Colony by Benjamin Cross (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

“Nothing,” he replied at last. “Just my shameful Russian.”

The Kamov made its way north along the low-lying serrations of the western coast. When Callum returned his attention to the world below, he found that the thin scatter of harp seals had been replaced by a heaving walrus colony. Alarmed by the helicopters’ presence, they had churned themselves into a frenzy and were now stampeding out into the water.

“It is not good to scare them like this,” Doctor Lebedev said.

Sensing her concern, Lungkaju steered them away.

The relief rose sharply inland, creating a wide coastal plain. Beyond this the island dissolved into a series of rock-strewn valleys stretching on towards the foot of the glacier. As they passed over the centre of the plain, Callum spotted something below. He strained to make it out, but it looked like a cluster of derelict buildings organised around an area of hardstanding.

“Is that an airfield?” he called through to Lungkaju.

“This is an old military base,” came the reply over the PA. “The Soviet army built it, but it was never finished.”

Callum felt a twinge of disappointment. “Did anybody else think we were the first ones here?”

There were murmurs of general agreement from the rest of the team.

“The government would not tell you about these things,” Doctor Lebedev said.

“Did you know?” Callum asked.

She shook her head. “I was told nothing either.”

As they reached the island’s north-western extent, the helicopter banked sharply around a long isthmus jutting out into the sea and ending in an ellipsis of craggy islets.

“Nansen Rocks,” came the announcement.

Doctor Lee said something about eroded late cretaceous sediment, while Doctor Semyonov counter-claimed almost reflexively for mid-Jurassic.

From the centre of the northern coastline all the way across to the east, a row of massive cliffs fronted onto the sea.

“This is Svayataya Point,” Lungkaju said. “There are many birds here. Very many birds.”

The helicopter moved out over the edge of the precipice, descended and flew low along the face of the cliffs. In places they rose to a height of over two hundred metres or more. Time and the elements had gouged fissures into them, and landslides had left great overhangs as well as islands of fallen stone off shore.

Just as Lungkaju had predicted, the face was alive with nesting birds. Silence descended in the cabin as the helicopters disturbed more and more of the birds from their ledges, and they became so thick in the air that the pilots were forced to swerve out to sea.

“Here’s your forty species,” Callum said to Doctor Lebedev, somehow recalling their conversation at dinner the night before.

“This is funny,” she replied with a knowing smirk, “I count only one.”

Past Svayataya Point, as the birds thinned out and the land descended sharply back to sea level, the helicopter continued south along the east coast. Then Lungkaju turned inland once more and made towards the central ridge of high ground. It rose swiftly in vertebral chunks. To the south, the Hjalmar Cap held dominion over the turrets of ancient rock. Up close, the ice revealed its infinite, angular faces, some purest white, others an intense blue. It was a cascade suspended and frozen in time.

To the north, the ice dwindled away to nothing and the base of the ridge was riddled with tunnels.

“In there,” said Doctor Semyonov suddenly. “In there you will find the thermal fissures!”

“That’s great, Nikolai,” Peterson called through to him. “But what do we need hot springs for when there’s a sauna on the ship?”

“Because that sauna will not power the Harmsworth facility.”

“What the hell are you talking about, power the facility?”

“You mean you haven’t heard?” said Doctor Lee, sensing blood. “Doctor Semyonov here believes that there’s enough thermal energy on this island to provide a fully renewable energy source for the processing plant. He’s been pitching it to the powers that be from day one. Only thing is, he’s still got to prove it. Oh, and they’ll never buy it either.”

“Typical western cynicism,” Semyonov retorted.

“Typical eastern short-sighted bullshit!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will land now,” announced Lungkaju, “and you can walk for a while.” He took a furtive swig from his vodka flask, radioed through to Lambie and spoke to him in Nganasan. Soon afterwards, the helicopters set down on Valerian Cove.

“Please be familiar with your survival kits,” Lungkaju said. “There is an emergency tent, very strong, a bolt gun for securing him to the bedrock, some flares, a can of bear spray and a survival tin. Hopefully you will not need any of these things, but you should keep your rucksack close whenever you are on the island.”

As soon as the side door was thrown open, the wind whipped into the cabin.

“Jesus H Christ!” Peterson said, pulling his hat down around his ears. “I hope you’ve packed your thermal kilt, McJones.”

As the team jumped out, Lungkaju handed each member a thin adjustable strap with a red LED set centrally. “It is an emergency locator,” he said. “If you are in trouble, then please press the button and your signal will be picked up on the Albanov. Watch for bears and do not wander off the beach.”

Callum fastened the locator around his wrist and then began picking his way across the shingle towards the shoreline. The stones crunched underfoot. Splinters of gnarled driftwood were scattered widely. Excreted by the receding floes, cracked by the salt and bleached silver-white by the sun, they were formed into loose piles, like the skeletal remains of long-dead sea creatures.

He reached the water’s edge and stopped. So this is it. The Arctic.

The Albanov was anchored majestically off shore. The surrounding sky was clear and endlessly blue. A number of other islands were visible in faint outline along the horizon. Their features were dulled by the matt sunlight, giving them the appearance of distant icebergs, dark and mysterious, lurking on the edge of existence.

He reached down, selected a pebble and skimmed it along a fissure in the ice. Below the ripples, the shallows were smooth and crystal clear,