Indigo Bay is quite a trek. Winter is closing
in and there isn't much daylight left.'

'You
can't leave us out here to die. That's inhuman
.'

'Have
you got a map with you? Can you see a map?'

'We're
in no condition to walk. Alan has frostbite. His feet are black. He can barely
stand.
'

'Look
at your map. Angakut. Can you see it? There's a mountain halfway between us.'

'
Yeah
.'

'There's
a cabin, a wood cabin. It's solid. It's good shelter. It's warm and dry. If you
can make it that far, you can ride out the storm. Then we can pick you up.'

'That's
a three-day hike. We'd have to cross two inlets by boat
.'

'What's
your name?'

'
Simon
.'

'You've
got to move, Simon. You have to put on your skis and move. You have to get your
team to the main island. We can reach you from there. We can pick you up.'

'It's
too much
.'

'You've
got to dig deep, dude. The weather will lift in a few hours, but there's more
moving in. You're only getting weaker. It will be sunrise soon. You're the
leader. Get your team ready to travel. Whatever you have to do.'

'I'm
so tired
.'

'You're
giving in to death. If you stay in that sleeping bag you'll slowly freeze. I'll
call again at nine. You better be on your feet and moving. You've got to get on
your feet and move if you want to live.'

'Okay.
All right
.'

'God
bless, guys.'

'Do
they know about the plague?' asked Sian.

'Their
relief plane didn't show up. That's all they know. Might as well keep it that
way.'

Punch
cut himself a cheese sandwich. He scraped the last smears from a big Country
Larder jar of mayonnaise. He took a fresh jar from the refrigerator. He saw
himself reflected in the steel door, and saw the phantom blur of a man standing
behind him.

'Better
make that your last snack,' said Rawlins. 'I need a list. An inventory of all
the food we have left.'

'Already
done.'

'You
can lock these freezers and fridges, yes?'

'I've
got keys somewhere.'

'One
set for you, one set for me. Keep them locked at all times.'

'Okay.'

'Everyone
is perfectly civil right now. A few months from now food will run short and it
will be a different story. Situation could turn ugly.'

'Yeah.'

'People
hoarding, fighting.'

'Absolutely.'

'How
about dry goods? Cans and stuff?'

'There's
a crappy lock on the storeroom.'

'Speak
to Ghost. Get a decent padlock and bring me the key. What's for breakfast?'

'The
last of the real eggs.'

'Excellent.
Well. See you later.'

Rawlins
left the kitchen. He scratched his head on the way out of the door. The edge of
his leather jacket lifted for a moment and exposed the yellow butt of his Taser
slung in a nylon holster. He had a red can of pepper spray in a pouch on his
belt. A sheriff ready to lay down the law.

Jane
tried to think up a reason to visit Ghost. Maybe she could help him pack for
his expedition to the island.

She
walked to the pump hall. She found him sitting on his bunk, slotting batteries
into a yellow box.

'Need
a hand?'

'I'm
okay.'

'What's
the box?'

'Nautical
beacon. Beeps a locator signal. The Apex guys are stumbling around in the dark
out there. If we set this thing pinging it will lead them straight to us. And
they'll reach that cabin along the route.'

'Sure
they have a tracker?'

'Yeah.
They were carrying one so they could rendezvous with their relief plane.'

'Cool.'

'It's
short range, though. Too many crags between us and them. We need to get it up
high.'

'We
could use the radio tower. Lash it to the scaffold.'

'Want
to give me a hand?'

They
dressed in the airlock. Heavy Ventile coats, rubber boots and ski masks. Ghost
unwound his turban and tied his hair in a ponytail. Jane zipped her snorkel
hood and buckled gauntlets.

'Been
outside much?' asked Ghost as he strapped Jane into a full body harness. His
voice was muffled by his mask. His eyes were hidden behind black goggles.

'Never
in a storm.'

'Soon
as we get out on to the walkway, grab the railing. There's a guide wire. Clip
yourself to the wire before taking another step, all right? The wind could
throw you clean over the side.'

Ghost
handed Jane a shockproof spotlight.

'Million
candlepower. Don't look into it. I'll climb the mast. Keep the light on me.'

He
sealed the internal door. He spun the hatch wheel and pushed the external door.
Alarm. Warning strobes. Sudden jet- roar of wind noise as the power-assisted
hatch slid back. Jane was blasted by driving ice particles. She rocked on her
feet.

