made a sound. He continued. âThe ice pack appears to be consolidated and thick. The short version is: weâre not going anywhere until we can free the ship.â
âHow do you suggest we do that?â Theo asked.
Brewster furrowed his brow. âWeâre going to need to take a closer look. If the ice has closed in all around us, weâll have to break it up by hand.â
âIf it pays overtime, Iâm game,â Henry added. While he looked in better shape than most of the crew, it was clearly not a one-man job. No matter how much energy he and his pal could summon, it was going to take more than a couple of men.
Kevin groaned. âI donât know. If itâs thick enough to hold us, can a few guys even break it up enough to bust out?â
âYou only have to break away enough so I can throttle up the engines,â Brewster said. âIâm going to try to chop up whatâs back there with the propellers.â
âLike a blender,â Boucher added.
Brewster shot him a let-me-handle-it glance and continued. âThe cavitation of the props could break up what you guys loosen. If I can move us astern, we can try to fire the engines harder and plow forward. But I need space ahead to make a run at the ice pack. That means clearing out the ice behind us.â
Noah shook his head. âYou think the hull fortifications are strong enough to handle that? Youâre going to damage the ship or even breach the hull. If weâre lucky, youâll just burn out the engines trying to get us moving instead of sinking us.â
âStow that shit, Cabot,â Boucher snapped. He leaned away from the wall, looking ready to physically silence Noah. Brewster held up a hand.
âWhy not call for a breaker?â Kevin said. âWhy wonât they come help us?â
âWeâre experiencing interference with the radio.â
âItâs not just the radio,â Noah butted in. âThe whole communications array is dead.â
âWhat do you mean, âdeadâ?â Theo asked, fidgeting in his seat. The crew seemed to be coming to lifeâthe direness of the situation outside slowly climbing on top of their physical woes. All except Puck, who remained propped against the wall, watching through half-lidded eyes.
Brewster leaned forward, pressing his balled fists onto the table in front of him. His pallid face reddened as he admitted, âWe donât know what the problem with communications is. It could be ice built up on the superstructure messing with the antennas, but given that the sat phone is down, too, my guess is the fog.â
âYou canât know that for certain.â
âNobody asked for your opinion, Cabot. We need to get out of this atmosphere before we can be certain whether weâve permanently lost touch.â
âMy opinion? My opinion is that youâve been taking chances with all our lives. You could have skirted that storm. Instead, you steered us right into it and put Felix in the hospital. Now weâre in this mess and we canât call for a medevac. Weâre dead in the ice because you wonât admit youâre not ⦠I donât know. Not thinking clearly about what we should do.â Noah felt himself rising from his seat, as though he was being lifted. As soon as he was on his feet, he regretted it. Brewsterâs back straightened, his fists still balled up tight and knuckles white. Boucher looked ready to make good on his promise to tan Noahâs hide. Noah decided that if he was going to take a leathering for standing up for himself and the crew, he should just lay it all out.
âYou want to get out and push, go ahead,â he said. âBut there are fifteen other men on this ship who want to get home to their families. For fuckâs sake, look at Puck.â Whatever had gotten into the ship and its crew was affecting them all differently. Brewster was on his feet,