Rogue Angel - Polar Quest Part 14

"Don't I know it."

Annja looked at Zach. "You sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine. Get going. Just bring me back some dinner and some cookies if you don't mind."

"Fair enough." Annja looked at Dave. "Looks like it's just you and me."

He bowed low. "After you, then."

Annja glanced back at Zach. "We'll see you in a little while, okay?"

"Yeah."

She glanced at Dave, who just shrugged. "He'll be all right. Let's go."

And they ducked back out into the Antarctic night.

14.

Annja bit into the sliced honey ham and leaned back in her chair. "Wow, that is good."

Across from her, Dave nodded and chewed his food slowly, as if savoring each morsel of the meal. "Told you," he said around bites. "The man is gifted."

They sat in an elongated cylindrical hut with kitchen facilities at the back and several long folding tables set out in the front. It was a sizable setup, and judging from the number of staff and people eating, the dig site numbered at least one hundred people. Not exactly the small outpost she'd expected.

Dave raised his gla.s.s of orange juice. "This is a rarity, as well, and it sure tastes good." He drank it down and then rose to get himself a second gla.s.s while Annja continued to survey the scene.

She spotted a lot of soldiers, all men and all looking very tanned and heavily armed. Their conversations were hushed, as if they trusted no one but the close brotherhood they had with each other. Their weapons were always close by, leaning against the table or in between their knees while they ate. It looked as if they were expecting trouble.

Dave sat back down. "You okay?"

"Just curious about the guns. It's like they think they're going to be attacked at any second."

"Maybe they know something we don't," Dave said. But when he caught Annja glaring at him, he grinned. "It was just a joke."

"Not so funny," she said.

"Sorry. But these guys, they're professional soldiers. People like us, we dig into the ground. We'd probably feel the same way about our shovel or pick, right?"

"Maybe."

"So they like their guns. No big deal."

Annja noticed another group seated away from the soldiers. "And what about them? What's their story?"

Dave glanced over at the three men and two women sitting about twenty feet away and shrugged. "Bookworms. Scientists. We'll probably meet them on the dig tomorrow. Right now, they look pretty worn-out."

It was true. Annja could see the streaks of dirt on their faces. Their coveralls were caked in dark mud, and their boots seemed to have tracked in part of the mountain. They spoke very little, and ate in relative silence.

Dave finished off his ham and macaroni and cheese and went back looking for more. Annja spooned some macaroni and cheese into her mouth and marveled at the taste. The cook was d.a.m.ned good at his job.

Dave came back instead with a slice of chocolate cake. "Can you believe what this guy can do back there? He's like a genius or something."

"And what about you?" Annja asked.

"Me?"

"I thought you dug rocks."

Dave shrugged. "I've been known to."

Annja leaned forward. "Just what is it you really do, Dave? You told me you were a geologist when we first met."

"Did I?"

"Yes."

Dave chewed another bite of his cake. "And you think I was lying about that?"

"Well, then you told me you do things for the government, and I'm left wondering what kind of geologist does favors for Uncle Sam, looks after my good friend Zach and generally safeguards things. I'm coming up blank."

"Is it that important that you know?" Dave asked.

"Would you trust your life to someone who wasn't a hundred percent up-front with you?"

Dave shrugged. "Fair point, but sometimes we can't reveal all we want to reveal. It's just the way things go."

"I understand that," Annja said. She took a drink from her gla.s.s and set it back down on the table. "The problem is, I've been attacked once already and then we had that snowslide earlier. I'm not paranoid, but I am cautious. And when strange things start happening, I start looking around at the variables in my life."

"And I'm a variable."

"Definitely."

Dave leaned back. "Well, you've got nothing to fear from me," he said plainly.

"If only you knew how many times I've heard that before."

"Annja, you're starting to strain our friendship. I don't really enjoy being called out like this."

"So just tell me-are you a spook or what?"

Dave wiped his mouth. "You're convinced I am, apparently."

"I'm not convinced of anything except this entire dig site seems weird. And it's filled with some odd characters, and this whole continent might just be ripe for the loony bin for all I know. I'd like some answers. Preferably honest ones."

Dave pointed at her plate. "You finished with that?"

"I was going to get some cake."

"Get it to go," Dave said. "We need to bring something back for old Zach anyway."

