O-Negative: Extinction (2 page)

“Anyway that’s enough of me blathering away.  Chad you need to stop me otherwise you won’t get a word in edgeways and I know you were keen to meet David.”

Chad smiled at Tessa “Tessa you never blather and even if you were it’s normally with an ulterior motive in mind.  You’re an extremely capable woman wouldn’t you say David”.

“Absolutely and I concur with Chad Tessa you’re nobody’s fool.”  He’d spotted immediately that this was the point in the conversation in which Chad was to be brought in.

“So Chad I know that you’ve been a very generous donor to my campaign – for which I and the people of Louisiana are extremely grateful - I also know you have good taste in friends…” he looked over at Tessa when he said this and Tessa smiled “…but other than this I’m afraid I know less than I should about one of my principle donors, if you don’t mind me asking can I ask what business you’re in?”

Chad looked at him with his grey eyes; David restrained his natural instinct to look away and held Chad’s gaze as he replied.  “Just an ordinary Texan really.  I was in the military for a number of years but left in the late 1990’s and after scratching around for a bit set up a security contracting business.   As you can see life has been good to me over the subsequent years and my business has grown exponentially.  Helped in no small part by an increased awareness of security following the tragic events of 9/11”.

He nodded appreciatively as Chad spoke.

“Now to answer your unspoken question as to why I’ve asked Tessa to set up this meeting…” he smiled as he said this “that’s more difficult to explain.  But in a nutshell I’ve always had a passing interest in politics and in recent years this has increased to the point where I’ve started supporting people who reflect my own views and opinions.  Laying it on the line David I’ve struggled to come to terms with many of the liberal policies being enacted by a government which seems to think its role is to represent its own interests.  I also feel strongly that Southern States such as yours and mine have been largely forgotten by the East and West coast politicians.” 

He replied with a sympathetic “I couldn’t agree more”.

Chad went on to say.  “Now being an army man and a Texan I tend to speak my mind and I’d be the first to admit that I don’t have the necessary skills to become a politician”.

He commented “you seem to be conveying your views very succinctly so far Chad”. 

Chad laughed “but what you’ve just said strengthens my argument further – I’d never have bothered to tweak my ego further at this point but you as a natural politician didn’t even think twice about it.  It’s that sort of ability that attracted you to me in the first place.” 

Chad took out a pack of cigars from his jacket pocket.  David was glad he’d decided to sit outside in the sunshine – smoking in public places had been banned in Louisiana a couple of years.  Chad offered him a cigar.   He didn’t smoke but he had no intention of refusing, he’d learnt long ago that offending someone was much worse than being flexible with regards to one’s own personal principles.  Chad began unwrapping his cigar and then reached inside his trouser pocket to retrieve an expensive looking lighter.  Chad leaned over towards him to light his cigar. He took his time twisting the cigar to make sure it was alight fully.  Chad then leant back and lit his own cigar in a similar manner.

“Now David though you might not realise it I’ve actually been following your career for some time”. 

He raised an eyebrow slightly and said “you flatter me Chad”. 

“Flattery maybe but I’ve been following and supporting a few up and coming politicians as well as a number of more well established individuals over the last couple of years and you’re the first newbie – the first of many I hope – who’s actually made it to congress and for that you should be congratulated.  Now of course as a consummate politician you know as well as the next man that support from a rich donor never comes without a few strings…. and you’re undoubtedly wondering what exactly it is that I’m looking for from you?”

He smiled a realistic smile “I would never presume to imagine what that may be Chad.  But of course I am under no illusion that support is rarely given entirely altruistically.  If I can be of assistance in some way, notwithstanding that I’ll only be a junior congressman in Washington, then of course I’ll be more than willing to try to be of service”.

“Well David to be honest as it currently stands I don’t actually want anything from you at all.  However that’s not to say that at some point in the future I might not ask for some assistance, but as of right now I don’t want anything.  In fact I want you to act just as you have during your campaign - charming, accommodating, realistic and pragmatic.  I’d also like to provide some further assistance in the development of your career if you’re interested?”

“Chad I appreciate your candour and of course your continued support would be appreciated”.

Chad laughed.  “You’re thinking that you no longer need my financial support so what exactly can a Texas businessman offer you.  But support comes in many forms David, for example I have a very nice, currently vacant, property in Washington just a few blocks from Capitol Hill which is in need of a new tenant.   Would you know anyone who might be interested?”

He laughed. “Chad if you’re offering to furnish me with a property in the centre of Washington that I couldn’t hope to afford on a congressman’s salary then of course I accept.  But I have to admit to some slight concern about accepting such a generous offer without understanding the nature of any service I may provide at some point in the future.  I am by nature a cautious man, I’m sure you can understand”.

