Deep Ice Read Online Free PDF Page B

said Henry with a smile.
    “You haven’t voted for anyone in the last ten years, as far as I know,” said the general. “Let me see. What else? Oh, yes. I was sorry to hear about your family. Truly sorry. And, while I’m on the subject, I wanted to tell you we’re well aware of how you feel about your dogs. We’re sympathetic about the five you lost.”
    “You seem to have all the info, General Hayes, including every scrap of data I can give you about those fake Norwegians. Can’t you please tell me what’s going on?”
    “The scoop is, Gibbs, that a telegram came in yesterday morning to United Nations Headquarters and to ABC News, CNN, the New York Times , the White House. . . all at the same time. The message said” – Hayes cast his eyes to the ceiling, obviously concentrating on getting the words exact – “ ‘ TWO NUKES IN DEEP ICE. DETONATION ONE OCTOBER UNLESS FOUR BILLION DOLLARS US IS PAID ’.”
    There was a moment’s silence. “I know it by heart by now,” Hayes added.
    “That’s it?” said Henry, looking into the eyes of the two men.
    The SEAL shifted in his seat. “That’s it so far.”
    “Then how do you know it’s here ?”
    “ ’Cause this is where all the ‘deep ice’ is ,” said Grimes.
    “Shit,” muttered Henry. “It must have been them. The ones that shot me.”
    Hayes nodded. “You get the picture.”
    Henry Scott Gibbs of the Antarctic stared blankly at the general. “Guess so.”
    “You are – for the moment, at least – our only corroboration that the threat is real,” said the general.
    “And you might know where one of the bombs is buried. You may have seen the faces of the men who planted it.” He studied Henry for a second, then added, “The short of it, Gibbs, is that you’re our only lead.”
    #
    Unfortunately for Henry, the last good night’s sleep came courtesy of a hypodermic. It seemed he’d no sooner closed his eyes than he was awake again, and the same three men were standing next to him.
    “Gibbs,” said General Hayes, looking as though he’d had no sleep at all, “we have to ask you to come with us. Get dressed.”
    Henry’s chest still hurt, but he figured he’d have to get used to it. Better to be doing something than lying in bed groaning. After the men had left the previous night, he’d been allowed to get dressed and go to the recreational area. There he saw the effect the news was having on McMurdo. There was no one in the room, for one thing, and he was free to use any phone in the place. It reminded him of some End of the World movie.
    “My God!” he’d said. “Everybody’s dead !”
    “No, just packing,” a familiar voice said from behind the snack bar. “That sounds like you, Henry Gibbs.”
    Liz, the girl who ran the snack bar, appeared a moment later, her face flushed from bending over. “Hi, Henry. . . Sorry, I was just putting a few bottles down there. I’d figure you to be still out on the ice.”
    “I was,” he said with a big smile. “Until they told me you’d be here all alone, Liz.”
    “Uh huh,” she retorted. “Janet flies out and you’re in heat, like one of your dogs.”
    “Does that mean I can hump your leg?” Henry started to double over, laughing, then: “Ouuuuch!” he groaned, holding his chest. “I gotta remember not to be so freaking funny.”
    Always ready with a pleasant line, Liz attracted everyone in the place. She took to her job so well that everyone, men and women, always wanted to be talking to her. He was genuinely surprised to find her alone.
    “What’s wrong with you, Henry?”
    “So Janet flew out?” said Henry, still wincing.
    All Liz had heard was that Janet had left; she didn’t know where to. She asked him again why he was hurting.
    “Don’t you know?”
    “No. And where’s your other girl, Sadie?” she quipped.
    He told her about his ordeal on the ice.
    Liz seemed genuinely distressed when he told her how the faux -Norwegians had slaughtered his dogs. She had