Antarctic Affair (6 page)
“Told you it wouldn’t last long,” Amy
smiled at her. She turned to her husband.
“So what were you boys discussing?”
“Amphipods” said Taj.
At Georgina’s blank stare Claude
explained, “The Antarctic amphipod is a crustacean endemic to the Antarctic
Peninsular. This is the only place in the world where it’s found.”
“We’re going to get some samples at
Deception Island,” Taj told them. “Claude has bought his diving gear.”
Georgina stared at them as if they were
mad. “You’re going diving in this freezing water? Is that safe?”
“As long as they’re adequately
protected, they should be fine,” Amy told her. Georgina looked dubious. “Is
that our first landing?” she asked Taj.
He studied her pale face. “You coming?”
he asked her.
She nodded. “Yes, if no one objects. I
thought perhaps it would be better to accompany you on the shoots rather than
have formal interviews.”
Taj paused long enough to stare at her.
“I usually work alone,” he said.
Uh-oh, Don obviously hadn’t had a chance
to talk to Taj yet. She soldiered bravely on, “Yes, I know, but I just thought
it might be easier this way. You didn’t seem too keen on the interviews.”
“And you didn’t seem too keen on the
excursions,” he countered dryly. She blushed. “I know, but I realised that was
a little short sighed of me. After all, how often does one get to go to
Antarctica?”
Amy smiled at her and said
encouragingly, “You are quite right. It would be a shame not to come on the
excursions, there’s so much to see.”
Taj scowled and Georgina pretended not
to notice. She turned to Claude, “So tell me more about where you find this
endemic amphipod?” Claude warmed to his subject and Taj, despite a lot of
pointed looks in her direction, didn’t have a chance to talk her out of her
suggestion to accompany him on the excursions.
“Don, I know you’re in there!”
Don opened the door and gave his friend
a grin. “What’s up?”
“You busy? I need to talk to you.” Taj
peered into the room and saw papers scattered all over the bed and the tiny
desk.
“Kind of. I’m planning our itinerary. I
wanted to go through it with you guys later.”
“Sure, no problem. Listen, did you talk
to Georgina this evening?” asked Taj, watching Don closely.
Don avoided his friend’s gaze. “Why, did
she say something?”
“I knew it!” Taj exploded. “I knew it
was you who’d put that insane idea into her head about accompanying me on the
excursions.”
“It’s not that insane?” Don said
defensively.
Taj stared at him. “Are you
trying
to ruin this trip for me?”
“Will you calm down?” ordered Don, “Yes
I suggested it to her. But hear me out okay. It might just be the best idea
I’ve ever had.”
Taj calmed down somewhat and glared at
his friend. “I doubt it, but go on.”
“She mentioned to me that you’d been
avoiding her.” Taj had the grace to look guilty.
“I thought as much,” Don remarked wryly.
“So I gave her some good advice.”
“Your good advice was for her to keep me
company?” Taj scoffed. “You know I can’t work with other people around, unless
they’re part of my crew.”
“Then let her be part of your crew.”
“You are not serious?” Taj asked. “She
doesn’t know anything about photography. Even she admitted her holiday photos
sucked.”
“She’s a bright girl. She can learn. She
can hold the light metre for you.”
Taj rolled his eyes. “Give me a break.”
Don said reasonably, “Think about it?
How far will she really go? She’ll attempt the first landing which happens to
be Deception Island by the way, ruin her designer boots, break a nail and get
back on board the
Explorer
with her
tail between her legs.”
Taj had calmed down and was looking at
him with wonder. “Do you really think that’ll work?”
Don didn’t meet his eyes, “Sure. Give
her what she wants and when she can’t handle it, she’ll back off.”
“I suppose it’s worth a try,” Taj said
pensively.
Don shrugged. “What have you got to
lose?”
“True,” Taj thought for a moment. “And
if I push her really hard she’ll never be able to keep up.”
“What do you mean?” Don looked worried.
Taj said, “Well, I’m not going to make
it easy for her. That would be counter-productive. If she wants to see how I
work, then I’ll show her – no holds bars. This will be one excursion she’ll
never forget.”
“Oh dear, I’ve created a monster,”
muttered Don uneasily.
“No, it’s a brilliant idea,” Taj
acknowledged.
“But its very success
relies on me being a total bastard and pushing her to the limit.”
“Well, she already thinks you’re a
bastard, so that won’t be very hard,” joked Don.
Taj frowned. “Does she really? She told
you that?”
Don shrugged. “Not in so many words, no.
But think about it. You said yourself you were rude to her on the plane, you
spoke to her briefly at the reception and then ignored her for the rest of it
and you’ve done your best to avoid her since we got on the
Explorer
. How do you think she feels?”
Taj was scowling now. “You certainly
know how to make a guy feel good about himself.”
Don chuckled. “She’s a nice girl, Taj.”
