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| SEASON 1: EPISODE 6: "WEATHER STATION 7(s)." |
16. THE EASTER MOUNTAINS.
Troy bent forward and tapped a gauge upon his dashboard; "Minus 35c already Skipper.”
Eve and Lilly appeared, laughing together, with Lilly carrying several sheets of paper – she sat down at the Communications desk and smiled at Jones; “Just going to send the routine stuff Captain.” Jones nodded and Eve gripped the back of Jones’s chair and offered him a couple of sheets of paper; “Do you know anything about this?” She asked, Jones took the papers and cast a quick eye over them and laughed out loud; "That is a cracker! All MO’s are to check rig mascots for cat mange?”
“I’m not a bloody Vet you know, how do I know what ‘cat mange’ is?” Eve folded her arms and ignored the laughter from the Captain and the bridge crew. Jones tapped her shoulder and smiled; “Just give Dallas the once over and reply back that he’s fine.”
“He’s not mangy, he has a lovely fluffy coat and nice clear eyes – he’s fine.” Lilly added her opinion to the debate about the rig’s cat – apparently Military High Command had asked all rigs to report any symptoms of ‘Cat mange’ to Military control and Medical Officers had to carry out the task!
“Notedric Mange is something we obviously skipped at medical School.” Eve shoved the papers back into her blouse pocket and watched the Chief appear on the bridge with Tom. “Found any mange yet?” The Chief chuckled to himself, but Tom looked quite serious and asked if Dallas was alright.
Jones held up his arms; “Come on people, Dallas is fine, he has no mange and he’s unlikely to catch it from us, so he is fine and will remain fine. End of discussion.”
“Talk of the furry little devil.” Muttered Troy, as Frankie appeared with Dallas under his arm. “I’ve combed and brushed him and checked his eyes and mouth – he’s fine.” Frankie smiled at everyone and was surprised when the Captain threw up his arms and said; “Enough is enough!”
When Lilly explained, Frankie laughed out loud and let Dallas wander off down the Engineering corridor, Frank knew that ‘Sunny’ always kept cat biscuits near her desk and he guessed that Dallas did so too!
Tom handed the Captain the service stores listing for approval and peered out at the imposing mountains that rose around them; ”They use to be called the Athenian Mountains until about 150 years ago. I saw an old Mars globe in Rossington Museum and that’s what they were called.”
Lilly looked up from her messages and asked: “Why did they have their name changed Tom?”
“I can answer that one my great, great grandfather was involved with the expedition that caused the name change.” The Chief motioned to Troy to stand and dropped into the seat as Troy stood. “Thanks boy, Tom is almost right, but it was about 120 years ago that a very famous Geologist brought an expedition here, to survey and map the mountains and cave systems.” The Chief gave his coffee a stir and sucked the spoon. “His name was Professor Bellman Easter and they had three old “Scanna” rigs.
They lived in pressurized containers dumped inside one of the big caves and one of the rigs would run back to Rossington for supplies – a six week turnabout in them days!” The Chief continued; “My great, great grandfather Lester was a young ‘deckhand’ aboard one of the rigs: ‘The Salamander’s Hat’ and family legend is that he spent nearly twenty weeks around here.”
“Yeah, that’s the expedition everyone really remembers, but there was an earlier one, way back in the first century that came to grief here, they lost five people in the cave system, they simply vanished. No bodies, no distress calls – they just disappeared down there.” Everyone turned to Kazza as he spoke, stepping off the bridge ladder with a sandwich clutched in his hand.
“That’s right Kazza, there was an earlier trip and it had to be evacuated because of a really big storm, I think it was 62, the year of the Global storm.” The Chief nodded; “I vaguely remember it was headed by some scientist with a really funny name, something like Slobboski or similar. Professor Easters was a real success, he mapped nearly a third of it. But never came across the missing bodies.”
“I wonder if our friend Stanners bumped into them.” Troy grinned and popped a sweet into his mouth – he really did like mints. There was a quiet chuckle from the crew and Lilly said: “So the Mountains should be called the ‘Slobbo Range’ or similar.”
