After about ten minutes, she reached for the cordless phone mounted on the wall and dialed a cellphone number from her memory. It took her a few unsuccessful tries to realize the phone line was dead. She glanced out the window at the clear blue sky and the bright sun. The view gave her the determination she needed to keep dialing until she got a free signal. As she heard the dial tone, she quickly punched the number.
“Hello, this is Bryan,” the familiar voice replied after the first ring.
“Hey, Bryan, it’s me,” Emily spoke fast, afraid the line might go dead at any second.
“Emily, you’re OK, sweetheart? Where are you?” Technical Sergeant Bryan asked, all in one breath.
“Arctic Bay. North of Borden Peninsula, on Baffin—”
“I know where it is. Are you OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Can you guys come and get me?”
“Well, the commander wasn’t sure if we could violate Canada’s sovereignty.”
“What? Tell me you’re kidding.”
“Unfortunately not, but I’ll get him on the line. Now that we know where you are, it shouldn’t be difficult to get authorization from Canada for a rescue mission.”
“Hurry up and… thanks.”
“OK, you just hang on in there. We’ll come and get you.”
Her nervous pacing, while holding the handset pressed to her ear, lasted less than a minute.
“Sergeant Moore,” the commander asked. “Are you doing well?”
“Yes, sir,” Emily replied. “Just eager to come home, sir.”
“Have they mistreated you?”
“Negative. Other than the horrors of battling the blizzard and crash-landing blindfolded on an ice field, I’m doing well.”
The commander let out a laugh of relief. “You don’t have a gun pointed at your head as we speak, do you?”
“No, no. Everyone’s gone.”
“They left you alone? Where are Justin and the others?”
“Oh, they’re off to battle.”
“What did you say? Battle? What battle?”
“You know the Danish attack they were mumbling about when at the base?”
“Yes, the wargame. Denmark has made plans for military exercises over the next couple of days.”
“Well, Justin and his gang are convinced the Danes are hostile, and they’re going to land in Nanisivik, believe it or not, to take over the Northwest Passage. This place, Nanisivik, they told me it’s about an hour from here. Justin and his men gathered around a hundred people to meet the Danes there and give them a real taste of the Canadian hospitality.”
“Nanisivik? You sure about this?”
“Absolutely sure, Commander. The town there has a deep sea port, and Justin has information about a Danish icebreaker that is going to anchor right there, in the Strathcona Sound.”
“That’s strange because our satellites show no images of sea vessels. Instead, a large footprint of a transport aircraft, possible a Hercules, is beeping on all radar screens.”
“Hercules? Where’s the airplane headed?”
“I thought it was Resolute until you mentioned Nanisivik. If you put together this and the bogus information about the icebreaker, everything makes perfect sense.”
“I don’t understand,” Emily said.
“If it’s true the Danes are carrying out an invasion, they have done an excellent job masking their true intentions. They’ve circulated false intel on seaborne maneuvers, but they’re mounting an air attack.”
“Air attack? Didn’t you just say the footprint was of a cargo plane?”
“I said it was a transport aircraft, since these Hercs are used mainly for supplying equipment and refueling, but also for transporting troops and weapons. These monsters can easily carry more than a hundred combat troops in their belly. Who knows what else, in terms of weapons, the Danes may have stored inside the plane, if it’s theirs.”
“You’re not sure whether this is a Danish plane?”
“Correct. Our identification capacity’s limited because of the great distance between our base and the target and their possibility of the pilots intercepting us. Besides, the Canadian Forces have a few of these planes. In any case, you don’t have to worry about anything. We have a few choppers on standby, and I’ll dispatch one right away to extract you. What exactly is your position in Arctic Bay?”
“I’m at the Health Center.”
“OK, stay there. Shouldn’t take long before our boys will come to get you.”
“Thank you, sir. What about Justin and his battle?”
“It doesn’t involve us, Sergeant.” The commander’s sudden change of voice, from a warm to a strict tone, expressed his feelings about the matter much stronger than his words. “It’s not our battle.”
“But if this Hercules is Danish that means it’s probably carrying a company of soldiers,” Emily said. “And if Justin and his men are making their stand at the seaport, instead of the airport, then—”
“Sergeant Moore,” the commander did not let her finish her sentence. “I’m ordering you to stay put until our Seahawk’s arrival.”
“Where’s the airport? Nanisivik’s airport?” she asked.
“Why, what’s that got to do with anything?”
Emily kept silent.
There was some paper shuffling on the other side of the phone line, then the commander spoke again, “The airport is southeast of town, about eighteen miles south.”
“Eighteen miles,” Emily repeated. “South, that’s behind their back. Justin will not see the Danes coming until it’s too late.”
“As I said, Sergeant Moore, this is not our fight.” The commander spaced his words equally, pronouncing them with a pause in between.
“I can’t just let them die, slaughtered like lambs, Commander. You don’t know, but Justin saved a woman’s life, bringing her out of the freezing ocean. He risked his own life and almost died while saving her.”
“So? He risked your life a thousand times, and he wouldn’t lose sleep over it if he did it again.”
“That may be true, but I have a chance to save his life and the lives of all his men and women, brave people, sir, who’re not afraid to fight for what they know is right.”
“I don’t believe—”
“The goal,” Emily said, “the goal justifies the means. You’ll send your men here to save my life, why not save the Canadians as well?”
“Not my call.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t just sit here and let them die.”
“Then use a damn phone to call them.”
“Phones don’t work all the time in this place. Plus, I’m sure they can use an extra shooter. And they can use many more, sir.”
“For the last time, Sergeant—”
“You’re breaking up. I can’t hear you, Commander? Commander?” She placed the handset back on its wall-mounted base.
What the hell did I just do?
“We’ve got the guns.” Kiawak brought his walkie-talkie closer to his mouth, as he looked through the door of the Parting Waters door at Strathcona Sound. Carrie had taken him, Joe and a few other men aboard the Seahawk, to prepare for the Danish invasion. “Joe’s setting up a perimeter in the hills around the seaport. As soon as those bastards set foot ashore, we’ll give ‘em hell.”
“That’s good,” Justin replied on his radio. He held tight to the door handle, as the Land Rover slid to the left.
“Sorry,” Anna, the driver, mumbled.
The gravel road connecting Arctic Bay to Nanisivik was coated with a thin layer of fresh snow. It provided sufficient tire traction for most of the trip but also concealed slippery ice patches.