Chapter 1
Lexa sat on the cold, metal roof of the dormitory, staring at the sky, waiting, hoping. The backs of her legs were numb, and her face stinging in the cold night air. Despite the ache of the cold, she loved nights at the station. They carried with them a perfect stillness, as though the whole world had retreated in on itself, sheltered away from the arctic elements. For those who were willing to earn it though, for those prepared to brave the terrible chill just long enough, the nights also offered promises of hidden beauty, the likes of which had no equal.
“I thought I’d find you up here.”
Lexa turned to see Lincoln struggling as he made his way up over the lip of the roof. His large frame overwhelmed the metal ladder, shifting it in a way that sent Lexa flying to her feet, grabbing for the top of the railings as they swayed back and forth under his weight.
“Whoa, big guy,” Lexa said, steadied the ladder and grabbed Lincoln’s hand, helping him onto the roof.
Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief as he found stable footing, bearing his large, perfectly white teeth in a broad grin. “Waiting for the lights again?”
She nodded, putting a finger to her lips silently and furrowing her brow a bit, trying her best to look stern. “Shhh. You’ll scare them away.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth then the glowing waves began to appear, swaying back and forth on the horizon, lighting up the night sky with vibrant greens and purples. Lincoln pointed behind her, and she turned. A smile crept across her face and spreading from ear to ear as she took in the sight overhead. “Is that the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, or what?”
“That’s aurora borealis, huh?”
Lexa shook her head. “Aurora Australis. It’s called Aurora Australis in the south.”
The two stood there few a few more minute as the waves of light made serpentine patterns in the sky above them. It was rare that Lexa had quiet moments in her head. Mental preoccupation was typically her default setting, her mind always overtaxed, concerned with schedules, missions, and weather projections. Here though, watching the glowing waves of light roll through the night sky, she could honestly say that there wasn’t a single other thought in her head.
Lincoln nudged her arm with his elbow, breaking the silent calm of the moment. “Come on you. We’ve got an early flight coming in tomorrow morning. Besides, you’ll catch your death out here.” He made his way back to the edge of the roof and lowering himself onto the ladder. A few moments later he was out of sight again.
Lexa remained frozen in place, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything but take in the haunting beauty of the lights floating above her.
When she finally spoke, her words came in a whisper; a small prayer offered up to the night sky. “Some things are worth catching your death over.”
October 4th, 9:03 AM NZST:
The plane shook violently, vibrating from tip to tail as it jerked, and dropped, jostling the already frazzled blonde in who was clinging frantically to her backpack. Her fingers dug into the material in a death grip, her knuckles white, her eyes screwed shut.
“Sorry about ladies and gentleman,” the pilot’s voice beamed through a loudspeaker. We’re going to experience some turbulence for the next few minutes. Just hang tight. We should reach McMurdo in the next half an hour or so.”
Clark buried her face into her backpack and groaned, desperately trying to fend off the air sickness that had plagued her since the takeoff from Christchurch, New Zealand. She hated flying, loathed it, spent weeks before trips dreading it. This particular flight had been especially brutal, though nothing had been as bad as the last fifteen minutes. Her skin flushed, and she began to feel tingles all over her body. Suddenly, a wave of saliva flooded her mouth.
The young man sitting next to her stared worriedly at his pale, sweaty companion. “You look awful Clarke. Do you need one of those air sickness bags?”
Clarke shook her head into the backpack and held up a hand. “I’m okay Wells! No bag!”
By what means she managed it, Clarke knew not, but somehow she held back the bile until the plane had rolled to a bouncing stop on the icy runway. No sooner had the exit door been unlocked, than Clarke rushed passed the aircrewman holding it open. She grabbed the metal railing of the mobile passenger stairs and vomiting over the side.
“Better out than in, Griffin!” Capt. Blake patted Clarke on the back as he exited the plane’s cabin. The pilot pulled his aviators down, staring skeptically at the young doctor.
“Ew, Jesus!” Capt. Blake’s co-pilot joined him on the stairs, recoiling in horror as she met with the sound of Clarke’s retching. “Doc, are ok?”
Clarke wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, realizing for the first time how absolutely, terrifyingly cold it was outside. “Fine but… I think my hands might have frozen to the rail.”
