Howard wasn't listening. He had turned around and was looking at the farm below in the distance. Even though they'd been walking and climbing for over an hour, the camp was still close enough to see clearly.

"What's the matter?" Carl asked.

"Look," Howard pointed his finger.

Carl squinted at the buildings in the distance and spotted what Howard was looking at. Sitting on the roof of one of the barracks was the form of something. It could best be described as "something" because it definitely wasn't human. It just sat there, watching them.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?" Howard whispered.

"I don't know. Too far away to make out." Carl felt the rea.s.suring bulge of the .45 tucked away underneath his parka. The thing quickly jumped off the roof and out of sight.

17.

Howard and Carl slowly made their way down the other side of the ridge and reached the glacier below. What looked smooth from the top of the ridge, turned out to be a seemingly endless stretch of hills and valleys made of dirty ice. As they navigated over the slick ridges and around cracks in the ice, the wind picked up from the west and blasted them mercilessly with cold, damp air.

At around ten o'clock, daylight started to fade. They came across a small creva.s.se five or six feet deep and made camp at the bottom. They unfolded the tarp and sat huddled underneath, trying to keep warm, as they ate a few of their provisions.

"You know," Carl said as he put a finger full of peanut b.u.t.ter into his mouth, "before my daddy died he always told me I'd burn in h.e.l.l if I didn't give up my evil ways and repent to the Lord. This is one time I hope that b.a.s.t.a.r.d knew what he was talking about."

"Why's that?" Howard took a sip of water and slowly chewed a piece of stale bread.

"Burning for all eternity sounds pretty d.a.m.n good after freezing my a.s.s off all day."

Howard chuckled as he finished off his half of the chocolate bar. "When Satan pokes you in the a.s.s with his pitchfork it probably won't even hurt because it'll still be frozen solid."

"They'll probably kick me out cause I'll be the only one in h.e.l.l enjoying myself."

The two prisoners dressed in dirty and damp guard uniforms sat together under their tarp. Their chuckling turned into giddy laughter as the Antarctic sun slowly headed for the horizon. The wind from the west gained force as a steady mixture of sleet and snow pounded the glacier.

18.

Dawn broke a few hours later as Howard and Carl got up from under their tarp. It was a miserable night to say the least. Both of them had lost all feeling in their feet and were afraid of what they might look like. They spent the night shivering under the canvas, not quite awake, not quite sleeping.

There was good news however; the clouds had broken and they were greeted by a clear blue morning sky. The bad news was the temperature had plummeted to below freezing. They gathered their meager belongings and climbed out of the creva.s.se.

The relentless and bitter wind picked up once again as each of their footsteps broke through the crusty layer of snow. After a few hours of frustratingly slow walking, they finally reached the edge of the glacier. They climbed down to the black sandy beach and followed the sh.o.r.eline. According to the map, the research station was about four miles away. The beach was level, but the sand and rocks made for lousy footing and their travel remained slow.

Howard slipped into a semi-state of consciousness, walking on auto-pilot. With just a few hours of sleep and little food, his exhausted mind used all of its will on one simple purpose - putting one foot in front of the other.

Carl and Howard walked barely a mile before they made an unpleasant discovery. The beach disappeared and the island met the sea with steep bluffs and no beach for as far as they could see. They slowly climbed to the top of the bluff and faced yet another ridge blocking their path.

"Jesus, I can't do it." Howard sat down and tried to catch his breath.

Carl sat next to him and pulled out his last cigarette. He lit the smoke and tossed the crumpled pack and lighter into the dirt. "Cheer up, man." He slapped Howard on the back. "We gotta be getting close."

"What if we get to the top and there's nothing there? What if there's just more hills and valleys?"

"Then we're in s.h.i.t up to our eyebrows," Carl said with a smile. "Then we keep going. You're looking at a guy with r.e.t.a.r.d strength. I'll carry you if I have to, but we'll get there."

Howard admired Carl's endurance but he felt weak and inadequate. He got to his feet, picked up the cigarette lighter, and put it in his pocket. It might come in handy later if they could find something to burn for warmth.

So they climbed. Carl led the way and they stopped halfway up the ridge. They sat in a slight depression and ate the last of their food. The sweat that broke out as they climbed quickly faded and Howard shivered in his damp clothes. He knew if they didn't find the research station by nightfall he would be finished. He just didn't have the strength to go any further.

