Polar Exposure by Felicity Aston

Author:Felicity Aston [Aston, Felicity]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Published: 2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

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STEPH: Clutching my phone and breathing deeply, I tried to keep it together as I made last calls to my parents and loved ones. Once the final call was made, the realization of how deep my attachment was to the people on the other end of the phone set off a stream of silent tears. The cold stung my face and my fingers were going numb. I robotically began searching through my pockets for my gloves and soon registered the familiar stinging sensation of my hands warming up again.

The hangar at Longyearbyen airport that we were using as a departure lounge, waiting to board our flight, was as cold inside as it was outside. It was haphazardly cluttered with stacks of skis and poles taped together using various team identification labels and piles of brightly colored sledges waiting for deployment. I tried to hide my tears by hanging back from the group behind a pile of storage boxes. Felicity spotted me. She enveloped me in a bear hug and I sobbed on her shoulder. I knew that as soon as I stepped on the plane I would snap into expedition mode and commit to the experience, but for now there was a knot in my throat that made it hard to breathe.

The fat-bellied Russian Antonov on the apron outside the hangar was waiting to take us to the ice of the Arctic Ocean. It was the early hours of the morning, and the moon shimmered behind the stark, jagged mountains of Svalbard, illuminating the snow. Our team was fairly chatty as we boarded, considering the time, but Mariam was awfully quiet. Her eyes looked slightly glazed and she had a stricken look on her face. We sat together in the first row of seats and I suggested she get some sleep.

Few of us had slept much over the last few days. Nataša had curled up on the row next to us, folding her long legs against the walls of the plane. She fell asleep, covered by her black down jacket. Anisa and Misba had also crashed out in the row behind us, but Ida and Asma were still chatting, as were Susan, Lamees, and Olga. Felicity was sitting in the last row and had a concentrated, serious look. Settling into my seat, I noticed that Mariam’s gear had exploded across the floor in a disordered halo.

After a few hours I felt the plane begin to descend. I couldn’t see out the tiny windows set back into the fuselage, but I began putting on my layers, leaving the down jacket until last, and checked the contents of my zipped pockets, mentally noting that the extra gloves were on my right. Mariam was getting ready very slowly. I hoped it was just drowsiness, but she looked overwhelmed, as if unable to switch into gear. Within moments we would be stepping out onto the Arctic Ocean for the first time and experiencing its cold. I thought back to a talk I’d heard by an ex–British Special Forces soldier while we were training for the Antarctic expedition.

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