Polar Quest. Tom Grace

ran from the front of the building out onto poles and eventually to the other buildings.

      Power house, Kilkenny concluded.

      He carefully approached the power house, keeping an eye on the two large buildings set near it. He crept in the shadows alongside the building wall until his face was near the edge of a small window near the main door. Inside, he saw a man towel off his body and begin dressing.

      A moment later, the door opened and a bundled figure walked stiffly outside. A white cloud issued from his face, a mix of steamy breath and burnt tobacco. Kilkenny reached out and grabbed hold of the man’s collar, and threw him down onto the ice. The man’s cigarette struck the ground with a hiss.

      Kilkenny pinned the man with a knee to his chest. Dazed and frightened, the man looked up and saw his own face reflected in Kilkenny’s helmet.

      ‘Vy govarite poangltyski?’ Kilkenny demanded, his voice dry and raspy.

      ‘Yes,’ the man replied.

      ‘Great, because that’s about all the Russian I know. How many people are here?’

      ‘Nine, including myself. We are winter crew.’

      ‘Any military?’

      ‘Nyet, civilian all.’

      Kilkenny saw a bewildered fear in the man’s eyes – the Russian had no idea why he was flat on his back with a knife held to his throat. Kilkenny patted the man down and found no weapons.

      ‘What’s your name?’ Kilkenny asked. in a more diplomatic tone.

      ‘Yasha.’

      ‘What is your job here?’

      ‘I am crew leader.’

      ‘Okay, Yasha, I’m going to let you up. If you shout or make any sudden movements, I will kill you,’ Kilkenny said matter-of-factly. ‘Understand?’

      The Russian nodded. Kilkenny eased off and pulled him to his feet. They stood in silence for a moment, Yasha taking his first good look at his attacker.

      ‘Where are the others?’ Kilkenny asked.

      ‘In the living quarters,’ Yasha replied, pointing to one of the larger buildings.

      ‘Let’s get inside and round up your people.’

      Yasha led him through an air lock and into the building. Once inside, the lanky Russian stripped off his bulky gloves and coat.

      Yasha motioned to the left. ‘This way.’

      The building had the look and feel of a rundown industrial warehouse overrun by urban squatters. Every available bit of space held a steel drum or crate or a piece of equipment, and the recycled air reeked of machine oil and cigarettes. In the galley four men sat at a long table eating and watching a video on an old television.

      ‘Yasha, tell them to stay where they are and put their hands on the table,’ Kilkenny commanded. ‘Then get the rest of your crew in here.’

      The four men seated at the table turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Yasha translated the orders and the men complied. None took their eyes off Kilkenny.Yasha then walked through a door on the opposite side of the room, shouted, and returned a moment later with four more men. Once the entire crew was seated, Kilkenny sheathed his combat knife.

      Standing at the head of the table, Kilkenny removed his helmet and peeled off his balaclava. His thick red hair lay matted against his head and his freckled skin was flushed. He then took a pitcher of water from the table and took a long drink.

      ‘Who speaks English?’ Kilkenny asked, his throat less hoarse.

      Several of the men turned to Yasha for a translation.

      ‘Only Mati, our radio operator, and I speak English,’ Yasha replied. ‘The rest speak only Russian.’

      ‘Then you two will have to translate for the others. My name is Nolan Kilkenny. Which one is Mati?’

      ‘I am,’ said a man with bushy black hair and spectacles.

      ‘Have there been any transmissions from LV Station in the past few hours?’

      ‘Just one. I overheard a report to McMurdo that the transport plane arrived.’

      ‘It didn’t,’ Kilkenny said bitterly.

      ‘What?’ Mati asked.

      ‘The transport that was to have picked up the crew at LV Station was destroyed not far from here by a surface-to-air missile.’

      ‘Not possible!’ Yasha shook his head. ‘International treaty bans all military weapons in Antarctica. Bringing missiles here would be insane.’

      ‘Apparently, someone doesn’t give a shit about the treaty,’ Kilkenny replied.

      As soon as Mati translated what Kilkenny had said, the men at the table panicked and excitedly shouted questions at Yasha.

      ‘Hey!’ Kilkenny yelled, his voice booming over the others.

      The Russians quieted, looking warily at Kilkenny.

      ‘What’s the problem?’ Kilkenny asked.

      ‘You are,’ Yasha replied. ‘You are an American soldier. When Mati tells them American plane was shot down, they think that maybe your country blames Russia and you’ve come to kill us.’

      ‘First, the missile was fired from LV Station and, from what I’ve seen of this place, you had nothing to do with it. Second, I’m here because this was the nearest shelter I could find. And third, I once was a soldier, but I’m a civilian now, and I won’t kill anyone – unless I have to.’

      ‘What you tell us makes no sense,’ Mati said. ‘How do you know that the plane was shot down? McMurdo believes it landed at LV Station. I heard Collins make the report.’

      ‘When a transport from McMurdo comes here, who reports its arrival?’ Kilkenny asked.

      ‘The pilot, but the aircraft that landed at LV had radio problems. That’s why Collins radioed in.’

      ‘I’m betting someone had a gun to his head while he was doing it.’

      ‘But how do you know the plane was shot down?’ Mati insisted.

      ‘Because I saw it. I was on the plane up until a few minutes before the missile was launched.’

      ‘What do you mean you were on the plane? How did you get off?’ Yasha asked.

      ‘Parachute. I was testing some new equipment, but that’s not important right now. The six other people on my plane were killed and someone has seized control of LV Station.’

      ‘Bozha moi,’ Yasha said, shocked. ‘These people, do you think they will come here?’

      Kilkenny shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I have no idea who they are or what they’re after.’

      Mati looked skeptically at Kilkenny. ‘So you flew in from McMurdo and just before your plane is to land at LV, you jumped out of it, yes?’

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘Then how did you get here? LV is over sixty kilometers away.’

      ‘When I jumped I was only twenty-five miles, about forty klicks, from here,’ Kilkenny explained. ‘It was a high-altitude jump – I flew most of the way and covered the rest on foot with GPS. Finding my way across the ice wasn’t a problem.’

      ‘What you’re saying sounds crazy,’ Yasha said. ‘How do we know you’re telling us the truth?’

      ‘You don’t,’ Kilkenny fired back angrily. ‘But try to come up with a better explanation for how I got here.’

      Kilkenny locked eyes with the station leader. He was tired, hungry, and irritable – a combination