winter in greenland

Chapter 34

Dan frowned, and pressed the place lightly, but the feeling came and went quickly, and when August turned around, he saw Dan put his hand down.

"what happened?"

Dan shook his head: "It's okay, it probably hit me just now. Are we going to camp here?"

August looked around: "Let's stay here for the time being. The situation inside is unclear, and it's too dangerous to rush in. If the base can receive the news earlier, we might be able to go up soon. "

Dan could hear the consolation in his tone, didn't say anything, just smiled faintly, took out the sleeping bag from his backpack, and spread it near the ice wall; then he took out the gauze and walked toward O Gust raised his chin: "Major, your wound."

August moved his right arm slightly, walked to Dan and took off his outer winter jacket: "There should be no major problem."

Dan raised his eyebrows, and August saw the persistence in his expression, so he had to take off his clothes, revealing his right arm——

The wound that was already on the verge of healing after such a lot of tossing opened again, and the dark blood was coagulated around the wound. For a moment, it was difficult to distinguish which were new wounds and which were old wounds.

Dan's fingers trembled slightly, as if a little afraid to move.

"Dan," August called him quietly.

He snapped back to his senses and looked up at August, only to feel that those gray-blue eyes were quiet and serene, with an unquestionable firmness.

"Trust me, and trust yourself." August's voice was still very soft, but it was enough for Dan to regain his composure.

He took a breath: "I see, Major."

"Let's just bandage it up. The ice and snow here have been left thousands or tens of thousands of years ago. I don't want to bring some 'trophies' back." August's voice was a little smiling.

Dan let out a "huh", trying not to look at the hideous blood under the wound, and quickly re-bandaged it.

"How soon do you expect the base to come over?"

August shook his head: "I never make such guesses, but I think we'd better have a little confidence in Captain Heath."

Dan also smiled: "You can rest for a while."

August didn't refuse. He reached out and turned off his headlight, stretched his legs into the sleeping bag, still leaned against the ice wall, and closed his eyes: "I'll sleep for a while, call me immediately if there is anything."

Dan nodded.The surroundings fell into silence for a while, only August's long and gentle breathing could be heard.In order to save resources, he turned off his headlight and did not turn on the alcohol stove. He leaned against the ice wall on the same side as August, quietly watching the huge outline of the opposite ice layer in the darkness. .You can still hear the movement outside from this position, and the silence infinitely magnifies the sound of the howling and raging cold wind outside the ice bucket. Dan slightly tilted his head and glanced at August, as if thinking of something, smiled silently, and looked back at August. back in the dark.

At the same time, the Port Ferringe base.

When Heath was woken up by the phone ringing, he had just fallen asleep. The base has also entered the polar night these days. For some reason this night, he always felt a little restless. After finishing his work, he went directly to the training room for two runs Hours, came back and took a shower, and lay down at nearly 2 o'clock in the morning.

He picked up the phone after only one ring. He felt in a trance as if he had a dream, but he couldn't remember what he dreamed. The palm of the hand that picked up the receiver was covered with cold sweat, and his heart beat like a drum.

"Hello, Sirius Patrol Base." He took a breath and forced himself to calm down.

On the opposite side was a somewhat unfamiliar female voice: "Excuse me, is your captain there? I am Professor Murphy from the Meteorological Research Team of the Royal Danish Scientific Expedition. I need to contact your captain in case of emergency."

Heath frowned: "Our captain left the base three months ago to start this year's winter patrol. Now I am in charge of the affairs here temporarily."

The opposite party paused, and then began to speak at an incredible speed: "Long story short, our research team has always set up a fixed scientific research site on the east coast of Greenland, and there are four computers in it. Change and climate change. Every year, members of your patrols stop there for a few days to package the computer data and send it back to our headquarters. Earlier this evening, we received this year's data, but found that two of the detection data The alarms in the area showed abnormalities. Our computer modeling analyzed and concluded that the nearby Safi Volcano on the seabed showed signs of activity, which may cause minor earthquakes in that area, including the instability of the crust in the continental shelf area. However, we tried to contact the people at the scientific research site. At that time, we found that no one answered, half an hour ago, we even lost the communication signal of the scientific research station..."

"Wait, wait," Heath interrupted her, "What do you mean the Earth's crust is unstable?"

"You know that more than 90.00% of the continental shelf in the east of Greenland is covered with sea ice. If volcanic activity causes an earthquake, the ice on the continental shelf is very likely to break. The terrain in that area is quite dangerous now. If they don't evacuate in time, I'm afraid..."

"The last time you communicated with that scientific research station was half an hour ago?" The sleepiness in Heath's eyes dissipated, he jumped out of bed, with a satellite phone in one hand, strode to the desk in the room, took Pick up the radio communicator and press a few numbers.

"Yes, no one answered the previous communication, and we couldn't contact the base after that. I can only speculate that they have left the site early."

"Wait a minute." Heath said something into the phone, then put the phone aside, and held the radio communicator to his ear.

