Sam raised his voice, slightly. “It sure didn’t feel like any localized weather system.”
“No. It started fast and it became big,” Matthew agreed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. At least Veyron got the hovercraft to work in time.” Sam stared at the radar screen. “Any sign of the ice mass which looks like it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared from nowhere?”
Matthew increased the distance on the radar to five miles, and then to ten. “No. We anchored back from it at the start of the blizzard. Throughout the storm we couldn’t see anything more than two feet in front of us. When it all died down and I stepped out on the front deck, the entire iceberg had disappeared. My guess, the storm blew it away.”
“I agree,” Sam said. “You’d better notify the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and any local ships that the massive iceberg is now drifting along the coast somewhere. It may very well cause a similar problem to some of the other science stations further along.”
“I already have,” Matthew confirmed.
“Thanks.” Sam clicked on the second man-made structure he could see on the radar. A large ship — most likely a cruise ship. It was much too large to be an icebreaker or a research vessel. It was probably the same one he’d seen from the top of the small ice mountain he’d climbed two days earlier. “What’s their story, they haven’t moved for days now?”
“No idea Sam,” Matthew replied. “It’s the Antarctic Solace, a cruise ship that caters to the adventurous sightseers.”
“Have you tried radioing and seeing if they need any help?” Sam knew that even for a well set up cruise ship, Antarctica could prove fatal to the slightest of mistakes. And being caught in the recent blizzard was a mistake for any captain.
“Yes. Three times. No response whatsoever.”
“That’s unusual. Do you think they’re in some sort of trouble?”
“The funny thing is… you said you saw the cruise ship out there two days ago when you were on the ice mountain?”
“Yes. What difference does it make?”
“Well, our Automatic Identification System didn’t pick them up at all until a couple of hours ago. Even then, when I looked at her automatic logging information, her last known location based on her satellite tracking was more than six hundred miles to the north of us.”
Sam consciously thought about how such an advanced system could be so confused. “Not a problem. This is what happens when people let computers take over sailing. What about our radar log. When did it pick them up in the distance?”
Matthew squirmed and then replied. “I’m afraid it too seems to have the same confusion about the facts. It only picked them up two hours ago. It’s like it just materialized from thin air.”
“Strange. Have you tried contacting her shore side operators?”
“Yes,” Matthew replied. “According to their company, they were supposed to anchor in McMurdo Sound three days ago, but never showed.”
“Are they at anchor?”
“No, from what we can see using current satellite imaging they’re drifting.”
“All right. We’d better get over there and have a look. Tom and I will take a runabout in case the cruise ship is trapped in ice. Where’s Elise? Her medical skills might be required. Also, I want Veyron — if it’s an engineering problem I want him with us.”
“When are you leaving?” Matthew asked.
“Now, of course.”
Chapter Ten
Alexis settled into a routine on board the Antarctic Solace. She’d given up fearing what she couldn’t see and simply accepted the fact the ship had become stranded. The anchor chain was fully coiled and the steel anchor was in its cradle. As far as she could tell the bow of the ship swung round with the change in wind and currents, but she was certain the ship hadn’t moved. The Antarctic Solace wasn’t aground, but something else, almost intangible was holding her at bay. She was still buoyant, but an invisible restraint stopped her from floating away.
She didn’t believe much in the religious views of life and death, so she doubted very much she’d found herself in some sort of unfortunate limbo of the afterlife. No, she was still alive and someone would come for her. There was infinite food aboard for one person, and even if the power ceased, she would have provisions for keeping the food stores cold on the deck. She settled into a routine of morning exercise, cooking, reading, and generally making use of the freest time she could ever recall having. She even used the swimming pool while it remained warm. She felt a strange comfort in her situation — until the storm began.
The outside world darkened to the blackest of nights in an instant. The noise followed next. It was the sound of gale force gusts of wind and ice pummeling the windows with such ferocity she could have been mistaken for it being produced by machine gun fire raking the Antarctic Solace. Worried the windows would shatter and destroy what little refuge she had left, Alexis climbed the external stairs on the protected side of the ship, and into the secure bridge. With large reinforced glass windows it gave her a clear view of the impending tempest.
She watched the storm unfold. Quickly the swell amplified into large crests of ice and water which raged towards the bow of the ship. Tentatively she watched them crash along the bow, unable to quite see the extent of their destruction from the dark confines of the bridge. Alexis carefully held the side of the navigation table, bracing for the sudden movements that must surely follow each strike.
Blinded by the darkness of the storm her sense of hearing compounded the sounds of the ghastly tempest. She searched the instrument panel and found a section labeled external lighting. Alexis flicked on all deck lights.
The bow of the Antarctic Solace lit up with the warm glow. In the ocean ahead a shadow approached. Only it wasn’t a shadow at all. Instead it was the largest wave she’d ever seen and on its crest were several icebergs, as large as houses.
This is it! Nothing can survive that!
Alexis cowered under the navigation table, certain the entire bridge was about to be destroyed. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the table and held her breath in anticipation. She then waited for a certain death — that never came.
After a few minutes she let go and then looked at the decking of the bridge. Unable to see the horizon or the outside world, it appeared almost perfectly still. Maybe not quite still, more like the deck of a boat tied up in protected harbor.
When she was certain the wave wasn’t going to crash through the windshield she slowly stood up. Outside the large swell could still be seen. Alexis didn’t believe for a minute the Antarctic Solace was built with such strength to render the massive waves harmless. A ship ten times her size would be thrown around like a toy boat in a storm and yet it was obvious the storm wasn’t affecting the ship.
She closed her eyes and tested the theory. At first she held onto the navigation desk. When it didn’t feel like it was moving, she let go. With her hands held in front of her for protection, she took a wide stance and balanced.
The ground below didn’t move. She opened her eyes. Another large wave approached the bow. She stared at the ground instead of looking out and nothing happened. It confirmed the truth — the ship was stationary, despite the waves crashing into her bow.
Was it all an optical illusion?
She wondered if she was in the midst of a particularly bad dream, or perpetual recollection of the ending of her life.