They had pulled up close to the smoldering remains of the processing plant. Espinoza threw open his door and jumped down to the ice. He didn’t bother pulling up his parka hood, as if in defiance of this place. There was nothing more Antarctica could do to him. He stood mutely as the wind howled off the ocean, the air heavy with the smell of seared metal.

“Jorge,” he whispered.

Jimenez was actually surprised at how badly the General was taking his son’s death. From stories the Major had told him over the years, and seeing the two together, he had come away with the sense that the father looked on his son as just another soldier under his command.

“Jorge,” Espinoza repeated softly. Then his voice firmed and became angry. “You have failed and don’t have the courage to face me, do you? You stupidly died to avoid answering for your mistakes. You rode my coattails for so long that when it came time to step off, you could no longer stand on your own.”

He reared on Jimenez. “Planes? There will be no planes. You men will live or die by your wits. You will get this facility running again or you will all freeze to death. So long as our Chinese friends back our play, you must remain here and legitimize our claim. Now, tell me of this mystery ship that beached near here.”

Espinoza had gone from lamb to lion so quickly that Jimenez took a second too long to respond, so the General shouted, “Lieutenant, your dereliction has already been noted, do not make it worse!”

“Sir!” Jimenez came to attention. “As soon as the weather cleared, I ordered our helicopter to conduct an aerial survey off the coast because that vessel was an unexplained anomaly that your son told me had bothered him. They failed to spot the craft, and, given its situation when it was last sighted, it is my belief that it sank during the storm.”

“Sank?”

“Yes, sir. When we boarded it several days ago, her lower levels were flooded, and when she floated off the beach, the day before the storm, she had a severe list. It is unlikely that she survived more than a few hours when the weather front hit us. A storm strong enough to snap the Admiral Brown’s anchor chain would have easily had the power to capsize the old freighter.”

This was another coincidence that Espinoza didn’t like. However, an earlier check of the Lloyd’s of London database showed that a ship named Norego that matched the description from his son’s report had been reported lost with all hands nearly two years ago. It was just plausible enough that she had drifted all that time and her presence here was innocent.