Taj was shaking his head. “I know, and I
feel bad for ignoring her, but it can’t be helped. I’ve got too much at stake
here. This book is the culmination of two years work and I’ve got publishers
breathing down my neck. I can’t have an incompetent journalist getting in the
way of my deadline.”
Don grinned at him. “Well if all goes
according to plan, you won’t have to.”
Taj thought of Georgina’s beautifully
manicured fingernails and her perfectly styled hair and gave a grim smile.
“Hopefully I won’t have to push her at all. I doubt she’s even got a decent
pair of hiking boots. You should have seen the look she gave me when I
suggested she buy some before we left Chile.”
Don started picking up his papers and
stacking them into a see-through folder. “Perhaps she took your advice?”
“Perhaps, but it won’t do her any good.
With new boots she’ll have blisters before we even get half way up the caldera
at Deception.”
Don looked dubious. “Are you going to
take her all the way up? It’s a decent hike that.”
Taj shrugged, “No. You are. It’s where
the best views are anyway.”
“Fair enough, what about inside?”
“Inside the crater?
Definitely. If we’re lucky it’ll be a clear
day and the geysers will be steaming.”
Don nodded, biting his lip. “It’s tough
terrain out there. Anyone would find it hard going.”
“Precisely. And city-girl Georgina will
find it excruciating.”
At Don’s worried look Taj asked, “You’re
not going soft on her are you buddy?” When the expedition leader didn’t
immediately reply he said, “You are too. I can’t believe it!”
Don winced, “I can’t help it. I have a
thing for beautiful women.”
“She’s not that beautiful,” Taj pointed
out. “She wears way too much make-up.”
“I can’t believe you of all people are
saying this. She’s gorgeous!”
“She’s a pampered princess,” Taj
scoffed. “Her father left her a ton of money, not to mention a Swiss chalet and
her fiancé probably owns half of London. You saw that rock on her finger. I’m
amazed she works at all.
A bit of
‘roughing it’ won’t do her any harm. It may even help to bring her down to
reality - let her see how the little people live.”
Don stared at his friend, “Why does she
bother you so much? It’s not like you to kick up such a fuss about a waif of a
girl and a couple of interviews.”
“It isn’t just the interviews. A girl
like that has no right to be out here. She couldn’t be more ill-suited to this
kind of assignment.”
“Mm…” Don looked sceptical. “Methinks
thou dost protest too much.”
“She should stick to ski resorts and lunching
at the country club.”
“Even so, that doesn’t explain why she’s
got you so worked up,” mused Don.
“Forget it, you wouldn’t understand,”
Taj told him.
Don studied his friend thoughtfully, but
didn’t reply.
They discussed the itinerary for the
next nine days and then Taj announced he was going to bed. As an afterthought
he turned back to Don. “I hope this is not some hair-brained attempt at
matchmaking on your part,” he said sceptically. “I already told you I’m not
interested.”
“Would I do that to you?” Don said
feigning a hurt expression.
“You would too, you bastard,” Taj said
dryly. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
Don smiled at his friend’s tone. “You’re
imagining things buddy. She’s engaged. Get over it.”
Taj laughed, “You’re impossible. I don’t
know how Maria puts up with you.”
“Neither do I,” said Don only half
seriously, “but I count my blessings every day.”
“And so you should,” Taj told his friend
as he left the room.
Taj
knew
what Don was trying to do, but it wouldn’t work. His motive wasn’t to scare
Georgina off, but rather to throw them together in the hopes they would be
attracted to each other. He had to give his friend credit for trying. He very
nearly fell for it. But all was not lost, he still planned to make their first
excursion as difficult and as dangerous as possible. The well-heeled Miss
Georgina McKellar would not endure another minute in the frigid wilderness once
he was finished with her. Don’s plan with all his good intentions might be the
only hope he had of getting her off his back.
The first morning on board the
Explorer
dawned bright and chilly.
Georgina had slept with the heater on low all night, despite specific
instructions not to, because the one time she had turned it off she’d woken up
and hadn’t been able to feel a single one of her toes. She longed for her
electric blanket, or at the very least, decent central heating.
Teeth chattering she was horrified to
find the shower didn’t believe in working overtime and because she had already
overslept there was now no more hot water. She debated skipping the shower but
then decided against it. Her hair was dirty and desperately needed a wash.
Yelping like a puppy she darted under the frigid jets and washed as fast as
humanly possible. She emerged bright pink and shivering compulsively, so she
dived under the covers again to warm up. It was incredible more people didn’t
suffer from hyperthermia on board polar vessels.
When her circulation had returned to
normal she dressed quickly and with far less care than usual, her main priority
to stay warm. Ignoring the thermal vests she reached for a pastel pink lamb’s
wool jersey and dived into its luxurious softness, sighing in relief. Now that
was more like it.