“I’m not saying until you share some of that popcorn,” replied Mitchell.
Jackson took another handful and passed the half-empty bowl over to Mitchell.
“If the fog doesn’t lift by the morning, I hate to say it, but we’re going in on foot,” replied Mitchell, taking some popcorn.
Maria groaned at the news.
“It won’t be all that bad,” said McMasters, trying to sound encouraging.
“Speak for yourself. Have you looked at the photos of the island? I’ll die before we get off the beach,” protested Maria.
“Well, let’s not worry about that right now,” said Mitchell. “I’m still counting on being flown over to the island in the morning.”
“Ah, the eternal optimist,” said Jackson.
“Better than being a pessimist,” replied Mitchell. “Fewer ulcers, too.”
Looking over at Maria, Mitchell said, “If we do have to walk in, do you want to change your planned search pattern?”
Maria shook her head. “No, I think it’s best if we stick to my original plan. We’ll start where I believe the trail of debris begins under the ice and follow it. The device storing the sample from the Moon could have become separated from the reentry capsule anywhere along the trail.”
Jackson turned off the movie. “I know I should have paid better attention during all of our meetings, but what exactly are we looking for?”
Maria shook her head. They had been over this topic several times before. With a forced smile, she said, “The reentry capsule is cylindrical and weighs about thirty-five kilos. It will have a hermetically sealed soil sample container built inside of it. The reentry capsule had a large heat shield on the bottom of it to help it survive the searing heat of reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. If the data that Mister Houston provided to us is correct, the capsule successfully deployed its parachute and safely made it down to the ground.”
“How long is the debris field?” asked McMasters.
“About seventeen-hundred and thirty meters,” answered Maria.
“So just over a mile then,” said McMasters. “Even though we used it in the service, I still have to convert metric in my mind, so I understand what we’re talking about.”
“Doesn’t the size of the debris field bother you?” asked Jackson. “I mean, it seems a bit excessive for a relatively small space reentry capsule.”
“It’s very windy down here. With the parachutes fully deployed when it landed, the debris we see on the satellite images could be from the heat shield coming apart as the probe was dragged over the ice,” explained Maria.
Jackson nodded his head and then said, “Are you sure that the ground-penetrating radar we brought with us will be able to see through the ice?”
“Oh, most definitely,” responded Maria. “The version we placed on the back of one of our sleds is state of the art. Not only will we be able to see what is below the ice, the picture will be crystal-clear. It will be like looking at it as if the object were on the surface right beside us.”
“And you’ll have no problem spotting what we’re looking for?” asked McMasters.
“None,” replied Maria confidently.
“That’s good, because I don’t fancy digging through meters of ice only to find that we’ve dug up the wrong thing,” said Jackson.
Mitchell shook his head and then fixed his gaze on Jackson and McMasters. “Well, now that you two have both challenged Maria’s competency and lost badly, I suggest we all hit the sack. Let’s meet back here for breakfast at 0600 hours and see if the weather has changed for the better.”
Maria stood, stretched her arms over her head, yawned, and left the room followed a minute later by McMasters.
Mitchell waited until he was sure that they were alone. He looked over at Jackson and said, “Nate, there’s one other thing you should know. There’s still been no contact with the Norwegian weather station on the island.”
“Does the captain suspect foul play?”
“I don’t think so. However, Houston did warn us that rival companies could be after the soil sample.”
“I know, but I can’t believe that anyone would harm a bunch of scientists for a sample of dirt. Heck, the Norwegians probably don’t even know that a probe crashed on their island. I bet Houston fed them a line about a lost weather balloon or some other cock-and-bull story.”
“All we can go on, for now, are the facts. We haven’t had contact with the station for over forty-eight hours. Once we’re ashore tomorrow, Captain Serrano is sending a landing party to check on them.”
“What are we going to tell Maria and McMasters?”
“I’ll decide that in the morning. I’m really starting to miss Yuri, Sam, and Gordon. If they were here, I’d feel a hell of a lot better about this situation.”
Jackson nodded his head. “I also wish we were going in armed.”
“Unfortunately, it was one of the conditions that Houston had to agree to before the Norwegians would give him a permit to look for the satellite. They don’t allow weapons of any kind on the island.”
“Still, I wish we had something in case someone was to come nosing around.”
“Yeah, I agree with you, but we’re stuck honoring the agreement made by Mister Houston. Come on, old friend, it’s time to get some shuteye. Oh-six-hundred is going to come awfully early tomorrow.”
The next morning, Mitchell bounded into the dining room wearing a smile a mile wide.
“What’s up with you?” asked Jackson, “Did you win the lottery last night?”
“Not exactly, but the next-best thing,” replied Mitchell. “The wind shifted in the middle of the night and took the fog with it, so we can fly over to the island right after breakfast.”
“That’s great news,” said a relieved Maria.
“Wait, there’s more,” said Mitchell. “The Norwegian weather station came back on the air at about five this morning. It would appear that there was water in the fuel for their generator. After switching out the filters, they were able to get their generator up and running.”
“That is good news,” said Jackson.
“Captain Serrano said that he was going to give them some untainted fuel to keep their generator going until the resupply ship arrives next month.”
“When’s he going to do that?” asked McMasters.
“After we’re set up on the glacier. For now, we’re his primary focus,” replied Mitchell.
“So when do you want us up on the helipad?” asked Jackson as he shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
Mitchell glanced down at his watch. “Let’s RV there with all of our gear at 0800 hours; that should give everyone a chance to finish packing.”
“Sounds good,” said Jackson standing up, “it’ll give me a chance for seconds.”
Mitchell shook his head and then joined his friend as he walked back into the kitchen.
From the air, Bouvet Island, to Mitchell, looked quite bleak and hostile. Its tall, dark cliffs jutted out of the ice-cold waters of the South Atlantic to meet the thick glacier covering almost the entire island. He couldn’t imagine how the Norwegian scientists could stand being cooped up on the island for months at a time.
Their bright-red, AS365 Eurocopter flew straight for the island. The pilot, an ex-Argentine Coast Guard officer, felt the strong winds coming off the slate-gray ocean beneath the speeding helicopter and adjusted his elevation accordingly. Bringing the helicopter up into the clear, blue sky, the pilot banked over and headed straight towards the place that Mitchell had chosen for their camp just below Olav’s Peak, the highest point on the island. After a quick fly past, the pilot selected a smooth spot and expertly brought the helicopter in to land on the bleak, frozen landscape.
Mitchell felt the helicopter hover for a moment just before its wheels smoothly touched down. He pulled open the door and jumped outside. Right away, he could feel the cool rotor wash from the Eurocopter’s powerful engines pushing down on him. He turned around and helped Maria climb down, followed closely by Jackson, who reached back inside and started to pull out their rucksacks. Mitchell assisted as McMasters gently removed the sled with the ground-penetrating radar on it. A few minutes later, they had their tent and all of their supplies with them on the glacier. Mitchell stepped back so the pilot could see him and gave a quick wave.