'You
all right?' shouted Ghost.

'It's
hell out there.'

'Yeah.
Know what? I reckon some of us won't make it home.'

The
storm passed.

Sian
stood on the deck and sipped coffee. Her mug broiled like a witches' brew. She
was standing on a walkway above the fresh water storage tanks. She wanted to
enjoy the sun before the long Arctic night began and the rig was left in
permanent darkness.

Sian
often took refuge outside. She got a lot of male attention. She heard a rumour
the crewmen took a bet when she first joined the rig. First to fuck the new
girl. Four months later, nobody won the bet. She overheard Nail call her 'the
dyke'.

She
took the job because she was bored. She was counter staff at Barclays Bank in
Portsmouth. She saw an advert:

Coral
Recruitment

Overseas
Jobs

Oil
industry administrator

Will
provide secretarial support to installation manager. Strong organisational skills
and a keen eye for detail are important aspects of the role. Good salary,
insurance, flights and negotiable bonus.

She
took the job. Friends threw a party the night before she flew to Norway.

They
said she was brave. They said she would have a big adventure. She would come
home with stories.

There
used to be planes overhead. Earlier that year the blue and cloudless sky had
often been bisected by the contrails of jets patrolling the Russian frontier.
Now the sky was empty.

She
saw a ship. A dot on the horizon. A tanker funnel. She dropped her coffee and
sprinted to an airlock intercom. Rawlins came running followed by the crew.
They gathered on the helipad. They waved and shouted. Ghost fired flares. The
tanker didn't turn or slow.

Rawlins
had binoculars.

'Japanese
flag,' he said. 'There are men on deck.'

'Maybe
they saw us,' said Sian. 'It takes a while for a tanker to respond.'

The
ship kept going.

Sian
joined Jane in the observation bubble. They watched the distant ship through
the window.

'Japanese
tanker, this is Kasker Rampart twenty kilometres east of your position.
Requesting urgent assistance, over.'

No
reply.

'Japanese
tanker, this is Con Amalgam refinery Kasker Rampart twenty kilometres east of
your position. We are British crewmen requesting evacuation, over. Japanese
tanker, we badly need your help. Please respond.' The ship sailed out of sight.

'I
can't believe they didn't see us,' said Sian.

'They
saw us,' said Jane. 'They just didn't want to stop.'

'Rampart,
this is Apex base
.'

'How's
it going, Simon?' asked Jane.

'We
made less time than I hoped. We were walking into the wind. We covered less
than five kilometres
'

'The
storm has cleared. You have a window of good weather. Make the most of it.'

'We're
weak. We're hungry
.'

'Once
you cross that second inlet you can ditch the boat. Should lighten your load.'

'We're all pretty shattered.'

'Hold
it together forty-eight hours and you're home and dry. A little more walking.
That's all that stands between you and the rest of your life. What about food?
Do you have anything left at all?'

'We've
been eating toothpaste
.'

'Get
some sleep. Just make it through tomorrow. That's all you have to think about.
One foot in front of the other. That's all it takes. You're so close to home.'

'This
is absurd,' said Jane, when Apex signed off. 'You know how much Arctic survival
training I've had? I built a snowman once. I'm talking up this cabin like it's
the answer to their prayers, but we don't even know if it is still standing.'

'You're
doing a fantastic job,' said Sian.

'I'm
trying to coax these poor guys to safety, and I'm not even sure it's physically
possible.'

'Sometimes
people just need to hear an encouraging voice.'

Jane
helped Ghost pack his possessions. They dismantled his bivouac. They stacked
CDs and books into boxes, and carried them to a room in the main accommodation
block.

'I
was thinking,' said Jane. 'We're about three time zones away from the nearest
chocolate.'

'Crush
that thought. It'll drive you nuts. This past week I've been craving beer. It
hit me the other day. I might never taste beer again. I get weepy just thinking
about it.'

'Some
people get high on bereavement. Life is boring, a lot of the time. Then your
uncle drops dead and yeah, you're sad, but on the other hand you relish it
because it's the first real, solid emotion you have experienced for months. It
breaks the torpor. Suddenly you are awake and alive. I'm no different. I'm
scared and tired and I want to go home. But a little, childish part of me is
enjoying the drama.'

'Yeah.
Well. People are complicated. There's no shame in it.'

Ghost
had commandeered a disused tool store. He had glued a High Voltage sign to the
door to discourage visitors, and turned the place into a cannabis farm.