Alex Archer - Polar Quest

“And how long is that?”

“Ten years.”

Annja looked at him. “You’ve been here for a decade?”

“Yep.”

Annja shook her head. “You weren’t kidding. You are a loon.”

“Considering I came from Alaska, it’s not too much of a stretch. And besides, in the summer, we get an almost balmy forty degrees outside. That’s practically warm enough to go for a dip in the harbor.”

“Well, sure.” Annja rolled her eyes. “How long has Zach been here?”

“Oh, not long. A few months. He’s green by comparison to a lot of folks. The research stations work primarily on rotations of crews who come down. There’s overlap so everyone has good continuity on the various projects.”

“And you were assigned to help Zach?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“By who?”

“Pardon?”

Annja looked at him. “Who assigned you to help Zach?”

Dave smiled. “My uncle. And yours.”

“Ah. You’re one of those guys, huh?”

Dave shook his head. “Nope. Not a spy or a soldier or anything like that. I’m just one of the few who have been down here long enough to know his way around and be able to safeguard the interests of the country. I’m not a zealot or ultranationalist. In fact, I’m much more liable to vote my conscience about keeping this place beautiful than for some political agenda. But I have my uses anyway.”

“Such as looking after Zach.”

Dave took a turn and brought the Sno-Cat onto a new ice sheet. The engine groaned, then the tracks gained purchase and they jerked forward again. “I get him to where he needs to be. This dig is an important one, as you can see from what he showed you last night. It’s my job to make sure he does what he’s being paid to do.”

“Which is?”

“Figure out exactly what that necklace represents.”

Annja nodded. “And do you believe that it could be from another planet? That aliens made it?”

“I don’t know. This continent has a lot of history to it. Who knows, maybe some early tribe of humans made their way down here at some point. They could have dropped it and then we find it thousands of years later.”

“So you’re not into aliens.”

Dave smiled. “If I see something conclusive, then sure, I might change my mind. Until that happens, though, I’ll be a bit skeptical about its origins.”

“Is that a view shared by your uncle?” Annja leaned back, trying to stretch. Her ribs felt tender but pretty good.

“I don’t know, Annja. I’m not privy to a lot of what they talk about. I get my orders, and do what I’m asked to do. They deposit money into my bank account. That’s how our relationship works.”

“But Zach seems to trust you.”

“Yeah, well, he’s got no reason not to trust me. I wouldn’t do anything that would hurt the guy. He’s a good apple.”

Annja let the conversation stall for the moment. She yawned and fought to keep her eyes open. The sleep last night hadn’t revived her as much as she’d hoped it would. Plus, the injury had given her body more work to do, even if it had been helped by the power of the sword.

A nap would really be great.

“How long until I spell you at the wheel?”

Dave smiled. “You know how to drive one of these things?”

“Nope. But I’m a fast learner.”

“Is that so?”

“Ask Zach.”

Dave smirked. “All right.” He reached forward for the radio handset and keyed it. “Zach, you back there?”

There was a pause and then Annja heard Zach’s voice. “Yeah. What’s up?”

“Annja here says that she’s a quick study on vehicles. Is that true?”

“Why, is she asking to take a turn at the wheel?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Zach’s laughter floated through the speaker. “I wouldn’t if I were you. There was this one time, in Paris, where she tried to work the controls of this giant wrecking ball and ended up—”

Annja grabbed the handset. “We don’t need to go into details about that just now, Zach. Why don’t you just be a good guy and tell Dave that I am perfectly capable of working the Sno-Cat so he can get some rest when he feels tired?”

Zach paused. “Well, I guess she could relieve you if you explain how those controls work.”

Dave smirked. “That’s quite a vote of confidence you got yourself there.”

“Zach’s always been like that. He’s convinced I can’t drive, either. And that Paris thing was just a big misunderstanding. Really. I’m much more accomplished now on heavy machinery.”

“Really?”

“You bet.”

Dave nodded. “Well, I’m fine right now and we only just started out. I’d like to get us a good hundred miles out before I give much thought to releasing the controls. I’m well used to long hauls like this anyway, so it’s no real big deal.”

Annja sighed. “Fine.”

Zach’s voice came back through the speaker. “Dave?”

Dave took the handset. “Go ahead.”

“You tell anyone else that we were coming out here today?”

“Me? Nope. No need.”

“Annja? How about you?”

Annja frowned. “Just that guy Trevor at my dorm. He seemed to know already, though. He mentioned something about being careful out here and that he’s heard it was a big old environmental disaster area. He told me I should be really careful. He seemed genuine enough.”

Dave keyed the microphone. “Why do you ask? Something wrong back there?”

Zach paused. Then Annja heard his voice again. “I don’t know.”

“Zach?”

“It’s probably nothing,” he said. “I just thought I saw something behind us, that’s all.”

“Behind us? As in what? Another vehicle?” Dave asked.

“Yeah.”

Dave shook his head. “Not very likely. It’s tough going out here, and unless whoever’s driving is experienced, they can easily get lost, even with the GPS system.”

“How so?”

“They have to be able to navigate with it. And the GPS isn’t quite as easy as what you’d find on a car. It’s a bit trickier.”

Annja frowned. “But what if there is someone back there? What would they be doing?”

“I don’t know. Tracking us?” Zach said.

“But why?” Annja turned in her seat and felt a slight twinge in her side. “Ouch.”

“Take it easy,” Dave said. “Don’t damage yourself any more than you already have.”

“Okay.” But Annja turned anyway and peered through the back windshield. She could see the lights from Zach’s Sno-Cat. But nothing behind that.

If there was someone else out there, the snow and ice seemed to have swallowed him completely.

By midday, they’d traveled a little more than half the distance to the dig site. True to his word, Dave had stayed at the wheel, only taking small breaks to use the jerrican situated in the back of the Sno-Cat. During those times, Annja had kept the tracked snow vehicle trudging over the ice sheets and on course with the GPS system, which was actually very easy to follow.

“I don’t know why you said this was tricky,” she said as Dave zipped back up. “Any idiot could use this thing.”

“Yeah, I know. I tend to exaggerate a little bit.”

“I can take the wheel a while longer if you want to sleep.”

Dave slid into the passenger seat. “Let’s see how Zach’s doing. He might be looking for a break.”

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