Beneath the Ice Read Online Free PDF

ride it out, rather than festering in this shithole? You’ll be doing good, making money, and at the very least, a job in Antarctica will be the mother of all distractions.’
    As Luca looked up, Bates could see his resolve finally start to waver. He watched as Luca blinked several times, slowly coming to the realisation that what Bates was offering was a chance to begin again. It was a new start – a way of finally dispelling the past.
    ‘OK,’ Luca said, nodding slowly as if to convince himself. ‘I’ll go. But when do I need to leave here? I’ve got a few things that I need to take care of.’
    ‘Antarctica is shutting down in just over a week. This is it, Luca. The helicopter’s here to take us both back.’
    ‘You’re serious? You want me to leave now?’
    Bates went to respond, then paused. He could hear a sound coming from somewhere beyond the canteen door. A second later and the heavy clump of workmen’s boots filled the air, followed by a deep, growling voice.
    ‘Matthews!’
    More footsteps.
    ‘Where’s that scrawny . . .’
    The words trailed off as a giant of a man stalked into the room. He was wearing thick orange overalls, with a clipboard clamped in his right fist. As he came closer they could see that he was entirely bald, with a mixture of sweat and rain glistening off his domed head, which glinted under the canteen’s fluorescent lights. His eyes blazed with undisguised annoyance, while his mouth looked to be somehow twisted. It was only as he halted in front of them that it became obvious he had a cleft upper lip, with the pull of his lips revealing a row of yellow-stained teeth.
    ‘I got the safety report,’ he bellowed. ‘What the hell are you playing at? You have to wear two safety ropes on the scalf towers at all times. Not one, but two. And you unclipped from both!’
    Luca raised himself off the armchair, eyeing him closely. As they stood in front of each other Luca looked even more wiry and lean, the antithesis to the foreman’s barrel chest and brawny forearms.
    ‘Look, we’ve been through this,’ Luca said, keeping his tone measured. ‘The drag on the ropes is too much. It would have been a two-hour climb pulling all that shit. Instead, I got the job done in twenty minutes.’
    A vein started to pulse at the side of the foreman’s neck. He raised his clipboard, pointing it like a weapon at the centre of Luca’s chest.
    ‘You free climbed over two hundred and fifty feet into the air! Who do you think you are? Fucking Spiderman?’
    A globule of spit flew from the back of his throat, catching Luca on the shoulder. He raised his hands defensively. ‘Look, I told you . . .’
    ‘No! I’m telling
you
,’ the foreman shouted back, jabbing the corner of the clipboard into Luca’s sternum. ‘How do I explain this to the mainland?’
    He jabbed again, causing Luca to step back a pace. As he did so his expression darkened, the thought of Bates’ new job at last providing him with an alternative. He didn’t need to put up with the foreman’s bullshit any longer and the realisation triggered a long-simmering resentment to finally boil over.
    ‘Have you any idea how many forms I’ve got to fill in?’ the foreman continued, oblivious to the sudden change in Luca. He then pushed forward with the clipboard once more, but this time Luca slapped it out of his hand, sending it spinning across the floor.
    ‘So go and write your fucking reports,’ he said, nodding to where the clipboard lay. ‘Go on. Pick it up.’
    The foreman’s eyes bulged incredulously and his sneer widened, exposing a couple more teeth.
    ‘That’s it!’ he shouted, raising one arm to strike but finding it suddenly stopped by a stranger grabbing on to his wrist. The foreman turned, taking in Bates for the first time.
    ‘Enough,’ Bates said.
    For a brief moment the foreman’s expression clouded in confusion as he tried to figure out where on earth he had come from. But then his anger returned,