"Fair enough." Annja headed up to the counter and asked for some food to go. She watched the a.s.sistants put some together for her, thanked them and then turned and saw Dave standing by the door, ready to head back out.

Outside, the wind blew across the open area. Dave leaned forward into the wind. "I was trained as a geologist," he said.

"Was?" Annja asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but rocks never did much for me. I worked for the oil companies. I did some conservation work. I was bored."

"So what happened?"

"I met someone."

Annja glanced at him. "Who?"

"His name's not important. He recruited me to come and work with him on a project he guaranteed would excite me like nothing else."

Annja bent into the wind, struggling to hear what Dave said. "Go on."

"Turns out it was a project examining rocks taken from one of the Moon missions back in the 1970s."

"Moon rocks? What was the big deal about that?"

"The rocks were found found on the Moon," Dave said. "But they didn't come from the Moon. Originally." on the Moon," Dave said. "But they didn't come from the Moon. Originally."

"Yeah, but aren't there meteorites slamming into it all the time? They could have come from clear across the galaxy for all you know. I'm still not seeing the connection."

Dave shrugged. "We're back. Let's continue this conversation tomorrow. Okay?"

Annja frowned. "All right. Whatever." She knew there was no point pressing the issue. She headed inside and found Zach just starting to wake up.

"Hey, how was dinner?" Zach asked.

"Fantastic," Dave said. "Ham and mac and cheese. Delicious. We scored you some chocolate cake, as well. The cook delivered tonight. He really did."

Annja handed Zach the food and sat down on her bed. She leaned back and ran a hand over her ribs. They felt fine and she could even prod them without any pain.

Dave noticed. "How are they?"

"They seem fine."

"Cool."

Annja removed her boots. As each one came off, she wriggled her toes and rotated her ankles, relishing the release. "Oh, that's nice."

Dave slid his boots off, as well. "You aren't kidding. I think I forgot how my toes feel."

Zach tore into his meal with a lot of moaning and groaning. "d.a.m.n, this is good stuff."

"Told you," Dave said. He leaned back on his bunk. "Anyone up for some cards?"

Annja shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm actually pretty exhausted from the day. I think it's lights-out for me."

Zach nodded. "I'm with Annja. I think I'm still feeling a little light-headed from earlier. This food is fantastic, though. But seriously, we should grab some sleep. Get ready for the morning. I expect we'll be quite busy tomorrow."

"Fair enough," Dave said.

"Did you see any of the rest of the team at dinner?" Zach asked, yawning.

"A couple of them were seated close by," Annja said. "But Dave suggested we hold off on the intros until tomorrow. They looked pretty tired anyway."

"Yeah, it's no picnic down there. But it will be fascinating."

Annja leaned back and took her snow pants off. She'd sleep in her thermal underwear. The blankets on the bed felt extremely lightweight but warm. She got up, pulled them back and slid under the covers.

"Don't forget your hat," Dave said.

Annja looked at him. "Really?"

"If the heat goes out, you'll lose a lot through your head and be well on your way to hypothermia before you even realize what's going on."

"Good advice." Annja grabbed her hat and slid it back onto her head. "I'm going to have an outrageous do tomorrow," she said with a laugh.

"Comes with the territory," Zach said. He crumpled up the aluminum foil and tossed it into a waste can near the door. "Thanks for dinner, guys. That hit the spot."

Dave was already under his covers. Annja heard a light snore start coming from his mouth. "Is he loud?" she asked.

"Depends on how much beer he's had to drink," Zach replied.

"He didn't have any that I saw."

"Then we should be okay."

"Good." Annja settled back down into her bed. "Good night."

Zach flipped off the lights. "Sleep well."

Silence seemed to settle over the camp. Annja could hear m.u.f.fled bits of noise from outside, but by and large the sound of the howling wind seemed distant. The outside lights stayed on, silhouetting various shapes against the exterior of their sh.e.l.l.

Annja closed her eyes and thought about the long trip she'd undertaken. The monotonous crawl of the Sno-Cats seemed long ago, and it wasn't something Annja would look forward to repeating anytime soon.

She dreamed about digging into the mountain. Rocks and soil surrounded her and then in the center of a spot, she saw something gleaming in the dark soil. Her hands reached for it, withdrawing it from its earthly tomb.