“Outstanding!” Capt. Blake laughed and turned to his co-pilot. “Little Blake, can you give Dr. Griffin a hand? Pun intended!”
Octavia rolled her eyes and shot her brother a dirty look. “The Lt. stands for Lieutenant, Bellamy! Not Little! And that’s not a pun!”
“I dunno. You sure look like the littler Blake to me.”
Octavia fumed as she stormed back into the plane, returning a moment later with a warm towel and helping Clarke to unfreeze her hands. Bellamy lifted Clarke’s bag onto his shoulder and chuckled at the scene. “Well, Doc, I’d say let’s get you down to medical but, that’s you, so… How about we get you down to orientation instead?”
October 4th, 10:24 AM NZST:
Lexa’s feet beat a tattoo against the icy ground as she sprinted towards the main building, her still wet hair freezing to her head. “Damn it!” She cursed under her breath as she burst through the doors, dashing towards the chow hall and the orientation session to which she was now more than twenty minutes late. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” She cursed herself as she ran. “Stupid distractions! Stupid, tempting girl clad in nothing but a towel! Stupid secluded shower stall! Stupid phone alarm that failed to go off!”
Lexa burst through the chow hall doors, only to be was greeted by a room full of eyes, all of which immediately locked on her.
“Ahh, our other expedition leader, ladies, and gentleman! Running behind, as usual.”
Lexa sighed, refusing to let Director Kane, the station’s Chief Operations Officer, embarrass her in front of the crowd of people.
“Ms. Woods, perhaps you’d care to join us up here?”
Lexa grimaced. She made her way to the front of the room and took her place beside a smirking Lincoln, who struggled to hold back his laughter. He waited until Kane had started speaking again before he leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Smooth entrance, Ace. Swedish girl again?”
“Norwegian.”
“Very nice.” Lincoln did his best to hide his grin, as he first bumped Lexa behind their backs.
Lexa scanned the room examining the faces of the new personnel. It was a large group. That much was to be expected at this time of year. After all, October marked the beginning of the austral summer, when teams of scientists and graduate students flooded into the station to conduct research. The new waves of people were always exciting for Lexa, not simply because the population swells made life more interesting, but because the influx of researchers always brought with it girls, good looking girls at that. There was no doubt; this was Lexa’s favorite time of year at McMurdo. She continued to scan the room, freezing when her gaze landed on a set of piercing blue eyes framed by a golden halo of hair. Her eyes locked on the newcomer. “Who is that?” she whispered, nudging Lincoln.
Lincoln leaned over to Lexa, craning his neck just a bit towards her face so they wouldn’t be overheard. “That’s Clarke Griffin. She’s the new medical resident.”
Lexa watched as the man standing next to the beautiful blonde reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. She recoiled a bit, her cheeks flushing as a pang of competitive energy surged in her chest.
“Ugh… Gross. She came with her boyfriend?”
Lincoln shrugged at the question, smirking when he realized the implications of his fiend’s comment. “Why, you interested?”
Lexa rolled her eyes, delivering a kick to his shin as soon as she was sure Kane wasn’t looking. Lincoln did his best not to grimace, managing little more than a pained smile as the sting of the kick ran up his leg.
October 4th, 10:40 AM NZST
Clarke did her best to focus on the presentation Director Kane was giving, but she found herself distracted, here eyes continually drawn to the girl who had just joined the line of staff at the front of the room.
Clarke didn’t put a tremendous amount of stock in people’s looks, but the way this girl looked undeniably drew the eye. Even with her hair half frozen, and her clothing a mess, she was breathtaking. The slope of her jaw was elegant and strong, her cheekbones high and proud, her skin tinted the faintest shade of olive.
Looks aside, the girl also seemed to radiate an energy that made her impossible to ignore. Everyone had noticed as soon as she’d entered the room, and all least half the eyes in the crowd had been on her ever since. She exuded a natural confidence that even Director Kane’s public attempt at shaming couldn’t stifle. Clarke didn’t know what it was about her, not exactly, but she had the distinct sense that the girl was someone she wanted to get to know.