Chad puffed on his cigar a bit.  “I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t challenged me on this David.  But as I said I genuinely have no specific axe to grind or service to request at this time.  The house is a trifle in the greater scheme of things but it’s important.  I want you to be able to consolidate your position as a congressman and if you don’t have a house you can entertain guests in then you won’t be able to do this.  This also brings me on to another potential service I might offer you.  As I understand it a junior congressman from a minor state would have virtually no chance of getting on any of the primary house committees.  Am I right?”

He replied.  “I’m sure there’s nothing in writing that says this but yes I doubt very much that I’d be able to get a place on the more important committees until I’d won a second term in office”.

Chad nodded.  “What if I said I might be in a position to get you on the committee for Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs”?

Tessa who had previously been studiously quiet, simply sipping on her coffee and following the conversation without comment, shifted slightly in her chair.  Ever aware of people’s body language he took this to mean that the conversation had moved beyond what she already knew.  Interesting to say the least.  There was obviously more to Chad McGovern than met the eye.  He tapped his fingers on the table a couple of times before replying.

“I’d say that you have greater influence than I’d imagined.”  He paused slightly. “I’d also say that I’d jump at the chance of such an opportunity should it be presented to me”.

“That’s what I thought you’d say David.  Well I’ll see what I can do”.

Chad turned to Tessa. “Tessa I think that’s our business here is concluded and I don’t want to take up any more of David’s time than is absolutely necessary.  I’m sure he’s got much more important people than you and I to talk to.  Could you put in a call to Bobby?”

Tessa replied “Sure Chad” before pulling out her phone and calling a number. 

Chad began to get up and he rose with him.  Chad put out his hand. “A pleasure to meet you David.  Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me through Tessa if you need anything”. 

Feeling slightly outplayed; a feeling he wasn’t used to, he put on his best smile and shook Chad’s hand and replied in the same manner as Chad.  “Chad, the pleasure was all mine”.  As he spoke a black Cadillac Sedan pulled up driven by a smartly dressed man.  Tessa kissed him on both cheeks and she and Chad moved towards the Sedan.  He glanced at the black Mercedes slightly further down the street that they’d arrived in.  “Tessa are you coming back to pick up your car later?”

Chad stopped and turned back while reaching into his pocket again.  “Almost forgot” he threw some keys towards him, he caught them adroitly “Thought you could do with a new car to go with your new job”.  He managed to mumble a surprised “err, no I couldn’t possibly…..” before Chad got into the front seat of the car and Tessa into the back.  Tessa raised her hand and made the sign to call her as they drove off.  To say he was stunned was an understatement.  He guessed he was going to need to get used to this type of benevolence now he was a congressman.

Still in somewhat of a daze he walked up to the Mercedes and opened the door with the key – there was an envelope on the passenger seat.  He tore off the top of the envelope to find a note neatly typed and signed Chad McGovern.  The note simply said ‘Great to meet you in person David.  Hope you make good use of the house’.  At the bottom of the envelope was a set of keys attached to a leather fob surrounding a neatly printed label displaying an address in Washington.

The constant daylight filtering through the sides of the blackout curtains woke him earlier than he would have liked.  He groaned and turned away from the light attempting to find a comfortable position on the narrow bed for his six foot two inch frame.   He tried for several minutes to go back to sleep but his brain wasn’t playing ball and eventually he threw back the covers and stepped down from his bunk on to the freezing cold floor.  Though the station’s heating system was able to maintain a comfortable 20 degrees the floor never lied – he was most definitely still in Antarctica.

A quick burst of Pilates followed by a tepid, almost cold shower, helped him shake off his remaining sleepiness.  As he used the cracked bathroom mirror to trim his stubble he wondered for the umpteenth time what it would take to get a hot shower on the station.  This was his second visit in two years and in the months he’d spent here he hadn’t once had an enjoyable shower.  He had a niggling suspicion the women’s quarters didn’t suffer the same problem and though he’d contemplated sneaking in and testing this out he hadn’t quite got round to doing so. 

He finished his morning ablutions by running a scraggly looking brush through his brown hair, which was streaked here and there with a touch of grey.  Despite these first signs of aging he appeared physically fit and healthy, his green eyes and strong cheek bones giving him a vitality that belied his 37 years.

Washed and clothed he made his way through the windowless corridor to the dining/recreation area located at the centre of the station. A number of colleagues were already there lined up in front of the kitchen hatch.  Behind the hatch Carole Clark, the bubbly and perpetually cheerful station cook, was serving breakfast.  It seemed rather a strange place to find a large Afro-Caribbean woman, but Carole was the first to tell you that if working in Antarctica for the summer season meant she could afford to spend the next six months in Jamaica - as opposed to back home in rainy Britain - then she was more than happy to do this. 

Reaching the front of the queue he greeted Carole. “Morning Carole, the usual please”.

