He knew that Sophie’s husband had been tragically killed only a few months ago and he’d had reservations about the Australian Antarctic Programme sending her down here so soon after the accident, but he’d been told that she’d passed all the tests and that they didn’t have any other options. She was the best choice, they’d said, and he just had to hope it worked out. The only trouble was that if things didn’t go according to plan, she became his problem, not the AAP’s. He was the one in charge down here. He was the one left to sort out any mess. But seeing her eat relieved some of his apprehension. That was one less thing to worry about. Maybe she was naturally thin or maybe she’d lost weight after her husband had died, but at least she was eating.
To distract himself from thoughts of her dimples, he transferred her bags to her room while she ate, before returning to help settle her into the station. Their first stop on the way to her room was the storeroom.
‘This is our version of a supermarket, and you can help yourself to anything in here that you need,’ he told her as he waited for her to select linen, toiletries and other essentials from the shelves. ‘This floor of the shed is primarily living and rec space. We have a gym, a climbing wall, an activity centre, a library, lounge and a cinema, so there’s plenty to keep you occupied for any downtime. Everything of importance as far as your role is concerned is housed in the red shed. The other sheds are for stores, machinery, that sort of thing, although there is an area set up in one shed for those who like painting or woodwork or photography, etcetera. I’ll show you that another time. The medical centre and your room are down this way.
‘This is your donga,’ he said as he pushed open yet another door, this one leading into a bedroom. ‘And the medical centre is across the corridor.’
Sophie followed Gabe into her room. It was far from spacious. Her bags were taking up most of the free floor space, leaving just enough room for the two of them to stand side by side. The air in the room felt charged and she had a sense of anticipation but she tried to tell herself it was just the circumstances, the excitement of her new surroundings, and had nothing to do with the man standing next to her. But she was aware of how much space he took up, and as there was no room for her to move she stood beside him as she checked out her quarters.
As small as it was, it contained all the essentials. There was a single bed with built-in furniture—a tiny desk, a wardrobe and plenty of shelves and under-bed drawers for storage. It reminded her of boarding school.
‘I know it’s pretty basic but this is actually one of the dongas that has been recently refurbished. And we don’t want to make it too comfortable because we want people to get out of their rooms and socialise—it’s important in this isolated environment—but we realise people do need some privacy. You’ll have internet access for emails, etcetera, but no video calls. The password and log-in details are here on your notice-board,’ he said, as he pointed out a scrap of paper pinned to a board above the desk. ‘All the dongas have single beds. That’s not to say there aren’t South Pole romances, we’re not trying to deliberately make things difficult, but space is at a premium.’
‘I don’t think a single bed will bother me,’ she said, knowing it was of little consequence to her.
‘My room is next to yours. I also want to be close to the action but most of the accommodation is on the upper level. Now that most of the summer staff has left, I can arrange to move you upstairs if you’d prefer.’
‘No.’ Sophie shook her head. ‘It makes sense for me to be close to the medical facilities.’ She was the only doctor at the station so she needed to be close by, but she was also oddly comforted by the thought that Gabe would be close at hand too, especially while she familiarised herself with her strange new surroundings.
‘Good decision. Staying on this floor means you’ll have your own bathroom. Upstairs there are private dongas but shared facilities. You will need to keep your own bathroom clean, though. There’s a roster for Saturday chores—vacuuming, cleaning common areas, shovelling snow, that sort of thing—plus everyone volunteers for a secondary position.’
‘Secondary positions?’
‘We all take on part-time roles in addition to normal duties. Things like librarian, firefighter, medical support team, working in the hydroponics shed or helping Dom in the kitchen. There are enough options so you should be able to choose something that interests you as long as you can do it without any extra training as we won’t have time for that. But you don’t need to worry about it today. I’ll give you a rundown later. If you’re okay, I’ll leave you to get sorted. Dinner is at six and everyone will gather for a drink in the bar beforehand. Do you want me to come back for you or can you find it? It’s right next to the dining hall.’
‘I’ll find it.’
‘One last thing—it’s the final bit of information for now, I promise,’ he added, when Sophie suspected he’d noticed her bewildered expression. Gabe smiled at her and his dark eyes shone, and she wondered if she could think of a few questions for him, something to delay him leaving. She wasn’t sure that she felt like keeping her own company but she was sure he had more important matters to attend to. ‘Water is scarce over winter so we have restrictions in place.’
‘Water restrictions in a place smothered in ice?’ Sophie queried, thinking he had to be kidding.
‘That’s the problem over winter. We have plenty of ice but no water. It doesn’t rain here so until the temperatures rise and the summer melt happens we have to watch our water supply. The restrictions are mainly for showers—two minutes, every second day.’
‘Okay.’ She hadn’t been expecting that but she supposed there would be plenty more unexpected and unusual things over the next few days until she got used to her new surroundings. She closed the door behind him, letting him go. She unpacked one of her bags before deciding to explore the medical centre instead. It was her domain and she was eager to see what was in store for her.
The medical suite consisted of a consulting room, a dental and exam room, a small operating theatre, a lab, a two-bed ward, a storeroom and a bathroom. Sophie was pleasantly surprised to find the clinic so well equipped. She did a quick inventory of equipment and drugs before returning to her room. She had promised to send Luke an email to let him know she arrived safely and she figured he would have expected to hear from her by now.
She booted up her laptop and paused when the screensaver photo appeared on the display. It was a photo of Danny, taken at their wedding. The photographer had snapped it just after they’d exchanged their vows and Danny had just kissed his bride. The picture captured Danny only. He had been smiling at her, the goofy smile she had adored, and his eyes had been full of love, his dimples marking his cheeks. Sophie had loved his dimples and they had laughed about their matching genetic defects. Dimples were an inherited trait and they’d talked about passing them on to their kids. But now that wasn’t to be.
She reached out and ran her fingers over the screen, tracing the angles of Danny’s face, the line of his lips, the dip of his dimples. The photo stirred mixed emotions in her—love and sadness—but she couldn’t bring herself to change the screensaver. She needed to see him still.
She moved her hand over the keyboard and logged onto the station’s WiFi, opening up her email account before she got too maudlin. She sent Luke a quick message and promised to give more details next time when she’d had a chance to get her head around everything and had something more substantial to report or had hopefully had time to explore. It was all so different. She copied the email to the AAP division headquarters in Hobart and to her parents in Queensland to