Chapter 24
Somewhere Over Terra Nova Bay
“What the hell?” the Captain asked himself.
“Don’t know, Skipper,” the co-pilot said. She knew not to interject conjecture into the dialog when the Captain asked rhetorical questions.
They were there, right where he thought they would be, except something didn’t look right. What was with the dogs? It should have been just a couple of Alpines and some sleds. He began to feel uneasy. Susan Engen’s decoy, that he was happily following, would not have been so elaborate. Something was wrong.
“It appears as if you were right,” a voice was yelling above the engine noise and outside his headset. He turned to look through his sunglasses at Dr. Atkinson, who came onto the flight deck with Dr. Fredricks after seeing what he had just seen himself. Damn, he thought. No pretending that didn’t happen. He thought for a moment.
“Take over,” he said to the co-pilot. He slipped off the earphones and gestured to the scientists to the cranny behind the Engineers seat, whom he dismissed with a jerk of the thumb.
“We need to talk,” the Captain yelled above the noise. The scientists wore the earplugs that all passengers wore within the un-soundproofed fuselage, and they had to strain to hear. The Captain did not, he was accustomed to filtering out the back-round noise of the aircraft.
“Did the Russians see what you saw?” the Captain asked them.
“They did,” Dr. Fredricks said, bobbing his head to accentuate the response, over compensating for the difficulty in hearing.
“What did they do?”
“Nothing. A lot of eyebrows going up and down, but that’s about it.”
“Alright,” the Captains said in as subdued a manner as he could while still being heard. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s possible the prisoner may not have been lying after all. That’s a problem.”
“So the Russians will get their man back after all,” Dr. Atkinson said, his stern look silently accusing the other two.
“Look,” the Captain said, gesturing with a pointed finger to accompany his hard tone. “Is that what I want? No. But at this point it’s up to us to make the best of a bad situation. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is. I expect you two to deal with it, without screwing this up any worse than it already is. Got it?”
He looked from one to the other, waiting for some kind of affirmation that made them accountable to that warning. He received cold nods, and gave one back as a receipt.
. “Good. Well, since it looks like they are going to get what they want after all, we might as well get credit for having given it to them. Go tell our guests we will be landing shortly in Terra Nova and that we will arrange a reception for those guys on the ground.”
The two scientists said nothing, but with grim demeanor left the flight deck to comply.
The Captain took his seat, nodding to the co-pilot that he again had control. He always thought better with the yoke of an aircraft in his hands. He watched Terra Nova base slide by beneath him without changing altitude. He listened vaguely while his co-pilot copied the current weather conditions on the ground, registering the information unconsciously, calculating his approach. He could carry on for a few more minutes before beginning a wide arcing turn that would put them on a glide path into the station.
There was only one answer, the problem was that there were too many questions. The Russian and Susan were clearly in the same place below, but appeared to have arrived there by separate means. Why the devil would she have done that? Why make it so abundantly clear that this was a ruse, only to have it not be? Didn’t make sense. Unless, of course, none of these people had any more of an idea of what they were doing than he did. Now that worried him. Clear motives and conscious actions were things that could be understood, and countermeasures could be devised to deal with them. But random events that happened without anything guiding them could lead anywhere, and it could not be predicted where that was. There was just no planning for that.
The Alpines led the way, followed by the by dog sleds. There was absolutely no question of trying to go anywhere else and it was decided amongst all parties that the chips would just have to fall where they may. Terra Nova it was. For Sokolov at least, there was the hope that the Italians would not be co-opted into going along with any unholy alliance that the Americans and Russians had agreed upon. He made up his mind to appeal to them. Everyone agreed this seemed like the best option.
Frodo was not looking forward to meeting the Captain again, but he was assured by the others that since he could not be held accountable for Thumpers’ actions he had not so much to fear. With this logic having been accepted he regained some of his confidence and began to almost look forward to the confrontation.