“If there was any justice in this world, but Easter’s was the big success and poor Slobboski’s was a glorious disaster – you don’t get whole mountain ranges named after you, if half your team die.” Jones placed his coffee cup on the dash and flicked through his paperwork. “You may as well name a rig after ‘Wrecker Rogers’.” Everyone laughed – they all knew the legend that was ‘Wrecker Rogers’.
Except Lilly, who asked the Chief; "Who was ‘Wrecker’ Rogers and what did he do?”
“More urban legend than truth, Ronnie ‘Wrecker’ Rogers was a rig Captain who managed to crash four expensive rigs, way back in the last century, for no apparent reason and was blacklisted by all the big rig companies, he struggled to find work for years. Travelling all over Mars in the hope of getting a rig to command, he was near to despair when finally a small mining company in Cydonia gave him a ‘water bucket’ to command [the slang name for the rigs that carried water – they normally were old, decrepit and held together with wire and bad welding] The MV: Mighty Oak was a joke amongst the truckers, people claimed to have seen pieces fall from her as she approached the docks.
The crew was ‘Wrecker’, a second officer who had one-eye and was rarely sober, a pilot who had done time at Salt Flats prison for various assaults and never spoke – not a single word in years – and a ‘Deck-Hand’ who was so old that people claimed he shook Taylor’s hand when she landed. The Chief was a quiet man who collected labels from toilet rolls and liked music – for years no one had actually seen him, so the rumour was that his dead body was hidden about the rig and the crew divided his pay amongst themselves – they were almost considered pirates by many.
But the little rig was tough and the crazy crew adored her. The rig mascot was a chicken called ‘Chicken’ – they couldn’t afford a cat even on their combined wages – and it ran water between a couple of isolated mines for years and it was reliable. No storm stopped the MV: Mighty Oak from delivering the water, whatever the weather, she turned up, gaining a quiet respect from Miner’s and truckers alike.
Then one fateful day, with a full load of several thousand tonnes, The MV: Mighty Oak struggled through a bad storm to a small mining town, deep in Cydonia, to discover a major disaster was underway. Fire was raging through the small settlement and had almost reached the school and hospital – despite the brave and valiant efforts of the town people. Nothing stood between the raging inferno and the children sheltering in the school and the sick in the hospital – they appeared doomed, lost to the fire.
But ‘Wrecker’ knew what had to be done. The story says that people watched wide eyed as the old rig headed for the blaze, bit’s falling from her sides and roof. They could see the crew on the bridge: ’Wrecker’ in the Captains seat, grim faced and determined, The Second officer sprawled across the deck with a bottle in his hand, the mad pilot apparently singing and the old deck hand having a nap.
Some claim to have seen the Chief, standing at the Captain’s side, gripping ‘Wreckers’ shoulder and pointing to the blaze. Others say the figure was almost transparent and ghost like. No-one mentioned the Chicken.
Well, the rig disappeared into the heart of the blaze and within a few seconds, she blew up like a steam kettle and the massive explosion extinguished the fire: the young and sick were saved. There were no remains found of the brave crew and very little of the tough rig, who in the end, lived up to her name. The only find amongst the burnt debris was a toilet roll and some chicken feathers."
There are stories all round Cydonia about sightings of the ghost rig MV: Mighty Oak and her crew, she is still seen today, racing across the sand at sunset, lights ablaze, ‘Wrecker’ at the wheel, a ‘skull & Cross Bones’ flag flying from her top deck and bits falling off as she passes the awe struck witness.
To this day, no rig has ever been named after Ronnie ‘Wrecker’ Rogers, for fear of invoking his bad luck – but several do have ‘chicken’ in their names.....
Everyone was laughing when the Chief finished the story, though Lilly was a little upset at the fate of the poor chicken. Eve had to wipe a tear of mirth away and sip some coffee; “If any of that is true, I’m a puddle of custard.”
