Page 10 of Ruining His Smirk

“…Fine.”

I grinned.

“Knew you’d see reason.”

“I didn’t,” he said flatly. “I’m simply sacrificing myself for science. Faraday would have been proud.”

I didn’t know who the hell Faraday was, but I needed to hug my brother. I raised an arm and waited. When he picked up his computer and nodded, I slung my arm around his shoulders and steered him toward the entrance doors.

“Bonding via ranting is the code of manhood. Trust me.”

“I strongly disagree.”

3

Nate

Polar Research Ship Icebreaker

Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Dec 10th (Same Day)

I was at the long desk in the data suite, going over the feed on my monitor. Sunlight came through the row of portholes along the wall behind me. The bank of screens on the far wall ran its usual scroll of numbers and camera feeds.

“Nate.”

I looked up to find Keith standing in the doorway.

“What is it?”

“The captain wants you down at the moon pool.”

I got up and followed him. “Why does it feel like being called to the headmaster’s office?” I muttered as he led the way through the ship’s corridors. The walls were pale cream-colored paneling, with a light gray non-slip floor underfoot. A stainlesssteel handrail ran along one wall at waist height on small support brackets. Overhead, recessed ceiling lighting ran the length of the corridor, with a green illuminated exit sign farther down the hall.

“Been naughty lately?” he deadpanned.

I stared at him with new horror. “Shit. What if he found my stash of… you know… toys?”

Keith threw his head back and laughed. “You’re a grown man of thirty, Nate. You’re allowed to have toys.”

We reached the science hangar. Anson Birch, our ship’s captain, was standing at the bank of screens where the sensor feed came in.

“Good, you’re here,” the captain said.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Come make sure your girlfriend’s still where you left her.”

I looked at the bank of screens. One showed the usual sponges, sea stars, and the myriad of invertebrate communities characteristic of the Antarctic seafloor.

“Okay…” I raised an eyebrow at him. “If she was here last week, she wouldn’t just disappear, would she? Unless we have some really special pirates around. Or…” I gasped. “She cheated on me?”

Captain Birch nodded at the screens. “Stop being a smart aleck and check for me.”

“Can you move the probe north? I want to see that section,” I asked the technician who was standing next to the screens.

She adjusted the controls. The probe drifted across the seabed on the screen, the light moving with it, sweeping over pale shapes half buried in the sediment, bone white against the dark floor.