Neither Jake nor Geoff had risked much besides their jobs, Geoff less so since the Kiwi’s weren’t likely to find much for which to recriminate in his behavior. And Jake didn’t grieve much, he had accomplished most of what he had come to do, with the exception of traversing the Beardmore. But he did bag a first ascent, and that would have to be enough.
The one most clearly miserable in the entourage was Lt. Richards. His professional conduct was sure to be frowned heavily upon, the Captain would make sure of that, but that meant little to him at the moment. His failure to succeed with Susan was a far more immediate and penetrating ailment. Their attraction was too strong to be denied by the laws of nature. Like the opposing poles of the magnet they were drawn inexorably together, but when faced with their similarities the opposing force just became too much.
Susan, on the other hand, was an enigma for all to contemplate. From the moment when the C-130 flew overhead she appeared to become emotionless. Not the stony faced lack of emotion that is often the face of turmoil within, she seemed to become perfectly…normal. It was as if none of what had taken place over the last weeks had occurred, and that was the strangest of all. Everyone of them in the party was aware that she had some hand in their being where they were, and while none expected any display of contrition, her seeming disassociation with their common reality seemed to be unfathomable.
Except to Jake. He remembered the first thing she had said to him, that she didn’t need the distractions that getting involved in relationships and causes other than her own brought. And he had come to know her too well. If it seemed as if she had exorcized the last weeks from her existence, it was because she probably had. Her strength was in her ability to mold reality to match her will. It had always worked with the future, who says it couldn’t work with the past? Or some such reckoning. He figured she had settled on a plan and that this time nothing was going to deter her from accomplishing it.
It wasn’t long before they saw the Italian base in the distance, looking like a smaller version of McMurdo, on a flat section of dry land and rock, away from the glaciers. On the airstrip was a Navy C-130.
“Let’s go in,” Jake said. No one had any other comment, but Jake said to Susan, “you drive.”
He sat behind her on the Alpine and positioned himself so he could whisper in her ear, albeit with somewhat more amplitude.
“Don’t do it,” he said.
“Don’t do what?” she shouted back.
“Whatever it is you’re going to do. You’ve done enough. Everything you wanted to stop is going to be stopped. Leave it.”
“And then what?” she asked, and it became even clearer to him.
“You might consider leaving this life of moral turpitude and just marry me. You know it’s inevitable, eventually. Why not just do it now?”
“Are you freakin’ crazy?” she yelled over her shoulder at him. “You’re worse than nuts, you are completely insane!”
“So? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I’ll think about it. Where the hell did this come from anyway?”
“I’m serious. Seriously serious. I know you think I’m a goofball who doesn’t actually have a functioning brain, but the truth is you’re so dammed wrapped up in
your intellectual superiority you’ve forgotten how to be a little goofy.”
“You don’t think I’ve goofed things up enough?”
“Not the same and you know it. You know, the world can get along on its own without your having to rescue it for a while. Take a break. We’ll go climbing somewhere. Or lay on a beach.”
“Oh my God, you are serious.”
“Didn’t I already tell you that?” he said in her ear from the rear seat of the Alpine.
“Well, it’s a little hard to believe, you know. It is you we’re talking about here.”
Though she said this through her face covering and over the noise of the engine, Jake could tell that she was taking him seriously, in a fashion, and that her speaking to him like she did showed it.
The C-130 had come to a rest in the parking spot next to the Italian Otter from which Trevor and the pilot emerged. The leadership of the base were there to greet the Americans who had called to inform them of their arrival, but not of the reason why. Trevor recognized the senior scientists and joined them, his confusing day getting only more so. When Gregore emerged from the airplane with a Russian he did not recognize, he actually began to get worried. He still didn’t know what events had led to his expulsion from Vostok, but he suddenly got the sense he was about to find out. He queried Dr. Atkinson for enlightenment.
“Politics. Damned politics inserting itself into our field season. The whole year is ruined.”
