2. Garrett #2
“Exactly. So I asked Theo.”
“You did?” Theo was Waypoint Station’s chef.
“Theo declined any such accident.”
“So this person…” I glanced at his screen. “doesn’t live here.”
Dexter raised a finger. “One down! And I made Theo call a few chef friends at other stations.”
Okay, now I was invested too. “And?”
“Two more stations have tater tots too.” He pointed triumphantly at the screen. “My friend doesn’t work at any of those.”
The sounds of boots outside interrupted my brother’s detective work and made us both look up. August Dempsey, our station chief, came through the garage door.
“Morning,” August said.
“Morning.” I set my coffee mug down, wiped my hands on my jeans, and stood up.
August looked around the workshop. “Anything urgent on your plate right now?”
“Nah. Finishing work mostly. Nothing that can’t wait.”
August looked at Dexter. “You, son? You busy?”
“Not really.”
“What’s going on?” I stood with my arms crossed over my chest. August didn’t have time to chat. If he was here, he was up to something.
August shifted his weight onto one boot. “You remember that penguin rescue call from last week?”
I nodded. “Hard to forget.” If only he knew how badly I had been distracted lately because of that damn call.
August pulled a cigarette from his pocket. “Mind if I smoke?”
“Your lungs.” I shrugged.
He lit a smoke and blew it out his mouth.
I glanced down at where Dexter was sitting. My brother disliked anyone smoking or drinking. I nodded at him to subtly to endure it.
“The ship’s captain is an old friend of mine.” A rare smile tugged at one corner of August’s mouth. “Hadn’t talked to the bastard in years until that call came through. We’ve been catching up since.”
“Yeah?”
“Hmm. Turns out they’ve got themselves into a bit of a situation.”
“What situation?”
August blew out another ring of smoke into the air. “The ship’s carrying scientists from a bunch of different fields. Marine biology, oceanography, geology… you know. Right now they’re working out in the Weddell Sea.”
I whistled softly. Dexter perked up like a meerkat.
The Weddell Sea was rich with marine life.
Especially icefish, the subject of Dexter’s thesis.
I was no scientist. Hell, I hadn’t even gone to college.
Sitting and studying never agreed with me.
Give me a tool, tell me what you want, and I could turn any piece of metal or wood into whatever you wanted, but books? Nah.
“Dexter here has been telling me about that part. Isn’t that all icy even in summer?”
August nodded. “It is. They’ve got an icebreaker cutting channels for them. One of the research teams has been taking samples from the seafloor.”
Dexter and I exchanged a glance.
August continued. “They found something.”
“What?” Dexter asked eagerly.
August’s expression softened for my brother. “A whale skeleton.”
“A whole one?” Dexter’s voice held a note of awe.
“A whole one.” August nodded. “Apparently it’s a big deal.” He turned to me.
August and I weren’t men of science, but everything we did was for science in some way. Antarctica was the only continent where research was the sole thing that everyone was involved in.
“Anyhow, they’d love to bring it up.”
“But…” I prompted.
“But the thing’s enormous.” He held his hands apart as though that explained everything. “And fragile. If they try hauling it up the obvious way, there’s every chance they’ll destroy the very thing they’re trying to preserve.”
Ah! I leaned back against the workbench. “So they’ve hit a wall.”
“They have.”
“And you think we can help?”
“I told him I didn’t know.” August pointed a finger at me. “But I’ve got a man right here who has an irritating habit of looking at impossible jobs and asking for a tape measure.”
I barked a laugh. “You giving me too much credit there, Chief.”
“Maybe,” August drawled. “But I’d rather have you tell me it can’t be done after seeing it than tell my friend no from the comfort of my office.”
I hesitated. That ship carried Nate. I’d challenged the man fair and square. If I showed up on his ship before he’d answered, I’d be caving in before the duel had even started. My note had been clear.
I challenge you to a duel, Nate Braddock. Meet me at Waypoint Station. We fight until death.
I’d asked for a rematch. The fucker had cheated the first time we had the stupid fencing match during the stupid holiday gathering and it’d been eating at me all year. If I went to him now, what was the point of sending the note in the first place?
“I don’t know, Chief…” I started when I saw Dexter doing that thing he did where he thought he was being subtle but everyone could see his eye twitching violently. I cleared my throat. “How about I think about it and let you know at lunch today?”
“Sounds good.” August turned around and started walking out of the workshop but then he paused at the entrance. “You know the heating system’s been down on its last leg?”
“I know it.” Government money meant it didn’t move until the thing fell apart. Funding was hard to come by.
August said, “The research group’s agreed to sponsor a full replacement. Brand new, state of the art, top to bottom.”
My eyes widened. “How the hell do they have that kind of dough?”
“That ship isn’t government funded.”
“No?”
August shook his head and flicked the ash off his cigarette’s tip. “Some billionaire sponsoring the whole trip and the ship is owned by him as well.”
I whistled. “Well, shoot,” I said. “Ain’t nothing to talk about then.”
August nodded at me with a twinkle in his eyes. The bastard knew he had me. “Think about it and we’ll talk at lunch.”
With that he was gone. The workshop fell quiet as August’s footsteps faded down the boardwalk that connected all structures of our station.
“Please. Say yes.”
I looked down at Dexter.
“No.”
He sprung up and started bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Please say yes and take me with you. They’re working in the Weddell Sea.
Do you know what that means for my research?
I’m just a grad student. I can’t go on my own.
Nobody at Waypoint gets regular access to those icefish populations. Please. Say yes.”
I rubbed my jaw like I was giving it serious consideration. “Hmm.”
His bouncing intensified.
“So…” I said. “What’s in it for me?”
He blinked. “What?”
“If I’m taking you, what do I get?”
Dexter frowned in concentration. “Uhh… you can have my Star Wars lightsaber.”
“I fight with real swords. What am I supposed to do with an imaginary one?”
He thought for another moment. “Oh…Oh…I know!”
I waited.
“My Christmas sweater. Remember how much you like it?”
I snorted. “It makes you look adorable. I’d look like a deranged moose.”
His shoulders drooped. “Do you even want anything from me?” he asked mournfully. “Do I serve any purpose in your life?”
I couldn’t hold it together anymore. I laughed. “Actually… yeah.”
Hope immediately returned to his face.
“When we’re on that ship and I meet my arch-nemesis…”
Dexter’s smile faltered.
“…you are not allowed to say a word while I complain about him. I reserve the right to rant morning, noon and night.”
He stared at me. His expression slowly collapsed into one of profound suffering.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes.”
He looked toward the open workshop doors as though hoping divine intervention might arrive on the sea breeze. “Listening to people being irrationally emotional…” he muttered to himself.
He folded his arms and frowned at the floor, visibly calculating.
“But…” A long sigh.
“…Weddell Sea icefish.”
Another sigh.
“…Fine.”
I grinned.
“Knew you’d see reason.”
“I didn’t,” he said flatly. “I’m simply sacrificing myself for science. Faraday would have been proud.”
I didn’t know who the hell Faraday was, but I needed to hug my brother. I raised an arm and waited. When he picked up his computer and nodded, I slung my arm around his shoulders and steered him toward the entrance doors.
“Bonding via ranting is the code of manhood. Trust me.”
“I strongly disagree.”