“This is awesome,” I say. The main lounge of the Arctic Spray is all polished wood and brass. We are sitting around a table laden with a mouth-watering selection of food and drink. “I think this ship’s worth more than our house in Adelaide.”
“She is a beauty,” Moira says. “Now to introductions.” She waves an arm at a bearded man in uniform. “This is Captain Phillips. He’s in charge. Everyone has to do exactly what he says.”
“Or I’ll make you walk the plank.” There’s polite laughter at the weak joke.
“This is Sam and Annabel,” Moira goes on. “They’ve come all the way from Australia. Though Sam is originally from Canada. This is Billy and Martha Edwards, our lucky winners from Texas.”
“San Antonio,” Billy says with a wave that includes everyone.
“These two gentlemen are Rob Blair and Terry Mortimer. Their situation is a little different. Rob and Terry are members of KARP—Krill Arctic Research Project. They’re based at Fort McPherson in the summer. They are along to check out the possibility of doing research on our cruises.”
Rob and Terry look uncomfortable, but everyone shakes hands and tucks into the drinks and food. I turn to Rob, who’s sitting beside me. “Have you been here a while?” I ask. “You weren’t on the plane this afternoon.”
Rob looks startled that I’m talking to him, but Terry answers. “We came up on the flight last week so we could do some preparatory research.”
“You flew up from Fort McPherson?” Annabel asks.
“Yeah,” Terry says. “That’s where we’re based in the summer.”
“Must be interesting work you do,” Annabel goes on. “Krill are so vital to the food chain. It’s hard to believe that something as small as krill can supply enough food for something as big as a beluga whale.”
“Extraordinary,” Terry agrees. “Look, love to talk more, but Rob and I have equipment to check. Catch you later.”
“Yeah, see you later,” Annabel says.
“Nice for you to have a couple of experts to talk with,” I say. I don’t get a flicker of a smile from Annabel.
Moira joins us. “Good so far?” she asks.
“It’s great,” I say through a mouthful of smoked salmon. “The Arctic Spray’s amazing.”
“She’s a beautiful ship. I think you’ll enjoy the voyage.”
“What time do we sail tomorrow?” I ask.
“Sunrise is about 6:00 AM, but it’ll be twilight for two hours before that. Captain Phillips says we’ll lift anchor about 5:00 AM. If you’re early birds, you can watch the sunrise over breakfast as we sail into Amundsen Gulf.”
“Sounds cool,” Annabel says. “Any chance we can go ashore this evening? We met someone on the plane who invited us to visit.”
“No problem,” Moira says. “The Zodiac can take you ashore after the pre-sailing briefing. Rob and Terry want to go ashore in any case.”
“Great. Thanks. Come on, Sam. Let’s go check out our new home.”
Grabbing a final handful of appetizers, I follow Annabel on deck. “What do you think of our companions?” she asks when we’re alone at the bow.
“They seem okay,” I say.
“Rob and Terry?”
“They’re a bit awkward, especially Rob. But they’re geeky scientists, so…”
“I’m not so sure.”
“That they’re geeky?”
“No, that they’re scientists. There’s something odd about them.”
“You’re not getting paranoid again, are you?” I ask.
“Not paranoid,” Annabel says. “Naturally suspicious. Terry said they flew from Fort McPherson on last week’s flight.”
“Yeah, there’s probably only a couple of flights a week up here.”
“There are no flights from Fort McPherson to Sachs Harbour at this time of year. Jim, on the plane, said they only stopped at Fort McPherson in May and November.”
“Maybe there’s another airline,” I suggest, “or they flew in on a government plane.”
“Maybe, but they don’t know much about krill either.”
“They only agreed with you that it must take a lot of krill to feed a beluga, and it must.” I’m not defending Rob and Terry. I think they’re strange too. But I’m worried that Annabel’s going to question every single minute of the trip.
“It would take a lot of krill to feed a beluga,” Annabel agrees, “if belugas ate krill. Only whales with filters in their mouths—baleen—eat krill. Belugas are toothed whales. They don’t eat krill.”
“They’re awkward,” I say, “maybe they were nervous. They sure left as quickly as they could.”
“Yeah,” Annabel says, although she doesn’t sound convinced.