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captain. 'Wish there was room for you all. Now why don't you
folks fuck off and let us get going?'
     
    Departure.
    Nail
and his gang of muscle freaks were nowhere to be seen.
    The
remaining crew stood on the docking platform and shouted questions to the first
mate. Jane watched from the helipad. The mate stood at the prow, shotgun over
his shoulder. He kept his answers non-committal, said less than he knew. He
watched for any sign the Rampart crew might make another attempt to storm the
boat.
    The
four chosen crewmen climbed aboard. There wasn't room for their luggage so they
left it behind. They stood on deck and waved as the tug pulled away. Spirit of Endeavour. A little ship on a big ocean.
Jane wondered if the boat would reach Scotland. It was a long journey south,
but they might make it if they ran ahead of the weather.
    The
remaining crew retreated to their cabins to unpack.
     
    There
was nothing new on TV.
    CNN
was down.
    Sky News was a test card: ' We apologise for the break in
transmission. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Normal
programming will resume shortly .'
    BBC:
a haggard newscaster repeated the same advice. Keep calm. Stay off the street.
Stay tuned for updates. Jane remembered the young man. He used to present the
weather. He used to stand in front of a map and forecast sunny spells and rain.
Now he found himself reporting the end of the world.
    Punch
muted the sound and cued some tunes on the jukebox.
    'Hope
you feel good,' he told Jane. 'You did something heroic today. You could be on
your way home right now.'
    'I'm
not sure my mother would agree.'
    'She'll
be all right.'
    Jane
looked out to sea.
    'Check
out the cloud bank. There's a weather front moving in. Waves are starting to
build.'
    'I
went aboard with a box of food. It's little more than a rowing-boat. I wouldn't
want to be out there right now. Not with six people crammed inside. It'll be
touch-and-go. Take a lot of luck for them to reach land.'
    'Think
we're better off here?'
    'How
can we know? Did we give our folks a ticket home or send them to die?'
     
    Rawlins
led Jane and Sian to an observation bubble on the roof.
    The
bubble was at the edge of the helipad. A circle of windows gave a three-sixty
view of the refinery, the sea and the jagged crags of Franz Josef Land.
    'Since
you two are staying you better make yourselves useful.' He pulled dust sheets
from transmission equipment. 'We should have done this days ago.' He pointed to
a swivel chair. 'Sit there,' he told Sian. 'Don't touch the sliders.' He
powered up a bank of amplifiers. 'A bloke called Wilson used to play DJ after
each shift. Had his own little drive-time show. I filled in for a couple of
days when he broke his wrist. This kit is designed to broadcast to the rig but
if the atmospherics are right we could reach two, three hundred miles.'
    'What
about the ship-to-shore?'
    'Too
patchy. I want to try short-wave. Go broad and local. It's a big ocean. We
can't be the only people stuck out here.'
    'What
do I do?' asked Sian, positioning her chair in front of the mike.
    'Press
to talk. Release to listen.'
    'Mayday,
mayday. This is Con Amalgam refinery Kasker Rampart hailing any vessel, over.'
    No
response.
    'Mayday,
mayday. This is refinery platform Kasker Rampart requesting urgent assistance,
over.'
    No
response.
    'Mayday,
mayday. This is Kasker Rampart broadcasting to the Arctic rim, is anyone out
there, over?'
    No
sound but the static hiss of a dead channel.

Fragile
     
    The
radar in Rawlins's office sounded a collision alarm. Iceberg warning. His desk
screen showed a massive object closing in, moving slow.
    They
watched from the observation bubble. A mountain of ice passing five kilometres
distant. A table-berg, a colossal chunk of polar shelf. Ridges and canyons.
Blue ice marbled with sediment. A strange hellworld.
    'I
walked on a berg once,' said Rawlins. 'They fizz and crackle. Trapped air.
Sounds like a bonfire.'
    'Some
big waves down there,' said