Once everyone was awake and finished with breakfast, Purdue clapped his hands for attention. His long face looked more than usually solemn as he glanced around at everyone to make sure they were listening. "I have some news which is… a little alarming, possibly," he began. "This morning Alexandr attempted to make contact with Neumayer Station, as usual. Unfortunately, he found that the satellite phone was not operational. I have examined it, and we have tried again a number of times since, but it continues to fail to detect any signal. I believe that a small piece of hardware has malfunctioned within it, making it unlikely that we will be able to repair it."
"Well, that's it, then," said Fatima. "We'll have to go to Neumayer and not this ice station. We can't go traipsing off into unknown territory with no means of contact with the outside world. That would be insane."
"It is true," said Alexandr. "It would be insane. But is this not what the great Scott of the Antarctic did, so many years ago? Is this not was Alfred Ritscher did? Not one of them had the benefit of satellite phones. When they went into uncharted territory, they took their lives in their hands!"
"So that we wouldn't have to!" Fatima wailed. "Is that what this is all about? You want to be like them? Is this all about your ego?"
Sensing another argument in the making, Sam caught Nina's eye and mimed smoking at her. She nodded and pulled on her snowsuit, and the two of them crept out and left Alexandr and Fatima to battle it out.
"It's not so bad without the wind chill," Nina remarked. "Pity the snow's a bit too deep for running around. We could have had an epic snowball fight."
"You're insane," said Sam, flicking open the lighter.
"Probably. I think I'm just glad to be out of there. I can see Fatima's point, but I just don't think we should squander this opportunity — broken satellite phone or not."
Sam's eyebrows shot up. "You really are insane. You think we should keep going?"
"Why not?" Nina asked. "It's not like we'll actually be going into the mountains or anything, and I'm not sure there's any point in chickening out on the grounds that it's not safe. It's the Antarctic, for Christ's sake. It's never going to be safe. Fatima knows that. She's just freaking out because she doesn't trust Purdue or Alexandr. Do you, by the way? I'd love to know."
Sam shook his head. "Not really. I think they're both kind of crazy. Though I would trust Alexandr to keep himself alive, and I suppose that for as long as we're with him that probably means he'll do the same for us. Purdue… I don't know. I've got a feeling he'll run headfirst into danger and take us all with him."
Nina closed her eyes and exhaled. "I suppose this means we'll need to do the vote again. Does that mean you're going to vote to head for Neumayer, then?"
"I'm here to profile Purdue," said Sam. "Where he goes, there go I."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Crazy."
"Yeah."
They stood in companionable silence for a little while, concentrating on their cigarettes and trying not to overhear the argument going on inside the tent.
"Nina?" Sam said eventually.
"What?"
"I was wondering… what did you make of all that stuff with the phone?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she said. "Shit happens, I suppose. Phones break. It's unfortunate, but it's just one of those things. Why, do you think it's something sinister?"
"Hmm." Sam took a contemplative puff. "It's just… it seems a bit weird. Coincidental. That's the second important thing to break down, despite the fact that Purdue paid top dollar for all this stuff and probably invented that phone. Did you not think it was a bit odd that the hovercraft blew a cushion when we were right on top of this supposed Nazi ice station? Kind of convenient, wasn't it?"
"I suppose so," said Nina. "I did think it was a bit weird. But I haven't been able to come up with a plausible explanation for why anyone would go to that much trouble. I mean, if it was Purdue, he could just have had the hovercraft drop us off and said 'Right, we're not going to Neumayer, we're going Nazi-hunting, everyone out.' We're here on his money, after all. It's not like we'd have had a huge amount of choice."
"I don't know," Sam stared out across the snow, trying to work it out. "On the one hand I agree with you. It's a hell of a faff when he could just have made us all do what he wants. But on the other hand, look at him. He likes drama. He likes putting on a bit of a show. For someone who can be so zipped up the back, he certainly likes to be the center of attention. I'm not sure what to believe. But as you say, we're here now. The opportunities aren't going to get any better. I'm trying to live by the motto I had when I was a teenager: just because you can doesn't mean you should — but you might as well."
"Fair enough," said Nina. "Well, if he's that determined to get us to do what he wants, there doesn't seem to be much sense in resisting — it's what we're here for anyway. Now, I've been meaning to ask, what happened to you yesterday? When Admiral Whitsun was talking, you nearly dropped the tea. I wanted to ask, but judging by the look on your face it wasn't anything you would have wanted to talk about in front of everyone else."
For the first time in their short acquaintance, Nina saw Sam withdraw into himself completely. His eyes went blank and his face hardened a little. She could hardly believe that she was looking at the same man whose sardonic smile she had grown so use to seeing during the past month.
"I'm sorry, Sam, I shouldn't have asked—"
"No," he said quietly. "It's fine. I just hadn't realized it was him. I'd never seen him before. His son got busted for running an international arms-dealing ring. Killed himself rather than face a trial. It was me that broke the story. Really, it was me that discovered that Charles Whitsun was involved."
"Charles Whitsun?" Nina was suddenly alert. "Steven's friend?"
"Yes. Sorry, I had forgotten there was a connection there. Well, I don't know whether Admiral Whitsun knows who I am yet, but I can't imagine that he's forgotten that I was largely responsible for getting his son arrested. He hasn't said or done anything to suggest that he's figured it out, but it's got to happen at some point and it's going to be pretty bloody awkward when it does."
Nina gave a long, low whistle. "It certainly will," she agreed. "Look, Sam, I don't know the ins and outs of the case…"
"No reason why you should," Sam said. "There wasn't that much coverage, seeing as how there was no trial. There were a few mentions of the arms ring in the coverage of his suicide, but only in the tabloids, really. The broadsheets thought it would be a bit insensitive. Rich, powerful families get that kind of consideration, apparently. The rest of us don't."
"I'm sure you did what needed to be done, Sam."
"I did." The light drained from his eyes once again. "And everybody paid the price for it." He fell silent, staring out at the soft drifts of snow. Nina watched him, intrigued, trying to judge whether she could get any more out of him or whether she would stir up too many painful things. She concluded that she would, and that she should leave him alone.
When Sam and Nina returned to the tent, the argument seemed to have blown over. Fatima still did not look happy and the tension was almost palpable, but at least no one was yelling at anyone else any more. It was Fatima herself who brought up the matter of the vote. She said that once again, she would abide by the majority's decision, but she thought it was only fair that those who had voted in favor of searching for the ice station before should be given the chance to revise their choices in light of the problem with the phone.
Not a single member of the group decided to change his or her vote. Professor Matlock remained sulky and reiterated his previous point, that he would continue if the others did but wanted his reticence to be noted. Fatima, likewise, voted to go straight to Neumayer, but refused to leave the others. The decision remained unchanged. With or without the satellite phone, they would go in search of the ice station. As soon as they had repacked their equipment and provisions, they would make a start.