“I’d dip my spoon in that any day.” Tom confided to the Chief, who had thoroughly enjoyed retelling the tale of ‘Wrecker’ Rogers after so long. Tom had quite a hidden passion for the ‘Doc’ – and very few suspected the depth of his feelings for the rig’s MO. He wanted to run off with her and together, own a small shoe-shop [shoes had an equal fascination for him]; the only problem Tom could foresee would be telling his wife.
“Does anyone know about the ghosts of the Easters?” Frankie was handing out more coffee and everyone was in the mood for stories. “I do.” Captain Jones had everyone’s attention when he told the tale of ‘Easters Ghosts:
“Even before the disastrous failure of the ’62 Expedition, the Easter’s had a reputation for strange happenings, mysterious lights flashing, unknown stuff moving about on rig ‘scopes’ that simply disappeared and even seeing figures about the cave mouths. Over the years, the stories have spread from rig to rig, city to city and person to person. But the only ones, that appear to have any evidence about them, are the best. For instance, the tale of the time travelling rig.”
“This is a cracker!” The Chief interrupted and settled back in his chair with another cup of coffee.
“Way back in about 180, a cargo rig took shelter in the Easter’s during a Category 2 storm – it was a bad one, with high winds and electric’s and the rig just made it to cover, it was carrying machine parts for a big Mining Corporation and a crew of five. At first they hid in a cave entrance, but the storm grew so violent that the rig’s skipper decided to risk the soft cave floor and so they moved deeper into the cave.
At first, they thought lightening had struck inside the cave because the dark interior lit up with vivid, bright white light. The rig was still moving and the crew were almost blinded by the light, but the Captain managed to stop the rig before she ran into a wall. When the crew recovered their sight, they thought they were all hallucinating- the cave had gone, the storm had gone and they had gone somewhere else! For they were parked on long, lush green grass within a forest of huge tree’s and sky of dark blue with few clouds. The entire crew stared in utter disbelief as strange birds screeched above them and huge reptiles passed in front of the windscreen.
But they really freaked out when the 2nd Officer screamed out the time on the rig’s chronometer – it was showing: Week 23 Sol 237 Year -165,097,672 - Apparently the rig had been thrown back in time some 165 Million years!
In a panic the skipper ordered the rig to reverse, but as she lurched backwards, the collision alarms sounded and they were horrified by what they saw: a gigantic, savage reptile gripping the rear trailer with long dark claws. The Captain, recovering his wits, pulled the rig forward and free of those monstrous fingers, everyone heard the scratching and scraping as the rig moved away.
Suddenly they were back in the bright light and then the cave.
Everyone stood in silence and disbelieve – the storm had passed over and so the rig crept slowly from the darkness- They headed for Shackleton cargo docks and decided that they had suffered some kind of ‘group hallucination’ and agreed not to speak of the incident.
Some days later, they arrived in Shackleton and docked – the cargo was unloaded, but only after several dockhands called the Captain’s attention to the large scratches’ across the top of trailer 2.
Some photographs were taken of the scratches’, but the company thought they were minor damage and did not hold a Board of Inquiry, so the incident was forgotten and now, years later, the rig has long since been scrapped, the crew are all dead and the only ‘proof’ are those photographs which languish in the Museum at Dayburgh and few even know they exist.”
Jones finished speaking and several members of the crew applauded, they were enjoying a night together, drinking coffee and relaxing before venturing onto the Ice-Shelf. Tom was about to partake in the story-telling with the grisly tale of ‘The Death Rig of old Cydonia’ when Lilly held up her hand, as she answered a call on the Communication’s desk.
“What is it Lilly?” Jones asked, waving the crew into silence.
“It’s the General Westmoreland, apparently Weather Control South has lost contact with Weather Station 7(S) – it’s gone off line completely!” Lilly looked quite concerned and added; ”Vice-Admiral Kellamann wants us to leave at once for the Ice-Shelf and your to call him when we’re underway Captain.”
