'Might be the weather, eh?'
'Weather's good right now. It won't get bad until tonight. Big storm coming.'
'We'll be down and tucked away safely before then,' said Mick. 'I'm sure it's just a glitch.'
Julia watched him go back and check his equipment. I hope you're right, she thought.
A red light appeared overhead. Julia pulled a set of headphones on and spoke into the microphone. 'What's up?'
'Still no answer. You want us to go in anyway?'
'Yes.'
'Roger that. Two minutes. Tell everyone to strap themselves in. Ice landings can be kinda rough.'
Julia pulled the headset off and motioned for the team to sit down and strap in. They all did quickly, except for Kendall who seemed content to stretch his legs until the last possible second.
The plane banked sharply and Julia felt a popping sensation in her ears. They were descending fast. She started straining to listen to the landing gear coming out, but since the wheels had been converted to ski skids, it was already down.
She could feel the pull on her body as the plane nosed down toward the earth. She always got nervous just before landings. Take-offs were fine, but landings always made her nervous. She glanced across the cabin at Mick who smiled at her and then closed his eyes.
Was he praying? Or was he going to sleep again?
Julia heard a grinding sound from the wings and figured the flaps were engaging at last.
This was it.
The end of the journey.
The start of her leadership role.
And hopefully…success.
The plane touched down with a sudden jolt that would have bounced her head against the bulkhead if she hadn't been strapped in tightly. She heard a rushing sound underneath the plane and knew the skids were slipping along the snow and ice.
They were down.
The plane gradually came to a stop. The overhead light turned green and Julia unbuckled and made her way quickly to the cockpit.
'Nice landing guys.'
'I don't see anybody out there, Ms. Devereaux.'
Julia peered out of the cockpit but the intense white made her blink rapidly. The pilot handed her his sunglasses.
'Glare's pretty bad, don't forget to wear your snow goggles or you'll go blind.'
Julia thanked him and slid the frames on her face. They were too big but she held them on and peered again.
Outside the window, a blank sheet of white as far as she could see. To their left she could make out the cylindrical buildings that made up Howard Base. A lone orange windsock pointed in the direction of the ubiquitous wind.
But otherwise there was nothing.
'You see any footprints?'
'If there were,' said Julia, 'they must have been covered up by the fresh snows.' She frowned. What the hell was going on? 'I'd better get us sorted out and see what the hell is going on.'
She handed the sunglasses back to the pilot and went back to the cabin again. All the men stood there looking at her. This was it. The first real test. She could feel Kendall's eyes on her. She supposed he was quietly wishing for something bad to happen that would strain her leadership skills.
Screw him.
She felt Mick's eyes on her, too.
And that was just fine.
'Here's what I want to happen. We're down, but there's no sign of anyone meeting us. While some of us get the gear off-loaded, I want two of you to check out the base. Volunteers?'
Mick raised his hand. 'I've got it.'
Wilkins nodded. 'Me, too.'
Julia nodded. 'Right, the rest of us will unload. Let's make it quick gentlemen. The weatherman says our good weather isn't going to last long. There's a bad storm heading our way and when that hits, we'd better be snug and warm inside or were finished before we're even started.'
The hydraulic ramp whined and began lowering. A sliver of bright light bit into the dim interior of the plane. Julia pulled on her snow goggles and saw the other teammates doing the same.
The ramp landed with a final thump and then Mick and Wilkins hopped out and headed right toward the base buildings. Julia turned and nodded to Nung who began pushing palettes of gear toward the edge of the ramp. Kendall and Vikorsky helped him. Havel began moving the gear off the palettes and closer to the building. Darren was going over the cabin with a flashlight to make sure nothing had been missed.
Julia hopped out of the plane and felt her boots touch the hard-packed snow. At last.
She smiled. Part of her felt like jumping up and down for joy. She'd dreamed of this for a long time. So very long.
And here at last, the pull that she'd felt since her teen years. The indescribable sensation that she needed to be down here in Antarctica. It suddenly felt so much stronger.
Wilkins and Mick came running back toward the plane.
Wilkins was huffing. Mick seemed fine.
'What's going on? Did you find them? Where the hell is everybody?'
Wilkins shook his head and tried to speak but couldn't get enough air. Mick clapped him on the back and looked at Julia, his eyes almost sad.
'They're gone. There's no one in the station.' He looked over his shoulder at the buildings and shook his head.
'We're all alone.'
2
'Alone?' Kendall's voice again. Julia sighed.
'Relax a moment, Kendall. Let me get this figured out, okay?'
'What's to figure out? We're alone. What the hell happened to the station?' He stared at Wilkins and Mick. 'Was the inside of the station destroyed? Did something happen to it?'
Mick shook his head. 'Inside's fine. Everything looks normal. There's just…no one there is all.'
Julia turned away and walked toward the C-130. The crew chief was busy pumping fuel into the plane. It loomed giant above her; the dull green a stark contrast to the white that surrounded them on all sides. She could make out the unit lettering on the tail.
Here five minutes and already problems. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this after all. Maybe she should have just stayed at the university where everything was safe. Maybe she should have just shut up and never aspired to anything. After all, millions of other people aspired to nothing and lived perfectly happy lives.
Bullshit.
She'd swallowed that bunk from three sets of foster parents growing up. After the death of her parents, Julia had been passed like stale bread from home to home. Never happy. Never content.
Never home.
And all the while, she'd felt something. Something she'd never talked to anyone else about. How would she explain it? She couldn't reason it out herself.
But despite the confusion, she knew one thing: she needed to be here.
She couldn't explain it. Not yet. She couldn't grasp or comprehend the invisible tractor beam that drew her
