STEVE LAY ON the ragged mat in his hut.The light streamed through the chinks in the walls. It felt strange to be home during the daytime, but now that he was on the night shift, he wasn’t due at work until six P.M.
A few weeks ago if Steve had been home during the day in the middle of the week, he would have gone bowling on the abandoned freeway or waited for his turn on a free computer at the local computary so that he could read comics. But today, for the sake of these kid contestants, Steve had stayed home to watch Historical Survivor. He turned up the volume. ANTARCTIC HISTORICAL SURVIVOR flashed onto the screen.
“Right now we want to introduce the contestants for our upcoming series.” With her perfect red suit and matching lipstick, Hot Sauce seemed to glow with satisfaction.
“First, Polly Pritchard,” the Secretary said.
The kids all had on blue jeans, white T-shirts that read ANTARCTIC HISTORICAL SURVIVOR, and flashy new tennis shoes from the Nike endangered-fish series.
Polly smiled and waved. The Secretary introduced the remaining kids one by one.
Billy stared straight at the camera, as if to say, “I deserve to be here.”
Andrew squirmed in the small chair.
Robert gave a thumbs-up sign.
Grace scowled.
“Now, Polly,” the Secretary continued, “each of you has been selected because you have a special gift. Can you guess what yours is?” Hot Sauce crossed her long legs.
Steve knew that she had a microphone set to pick up the crackle of her nylons. Only the richest women could afford nylons.
“I don’t have to guess,” Polly said simply, staring straight at the camera. “I have a photographic memory.”
“What exactly does that mean?” the Secretary asked.
“It’s hard to describe.” Polly fidgeted. “It’s like I have books in my head.”
“You look too small to have a library in your head.” The Secretary tittered at her own weak joke. Prompted by laugh cards, the audience laughed, too. “But I’ll take your word for it.”
“And you, Andrew?” She turned to the pudgy boy on the end. “What is your special gift?”
The boy turned three shades of red. “I’m alive,” he said.
Steve felt he had something in common with this awkward kid.
Except for Polly, the other children grinned.
“All of us are alive,” Hot Sauce said irritably. “I mean a special gift that you alone in this room may have.” She spread her arms. “That you alone in the country …” Before becoming the youngest Secretary that the DOE had ever had, the Secretary had been a popular talk show host on another show that Steve hadn’t much liked.
Andrew’s face grew even redder. “You may have the wrong guy,” he said finally.
“No, I am telling you that you scored remarkably on one portion of our test. The scientists couldn’t even believe it. Do you have any idea what I am talking about?”
Andrew shook his head. He looked so incredulous that Steve wanted to laugh.
“You will.” Hot Sauce smiled at the audience. She turned to a small, quiet, dark-headed boy on the end. “What part of the testing did you like best, Billy?”
“The computer games,” Billy said. His fingers twitched as if he were sitting in front of the controls for one.
Hot Sauce looked into the camera. “Our contestants faced real-life survival situations on a computer. Their answers were analyzed by hundreds of scientists. In addition, they climbed rock walls, used navigational instruments, and spent some time in a freezer and a day at a farm. We have a very special group here before you. Grace, why do you think you were chosen?”
Grace stiffened and tossed her straight black hair. “I’m not sure that I want to talk about it.”
The Secretary frowned. “What do you mean? I’ve asked you a question. You’re supposed to answer. I’m an important figure in your government.”
“On the reservation, they call my people dirty. I’m an Iñupiat Eskimo. We are a people of ice and snow. I guess that’s why I was chosen,” the black-haired girl said.
Steve felt sorry for Grace. He knew how cruel kids could be. After his parents died, his old friends shunned him. It was as if they couldn’t bear to be around so much sadness.
“Perhaps.” The Secretary smiled in a way that made Steve doubt whether any of the kids had guessed his or her true gift. She turned to the strongest-looking kid, the only African American. “Now, Robert, why don’t you tell the audience about your very thorough checkup?”
“We’ve been examined by lots of doctors,” Robert said.
You’ve been operated on, too, Steve thought grimly.
“And they’ve all given you a clean bill of health?” the Secretary asked Robert.
“Yeah. I’m fit for anything.” Robert grinned. He was the only kid who seemed happy to be entered in the contest.
“Where are you from?” the Secretary asked.
“Houston, Texas,” Robert said. Steve thought he detected in Robert’s voice a slight twang.
“So you don’t know much about snow and ice.” The Secretary winked.
“No, ma’am.” Robert grinned. “But once, when Houston flooded, my family lived on water moccasins for months. I caught driftwood as it floated by and pieced together a raft. We all sailed away on it. I’m ready.”
Steve would bet on this kid’s survival instincts.
“I’m sure you are,” the Secretary said. “I think the only player with serious snow-and-ice experience is Billy.” She turned to the slight, quiet boy at the end of the row.
Billy smiled uncomfortably. “That’s right. I don’t have to guess why I was chosen.”
Polly raised her hand.
The Secretary frowned but nodded.
“I have a question,” Polly said. “How can kids make it to the Pole if grown men couldn’t?”
Smart girl, Steve thought. Like me, she ought to be able to afford an education.
“Glad you asked that question,” the Secretary said in a sugary voice. “We’ll go over this more thoroughly later, but we are going to give you a number of breaks.
“In Scott’s day, the continent of Antactica was partly surrounded by ice. Much of the ice has melted, but since scientists haven’t been there since the Big Bust, no one knows exactly how far inland the Pole is.”