“Oh Shit!” Muttered the Chief; “That’s an Emergency Call all right; seven can’t be off line at any time really, the shit will hit the fan now.”
17. EMERGENCY SERVICE CALL.
The official line was that one of the crew had a mental breakdown and took an axe to his weather station colleagues – there was only two survivors from the crew of nine, the station cat called ‘Snuggles’ and the young Ensign on Communications duty – he managed to barricade himself and the cat in the battery store which had extra strong doors and walls. He had already sent out an S.O.S, but knew that help from Shackleton [the nearest city] was six days away. Apparently he survived his self-imprisonment on a bag of sweets and two bottles of cold tea. Finally, unable to reach his victim, the crazed killer apparently opened the external pressure door and ran, quite naked, out into the bitter darkness and the body was never found.
Number Seven had been automated since the crews were removed and received a visit from Weather Service rigs twice a year for maintenance and servicing. This was only its second or third major failure, but it would leave the Deep South vulnerable to surprise storms – and that could mean loss of lives.
“About another thirty Kilometres’ and she’ll be in view.” Peter stared through the darkened windscreen [to prevent ‘snow-blindness’] at the bleak white landscape and sighed with some relief.
The Thor and her crew had endured six days and nights of a really bad ice-storm, with strong winds and drifting ice curtains that plunged temperatures to the very working limits of the rig.
Troy nodded and glanced down at the ‘scope’ where a little strange bleep caught his eye. He tapped at his keyboard and studied the monitor with real interest; some seventy Kilometres’ to the rear of the station was a tiny flashing light – an unknown contact? The computer showed no identifying signature and the contact was far too small to be another rig. He shouted over to the Captain; “We have an unknown contact at the rear of the station and....” He stopped in mid-sentence: the contact was gone. He tapped the screen and re-ran the scan: nothing.
Jones was sipping coffee and reading the dispatches from the convoy and messages from Weather Control (South) -they were demanding constant updates on the Thor’s arrival at the defunct weather station – whilst the convoy had, so far, drawn a blank in its search for the lost weapon.
“Must have been a bogeyman Captain, it’s gone." He informed Jones and added; “I’ll report it to the Chief, he may want to recalibrate and run a test.
jones nodded and adjusted his seat and called to Lilly; "Pass on Peter’s assessment to Weather Control; they may not call us for at least another two minutes.” Lilly smiled and turned back to her communications screen. She was quite tired, but she acknowledged that so was everyone else, the last six days had been a nightmare, but the Thor had got them through it – and the Captain of course, she glanced back at him, sitting in the Captain’s seat, surrounded by papers and coffee cups. To young Lilly he was a hero, holding the crew and rig together in some pretty desperate times, she had also come to realise that the Captain was a very charming, strong and handsome man. Suddenly he looked back at her and she went a little red, and then jumped as Eve touched her shoulder.
“Anything new on the box?” Eve asked with a big grin and Lilly shook her head and took a drink from her cup of flavoured water, but Peter called over; “If you hang about Eve, the station will be in view in a few minutes, it’s quite an impressive sight.”
Eve patted Lilly on the shoulder and spoke softly; “Almost as impressive as the Captain, don’t you think Lilly?”
Lilly blushed outright when she realised that Eve had seen her staring at the Captain and with a sheepish smile returned to her keyboard. Eve was still smiling to herself when she stood by the Captain and peered through the windscreen, that’s when Number Seven came into view.
Standing out against the snowy skyline, encircled by grey and white hills, Weather Station Number Seven South was a large black box, constructed of real stone and steel plates, the external lights were off and she stood in mute darkness. “It’s massive!” Eve exclaimed with real surprise in her voice.
“The number of woman who said that to me.” Troy muttered and laughed to himself.
“Crew call please Lilly.” Jones said simply, staring at the dark, silent monolith. It filled him with a strange disquiet, a feeling he couldn’t quite put a name too. He was still at the windscreen when the crew assembled in silence. The Chief had to repeat himself twice; “We’re all here Skipper.”
