He rolled over on his back, slipped his arm under her waist and dragged her to him, lifting her so she was lying on her back on his chest and she reached down, found him and shoved him into her, while he stroked her breasts with one hand and masturbated her with the other.
‘No... more,’ she gasped, but he couldn’t stop. He thrust harder and harder, faster and faster, his fingers fleeting over her mound and as she tightened around him, he finally exploded with a great cry of relief and then he began to laugh, and a moment later she came again. He raised his knees and pressed down on her thighs and stayed in her as long as he could as the storm howled past the window.
IV
Lansdale awoke sharply from a deep, untroubled sleep. He lay on the bed for a moment, blinking his eyes, wondering what had awakened him so abruptly. The lights in the bedroom were still on and Marge lay beside him, sleeping soundly. it was 3:05 A.M. He sat up and grabbed the hot-line phone and punched out the number of the stabilizer control room. It only rang once before someone answered ‘Hello.’
‘This is Chief, who’m I talkin’ to?’
‘Barney Perkins.’
‘Everything all right down there?’
‘I’m not sure.’
Lansdale was stunned by Perkins’ response. He jumped up, cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear, and grabbed clothes from the floor, chairs, wherever they had fallen a few hours before.
‘What d’ya mean, you’re not sure?’
‘We got a... uh . .. like a tremor, Chief.’
‘Tremor?’
‘Yeah. There was like... I dunno, it was like . . . the whole rig shivered...’
‘Shivered? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’
Lansdale was watching the monitor as he spoke, looking at the exterior of the Thoreau, draped with ice, like some primitive ice castle. Searchlights played the seas around the rig.
The waves were battering the legs, smashing small ice floes to bits.
‘I think maybe ... uh, maybe we took a hit from . .. maybe a small iceberg or something.’
‘“Or something” my ass. There’s no “or something” out there, for Christ’s sake. I’ll be right down.’
He slammed down the phone, Then he picked it up and punched out the number for the radio room.
‘Radio room. Harrison.’
‘Harrison, this is Chief. Check the area for surface craft right now. Find out if we got anything in the area.’
‘Jesus, what’s—’
‘Don’t fuck around, do it! Call me back.’
Marge turned over, eyeing him sleepily.
‘What is—’ she began, but he cut her off abruptly. He was across the room, pulling life jackets and thermal suits from the bottom of a closet. He tossed them to her. ‘Get this on fast and come on.’
The phone rang again and he snatched it up.
‘Yeah?’
‘Chief? It’s Harrison again.’
‘What’ve ya got?’
‘A Greek tanker, running the troughs at quarter speed.’
‘Where?’
‘Hell, if the weather was clear we could see it. About three miles northwest, heading toward the Strait,’
‘Listen to me, Harrison. Something may have bumped us. Call the tanker and tell her we may need help.’
‘You want me to give her a May Day?’
‘Just do exactly as I said, tell her we may be having trouble and we’d like a courtesy call. I’ll get back to you from Stabilizer Control.’
He was still watching the monitor, then he felt it again, it was a tremor, like a light earthquake. Glasses jingled on the bar. Then it settled again.
She was pulling on the thermal long johns and there was panic written in her earthy features. ‘What’s happening?’
‘I dunno,’ Lansdale said. ‘Maybe something hit us. I got to get down to Control. Ready?’
He was dressed only in long johns with a life jacket over them.
‘Can I put some clothes on?’ she asked.
