Hammond Innes The White South

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That was all. Relief flooded through me. I told myself I'd been a fool.
And then, so faint that I could not catch the words, the voice of an operato r
crackled out of the set.
I leaned forward quickly and fingered the tuning knob. The name Southern Cr
oss was repeated twice. Then I was on the wavelength and the operator's voi ce
was echoing through the tent: 'We are beset by ice in 66.21 S. 34.06 W.
Southern Cross calling all shipping. SOS. SOS. Can you hear me? We are bese t
by ice in 66.21 S. 34.06 W. Southern Cross calling all ships. S O S. S O
S . . . .' It went on like that unendingly. The operator's tone never varie d.
It was unemotional, ordinary. He might have been making a weather statem ent.
But the monotonous repetition of the words drummed at my brain and I s at
there, quite regardless of the cold, seeing nothing, hearing nothing bey ond
that voice, completely stunned.
There was a movement in the tent round me. Gerda caught at my arm. She wa s
thinking of her father. Nobody spoke, but I knew they were all awake an d
listening. Sometimes the operator sent in English sometimes in Norwegia n.
Always the message was the same. Then a new voice was on the air. 'Haa kon to
Southern Cross. Haakon to Southern Cross. Repeat your position. Ov er.' The
position was repeated. There was silence for perhaps five minute s. Then the
Norwegian factory ship was back on the air. 'Haakon to Southe rn Cross.
Proceeding to your assistance. Our position is now 64 S. 44 W.
We should be with you at about 20.00 hours. Report fully on your present
circumstances.'' And the operator gave an R/T wavelength.
After I had tuned to him, Hide himself came on the air. 'We passed between t
wo icebergs in a wide lead at 17.30 hours yesterday, going to the assistance
of three of our catcher fleet damaged in the ice. At about 19.00 hours the
lead came to an end and we entered the ice which was loose pack and not thic
k. At 21.45 hours we were held up by a mass of very heavy pack. We tried to
back out of this, but the icebergs we had passed through were piling the pac k
up across our line of retreat. It appears that there is a strong eastward
drift here. The icebergs are moving with the drift. But to the east there is a
storm thrusting the ice westward. We are being caught between these two f
orces. When you reach the ice you will find there are seven icebergs in a ro
w. Do not try to proceed beyond this line. I repeat, do not try to proceed b
eyond this line. We will keep you informed of all developments.'
'Haakon to Southern Cross. Thank you for your warning. We will do all we c
an.'
'It is not believable,' Gerda whispered.
I didn't say anything. I felt utterly crushed. I think I prayed. I don't know
. My mind was a sort of blank in which I could think of nothing but the fact
that I needn't have been here. I wasn't a whaler. I wasn't a part of this Ant
arctic organization. If only I hadn't been so damned foolish about that fiver
Bridewell had given us as a New Year present! Or if only I'd had the sense t o
confirm that Kramer could get me a job in Capetown! It was as though Fate h ad
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organized it all. I felt bitter and lonely.
'Capitano.' Bonomi's voice trembled in the dark corner of the tent where he
lay. 'You will get us out of here, yes? You can navigate. You have been on a
polar expedition. You can get us--'
'It wasn't a polar expedition,' I snapped at him. 'It was only to Greenland.'
'What is the difference? You understand how to travel on the ice. Tell me,
plea se - is it possible to get out of the ice, eh?'
'In Greenland we had dogs.'
'Yes. But we have a boat.'
'Would you like to drag a boat through twenty miles of the conditions throu gh
which you ski'd this evening?'
'No. But I must get back. When I complete these whaling pictures, I am to go
to the Rand to work for some gold-mining companies. Oh, you people you do not
understand. You are not artists. For me my work is everything. I mu st get
back. I cannot be snuffed out here like any common photographer. I
have much fine work yet to do.'
'Oh, shut up,' I said. But the way he'd talked made me realize that there were
fifteen people right here on the ice with me who expected me to save them. The
responsibility wrapped itself round me and lay like a heavy mant le on my
shoulders. Gerda touched my hand. 'You must not worry, you know.
God will help us.'
Bonomi heard her and said, 'God?' Though I couldn't see him, I could pictu re
the down-droop of his mouth and the upward roll of his eyes. 'God has d one
too much for us already, I think. Madonna mia! We must do for ourselve s now.'
The refrigerator ship, South, and the tanker, Josephine, were now on the air.
They were ordered to close, but to stand off, clear of the ice.
All night the Southern Cross issued reports - to her own ships and to the H
aakon. But they showed no improvement until shortly after six when our hope s
were raised by the news that she had dynamited a patch large enough for h er
to be warped round. I felt then that there was a chance. She was facing out of
the ice and a powerful ship of that size ought to be able to batter her way
clear along the route by which she had entered. Everybody was cheer ful at
breakfast. But a broadcast shortly after eight-thirty shattered our hopes. The
icebergs were charging into the pack and building it up into hug e pressure
ridges. The way out was blocked. Though we couldn't see the Sout hern Cross
because of the glare, we could see the icebergs. And to do this we no longer
had to climb to our lookout. They were much nearer and plainly visible from
the tents.
Shortly after nine, Colonel Bland himself came on the air instructing the Jo
sephine to refuel all catchers and towing vessels and escort them to South G
eorgia. This, more than anything else, brought home to us the seriousness of
the situation. To give such an order it was clear that the officers on boar d
the Southern Cross considered there was no chance of their being able to r
esume operations that season.
There is no need for me to record here in detail what everyone knows. By te n
o'clock the Southern Cross was reporting damage due to the pressure of th e
ice, though the pumps were still holding the water. But an hour later the
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whole starboard side of the factory ship was buckling under the constant a
ttack from the ice. By eleven-thirty she was pierced in several places and the
crew were off-loading stores and equipment. Oil was being pumped out to be
ignited later as a guiding beacon.
Gerda took me aside then. 'Duncan. I think we must begin to carry more stor es
to the floe-berg. I am not happy here. If we get caught between those ic
ebergs and the pack ice to the east we may lose everything.'
I nodded. 'You're right,' I said, and gave the order for my party to get read [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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