The Antarcticans (31 page)

“No idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s like everything we thought we knew was wrong.”

When they arrived at Joshua’s room, he looked the same as when Noila had left. His medical suit was fully intact and pristine. He didn’t acknowledge her when she came in.

“He’s under sedation right now,” Gavin explained. “They’re letting his brain rest. We had a traumatic session earlier. My head’s still a little fuzzy from it.” He reached over and touched Joshua’s forehead.

“When’s the next session?”

“We’re scheduled for tomorrow, but it all depends on how well he recovers from today’s treatment.”

“I’d like to be there,” Noila said.

“Uh, I don’t know how Dr. Cristofari will feel about that. She was—don’t take this the wrong way—pleased that you weren’t here when we were doing our sessions. I think she said it had something to do with having the less-dominant parent do the sessions with him. You’ll have to ask her.”

“Ask her what?” Dr. Cristofari walked into the room.

“We were discussing Joshua’s treatment,” Gavin said.

“Ah.” She turned to Noila and stuck out her hand. “Sounds like you made quite a name for yourself in Antarctica. I’m surprised they let you go. Usually the packages for scientists of your caliber are too good to refuse.”

“They weren’t offers so much as demands that I stay,” Noila replied.

Dr. Cristofari shrugged. “I wouldn’t read too much into it. They were probably just excited. Your discovery is the most hope the Antarticans have had in a long time. What you’ve found might even help Joshua.”

“Really? I don’t see the correlation in the research. I’m also wary about the risks of transferring him so far away. It’s not paradise down there right now. They’re dealing with some very real problems,” Noila said.

“I don’t think it makes a difference where the treatment occurs,” Dr. Cristofari said matter-of-factly.

“Gavin and I will have to discuss it. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the direction we’re moving in.”

“I’ve incorporated some of the data from your research into our models. We have Joshua’s brain mapped almost entirely, since we’ve been scanning and monitoring him continuously since he arrived here.”

“Like I said, Gavin and I will need to sit down and discuss this first,” Noila said.

“I’d be happy to go over the treatment with you in more detail, but someone else will be doing the procedure in Antarctica. I have too many patients here with special situations that would overwhelm anyone who hasn’t been intimately involved in their treatment from the beginning. And there are Antarctican doctors who are more capable than I am. But don’t worry—I’ll write all the protocols. The physician there will just be overseeing it.” She seemed satisfied with herself.

“Coffee?” Gavin asked, throwing his thumb toward his shoulder.

“I’d love a cup,” Dr. Cristofari answered.

Noila was annoyed by the casualness of their relationship and that they had seemingly planned this without her input. Gavin’s attempt to change the subject when the topic got difficult annoyed her too, as it gave Dr. Cristofari an easy way out. Noila followed them into the small kitchen and asked Gavin for a cup of tea. When Gavin handed Dr. Cristofari her coffee, she told them she had to go check on some other patients. After she left, Noila closed the door and looked at Gavin for an explanation.

“Joshua’s crazy about this woman, Margie,” he blurted out. “It’s like he’s created her, loves her, but he’s created these other people that do awful things to her. Dr. Cristofari says it’s a way to punish himself and also watch the punishment. Kind of like he thinks he deserves it but doesn’t want to endure it.”

“We can get to that, but what the hell was that? It’s like this was decided before I even got back there. This is what I was talking about. Decisions are being made about us, but we aren’t being consulted—or at least I'm not.” Noila’s voice was getting louder.

“C’mon. Sit down. We’re all going through a lot. After having been inside Joshua’s mind, I have a different perspective. Even though it sounds totally off the wall to us, these characters are real to him. And I know Lucifer can be pushy—I mean he’s been pushy with his own agenda since I met him—but I just feel we have to…” He nervously gulped a mouthful of coffee from his mug.

“I want to see Lucifer. Have you been in touch with him?”

“With everything that’s been happening on the ship, we’re just getting back to some bit of normalcy. I was sleeping on the floor next to Joshua’s bed for a while. There were injured and dead passengers everywhere. I’m happy you weren’t here—not something you want any of your loved ones to experience.”

“Are our quarters in the same room as before?”

“Yes, but they’re a bit of a mess.”

“You staying here with Joshua?”

“No, not tonight. I’ll come with you.”

“I’m going to change,” Noila said, “and then I’m going to find Lucifer.”

They walked out of the medical bay and toward the ladders between decks. Only the main lift was running, and it was being reserved for official use.

Locating Lucifer on the ship was like finding Saddam Hussein after the US invasion of Iraq. Noila seemed to miss him by minutes everywhere she looked, with some tidbit of evidence left behind that gave her clues as to where to look next. Everyone parroted the same line; he seemed in a rush, or they knew he was busy, or he was working diligently to make sure the next vice president was as friendly to his causes as the last one had been. Noila received many thanks, praises, and even a round of applause when she stepped into a conference room where a lunch meeting was taking place. Lucifer had delivered a speech, made a few decisions, then suddenly ducked out to attend to business.

Noila went to the top deck to get some air and reformulate her strategy for finding him. She leaned against the rails and looked out into the water. The ocean was calm in the dull morning light. The ship didn’t appear to be moving, and there was no land in any direction. They could have been in the South Pacific or the Caribbean. The warm air was the only clue giving away their tropical location. Noila kept rolling over in her head how her discovery might help Joshua, but the other lingering question was how to distribute her solution to all Antarcticans. Their world was collapsing, but their world was also her world, and she knew better than anyone that if huge glaciers started melting in the ocean, Miami and other parts of the United States would be underwater.
What are they trying to do here?
she wondered.
Do the Antarcticans really care about everyone or just their own species?

Suddenly it came to her: she would address Lucifer in his quarters. She would wait it out until he came back for the night.
Everyone has to sleep, right?
she thought.

