Chapter 6
Chapter Six
To my surprise, the captain joined us in the lounge that evening, looking casual in jeans and a woolen pullover. He sat by himself, cradling a beer while others partook in board games. I wandered over to invade his peace.
“A man’s allowed to unwind.”
“I didn’t think you hung out with us nonmilitary folk,” I stated, sitting down in the chair across from him.
“No rules against it,” his reply before taking a long sip.
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” While I’d provided a list of locations I wanted to visit in person, I left the logistics to others.
“Thought we’d visit Blood Falls.”
I snapped my fingers. “That’s the one that runs red because of the metal and stuff in the water.”
“Yes.”
“While I know it’s been analyzed before, I’ll need a sample.”
“Figured you would,” his flat reply.
“Gotta make sure it isn’t actually alien pee,” I joked. Other than ETs contaminating it, alternate theories claimed it ran red because of government experiments. Even wilder conjecture stated it was the excrement of giant ice worms.
“A lab might not help prove that.”
“Er, what?” I blurted, since the reply surprised.
His lips curved slightly, and in that moment, I couldn’t help but be struck by his good looks. Blame the wine. “This continent has been frozen for millions of years. There are likely things in the ice and frost long gone from this world that might indeed seem alien when first discovered.”
“I don’t suppose you’d repeat that in front of a camera.”
He snorted. “Not a chance.”
Given he appeared in a mellow mood, I broached something he’d mentioned before. “Do you think it’s strange that so many people have had the same dream as you?”
“You’re talking about the ice cave.” A softly spoken statement.
“I swear, the mention of it must be contagious because I’ve had that same nightly vision since my arrival.”
For a second, he said nothing, looking down at the glass bottle he held. “Like the tremors, it appears to be happening more often and, unlike previous years, hasn’t waited for the dark season.”
“You’ve been having it too?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else?”
His lips pursed before he nodded.
Interesting. “I wonder why. I mean, mass psychosis is possible, but I would have said, given my skeptical nature, I’d be immune.”
“Living out here has a way of changing people.”
“Maybe it’s because of the singing ice.” An eerie sound I’d heard on more than one occasion. “Has anyone ever studied the haunting melody to see if it’s having a subliminal effect?”
“No, but I guess it’s possible. That, or it’s trying to warn us there is something hidden in that cave.”
“Your slumbering monster,” I joked.
He exhaled loudly. “I should have never told you about it.” He rose and headed for the door.
I found myself hastening to follow.
“I’m sorry, Captain. I didn’t mean to make light.” He paused in the hallway outside the rec room.
“I realize how ridiculous it sounds. Trust me. I’m not a superstitious guy or one prone to imagining shit, but there’s something about that dream…” He ducked his head.
Before I’d even realized it, I’d stepped close enough to put a hand on his arm. “In my version, there is something in the cave.”
“What?” his gaze lasered in on me.
“A giant eye.” With a wry twist of my lips, I added, “And I mean giant. It’s at least twice the size of me, if not more, which I will add, is impossible.”
“Why impossible? There have been huge creatures that walked the planet. Dinosaurs, for example.”
“Ever heard of a dinosaur more than a mile long?” I retorted. “See, I did the math. A T. rex had, on average, a five-inch eye, and they grew to be about forty feet long. Something with an orb ten feet or more in diameter? You’re talking a few dozen T. rexes. No possible way.”
“Hold on, you actually did the math for an eyeball you saw in a dream?”
I shrugged. “I mean, after the third night in a row, I got curious.”
He shook his head and laughed. A first. “You are something else, Miss Jenkins.”
“Isn’t it time you started calling me Velma?”
“Only if you’ll call me Noah when I’m out of uniform.”
“I think I can manage that.” I couldn’t help a smile. “What time do you want us ready tomorrow, Noah?” I liked the way his name rolled off my tongue.
“When the sun shines will be fine.”
“Wait, did you just make a joke?”
“Not a very good one, apparently, since you didn’t laugh,” he said with a wry twist of his lips.
“Some say I’m too serious.”
“I’ve heard the same stated about me.”
Someone exited the rec room and I instinctively shifted closer to Noah to give them room to pass. Even once we had the hall to ourselves again, I didn’t move away. I remained in his space looking up, our gazes locked, neither of us speaking. A moment fraught with possibility broken by a yell.
“Captain Harrison! Glad I found you. You’re urgently needed.”
Instantly, a stony mask dropped into place as if we’d not almost just kissed. “What’s wrong, Corporal?”
“One of the helicopters has gone missing.”
“What?” Noah barked. “How?”
“I don’t know, sir, but you’re needed right away.”
Without so much as a glance or a goodbye, the captain strode off.
I almost followed. However, covering theft wasn’t part of our mission, and I didn’t want to get on the captain’s bad side lest he send us packing.
Still, I had to wonder how and why anyone would steal.
It wasn’t as if they could take the helicopter far.
For one, nowhere to refuel, and second, once it landed, where would the thief run?
Or was this a case of seasonal affective disorder—or, the more fanciful nickname, midnight sun syndrome?
Having the circadian rhythm thrown off by a sun that didn’t set could induce psychosis, AKA manic episodes.
Hopefully this would be a story that resolved without a death.
That night, for the first time, I didn’t dream of the ice cave or the giant eyeball. I stood at the foot of Erebus, the top of it wreathed in fog. I didn’t even have time to scream when it suddenly exploded!