O-Negative: Extinction by Hamish Cantillon

moment.  “Oh this is a nightmare.  I think I’m going to have to become a monk or something”.
     
    “Oh don’t worry lover boy I was only joking.  I don’t care what you get up to.  Ben and I have known for ages anyway.  Every time Madam Chapman speaks to you you look like you’ve been caught stealing sweets from the newsagents.”
     
    He slumped in his chair.  “Is it that obvious?  Anyway I can’t worry about all that now. It’s just about all I can do to sit upright in this chair”.
     
    Wendy couldn’t resist having the last word.  “Ok Joe I’ll leave you to suffer alone, anyway I need to message Susie to let you know you’ve surfaced. She was in here earlier looking for you”.
     
    She said it with such a straight face that he wasn’t sure if she meant it or not.  Only when she broke into a big grin did his heartbeat drop back down again.  What an idiot he was.  His only consolation was that he probably had the rest of the day to get himself back together.  Most of the rest of the staff would be off station taking advantage of the fine weather.  He turned on his computer.
     
    The first email was from Jessica.  Unbelievable.  It was like she had a sixth sense that told her when he was at his most vulnerable. Apparently she’d put the flat on the market and put his stuff into storage – ‘how out of character for bothering to put my stuff in storage as opposed to binning it’ he thought.  This feeling that he’d misjudged her faded as he read on to be told she’d charged the costs of the move and the storage to his credit card; the details of which she still had.  He was pretty sure those wouldn’t be the only unexpected charges on that card.
     
    The next email was from Gerry.  He sat up a bit.  Gerry had spoken with Bobby Sanderson and apparently the Americans and the Brits back in London were somewhat mystified by the lack of contact with the central stations.  To top it all the satellite that had taken the image yesterday was now experiencing ‘technical difficulties’ - techy shorthand for ‘nobody knows why it isn’t working’.  Gerry went on to tell him that the resupply ship would be docking at the Halley berth later that day. On the ship there was a platoon of Royal Marines who had originally been due to join the training exercises on the Peninsula but had now been tasked to proceed overland to Amundsen-Scott station.  Major Sanderson had asked Gerry whether Joe would act as a guide.  This seemed strange to Joe - Halley was several hundred miles from the South Pole station. It would make much more sense to send a plane from McMurdo or Rothera rather than trekking overland from Halley.  He could see there was more than met the eye here.
     
    He called Wendy over. “Hey Wendy come and have a look at this.  Looks like the level of excitement around here just went from sleepy to adrenaline junkie overnight”.
     
    Wendy came round to read the email from Gerry.  She whistled slowly.  “Wow wee Joe this is heating up a bit.  You’re going to need to sober up pretty quick.  I can smell a conversation with your l’amour coming sooner than you might have hoped”.
     
    He stood up.  His head reeled and he had to sit back down again.  “She’s not my ‘l’amour’ Wendy, but yes I think I do need to sober up….”  “Coffee I need coffee.  Let’s head over to the dining room”.
     
    He just about made it to the dining area in one piece with Wendy kindly lending an arm at key moments.  She even offered to talk to Carole when they got there to see whether she could get him some food as well as a cup of real, as opposed to machine produced, coffee.  Shortly after Wendy had gone into the kitchen Carole popped out for a quick look and then went back in again with a frown on her face. Nevertheless a few minutes later a steaming cup of coffee and two slices of toast were placed in front of him by Wendy. 
     
    Carole called from the kitchen hatch.