“I’m sorry,” Trevor said. “but could you be a little more specific? One doesn’t learn much about what is going on in the rest of the world at Vostok.”
Dr. Atkinson, still overwhelmed by the unfolding events, answered in bullet points, and in a clipped and harried voice.
“Susan Engen, depending on whom you ask, has either kidnapped or arranged the defection of a Soviet physicist, who survived an accident with a crevasse. The Green Organization, whom hither to this time had managed themselves quite reasonably, has gone completely mad and has engaged upon a campaign of destruction across the continent. The Captain, whose role was supposed to be that of logistics coordinator, seems to be reveling in the chaos, as it appears to be providing him with an opportunity to fuel a potential conflagration. Is there anything else you wish to know?” the Doctor nearly shouted at Trevor bitterly. He glared down his haughty nose at the young scientist for a long moment before his expression became quizzical. “Wait just a minute, what are you doing here?”
“I don’t have any idea,” Trevor said. “A bunch of Russians turned up at Vostok accusing me of doing something to Dr. Sokolov and the next thing I know, I’m in a plane coming here.”
“You know him?” Dr. Atkinson asked. “Of course you know him. What in Hades has gone on up there. Did you have something to do with this?”
“Of course not,” Trevor said, stealing a glance in the direction of the Russians. “At least I don’t think so. All I know is that things were hot for him in Russian. That was why he was sent here. Other than that, I don’t know anything.”
“Humph,” the senior scientist commented, seemingly reserving the right to remain skeptical. “Either way, it appears as if we are going to find out.”
They both looked toward the ice road that lead to the edge of the taxiway where the trains of dogs and Alpines came to rest.
The two groups stood facing each other, each made up of individuals of vastly different interests, motives, and objectives. All seemed to be waiting for someone else to say something before committing themselves. Susan held up a mitten and glanced up and down the line of people in her party, a gestured that asked them to wait for her before saying anything. It also said to each of them, though she had avoided any expression of it before, though they all had their own situations to unravel, she was a common thread that ran through each of their various knots. They looked back at her and waited, except for Lt. Richards, who only stared at the horizon.
“Captain,” she said, nodding at the Navy officer. “Gentlemen,” she said to the others. “I am here to tell you that I, and only I, am responsible for any actions that might be construed as inappropriate on the part of anyone in this group, excepting the Russian who requires no excuses. The guide (she gestured at Jake, who bowed) was only following my orders. The Lieutenant (she gestured at Lt. Richards and smiled sadly), was following yours. The Kiwi’s (she pointed at Geoff, who looked away) are only here doing their normal work but were duped into acting on my behalf. Frodo has been in the right all along, and had no part in whatever Thumper did, as I’m sure you all know by now. What we want to know is why you are here, and what you intend to do?”
There was an awkward pause.
“Whether or not your Russian needs excuses is not your call to make,” the Captain said, finding himself backed into a corner he didn’t want to be in. “Richards is the Air Force’s problem, not mine, so I don’t care. You’re these guys’ problem (he gestured towards the other Scientists), thank God, so I’m done with you. That bonehead (he pointed towards Frodo) is the United Nations problem, since I don’t get to control what they do here. But the Russian, now he’s a problem. So what are we going to do about that?”
The Russians, who had remained silent until then trying to assess their options, concluded that they needed to keep up the pretense of wanting to rescue their companion. The interpreter expressed his pleasure in seeing Sokolov well, a gesture the veracity of was not wasted on anyone.
“He wants to come to America, and we’re going to take him,” Susan said firmly. “Sorry.”
“Wait,” Sokolov said, looking at both the Russians and the Captain. “I have had a change of heart. I no longer wish to go to America.”
The different parties all looked at each other not knowing what to say. Each wanted out of this predicament, but didn’t know how.
“I think maybe I go to New Zealand,” Sokolov said, looking at the dogs and at Geoff. “Maybe live quietly in the country.”
Susan turned around to address him privately.