October 5th, 6:30 PM NZST:
Lexa winced as the nurse dipped her hand in a bowl of lukewarm water by her cot. “Alright, we’re gonna bring those fingers back nice and slow.” The nurse furrowed her brow, giving Lexa a stern look. “You stay put until the doctor comes to take a look at those,” pointed to the bowl and the girl a knowing look before exiting the sick bay.
From his seat next to the bed, Lincoln shook with giggles. “Serves you right for wearing those thin-ass gloves you jackass.”
Lexa frowned, glaring daggers at her best friend. Her face burned a bright scarlet, fueled by frustration and embarrassment. “They wouldn’t have been a problem if we hadn’t gotten stuck out there!”
Lincoln rolled his eyes, picking up a random magazine from off the table next to him, and pretending to concern himself with its contents. “We wouldn’t have gotten stuck if you hadn’t wedged the sled in that crevasse trying to beat me home.”
“I wouldn’t have gone off the trail if you hadn’t cut me off!”
“You cut me off first!”
“You took off before I gave the signal!”
“Excuse me.” A throat cleared behind them. “I can come back later if you two have something that you need to work out.”
Lincoln and Lexa stopped arguing abruptly, turning to see blonde hair and blue eyes staring back at them. The hesitant looking young doctor shifted her weight nervously as she peered into the medical bay. “I was told there was a patient in here exhibiting signs of frostbite.“ She checked her notes. "Alexandra Woods?”
Lincoln smirked, pointing at Lexa. “That’s this genius. She nearly drove into a crevasse trying to race me back to the station.”
Lexa wanted to rebut Lincoln’s teasing, but she had been struck dumb by the sight of the girl in front of her. Her wavy blond hair was tied in a loose knot atop her head, but here and there, strands of it fell free, cascading down her cheeks and into her eyes. Her cheeks had a rosy blush to them, and her perfect, alabaster skin practically radiated warmth, making the brilliant blue of her eyes all the more disarming. She was the most angelic looking creature Lexa had ever seen. She tried to speak but couldn’t make a sound. When Lexa finally managed to say something, she did her best to come off nonchalant, though she was sure she stuttered every word. “I got the runs in a hole… I mean the runners!!!”
Lexa felt herself turning bright red as she tried to amend her jumbled statement. “I mean… I got one of my sled runners stuck. In a hole. In the ice.”
She looked down at the floor as she finished her statement, cursing herself silently, and deciding that the only way to prevent further embarrassment was to stop speaking altogether.
“I see.” Clarke pulled back the curtain a bit more, entering the sick bay and deftly making her way around the large gentleman in the chair. She side-stepped over to where the brunette’s hand sat soaking in a bowl of water. “I’m Doctor Griffin. It’s nice to meet you, Alexandra.”
“It’s just Lexa.”
Clarke nodded, extended her hand.
“So, what’s this about you driving a snowmobile into the ice?”
Lincoln chuckled and picked up the magazine again, flipping a page. “Not a snowmobile Doc, a dog sled.”
Gently, Clarke lifted the young woman hand out of the bowl of water, examining it carefully. Lincoln stood, peering over her shoulder so that he could examine Lexa’s fingers as well. “Oh, you’re gonna loose those for sure,” he said, smirking.
Clarke cast him an annoyed look and shook her head, turning to look at Lexa and clucking her tongue. “No you’re won’t. It’s just frostnip. You’ll be fine after another half an hour of warming.” Clarke placed Lexa’s hand back in the water bath and wrote a few notes down in her chart. She looked back over at Lincoln, who was still grinning like a Cheshire cat as he stared at the girl on the bed.
“I thought sled dogs had were banned from the Antarctic? I remember reading something about it in school.”
Lincoln nodded, sitting back and leaning his chair against the edge of the bed. He crossed his arms behind his back and cradled his head in his hand, trying not to make it obvious that he was flexing. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Lexa, who rolled her eyes. “They banned them back in the 90’s. Something about not wanting to spread canine diseases to the leopard seal population.”
Lincoln winked at Clarke, flashing his pearly whites. He did his best to exude confidence and charm as he addressed the beautiful young doctor.