Noila pulled up a map of the ship on one of the panels and located Lucifer’s quarters. She found it odd that they seemed to be only a few doors down from where she and Gavin were staying. She had thought there would be some sort of official area for him. She waited for a few hours. Around midnight, when she finally made her way there, she passed the room she and Gavin were staying in. The carpet had been pulled up in the corridor, and the bare carbon-fiber structure of the ship was revealed. Arkita stepped out of the next room into the hallway. Her thick blond hair was pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head, and she was wearing spandex workout clothes and bright-pink trainers.

“Noila.” Arkita seemed surprised, and she pulled her earbuds out to hear her response.

“Hello. I’m sorry…Do I know you?”

“Arkita. I sang at your dinner with Lucifer a few weeks ago. I’m not in full makeup and hair—I guess I look different. How’s Gavin?”

“Fine.” Noila looked her up and down.

“He seemed lonely while you were gone.” She rubbed the back of her arms as if she were cold.

Noila sensed the bait and decided against taking it from someone who appeared to be nothing but ship entertainment.

She shrugged. “Don’t know. I was busy with my research, and he was taking care of our son. I’m looking for Lucifer. Do you know if he’s in his quarters?”

“Sorry, I don’t, but I know Gavin is in his.” She raised an eyebrow.

“I’m aware of that.” Noila gave her a slight wave and walked by her. When she got to Lucifer’s door, she pressed the call button.

“It’s very rude to intrude on him,” Arkita called out from where Noila had left her standing.

Noila didn’t answer. She looked at her again then pressed the call button once more while staring at her.

The door opened, and the air inside exhaled a dark, damp, cool atmosphere, like that of a thawing freezer. Noila smelled the scent of felines—and not ordinary house cats. It was the smell of great cheetahs and jaguars from her trips to the zoo. She stepped into the room, letting out a weak “Hello?” She felt the thick carpet under her feet. Her eyes adjusted slowly but focused on a dim light coming from a room beyond the one she was in. A figure moved through shadows; she felt the air it displaced. Her heart skipped, and she stopped walking, cold with fear. Another figure scampered on the floor, and Noila let out a whimper, trying her best not to make a sound. She moved cautiously, taking baby steps, until she came to the next door. It led to the bathroom, which was set up in the same configuration as the one in her quarters. The mirror was wet, with a couple of long-fingered handprints on the glass. She saw beyond the mirror into what looked like another bathroom. The shower door was open, and the faucet was lightly dripping, as if someone had just finished showering.

The noises Noila heard were being muffled by something in the dark, and she was hesitant to step back out into the main room. She reached her hand around the threshold onto the wall and tried to feel for a switch or panel. She closed her eyes, put her foot forward, and stepped. She hugged the wall, gently moving her hands over the tables, shelves, and furniture she bumped into. She couldn’t see where she had entered the room; the door had closed. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, the objects in the room became fuzzy outlines. The wall she was pressed against ended, and her shoulders moved a couple of inches back against a grate. The light in the bathroom turned off and plunged her into blackness. A warm gust of exhaled animal breath blew across her neck and head. She heard pawing on the ground, along with a shifting of sheets or bedding. She couldn’t move; her mind told her to run, but she was paralyzed by the fear of whatever giant animal was in the space behind her. She wasn’t sure whether it knew she was there, but she knew an animal could usually sense a human long before a human could sense an animal, so she assumed it was watching her. She regained her composure and edged farther along the wall; the grate against her back was like a bumpy road. Her heart was hammering in her chest. A solid wall jutted out from the metal grates she was pressed against. Her hands followed it again, brushing across a picture frame, which scraped against the wall when she touched it.

“I thought you should know who I am.” The voice was throaty and deep.

Noila stopped moving again; the voice surrounded her. She wasn’t sure where it was coming from. The lights slowly came on, brightening her surroundings by what felt like pixel by pixel.

The room was about the same size as the one she and Gavin were staying in; there was more personal furniture here, however, and each surface was covered with figurines and statuettes. The table beside her had a marble chess set on it. On one side of the board were the Srechritoris, on the other side humans. The lights came up further, and she saw the metal wire she had been pressed against. It was an opening the size of two standard doors, covered with chrome grates, the kind one would find around a precious gem in a museum. She couldn’t see much beyond the opening; it was a dark abyss.

“After all, you’re the big hero in our community these days.” A breathy snort followed.

Noila thought the cadence of the voice sounded familiar. She couldn’t place it, though—there was too much animal power drowning out the subtle changes in tone that make each individual’s voice unique.

“Can I see you?” she asked, her voice quivering.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

A light came up over the enclosure behind the grate.

She could now see the space. A cavern of thick frosty ice sat just behind the metal she’d been pressed against. The ice steamed as it touched the air she was breathing, and wisps of it extended up along the walls and the ceiling. A bed that stretched the length of the room was carved from ice as well; lights behind it illuminated the whole enclosure. A massive Srechritoris lay on the ice bed, his head resting on his golden front paws.

“Surprise,” the Srechritoris said.

Noila was taken by the levity; she stared, not believing that this creature could talk. His piercing blue eyes focused in on her and sent a shiver through her body; she felt like she might wet herself.

“I thought Vinettea said you were extinct?”

“Vinettea doesn’t know, nor does she reveal everything she does know to humans. It’s a delicate balance, you must understand. You humans aren’t known for your kindness toward creatures who don’t follow your beliefs or who might look better as a blanket.” He raised his head. “Just look at me—I should be out roaming the wilderness, and instead I’ve been shoved into a tiny cubicle of ice and fed replicated wild game to sustain me. It isn’t what I’d dreamed of doing, but the ship is magnificent, as you know, so I don’t complain too much about it. How rude of me—would you like something to drink?”