Ice Rift by Ben Hammott

plane and sighed. Even though it was a write off, he was obliged to remove it. The Antarctic Treaty decreed no litter or contamination of any kind was to be left on the ice. It would be an awkward and expensive undertaking. He prayed his insurance would cover the cost.
    During their journey they passed pieces of Jack's wrecked airplane littering the rift, all of which would have to be retrieved.
    Jack stopped when he saw the Sno-Cat wedged on its side between the two sloping ice walls. “So that's what hit me?”
    Eli looked at Jack. “Sorry. The wind blew it into the rift before I had chance to anchor it.”
    “See, it wasn't my fault you crashed,” said his passenger, smugly. He nodded his head at Eli. “Get him to pay for it.”
    Jack ignored the man. His teeth were beginning to chatter. He wasn't dressed for prolonged exposure to the Antarctic weather like the other two. He stamped his feet and clapped his hands together to force the blood to circulate and hold off frostbite. “Is it much farther, Eli?”
    “I don't think so. It should be around here somewhere.” Eli led them a few steps further along the rift.
    Each of them looked at the Sno-Cat perched precariously above them when they passed beneath.
    Ropes leading down the side of the rift flapped in the wind. Two ropes fastened to spikes anchored into the ice stretched a few yards before disappearing into a small hole.
    Eli turned to face the two men. “We're here.”
    The three men peered into the hole.
    “It's an underground cavern,” Eli explained. “The others are down there exploring.”
    “I'll go down first,” said Jack's passenger, bumping Jack with his blue bag when he turned to choose a rope.
    Jack teetered forward, almost falling into the hole before he regained his balance.
    “We could throw him in,” suggested Eli. “Say he slipped.”
    Jack glared at the man who pulled on a climbing harness and attached it to one of the ropes, oblivious or unconcerned with what he'd just done. “I'm tempted, Eli, soooo tempted.”
    The man moved to the hole and sat with his legs dangling into the void. “Once I'm down, pull up the rope and send down my bag. I'll leave the harness attached so you two can use it.” Without waiting for a reply the man slipped into the hole.
     
     
    Max opened the storage container holding the flashlights and handed them out until they all had one. Henry had suggested they all switch them on at the same time so they could all share in what the brighter lights revealed.
    “Okay,” said Henry. “I suggest we all face in the same direction before we switch them on.”
    “Let's point them at the lake first,” said Lucy. “I want to see how big it is.”
    Henry counted down. “Three, two, one, on!”
    Five light beams banished the darkness previously shrouding the expanse of water. The moment was too astonishing to spoil with words. Their eyes took in all the newly revealed details. The lake stretched out for about fifty yards until it reached an ice wall about ten yards high that sloped up to the cavern roof. Stalagmites formed of ice grew out of the far shore and reached for the stalactites directly above them. Some had already met to form a forest of thick ice columns. Their wet gleaming surfaces glinted in the lights moving over them. Two drips of water splashed into the pool, sending out twin ripples of luminous blue light that reflected off the ice formations and the faces of those staring at the wondrous event.
    “I don't believe I've ever seen a more amazing sight than that which my eyes behold at this very moment,” said Henry.
    Jane placed a hand on Henry's arm. “It truly is wonderful.”
    “And we're the only people ever to have seen it,” said Lucy, her excitement hard to miss.
    Max moved his light off to the side of the lake that didn't butt against the cavern wall. The beam highlighted a tunnel trough ice. “The cavern seems to go further in that direction.”
    “It's difficult to know where to