“Right you are Dr Harper, looks like a nice start to the day. Ralph says we can expect clear skies and light winds for the next couple of days”.  Ralph Macintosh was the IT systems manager but also picked up on a variety of other tasks - including producing the daily weather report.  Given there were four highly qualified meteorologists on station they might have seemed better placed to do this but apparently they were “too busy worrying about long term changes to the world’s climate” to spend 5 minutes a day checking local weather fronts - hence Ralph’s involvement.

“Great should allow us to get out and about.  Did Ralph say anything about when the resupply ship gets in?”

“No still a few days behind schedule.  I’ll be running out of sausages if it doesn’t get here soon” she said with a slight frown.

He replied with a smile “Well that would be a disaster Carole.  I’ll make sure the ship’s safe arrival is in my prayers this evening”. 

Carole laughed and waved him away.

He made his way to the seating area, where 30 or so colleagues were already eating their breakfast.  As he moved among them he greeted two or three of the people he worked with before sitting down next to Wendy Mercer and Ben Jenkins.  Wendy was a glacial hydrologist and had been fortunate to get the necessary funding to come to Antarctica so early in her career.  Ben was of an age with Wendy and was the station’s Geographical Information System specialist.  He was also a first timer and being an American had been surprised to be offered the position on a British base.   He’d previously worked for a large marketing company but when the opportunity had arisen to do something different he’d leapt at the chance.  Joe suspected he hadn’t realised quite how different, but as a personable guy in his twenties he’d quickly become a popular member of the team.

“Morning Wendy, morning Ben.”

“Morning Joe” they replied in unison. 

Wendy pushed her chestnut hair back from her face and gave him a winsome smile.  “Joe are you taking the snow track out to your drill site this morning?”

He replied knowing a request for a favour was coming. “Yes I am.  Why?”

“Well I just wondered if you might be up for taking a slight detour and dropping me at the bottom of the Stancomb-Wills?  I just don’t fancy freezing my bum off again on one of the snow mobiles.”

“Sure. Happy to have the company”. 

Because his samples were so bulky he often had the privilege of using one of the station’s snow tracks.  Most of the scientists had to make do with the snow mobiles.  The only slight downside to having access to the track was that he occasionally had to act as the station’s taxi driver.  Wendy however was a good friend and he was more than happy to give her a lift. 

He turned to Ben. “What are you up to today Ben?”

“The usual, reprojecting raster into vector images while dreaming of lying on a tropical beach”.

He laughed. “And how long until that’s a reality?”

Ben glanced at his watch.  “3 months 14 days and err… about 24 minutes”.

He nodded sagely.  “Ever heard of the saying ‘a watched pot never boils’ ”.

Ben laughed.  “I know I know”.

He started wolfing down his breakfast.  As he was finishing Professor Florence Chapman the Head of Station walked up to their table.  Professor Chapman had the distinction of being the first female station head and was something of a rising star in the academic world.  She also cut an impressive figure with her short blonde hair, slightly Germanic face, and smartly dressed attire.  Unusually, as well as being ferociously ambitious she had the intellectual ability to match it and when she set her mind to something she normally got it.

“Morning campers.  Everybody up and raring to go?”

Wendy was the first to answer with a resounding, if slightly sarcastic, “Yes Ma’am”.

Professor Chapman frowned slightly at Wendy and then turned her attention to Joe. “Joe I suspect you’re going to be up at your drill sites this morning but can you pop by the equipment shed later? I want to review all the geological paraphernalia we have in there.  I’m sure there must be some redundant materials the resupply ship can take away with it when it finally gets here.”

He glanced up at Professor Chapman. Wendy and Ben exchanged a brief look.  “Sure, it definitely needs going through.  I even found some old hobbles there the other day”.

Ben looked at him questioningly.  “Hobbles?”

“They were used to control the pack horses” Joe replied.  “Geologists used the horses to shift rock samples around before we had mechanised tracks…..the horses were also a useful source of meat if supply ships got stuck or delayed”.

Ben pulled a face.  “God I hope the resupply ship gets here quick otherwise we’ll be forced to eat one another”.  Everyone laughed.

Joe turned to Professor Chapman “What sort of time do you want me there Professor Chapman”?

Professor Chapman glanced at the clock on the wall. “3 o’clock ish? Will that give you enough time to pick up your samples and get back?”

“Yep that’ll be fine, I’ll see you later”.  He rose from the table.  “See you Ben.”  “Wendy I’ll see you out by the snow track in about 10 minutes?”

“Fine see you there”.  Wendy answered.

