Chapter Twenty: Back in the Antarctic
"Everyone ready?" Katie called back as she fired up the helicopter's engines.
"No," Charlie moaned from somewhere in the back of the chopper. Emily turned in the copilot's seat and looked back to see him sitting between Bryan and Davis, his eyes closed tightly. "Just revive me when we land, okay?"
From the third row, Jerry leaned forward and clapped Charlie on the shoulder. "I'm not going to let you pass out, Coope." The others laughed as Charlie winced visibly.
Both Katie and Emily grinned at each other as they turned back to the controls and lifted the chopper in the air. The deck of the ship fell away below them – accompanied by an all-too-audible whimper from Cooper – giving way to the blindingly white sheet ice that spread out from the coast. Both pilots donned sunglasses to ease the sun glare and aimed the helicopter toward the Italian base.
"Here we are," Emily announced, keeping her eyes fastened on the terrain below and helping Katie guide the chopper down. They landed with a gentle thud, sending up a poof of powdery top-snow. Katie shut down the engine while Emily got out and opened the doors for Bryan, Davis, Charlie and Jerry. Charlie took command the second his feet touched the ground, clearly reveling in his newfound authority. He directed Jerry, Davis, and Bryan to shovel out the garage doors while he searched for the keys and the gas to make the SnoCat run. Katie and Emily went to work fastening the chopper down and locking the propellers against the wind. They finished with their work and turned to observe the men at work.
"Pick up the pace, boys," Katie teased, "Or we might as well stay here until the summer teams come in."
Jerry shot her a reproachful look, while Bryan and Davis paused in their work long enough to glare at her indignantly. They had only a few shovelfuls left to go and in a matter of a few minutes, they tossed aside their shovels and pulled the heavy doors open. The rumble of an engine igniting accompanied the strained groan of the doors as they swung on their frozen hinges.
"All aboard!" Charlie called, leaning out the window. "The train's leaving!"
They all piled in the SnoCat – Katie, Davis, Bryan and Emily all jammed in the backseat, while Jerry and Charlie claimed the front seats for themselves. Before they started, Cooper cleared his throat significantly and slapped a framed photo into Jerry's hands. Emily leaned forward to see a snapshot of Cooper with his arms around a beautiful auburn-haired Italian woman – Simoneta.
Jerry stared at it for several drawn-out seconds, the surprise apparent on his face. He looked up at Charlie, impressed. "What do you want me to say? 'You're the man'?"
"That'd be nice, yes," Charlie replied, obviously struggling to control a triumphant grin.
"All right, Coope, you're the man. You're the man. Happy now?"
Charlie chuckled gloatingly. "Gracci, Geraldo, gracci," he answered in an almost flawless Italian accent.
Davis had had enough of their bantering. "All right, you two, let's get going."
Cooper grinned like a Cheshire Cat and turned around in his seat to look at Katie and Emily. "You know all those horrible plane rides you two put me through?"
Emily raised her eyebrows and Katie said, musingly, "Yeah...?"
With a wicked grin, Charlie said, "Payback is a dish best served cold."
"Uh, Charlie," Davis interjected, "Isn't it 'revenge'?"
Any further comments were cut off as Charlie slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and the SnoCat rocketed forward, cruising off over the barren snow fields.
What had started out as easy, cheerful bantering lapsed into a tense silence as the SnoCat ate up the miles to Victoria. Katie and Emily shot frequent glances at Jerry, who had said nothing since the initial conversation at the beginning. His eyes were closed and his head bowed, his knuckles were white where he gripped the arms of his seat. Davis stared stolidly out the window, while Bryan had his head back against the headrest and stared blankly through the front windshield. As soon as the American flag could be spotted fluttering against the white backdrop and the low dark blur of the buildings could be seen, the tension rose to an almost tangible level.
Wordlessly, Charlie slowed the SnoCat and gently shut off the engine. In silence, they all climbed out onto the frozen snow, donning glasses to shield their eyes from the blinding glare of sunlight off the ice. As they stared across the level snow, Emily searched for a sign of where the dogs might have been chained. Finally, she spotted the end of a metal stake, poking up about two inches out of the snow. Her heart sank. Surely they must have been totally buried and starved to death. Glancing across at Jerry, she could see that he'd reached the same conclusion. Very gently, she laid a hand on his shoulder, willing him to feel her sympathy and her concern. He drew a deep breath and moved away from her touch, treading carefully across the snow to the stake. Painstakingly, he crouched by the stake, pulling off his thick winter gloves and tenderly extracting the iron chain from its frozen shell. Katie made as if to join him, but Davis stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Let him do this alone," Emily heard him whisper to her.
Jerry lifted the chain inch by inch, his boots shuffling the snow and scuffing on the ice as he followed it down the line. When he came to an off-shooting chain – leading to the latch that attached to a collar – he stopped for a long moment, bracing himself for what was to come. Finally, he began lifting it out of the snow, his strong hands moving along it with relative ease. Suddenly, it stopped. Jerry tugged, but it didn't move any more. Hesitantly, he reached down and brushed the snow away. Then Jerry jerked his hand back as though it had been stung. "It's Old Jack," he said. Though he kept his back to them, Emily could plainly hear the tremor in his voice and she knew that he was crying. "He never even made it off the chain." She saw him lift a hand to wipe away what must be tears on his cheeks. He shook his head, shaking off his fears and steeling himself for the rest of the line. After a long pause, he began pulling on the chain again, following it until he came to the next side-chain. This time, however, the end of the chain slipped out of the snow, a snapped and frayed collar dangling at the end of it. "They got off…" Jerry gasped in amazement. In one fluid movement, he stood and tugged hard on the chain. Snow erupted, spraying ice and soft powdery crystals everywhere as six other dog-less collars exploded from the ice.
Author's Note: Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! Of course, you all know what happens next. Or you should. Otherwise I've just given almost the whole movie away, which sucks for you. But that's not my fault. Anyway, there's probably only going to be one, maybe two more chapters and then this story's DONE! Yay! Not that I haven't enjoyed writing this, but it's taken me way too long to finish and I'm ready to start something new. Please Review! Elena