“But, what with global warming, the last few year have seen a lot of overland transportation accidents due to the thinning ice shelf. During the summer, which is when most of the researchers come out here, the CATs and snowmobiles are too heavy to make it to the expeditionary bases. That’s why they brought in us.” He waved a finger between himself and Lexa. “They gave us a three-year contract to see if we can revive the sled dog program without causing environmental impact.”
Clarke wrote a few more notes in her chart, leaning back over to Lexa, and peering at her fingers. “How are you feeling?”
Lexa gulped, forced to address the gorgeous blonde directly for the first time since her disastrous intro. “Embarrassed.”
Clarke laughed, her eyes twinkling a little. She smiled, patting Lexa’s her free hand. “I meant your fingers.”
The contact sent tingles running up Lexa’s arm, and the brunette blanked. A moment later, she collected herself and managed to mumble out at a reply. “Um… Much better. They’re feeling much better.”
Lincoln stared at the exchange skeptically, glancing from one girl to the other before making a decision to help his starstruck friend.
Lincoln stared back and forth between the two women, smirking. “So Doc, when are you gonna come by and meet the team?”
October 7th, 6:11 AM NZST:
Clarke entered the large, communal shower facility, happy that, save for the sound of a single running shower, she appeared to have the place to herself. It wasn’t that she minded the co-ed bathroom arrangements; her college had had similar facilities. It was more that, by 7:15, the place was usually swarming with half naked bodies, crowding the sinks, and trying to get in a quick shower before work. Clarke was most certainly less than thrilled about that. Today she had made it a point to wake up early, making her way to the showers during the lull between the night crews getting in, and the rush of people hurrying off to day shifts.
She stripped her clothes, hanging them on a hook by one of the shower stalls, and wrapping her towel tightly around her body. Clarke walked to a nearby sink, setting her toothpaste down and beginning to tend to her perfectly maintained teeth. She’d gone her whole life without a single cavity, and she intended to keep it that way. As such, the doctor didn’t like being rushed through this part of her morning routine. She began scrubbing her teeth in small, precise circles, happy to lose herself in the monotony of the routine. Clarke had almost managed to zone out when her concentration was broken by a moan from the only shower stall in use.
Clarke paused, trying to process what she had just heard. She shook her head, dismissing her train of thought. Surely, the sounds had been someone for the night crew, expressing relief as they washed the cold from their bones. Clarke returned to her brushing. She was confident that it was her imagination playing tricks on her until another moan came from the stall, this one high, feminine and unmistakably wonton.
“Shhhh,” a second voice hissed from the stall, and the sound of a hand being clapped over a mouth echoed through the bathroom. Clarke froze, realizing what she was hearing. She gritted her teeth, not knowing how to react to the situation, resolved to finish brushing her teeth as fast as possible and pretend she hadn’t heard anything. With any luck, she’d be in the shower herself before the couple exited their stall, and no-one would be any the wiser. Clarke blushed furiously as the muffled sounds of moaning and gasping continued to echo around her, growing louder and reaching a crescendo. A moment later she heard the stall shut off, and the moans were replaced by giggling. She spit, throwing her things into her shower caddy as fast as possible, as sh lunged towards a shower.
Just as Clarke pulled back the curtain, a tall, slender woman with long red hair, exited the stall in question, locking eyes with her. “Dritt!,” the woman cursed in a foreign tongue, cheeks ablaze, as she realized that she had had an audience the whole time. Clarke blushed furiously as well, recognizing the redhead as a patient, a Norwegian scientist who’d come into the clinic earlier in the week.
Dumbstruck, the two women stared at each other, silent and blushing, and Clarke tried desperately to think of something to say that would make the situation less awkward.
“I… I didn’t…”
Before she could finish, long brunette hair and the back of a head poked out of the curtain. “Hey, can you hand me a t….”
The redhead cleared her throat, pointing at Clarke, and the second figure turned, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets when she realized what was going on.
“Oh, fuck… Doctor Griffin.”
Clarke turned an ever brighter shade of red as she stared at Lexa, suddenly desperate to be anywhere else on the planet. She tried desperately not to notice the olive tint of Lexa’s skin, or how toned the muscles of her stomach were.
“It’s fine! It’s totally fine. I should… Sorry.” With that, Clarke practically dove into the shower. She turned on the water, full blast, desperately hoping the two women would be gone when she stepped out.