Jones pulled away from the foreboding sight and greeted the crew with a tired smile; "Right chief, what’s your thoughts?”
“Something is well amiss; the lights haven’t come on at our approach, that’s bad.” The Chief folded his arms and shook his head; “The Emergency system appears to have failed. We may have to work in suits until we get the bloody environment back on line.” He spoke directly to Jones who could only agree with him.
“Two teams I think Chief. You, Tom and Kazza work on the Weather systems whilst I’ll handle the Environmental Engineering with Lilly and Leon.” Jones was already formulating the service and repair schedule. He told Lilly to pass a situation report back to Weather Control, and also inform Vice-Admiral Kellamann. “I know we’re all tired, but we need to get a grip on this – and quickly.”
‘Sunny’ held up her hand and spoke quietly: "Can I please go with your team Captain?” She smiled at Jones and she reminded him of a schoolgirl asking the coach to join the Hardball team. He glanced at the Chief who smiled and nodded his agreement. “O.K. Sunny, you can assist me. Right, Peter you can handle the rig with Troy. Eve and Bella on Medical and Communications and finally, Frankie can keep the coffee going and knock up a curry and lots of sandwiches.” The last part of his statement received unanimous agreement. Frankie produced a big grin and gave the thumbs up; “Nice and bloody hot, just as you like it!”
The thought of a steaming hot curry produced a big smile on Jones’s tired face; “O.K. people lets prep, the sooner we’re in number seven, the sooner we can get the job done and head for home and the wonderful prospect of a wedding and a great party.” All but the bridge crew scattered to collect surface suits, tool boxes and repair kits.
Jones’s was impressed that the two teams were ready within the hour, Eve and Bella had set up the Medical Monitoring Command desk with great efficiency and Peter had pulled the Thor to within thirty meters of the station. “We on good ground skipper and the E.P.L. is facing the stations external pressure doors, you’ve a ten or fifteen minute walk ahead of you. I’ll pass you over to Bella.” Peter handed the microphone to Bella who reported that the ice-storm was almost quiet and that she was asking to launch the small drone, so that the Thor would have some warning about any serious changes to the weather about them.
E.P.L. is short for External Pressure Lift, which is located near Tyre No.7 on the Thor.
WAS
Jones, with Leon, Lilly and Sunny entered the External Pressure Lift and Eve gave the thumbs up for surface time. Bella informed the Captain that there was a small sand storm blowing about, but it was well within the safety parameters for the suits. Jones was first onto the surface and whilst visibility was poor, he could easily make out the door of Station Seven some meters away. But he still insisted that everyone cable up, and the team made its way across the dirt towards the station in single file, joined by the safety cables.
Glancing over his shoulder, Jones could see the E.P.L. ascending up to the Suit Room to collect the Chief’s team. Leon was behind him with small a ‘Beaver’ drone that hauled the toolboxes and some spare parts, Lilly and Sunny both carried repair kits and spare oxygen cylinders [to enable a ‘hot-swap’ of the suit air tanks] if the repairs took longer than anticipated.
They arrived at the door in good order, to find the entry panel dark and useless; “We going have to open it manually!” Jones found the emergency panel about a meter away and Leon handed him the manual emergency key: a three pronged disc with a built in power cell.
It took five or six minutes before the heavy metal door started to slowly slide back – Leon peered inside with a powerful hand lamp – and what he saw made him shout: “Skipper, the bloody Inner-door is wide open!” Jones had managed to pull the door back half-way and that was good enough to squeeze through with their equipment. Lilly shouted that the Chief’s team was on their way across the sand and could see their suit lights through the swirling dust.
Jones and Leon were already heading through the Inner door, when the Chief stumbled into the room with Kazza and Tom close behind – their ‘Big beaver’ drone was too large to fit through the half open door – “It’s blowing a fucking gale now Skipper, we need all hands to empty the drone before the storm gets it!” Jones agreed, but he and Leon continued into Weather Station 7, they needed to find the Control Room while the others unloaded the big drone of its precious cargo, stacking it against the wall; “Seal up the outer door Chief.” Jones ordered, and after a brief struggle the external door slid shut and Jones could now concentrate on opening the control room door.