Like every other kid in America, Steve had learned from teleschool that after the government went broke, it canceled all scientific research.
“To simplify,” the Secretary continued, “we set our pole one hundred fifty miles from your landing point. Scott’s team had to hike more than seven hundred fifty miles.”
“One hundred fifty miles isn’t a break!” Steve said to the television. The Secretary recited the mileage as if kids hiked 150 miles through ice and snow all the time.
“Second, Scott had to worry about returning from the Pole. If you make it”—the Secretary paused and smiled at the kids—“we’ll pick you up in a helicopter.”
Steve felt sick to his stomach, but Robert grinned as if the Secretary were doing them a big favor.
“Scott readied himself for the journey by storing food at various places for his return from the Pole,” the Secretary continued. “You will need to carry food and fuel from the ship, but to make it even easier, we have deposited additional food and fuel for your journey. The depots will be twenty-five miles apart, except for the first depot, which will be fifty miles from the ship.”
Despite the Secretary’s so-called breaks, Steve wondered if the five kids would even make it to the first depot. He had been wrong. This series wasn’t going to be a kinder, gentler Survivor. It was going to be an icy hell.
“Third, Scott and his men relied on dogs, ponies, and a primitive motor vehicle, but for the final stage the men pulled their supplies to the Pole on sledges. You can go much faster than Scott, as you will have enough transport so that no one has to walk.” She paused and smiled. “At least at first.”
At least at first? Steve examined the kids’ faces to see if any of them had registered the Secretary’s carefully chosen words. They all looked dazed, not as if they were being briefed on a potentially fatal mission. Listen! he wanted to yell at them.
“Otherwise, to the extent possible, the journey will be authentic and true to Scott’s original expedition. You will have the supplies that Scott had. You will eat the food that Scott did.” The Secretary beamed again. “If no one has any more questions …”
Billy and Robert raised their hands.
The Secretary smiled at the camera, ignoring the boys. “As you all know from watching Historical Survivor, you’ll find clues on the way, but the calamities will find you. Now, while the contestants and I chat about the ship, the audience will watch a video about Captain Robert F. Scott.”
The screen suddenly went dark. First, a British flag waved against an icy background. Then a black-and-white photograph of a bedraggled group appeared as a voice intoned, “Robert F. Scott and the four men who died with him on the expedition to reach the South Pole in 1912 went on the worst journey in the world….”
Steve flicked the television off. He was too upset to watch more. He had a terrible feeling about the series he would be forced to edit over the next month. His eyes traveled around his bare hut.
But if he quit his job, how would he eat?
To survive, Steve knew that he had to take care of himself.
If I had such fat lips, I wouldn’t make them even bigger with lipstick, Polly thought, staring at the Secretary’s red mouth.
Since the Secretary acted as if she didn’t see him, Billy slowly lowered his hand. He had wanted to ask about their food. The Secretary had said that they would eat only what Robert F. Scott ate. Ever since he was a little boy, Billy had liked only three chip flavors: beef, chicken, and broccoli. Chips hadn’t been invented in 1912; food then was soft instead of crunchy, and Billy thought it sounded generally disgusting.
“If you want, you can get up and stretch,” the Secretary said. “We have a long ride to the ship.”
“The ship?” Polly said.
I’ll soon see ice and snow, Grace thought.
“You’re leaving tonight,” the Secretary said.
“Tonight!” Polly burst out. “But I need to say good-bye to my mother!” The Department of Entertainment had discouraged Polly’s mother from coming. But she had managed to get train tickets somehow. Then her train had been delayed, and she wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning.
“It’s a compucraft.” The Secretary acted as if she hadn’t heard Polly. “The newest and the best. Your trip to the Antarctic will take five days.”
Andrew hoped that the boat had a TV.
The sooner, the better, Robert thought.
I’ll have to find something to eat soon, Billy thought.
“But my mother’s come a long way. I want to say good-bye!” Polly cried out.
“The limousine will take us in an hour.” The Secretary smiled as if she hadn’t heard. “Everything that you need will be on the ship. You’re not allowed to take anything but your backpack with a change of clothes.”
A limo. Billy immediately felt better. Once he and his parents had ridden in a limo. While his dad had practiced his speech to the toy company executives and his mom had looked out the windows at the big houses, Billy had been astounded to find drawer after drawer stuffed with goodies. If Billy could figure out how to get to the limousine first, no one would be the wiser, and then he’d have plenty of extra food.
The Secretary held up one finger, and the various aides who had been hanging around sprang to attention. “Take them back to their hotel rooms,” she ordered.
The hotel, Entertainment Headquarters, was adjacent to the Department of Entertainment. Andrew had loved the soft bed.
An aide dressed in gray jeans and a T-shirt fluttered around Polly. The woman had no expression on her face. She looks like an EduTV zombie, Polly thought.
One of the Secretary’s assistants moved next to Robert’s chair. “When does the show actually start?” Robert asked.
“We begin filming the episodes on the ship,” the Secretary said. “I’ll have a cozy chat with you on the way.” She beamed at them. “It’s one of our Survivor traditions.”
Robert met the Secretary’s gaze and promised himself that he would survive long enough to have a tradition.
An aide faced Grace. “Let’s go,” she said.
Grace stared at the aide’s hair, which fell to her feet like a tent. She must use that unnatural stuff called Fastgrow, Grace decided.
A staffer tapped Billy sharply on his shoulder, but Billy was lost in thought, working out the details of his plan to find food.