Wendy was down at the transport hanger chatting with some of the other scientists when He exited the station’s living quarters.  Given the calm conditions, including an incredibly clear blue sky, two dozen scientists milling around in red snowsuits did look a touch ridiculous.  However despite the bright sunshine when he checked the thermometer hanging on the outside of the building it was showing minus 5.  This was actually quite warm when one considered it could plummet to minus 60 during the winter months, nevertheless most of the scientists would be glad of their snowsuits when travelling on their snowmobiles to the various experiment sites.  The wind, as opposed to the temperature, was the real danger on Antarctica.  Even at a relatively moderate 30-40 mph minus 5 degrees would feel more like minus 50.  He and Wendy were unlikely to encounter any major problems with the snow track but he still went round the vehicle making the necessary safety checks.  Once these were completed he and Wendy got in and started out toward the end of the Stancomb-Wills glacier. 

The Stancomb-Wills was one of Antarctica’s largest and oldest glaciers, rising from the slopes of Dome Fuji a 1000 miles to the East before ending its life 10 miles from Halley station where it met the Weddell Sea.  It took the track about 45 minutes to make the trip and though he could have done it quicker he set a measured pace.  During the summer months, especially next to the coast, the ice tended to melt slightly during the ‘day’ and then refreeze again as the Sun reached its lowest point in the sky at ‘night’.  This meant that close to the coast where the ice shelf was also affected by the movement of the sea the surface could get surprisingly bumpy.  As he didn’t want to spend his morning fixing a broken track he kept their speed down.

Reaching the glacier he dropped Wendy off and agreed to pick her up again at 12.00 GMT.  He then proceeded along the bottom of the glacier towards his own drill site, which was located another 10 miles inland.  This close to the gleaming almost translucent walls the Stancomb-Wills really was an impressive sight.  He always felt somewhat humbled knowing that the ice here had probably fallen as rain or snow some 150,000 years ago in the centre of the continent. 

As a geologist he could appreciate the glacier and understand how it had shaped the landscape as it made its way across the continent but his principal speciality, and the source of his grant funding, was the make-up of old shield rocks.  His research focus consisted of analysing spectrographic rock samples taken from deep within the earth giving him a glimpse into what was happening on the planet three billion years ago.  Though Antarctica was an excellent place to gather such samples it did take a bit of effort to get down to the raw material.  For a start there was a kilometre of ice to melt through before reaching bed rock.  Nevertheless he felt himself lucky to be drilling on the coastal shelf.  Up on the central plateaux the ice could be up to 4km thick and getting samples there needed an extremely expensive melting rig and drill combination; as well as a team of people to operate the equipment.  Even the relatively modest equipment he was using wasn’t cheap and he’d needed help from his colleagues to set it up. The diamond tipped, bi-hydraulic drill combined with a pressurised heated water pump and pipes had set the British Antarctic Survey back two million pounds when they’d bought it 18 months ago.  If it wasn’t for the presence of oil and other minerals he doubted the British government would have continued to have been so generous all these years.  Of course it also helped that the Argentinians kept on making nationalistic noises about the Falklands and the British Antarctic claim.  He couldn’t see any British government wanting to let the Argentinians on to their ‘God given’ patch any time soon. 

Next to the drilling operation he’d set up a small seismic measuring unit, which allowed him to keep an eye on the drill’s progress from back at base.  If the drill fouled up or hit something unexpected the unit registered a change in the vibration and subsequently alerted him to the problem via a mobile phone app he’d developed.  It was much more effective to use the seismic unit than trying to keep a CCTV system running in the extreme temperatures.  The unit actually served a dual purpose as it also kept him abreast of seismic movements elsewhere on the continent.  As he was finishing loading the latest rock samples he saw the unit was registering a reading.  Taking a quick break he downloaded the data to his laptop and was somewhat surprised to see that the epicentre of the quake had occurred towards the middle of the continent.  This was unusual given the central plateaux was normally tectonically quiet.  He made a mental note to ask his colleagues at some of the other research stations what they thought about the reading when he got back.  Seismology wasn’t really his thing but he liked to keep his finger in some of the other disciplines; if just to keep in the loop with the other geologists and their work on Antarctica.

Before long he was picking up Wendy and they were heading back to the station.  The sun continued to shine and off to the right they could see the waves of the Weddell Sea crashing against what remained of the ice sheet.  The ice sheet would extend outwards by another 20 or 30 kilometres by the time they left Antarctica at the end of the summer; and by another 60 km should they ever be unfortunate enough to be stationed at Halley at the end of winter.  The never ending white desert like landscape, with its unexpected ice and rock sculptures appearing from swirls of powered snow, did had a tendency to enthral you as you travelled across it.  The sense of isolation and sheer aloneness was sometimes so powerful that he found himself believing there might actually be some sort of a higher power.  Hence his agnostic as opposed to purely atheist belief system.  As his attention wandered the snow track managed to hit a larger than expected obstacle and he returned to the task in hand i.e. getting back to base in one piece.  He also caught the tail end of a sentence Wendy had directly towards him, something about how a huge piece of the glacier had broken off into the sea while she was working on it that morning.