"Come on, August, what are you doing..." he murmured, but there was only silence in response to him except for a series of buzzing noises.

Closing his eyes, Heath immediately made a decision. He picked up the satellite phone again: "Professor Murphy, I can't contact them. Please give me the specific coordinates of the scientific research site, and I will send a helicopter to search and rescue immediately."

The other side was silent for a second, and when he spoke again, Murphy's tone was sympathetic: "I'm afraid the weather conditions will not allow it. Our satellite synchronization shows that there is a snowstorm near that area, and the scale is A3. I don't recommend any storms of this level. The helicopter takes off."

Heath kicked the foot of the table anxiously: "My captain is in danger! I can't wait here and do nothing!"

Murphy's voice was calm: "Don't be impatient, what's your name?"

"Sirius vice-captain, Captain Heath Eblon."

"Captain Iblon, I'm on the plane coming to Greenland now, and I may need you to give me a pass for my helicopter in half an hour. My colleagues who stay in the headquarters will update the weather conditions in the area received by the satellite in real time. We will discuss the matter when I arrive.”

After Heath hung up the phone, he first confirmed the safety of the other two patrol teams, and then directly sounded the alarm for the entire base.

10 minutes later, the training ground.

All the lights in the four corners of the field were turned on, and the center of the training ground was brightly illuminated. Heath stood in the center with his hands behind his back, with a gloomy expression on his face. In front of him was a row of Sirius players. Ian and Newman stood on the far left. Anxiety that couldn't be concealed.

"...As I said earlier, August and Dan are now out of contact. Assuming the worst case, the ice shelf breaks and they fall into the ice crevasse; Unknown coordinates waiting for rescue. The helicopter is on standby, no matter what the situation is, you need to see people, and you need to see dead bodies. Can I make my point clear?"

"Clear!" There was a uniform response.

Heath raised his wrist and looked at his watch. In the night sky, he could vaguely hear the sound of a helicopter propeller coming from a distance.About ten minutes later, an iron-gray helicopter circled and landed in a corner of the playground.When the cabin door opened, Heath strode up to meet him.

A young woman about 30 years old jumped out of the cabin door. She had short blond hair that just reached her ears, and was a little messed up by the airflow brought by the propeller. Under her thin bangs were a pair of sharp gray eyes and a straight nose bridge. , with slightly pursed lips, wearing a ginger jacket on the upper body, a pair of light blue jeans on the lower body, and black boots tucked into the knees, the whole person looks clean and tidy.

"Captain Heath." She stretched out her hand first.

Heath reached out and shook her hastily, and led her to the team members standing in a row: "This is Professor Murphy from the meteorological research team of the Royal Danish Scientific Expeditionary Team. She is here to cooperate with us in the search and rescue. Sergeant Ian, Sergeant Newman is out, and the others are back in the training room to stand by!"

Heath took them to the conference room on the third floor of the base building. All the equipment was ready. Murphy didn't say much, and directly connected his computer to the screen on the wall—a topographic map of the eastern coast of Greenland. Appeared in front of everyone.

"Our scientific research station is near the Geographical Society Island, and Safi Volcano is probably at this position," she drew a circle on the map with an infrared pen: "Part of the purpose of setting up the scientific research station there is also to monitor the activity of the volcano. Situation. As I said earlier on the phone, the data of two buoys in the sea near Safi Volcano showed abnormal alarms one after another. The only possibility is that the volcano woke up from its dormant period, triggering a small-scale submarine earthquake and the eruption of lava. The result of this series of movements is that the ice on the coastal continental shelf near Geographical Society Island is broken. And what makes it worse is that there is a snowstorm in that area now," she clicked the mouse, calling out the East Greenland Satellite cloud image, pointing to a white spiral cloud on the cloud image: "This is the cyclone currently over the east coast of the island. According to its trajectory, we speculate that it will move to the south in about 3 to 4 hours. Once it The edge of the area is out of this area, and our search and rescue aircraft can depart."

Heath raised his hand to interrupt her: "Can you see the terrain in the storm area?"

Murphy shook his head: "I'm sorry, I can't."

Heath's eyes were a little impatient: "Will it be 3 or 4 hours at the earliest?"

Murphy looked at him: "Captain Heath, I don't recommend launching a search and rescue under such weather conditions. It is very likely that our helicopter will not be able to land at all."

Heath was silent for a few seconds, sighed heavily, and looked at Ian and Newman: "You guys understand the situation, we set off at 7 o'clock in the morning, Ian will go with us, Newman will stay at the base, and you will stay here while I am away." Handle all matters of the base, including cooperating with Professor Murphy's work."

As soon as Yin En and Newman responded, Murphy interrupted them: "I will set off with you."

Heath looked at her in surprise: "Professor, you said it yourself, that area is very dangerous now."

Murphy smiled slightly: "I know, but you need me to go with you."

Heath looked at her for a while, then stood up: "That's it, Professor Murphy will set off with us. Ian, go and check the helicopter and supplies. We will gather at the playground at 6:30."