Howard looked sadly in the general direction where he thought the farm might be and longed for it. He thought of the warm and cozy guard house. They'd only been able to enjoy it for barely a day and now they might as well be a million miles away. What a tease. He could feel his will breaking by the minute.

Carl sat in silence and watched Howard doze off. He let him sleep for five minutes and nudged him awake. "Come on, Howie. Rise and shine. I let you sleep for a half an hour, but we better get moving."

They finally reached the peak of the ridge which may as well have been the top of Mount Everest. Carl reached the top first. Howard slowly lumbered up next to him and bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Well I'll be d.a.m.ned," Carl said.

Howard looked in the direction of Carl's gaze and saw it. Before them was an almost perfectly flat plateau. The horizon revealed not more peaks and ridges, but the clear brilliance of the ocean off in the distance. Most of all, he saw the only man-made object since they'd left the farm some thirty hours before. A flag pole proudly displaying a wind tattered American flag.

Carl shrieked, grabbed Howard, and hugged him so hard he thought he'd pa.s.s out. The two men fell to the icy ground and laughed and cried at the same time.

"We did it," cried Carl. "G.o.dd.a.m.n boy, we made it!"

"Come on, what are we waiting for?"

They got to their feet with all the new found enthusiasm in the world and walked toward the flag in the distance. It would take another hour before they reached it.

19.

Dr. Clark sipped his coffee as he looked out the small porthole window. The sky was clear and he felt optimistic about being able to get a little work done outside that day. He was about to turn away from the window and tell Liz about his plans, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped in mid-sip as he saw two people walking toward the station.

"Liz!" He ducked his head out into the hallway. "We've got visitors!"

Howard took the steaming cup of coffee and wrapped his numb fingers around the soothing mug. He inhaled the wonderful aroma and took a sip.

"I'm Howard Bell." He offered a tired smile to the curious man before him. "This is Carl O'Donnell."

"Dr. Clark," the man said. "Phillip. Judging by your uniforms, I a.s.sume you men work for the prison camp here on the island?"

"That's right," said Howard. "We ran into some trouble at the prison camp and came looking for help."

"Yeah, that's right," chimed in Carl enthusiastically. "We came looking for help."

"I see," Clark said. "From the look of it, you two found us just in time. No offense, but you look terrible."

"I don't think we look half as bad as I feel," said Howard.

A woman entered the room and was startled by the sight of the two haggard strangers. "Oh my gosh. h.e.l.lo."

"This is my wife, Dr. Liz Clark. This is Howard and..."

"Carl, ma'am." Carl bounced to his feet and took her hand. "Pleased to meet you. Gosh, you're a sight for sore eyes."

"h.e.l.lo, Liz Clark." She pulled her hand away from Carl's enthusiastic shaking.

"Ah, what I mean is ma'am, I haven't seen nothing but men for quite a spell. Prisoners I mean. Me and Howard here are guards over at the prison camp. Ain't that right, Howard?"

"You mentioned you had some trouble?" Phillip asked.

"Yes," Howard said before Carl could do any more nervous rambling. "There was an issue with the inmates. A riot. They took over the whole prison and Carl and I barely escaped alive."

"Oh how awful," Liz said.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, ma'am," Carl said. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her and was standing a little too close. "We won't be missed and they sure as h.e.l.l won't be coming after us. They're probably kicking back in the guardhouse right now getting drunk."

"Well, what can we do to help?" asked Phillip. "I a.s.sume you'd like to contact the authorities, but unfortunately, we haven't had much luck with the radio the past few days. We haven't been able to get through to anybody."

Howard felt a great sense of relief. With the radio down, that would at least buy them some time so they could come up with some sort of plan. Up until now, his only concern was getting to safety, not what to do once they got there.

"I want to get you two into the med lab," Liz said. "I don't like the look of that windburn on your faces."

Carl and Liz walked down the hall with Phillip and Howard following. "The full crew for the station is usually six people this time of year but at the moment it's just me and Liz," Phillip explained to Howard. "Jack Norris, our meteorologist, had a heart attack yesterday. Liz stabilized him and he was flown out this morning."

"So you folks have your own plane?"

"Helicopter, actually. Ron Baker is our resident pilot, engineer, and handyman. He flew Jack out along with Lisa Hammond. She's a biologist who also happens to be a paramedic. Steve Flemming, our geologist, had to fly back to the states last week on a family emergency. It's rare for us to be missing so many people but you caught us at an odd time."

"Phillip, if you're done boring these two with your personnel updates and fun facts, I'd like to make sure they're not about to drop dead," Liz said.

