Geoffrey Jenkins - A grue of Ice

Just after the war the Americans found a shotgun at least fifty years old in a camp by the Ross Sea. The barrel was still burnished bright." Upton, Walter and Pirow came ashore and walked stiffly along the beach, Upton flexing his fingers.

" Bruce!" said Helen eagerly. " Here is your moment!

Look, they're all three wrapped up in what they're saying. The radio is in the boat. Signal Thorshammer!"

" Be quick, boy!" Sailhardy exclaimed. " Watch that gun, for God's sake! I'll shout if they turn!"

I raced, stumbling on the rough pumice, to the whaleboat. I threw myself under the decking to get at the radio. I clicked over the switch. There was still some power left in the batteries. I fiddled for a moment with the tuning dials and took the first frequency which dropped into my mind-24 metres Raider's frequency.

" Dot-dot-dot-dash-dash-dash-dot-dot-dot!-SOS! SOS! I flicked over the receiving switch, holding one earpiece against my head and listening with my other ear for the tell-tale crunch of boots on the shingle.

I cast round desperately. I wasn't a skilled operator like Pirow and probably the signal was weak. I must get through to Thorshammer, give our position, and warn her about the current and the gun.

In my anxiety, my war-time code signal came to me. It was all I could think of.

"GBXZ," I tapped.

No reply, I switched frantically to the 18-metre band. " GBXZ-to all British warships."

I clicked over. The reply was loud and clear.

"DR. DR-am coming to your aid. Keep transmitting for D IF bearing.

VKYI."

"Thorshammer! Beware… life-raft…" I missed Sailhardy's shout. It was Walter who tore at me, sending the headphones spinning. Pirow was there too, clutching at me as if I had outraged his precious radio. Walter pulled me half out of the cubbyhole on to the gratings. I thrust him aside. He wasn't that strong yet.

" He got off a message and the key is locked!" exclaimed Pirow. " God alone knows what he's said."

Upton stood by the boat. " Have you switched it off?" Pirow nodded. He turned to me. " What did you say to the destroyer?"

" The hell with you," I retorted. "Anyway, Thorshammer is coming for you. She's got the bearing now she's been asking for so often."

" Get in there," Upton told Pirow. " See what Thorsham- mer is saying. Call it out while we watch Wetherby." In a moment Pirow called. " I can't understand. She's saying GBXZ '. That is the British war-time code-' to all British warships'. And now-' Da-coming to your assist- ance '."

" Are you sure it's Thorshammer signalling?"

" Yes," called Pirow. " She's telling us to keep transmitting." There was a short pause. " Now she's calling Life-raft! life-raft! Keep transmitting! Keep your key down! Can you hear me? Can you hear me?' "

" Pirow," said Upton, " come out of there!" Pirow was badly shaken. " I want you to send a message, do you hear? Just the same weak sort of message you have been faking up as coming from the life-raft. You are to give our exact position."

" Don't be crazy!" said Walter. Helen and Sailhardy joined us. " You're telling Thorshammer to come and get us-just what this bastard has been doing."

I did not like Upton's look. " I'm telling her to come not necessarily to come and get us. What is our position, Wetherby?"

" Go to hell," I replied. " Find out the position of Thompson Island yourself."

" No matter," said Upton. " Put the key down, as the destroyer wants, Pirow. Let her get a good bearing. Find out how far away she is and how soon she'll be here. That is very important."

Pirow's mouth was taut. " Can I elaborate a little bit technically, I mean?"

" Do what you bloody-well like, but bring that warship here to Thompson."

" I don't understand…" began Walter.

" You:'don't have to," replied Upton. " I want you strong. Feed yourself up-right now. Pirow will give us an idea how soon the destroyer can be here. You have to load 5.9-inch shells into the hoist of that gun over there."

The big Norwegian looked astonished. " You're-you're going to fight it out with Thorshammer?"

" No." he said. He waved at the graveyard. "None of these fought it out with Meteor. I'll play Kohler's game. 208

The fjord is ranged to the yard. All we have to do is get on the gun and point it. Let Thorshammer come in on the current-Pirow will see to that. You're a harpoon-gunner, Walter. It'll be easy. The destroyer will be a sitting duck."

" By God!" exclaimed Walter.

I interrupted incredulously. It seemed to me the final insanity. I could see that Helen thought so too. " You can't sink a warship, Upton! You can't…"

" I would sink a-whole fleet for those," he replied, pointing at the veins of caesium. " I am going to blow her out of the water. The surprise will be complete. The crew certainly won't be at action stations when she comes in on the current."

" Don't he ridiculous," I said.

He waved again at the caesium veins. " They said Thompson Island was ridiculous. You know, they laughed at you too, just the same way as they laughed about your Albatross'

Foot. I believed in Thompson Island, and now I have it. Britain, Norway, Germany, America-they've spent hundreds of thousands of pounds searching for Thompson. No, they sneered, it did not exist. You knew it existed; I had only my faith. I also believed in caesium-here it is."

Pirow came out. " The batteries are very low, so I've switched off. There's enough power for only a few mare signals. Thorshammer is happy, though. She's got her bearing and she's on the way."

" When will she be here? When, man?"

Pirow was very certain of himself. " Nat before evening, if she had our exact position. The bearing wasn't all that good. She'll still have to search around-say in a radius of ten miles. She's certain to locate Thompson Island by radar during the night, but I guess her surprise will be so big that she won't risk coming in until daylight"

" Food! What we want is hot food!" exclaimed Upton. " This afternoon we will cross the fjord to the gun. No rowing for you, Walter-Wetherby and Sailhardy will do that. I want you fit to work that gun by to-morrow morning."

We gathered driftwood and made a big fire on the rough shingle close to the boat. Without the fire, it was warm enough to shed our heavy clothing, and by afternoon we were all feeling fitter, and I was relieved to see some colour in Helen's pale cheeks. She was very silent, however, and apart from the preparation of the food, did and said little.

After another substantial meal at midday, we set off across 209 the fjord to the gun emplacement. Sailhardy had taken more of a beating than I thought, and he seemed to flag at his oar very much at the end of the pull. Although the current was so powerful, it had not the grip on the shallow draught of the light whaleboat it would have had on a big ship. It was relatively easy to steer at a shallow angle across the current towards the glacier head and then use the counter-current on the emplacement side to coast down to the gun itself.

The sight of the gun filled me with dismay. It was a magnificent 5.9-incher, mounted in a concrete emplacement about twenty feet above the level of the fjord on a shelf of rock. Concrete had also been poured over the rock at waterlevel to provide a landing-stage, in which were sunk several metal mooring rings. Helen bit her lips when she saw the gun and cast me a glance of apprehension; Sailhardy looked strained and reserved, but Upton and Walter were jubilant. We tied up and Walter and Upton jumped ashore, Walter guarding us with the Schmeisser while Upton investigated. It was clear to me that a destroyer, even ready for action, would fight a one-sided battle against the gun. Upton ran back to us down the concrete steps from the gun itself, carrying a Czech pistol he must have found in the arsenal.