“One of them is back,” she announced.
Vickers swung open the side door and the wind swirled inside, removing what little body heat had built up in the plane. The skier stepped out of his bindings and passed the skis to Vickers, who slid them along the floor. The man stepped in and the door was shut behind.
“Anything?” Conner asked as the man slid down his parka hood. She recognized Riley.
“Nothing.” He slumped down in his seat and leaned back. “I went about eight miles out and took a slightly different route back and picked up nothing.”
There was a roar as Swenson started the engines. In a minute, welcome heat poured out of the vents, and the windows slowly started clearing.
“Let’s taxi north and pick up Devlin on his way back,” Conner suggested.
Swenson shook his head. “Uh-uh. I know where the runway is safe for take-off.” He pointed out the front window. “Right back the way we came. Plus there’s too many small ridges that way. We wouldn’t get far.”
“Besides,” Riley added, “we don’t know if Devlin is taking a straight route back. Even though it isn’t likely, we might just miss him.”
Conner sighed and resumed her vigil out the window. She didn’t like waiting. Swenson shut off the engines after five minutes, and the heat quickly dissipated out the skin of the plane.
Swenson turned in his seat, tapping the headset he wore. “I just got the weather report from McMurdo. It doesn’t sound encouraging. They only give another three to four hours max of good weather and then we’re going to get hit with high winds, which means very low visibility.”
Conner wondered what was taking Devlin so long. He should have been back a half hour ago according to the plan.
Twenty minutes later, Vickers called out. “I see him.”
Conner leaned over and looked out the opposite side porthole. Devlin was moving rapidly to the plane. They opened the door as he arrived, and he threw in his backpack, followed by the skis and himself.
“Anything?” Conner asked.
“Yes.”
She waited for an explanation, but Devlin was busy cleaning the snow off his boots and then shutting the door. “Well?”
Devlin removed his snow goggles and smiled at Conner “There’s something under the ice about three miles from here.” he said, “I checked it as much as I could and left a flag there. It’s pretty big, whatever it is — at least eighty yards long, maybe more. It’s either your base or a big flying saucer that got buried under the ice.”
Everyone in the plane looked at Conner expectantly, waiting for her instructions. Devlin accepted a cup of coffee from Vickers’s thermos and cradled it in his hands, absorbing the warmth.
“Can we land up there?” Conner asked him.
Devlin nodded. “I think there’s a good level area to the north of the spot. I couldn’t tell for sure because I didn’t ski over it, but I think it’s worth a look.” He looked forward toward Swenson. “It runs northwest-southeast.”
Swenson shook his head. “We’ve got bad weather coming. If we don’t head for home now, we may get stuck out here.”
Sammy spoke for the first time. “What happens if we’re stuck out here?”
Devlin shrugged. “We have our emergency gear, but it depends how long the weather stays bad. It could stay bad for a week, in which case it would be an awfully long time to be cooped up in this plane.”
“I don’t think staying here’s a good idea,” Riley threw in.
“What if we get into the base?” Conner said.
“What?” Devlin was confused.
“What if we get into Eternity Base? It would be out of the wind. They probably left supplies in there.”
Riley was shaking his head. “Even if what Devlin found is Eternity Base, he said it was all covered up. How are we going to get in?”
Devlin was considering the idea. “They had to have an access shaft, and actually I think I found it when I was checking out the dimensions. Something is covered with blown snow next to an ice ridge.”
“We’ve got shovels and pickaxes in the plane’s gear. Let’s give it a shot,” Conner argued.
“I don’t like it.” Riley shook his head. “If you want my opinion, we go back to Aurora Glacier and wait until we get good weather. We know where the place is now and can come back.”
Swenson agreed. “I don’t like the idea of staying here, missy. I think we ought to go back.”
Conner leaned forward in her seat. “We’re going to have to weather out this storm somewhere — either at Aurora Glacier or here.
If we stay here, at least we won’t get caught in the bad weather flying back. Plus, remember we’d still have that forty-five-minute tractor ride back to the station. I think landing up near the base site and trying to dig in is the better option.”
Time was the most precious commodity Conner had now. She made a command decision. “Let’s try to land near the site.”
The second landing had been smoother than the first, and the plane was now staked down three hundred yards to the north of the ice ridge. Next to the ridge itself, Sammy, Riley, and Vickers were hacking at the ice and snow on the protuberance while Kerns and Devlin swept away the loose debris with shovels. Conner and Lallo were capturing their actions and the surrounding terrain on film.
It was obvious that the object underneath this snow was man-made. The shape was too linear to have occurred naturally. Riley swung the pick, and a section of ice splintered off. His next swing almost broke his hand as the point bounced off something solid. With his gloves he began wiping away ice and snow, exposing metal.
“I’ve got something,” Riley yelled. The others gathered around and stared at his discovery. The metal was painted white, and the pick had gouged the smooth surface.
“Let’s clear it out,” Devlin said, dropping his pick and grabbing a shovel. Shoulder to shoulder, Riley and Devlin used the edges of their shovels to enlarge the clear space on the metal. Soon they had exposed a flat sheet of metal almost three yards wide by two high.
Devlin stepped back and looked. “This has to be some sort of surface shaft.”
“Where’s the door then?” Sammy asked.
‘There are four sides,” Riley replied as he began excavating around the corner to the right. Vickers joined him. Without a word, Devlin and Lallo started around the corner to the left.
As they dug, they actually were leveling the area around the shaft, making it flush with the surface of the ice on the non-ridge side. The wind had picked up and snow was beginning to lift and blow across the basin.
Riley worked smoothly, trying not to break into a sweat. As his body heat rose, he removed his parka and stuffed it into his rucksack. He advised the others do the same.
A yard from the edge, Riley discovered a seam in the metal. He scraped away the ice up and down the seam and then to the right. Gradually a door appeared. On the far right side he discovered a spoked metal wheel. Once the door was completely uncovered he stepped back. The rest of the party had gathered around.
“Do you think it will work?” Conner addressed the question to Devlin.
Devlin ran his hands along the seam. “I don’t know. It ought to. It shouldn’t have frozen up — the temperature here never gets above freezing so there isn’t any moisture. Let’s give it a try.”
Riley moved back as Devlin gripped the wheel and leaned into it. The metal didn’t budge.
“Here, let me try.” Vickers placed the handle of the pick through one of the spokes of the wheel and squatted down. Slowly he started to exert pressure upward.
“Watch out!” Riley yelled, just as the wooden handle broke. The free piece ricocheted off the door and hit Vickers in the head. Dazed, he fell back onto the ice.