"Yes, yes, by all means. Forgive me gentlemen, I tend to rattle on. And being cooped up alone with your spouse in the middle of nowhere isn't quite what it's cracked up to be."

Liz gave her husband a playful swat on the shoulder and showed Howard and Carl into the medical lab. Besides being slightly dehydrated, both "guards" were given a clean bill of health after a quick examination.

The Clarks offered them a change of clothes and gave them a tour of the research station. It consisted of a steel tube partially buried beneath the ground. The tube was three hundred feet long and thirty feet in diameter. They showed them the living quarters, pantry, kitchen, laboratories, sanitation plant, energy supply station, and snow melting plant. Liz cooked a simple meal of soup and sandwiches and the four of them ate in the kitchen.

"Tell me," said Liz. "Are we in any danger from what happened at the prison camp? Before we signed up for a rotation, Phillip told me it was here on the island and I was less than thrilled."

"Don't worry," said Howard. "None of the inmates even know this station exists. They come in on boat from the other side of the island."

"I'll try the radio again after dinner and see if I can get through," said Phillip. "At the very least, I would expect Ron and Lisa back with the helicopter soon. It's too late today but they may be back tomorrow."

"I hope so," said Liz. "It gives me the creeps knowing that we're stranded out here even if it's only temporary."

Howard was about to speak when a loud noise down the hall made them all jump and look at the doorway.

"What in the world was that?" Phillip checked his watch. "That couldn't be them back so late." He excused himself from the table to investigate the noise.

"You're welcome to use Jack and Steve's beds to get some sleep if you'd like," Liz offered. "You must be exhausted."

"You can say that again," said Carl. "A warm bed sounds mighty nice about now, Liz."

Liz let out forced chuckle and took a nervous glance at the doorway. "I better go see what's keeping Phillip," she said and left the room.

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h," Carl muttered. "That's a fine piece of a.s.s, hey Howie?"

"Are you nuts?" Howard glanced at the door and lowered his voice. "How can you think about that now? Look, sooner or later he's going to be able to get somebody on that radio. What then? It's not going to take a rocket scientist to figure out we're not guards. And in case you didn't notice these two are f.u.c.king scientists."

"Relax man, didn't you hear? They got a helicopter. All we have to do is bide our time *till they get back." He lifted up the bottom of his shirt to show the Glock tucked into his waistband. "Then I'll flash the piece in everybody's faces and Joe Chopper Pilot flies us anywhere we aim to go.

"Before then, I pop a couple slugs in the radio, or better yet, I do Doctor Pencil-d.i.c.k and his tasty b.i.t.c.h. By the time the cops figure out what happened back at the farm, and seen we ain't in the pile of stiffs back there, we'll be long gone. And these a.s.sholes won't be around to tell n.o.body about us."

Before Howard could respond, Phillip and Liz came back into the room. "Everything all right?" Howard asked.

"It's the strangest thing," said Philip. "The outside door was open a crack and one of the storage racks in the hall fell over." He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "With all the excitement I must have left the latch undone."

They cleaned up the dishes and Howard and Carl were shown the bunks where they could sleep. Howard stretched out on the bunk and it felt heavenly.

He propped himself up on one elbow and whispered across the room to Carl. "Your plan with the helicopter isn't bad, I'll admit, but let's not rush into anything too hasty. These people don't have to die just so we can make a clean getaway."

"Well, look who got all high and mighty on me all a sudden," whispered Carl. He sat up in his bed and a dark look came over his face. "Look, I don't know about you but I've been doing time longer than I care to remember. This is the best chance I got to be a free man and I'm gonna do whatever it takes."

For the first time since they met, Howard realized there was a dark side to Carl he hadn't really seen yet. Howard wrote him off long ago as a foul mouthed, easy going simpleton, but they met at a federal prison, not a scout camp. Carl had committed some crimes in his past to get there and Howard wasn't sure he wanted to know the details. He also suddenly didn't feel too good about Carl having the only gun.

"Yeah, I know," Howard said. "I'm just saying let's not do anything we'll regret later. If we get caught it'll just be harder on us."

"What are they gonna do, sentence us to life? Oh wait, that's right." Carl sat back in bed again and his mood lightened. "Listen kid, don't sweat it. I ain't no psycho and I'm not gonna start blasting people for no reason. I just want to make sure you're on my team, is all."

"You know I am."

"Good. Now go to sleep, you look like s.h.i.t."