He wasn’t too happy when Bella called him with an update on the storm – they were likely to remain in the station for several hours; "Good job we hauled the extra air-cylinders.” He grunted to Leon as they managed to open the door and gain entry to the control suite of the station. The drone had been recalled – after picking up several small and strange, unknown objects at the rear of the station.
Troy didn’t bother to inform the Captain – they didn’t appear on the scope; "More bogymen.” He told Peter and the bridge crew.
Down the corridor came the team, dragging equipment and having shouted conversations with each other, the little ‘beaver’ drone rattling on the steel floor under Lilly’s command. They grouped before Jones, panting and laughing, in good humour despite the tiredness of the last week. Jones shook his head and smiled with some pride; "Let's get it done you bunch of nuts!”
18. CATEGORY 2 STORM.
“It’s been about four hours and according to the Chief, they’re doing well, the major fault was in the battery room control panel. When that died the station went with it. The real odd thing is that the back-up system also failed and the Technical Directorate boys and girls will want to investigate that one.” Peter sipped his coffee and passed the update report to Bella. “I’ll send it now.” She turned to her commutations monitor and started to type.
”What’s the estimate now?” Eve nibbled at the slice of toast that Frankie had passed her and checked her monitors again – the Chief was a little in the red, but not a worry. “Yeah Mr. Gravestone what time should I get scoff ready for?” Frank handed the Lieutenant some toast and topped his coffee up again.
“Make it six Frankie and I need not ask what you’ve cooked up for the Captain!” Pete laughed and returned to the Captains chair, leaving Eve and Bella chatting whilst Frankie made his way back to the galley. “They’ve done it!” Exclaimed Troy pointing to the windscreen, the external lights had flickered, then powered on.
Bella was concentrating on a message coming in, but Eve clapped and called out: "Well done!”
The station was now illuminated and Eve could now see the control room lights were activated and figures moving about. “They’re doing a cracking job.” Pete told Troy who could only agree, the repair and service was likely to last for another couple of hours. The Chief and the Captain wanted a full re-check before leaving the station to itself again.
Bella called the Captain with a priority signal from Weather Control; "Skipper, Weather Central says well done, Number 7 is back on line and has just issued a ‘Serious at risk’ warning for us – Category 2 High storm, we’re advised to seek shelter immediately.” She repeated the message and the Captain acknowledged. “Does that mean electrics?” Troy asked. Bella nodded affirmative. Peter took a deep breath; "Suit up Troy, you and Frankie get to the cargo hold and ready the rod canisters, I think we’re going to need them.”
Franks face betrayed his feelings about going back on the surface in the middle of a monster storm and Pete gripped his shoulder; "You O.K. with that Frank?” The Chef swallowed hard and nodded; "Don't think there’s any choice in it Mr. Gravestone, you can’t leave the Bridge, Bella certainly aren’t going and the Doc has to stay here and look after the others. That leaves me and Troy. It’s not up for argument really, I’ll suit up.” Peter simply nodded and told Bella to pass the message on that the canisters will be ready for when the team returns.
The Captain had called the service team together in the quiet control room of the now functioning station;” Right, you know the situation we’re in and I’m not about to beat about the bush. With a monster like the one about to roll over us, the majority of the crew will take cover here; it’s far safer in a solid building than the Thor. The station is fully on line with plenty of air and water. The store has a serious amount of emergency rations. Those that stay could last for weeks here.”
He looked about their tired faces and continued; “I’ll return to the Thor and all the remaining crew on her will transfer here, especially Doc and Bella, we can’t separate them. If anything happens with Bella, the Doc is her only chance and the station has a medical suite.” Everyone nodded their agreement. The Chief already knew what the Captain had in mind; “Who do you want with you?”