“Are you sure? I know we can make this happen. Are you afraid of what might happen to you there?”
Sokolov was quick to settle that point. “ I am not afraid, not anymore. In fact, I have come to lose much more than just my fears over the last days. I have lost my rage, which I so carefully nurtured until now. Rage is a hard emotion to maintain with such companions as these (he gestured towards the dogs), and such freedom as this (he waved towards the horizon). It is gone, and I cannot manufacture more.”
Sokolov's words penetrated deeply into her heart. Manufactured rage, was that what she had? Was that the fuel that drove her, something artificial that she produced as an expedient to propel her forward? She suddenly felt exposed, as if discovered in a fraud, perpetrated upon her by no one other than herself.
Jake's friendly mocking of her ambitions leapt into her mind in the realization that he understood her better than she did herself. She was also surprised in that instant to discover that he liked her in spite of this knowledge, something that she, if she had been in his position, might have been less inclined to do. It was not a very likeable trait, self conceit and aggrandizement. And in using a cause, however worthy, as a platform to promote her own position…it was a wonder that he tolerated her at all. And yet, he not only put up with her, he pursued her. It was as if he found her deepest flaw to be her most endearing feature. She knew he was crazy, but this was a brand of crazy that had much to recommend it.
Susan continued to look at Sokolov, her thoughts divided.
"You're willing to give up your career for a quiet life?" she asked him, though it may have seemed that she was asking herself the same question.
"Career?" he asked. "My career has been to do as I am told. Now I wish to do nothing but what I feel I should. What may come later is not something I care to think of right now."
"Okay," she said looking at the Captain. "He wants to go to New Zealand. Do you have a problem with that?"
“I have no objections, if you guys do
n’t,” the Captain said hurriedly to the Russians, clearly hoping to capitalize on an unexpected though viable escape to his dilemma.
The translator spoke it over with Gregore, who nodded once, and it was decided. The Italians, once they understood, volunteered the Otter that brought Trevor from Vostok to take Sokolov to New Zealand.
“Let’s go with him,” Jake whispered to Susan. “Connie and Walt can get all your stuff back to Ohio. There’s nothing you can do in McMurdo, you’re done there in any case. Why don’t we just go?”
Susan looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time, studying him earnestly to see if she could in that instant confirm that her sudden awareness of his perception of her was real or imagined on her part. She allowed a moment for the calculating part of her thoughts to give way to something less cold.
"Are you sure about this? You know how I am, do you really think you can continue to like me like I am?"
He sighed deeply with a gesture of exasperation.
"Have I not done anything except prove that all along? If you can't believe that now, then you can't ever believe anything."
She paused only for her last resistance to falter.
“Okay. Let’s do it. Only…just give me a minute.”
She went to where Lt. Richards was standing alone, awkwardly waiting for this parley to come to an end. It was clear that his time with Susan was over and, while his disappointment was evident, he didn’t show his pain as an expression of anger or disgust. He was merely proud and quiet.
“Hey,” she said to him, taking him by the arm and leading him away.
“Hello,” he said stiffly, but not unkindly, like he appreciated that she had suffered too.
“I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am,” she said.
“Sorry? Please be anything but sorry. I can’t be. I can be anything but sorry.”
“I just meant…”
“I know,” he said. “You behaved honorably and have no cause for regret, at least I hope not. Maybe it was too far to come, too wide a gulf to cross. I can’t say.”
“Honorably?” she said, snickering. “That’s the word you come up with to describe how I’ve acted. Honorably? Honestly, I don’t know if I understand you any better now than I did before, but I like you better. I like you a whole lot better.”
She reached up, put a hand on the back of his neck, kissed him once, and walked away.
“Okay,” she said to Jake. “Let’s go.”
“You hussy,” he said. “What makes you think I still want to go after that?”
“Just get your butt on the plane and don’t talk back to me.”
“Oh God,” he said shaking his head and frowning. “I’m doomed.”
The End
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