Chapter 26
Day 15, 10:30 – Starvation Camp
Lt. Paul Johnson reporting. 29 F, blizzard conditions. Grale and I dig out the tent and check its anchors hourly. Captain Kirk is in a bad way. Near unconscious most of the time, he suffers from a bloody cough and nosebleeds. He can't even hold down the lukewarm weak tea and we're afraid he'll get dehydrated.
till he refuses Doctor McCoy's medicine. We're stuck, he says, why waste the medicine? There are 4 doses left. The barometer rose 500 feet. Maybe he will get better when it goes down again? Acclimatize?
He insisted I report here. I don't have much to say. Only that he's right, we're stuck here anyway. Everything is damned wet. It is pure misery, like in those awful days before we reached the glacier. We survived then but now we're more run down and much higher up, on half rations and conserving fuel. I feel like I will never be warm again.
I feel I let him down on the Rib.
He says we should leave him behind if he isn't well enough when the blizzard stops. I don't think I can do that. Or the other.
Day 16, 11:00 – Camp 15 – 16,800 ft.
Johnson reporting.
The tricorder is no longer working so no more calculations of our position. It doesn't matter because we know where we are and where we're going, but the Captain seems very upset about it, I don't know why.
At 3:00 the blizzard cleared. Captain Kirk took a dose of medicine, said he was better, and we packed up. He insisted on carrying his pack. I feared he would collapse at any time and that he was overexerting himself not wanting to slow us down. Even with him in the rear and me in the lead I could hear his rasping breathing. At one point he fell forward with a coughing fit and ripped off his mask gasping for air. His face was strangely pale under a feverish flush. He spilled a lot of blood upon the white snow.
Then it settled, and he got up, and continued. I have never seen such strength. It made me proud to be his Lieutenant and I could see Grale too was humbled.
After that we went even slower but we have to go slow anyway because the snow dumped by the blizzard makes avalanches more likely. According to the barometer we climbed a 2000ft today. Took us 7 hours, set up Camp 15. I think we've cleared the avalanche zone now.
The Captain passed out the moment the tent was up. It's colder again now that the sky has cleared. No way of measuring.
Day 17, 12:00 – Camp 16 – 17,800 ft.
Kirk reporting. The nausea and headache are bearable. I take half doses of the medicine. The barometer indicates 17,800 feet but who knows how accurate that is. For the most part the snow cover was solid so we made reasonable progress until we entered steeper territory. Any surface steeper than 65 degree is polished smooth by the wind and we're looking at more of this tomorrow. I don't know if I have the strength. No wind today, though, and skies clear. Very, very cold and bright. Breathing in this cold air shocks my lungs, aggravates my cough. My face mask is blood-soaked.
We will cross the Gap tomorrow. Then it's just the descent and we'll have done it.