“A volunteer, to ride the storm out on the Thor with me, it can be anyone except Sunny, Bella or the Doc.” The Captain looked straight at the very disappointed girl, who was clearly about to protest her Captain’s decision. “It’s not up for discussion Sunny.” The Chief gripped her shoulder and smiled; "No-one will think any less of you, I can guarantee that. We all know that you would volunteer, but the Captain’s right – as usual!”
Everyone voiced their agreement with Jones’s decision on Sunny and everyone raised their hand to volunteer. If Jones had felt pride in his crew earlier, it had now doubled. He was a little speechless for a few seconds then he pointed at Leon; "Come on, let’s get back to the rig.”
Tom spoke up; "Captain, we can get the canisters set up, with the Thor so close to the station, it would only need maybe, three rod sets.” The Chief agreed with that and the team set off for the Thor, as they passed through the external pressure door they could see the darkness gathering behind them. “It’s going to be a fucking monster.” Whispered Kazza and hoped Bella and the baby were alright.
Within an hour the crew of the Thor, except the Captain and Deckhand Leon Kamiski, had transferred to the Weather Station. Three rod canisters had been planted around the Rig and despite a search, no-one could find Dallas, but when the last crew member had gone and the Thor was sealed up for the storm, he appeared on the Captains chair. Jones and Leon smiled at each other; they knew Dallas had volunteered to stay!
The storm hit at 18.20 hrs CST and it was bad.
The Thor was rolling as if she was at sea, the sky was punctuated with bright flashes and the temperature plummeted, the canisters were fired and Jones felt the rumble as lightening struck the ground around them.
Communications were down; the storm had silenced all radio traffic and Leon couldn’t even raise the weather station next door to them. The night was a long haul, the rig shook and the bridge received repeated ‘collision’ alarms, the storm was now over them fully and at 23.10 hrs CST the South canister was hit by a bolt of lightning, which destroyed it totally and even damaged the rear trailer. Jones was relieved to see that Damage Control indicated minor external repairs required.
The double hull of the Thor had held up – so far.
As the night dragged on, so the storm vented its rage with high winds and ice. At one point, the Thor was dragged a couple of meters towards the station despite the brakes being fully applied and was now covered in a shroud of ice with the inside temperature so low that Leon and Jones had to wrap themselves up in blankets. Jones tucked Dallas inside his and together they shivered as the storm battered the rig with real ferocity.
The storm was to last three days and two nights – but to Leon and Jones it could have been weeks.
Jones was half asleep on the Captain’s chair; he could see Leon laid across the pilot chairs, blanket about his legs and Dallas asleep by his head. Jones realised that the crew was right: that cat was getting bigger by the week. But Jones was thirsty and sipped slowly from a bottle of water, taken from the emergency ration pack that he and Leon had eaten cold last night. Dallas had enjoyed his favourite meal: fish beans and cold weak coffee. "He's turned into a coffee head, like the rest of the crew." Leon had commented with a weary smile.
Jones rose and stared out the bridge windscreen – the sunlight streamed in and the storm had gone. Then the radio burst into life; it was the crew of the weather station calling and Jones took the call with great relief.
“Captain, are you O.K.?” It was Lilly, calling from Number Seven’s control room, Jones answered affirmative, giving Leon a shake. “Everyone O.K. there Lilly? Leon, Dallas and I are fine, but the Thor has taken a bit of a battering.” He replied, glad to hear her voice.
There was silence for a minute and Jones repeated his question and Lilly came back on air; "Captain, there’s been some strange happenings here, Troy disappeared, we searched and found nothing. Then he was back and we discovered the closed up store cupboard and the body. It must have been here for years.”
“What the fuck has happened?” Jones was now quite grim – yet another body?
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| FOLLOW THE ROVER TO SEASON 2: EPISODE 1: "MURDER, MADNESS and OLD GHOSTS." |
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"William Alexander Stephens."
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W.A.S.
Copyright © 2011-2021 Stephen Williams. No reproduction of any part without permission.
