It had been a beautiful day in Antarctica, and now the sun was starting to set as Professor John James Czermak, his graduate student, Alex Pushkov, and some of their fellow shipmates prepared their camp spots on Hovgaard Island. They had to dig a level place in the snow to place their sleeping bags, and James had selected a secluded spot near the top of the hill overlooking the entrance to the Lemaire Channel and a glacial mountain range on the mainland that reminded him of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.

The Expedition Leader had suggested James put a big rock at the foot of his camping equipment to prevent him from accidentally sliding down the hill. The equipment consisted of an outer waterproof cocoon cover (bevy bag) with an inside sleeping bag and foam pad.

After watching a colorful sunset about ten o’clock over the sea, James turned  his attention in the opposite direction towards the red glow on the  mountains reflected in the channel containing numerous ice floats, a few  icebergs, and their ship, the Akademik Abraham. The stars were starting to come out as James took off his boots, waterproof pants, and jacket, and zipped himself into the sleeping bag and outer cocoon cover. As he watched the number of  stars increase around the Southern Cross, he spotted a satellite slowly crossing the sky. Next, he saw a falling star and made a wish. The last time he had come  close to seeing this many stars was camping out at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, or perhaps on his property in Nederland, Colorado.

His mind raced back to Nederland and how wonderful it had been to have his  “Pine Shadows” summer home at 86 Doe Trail, bordering Boulder County  Open Space, with stellar views of Barker Reservoir, the Continental Divide, and  Eldora Ski Area. They joked about Doe Trail as the Department of Energy, not a  female deer, as it was ironic that 86 was the tragic year that he had lost his  DOE security clearance and ensuing trouble with the FBI.

Shortly after he and Margrit had purchased the land in 1993, the Norwegian who had built the home four doors up on Doe Trail had died, and his son had him cryogenically preserved along with his father’s deceased friend from California in hopes they could be brought back to life once medical science had advanced to that point. 

The townspeople, primarily a mixture of old miners, hippies, and new agers, started to hear stories about the two frozen dead men being stored in Nederland, and  held several town meetings on what they should do about the bodies that  were starting to attract national publicity. One weekend, at the height of the public attention, Cable News Network (CNN) televised the event including a sign  put out by the local baker which stated, “What is the big deal about two Norwegians in the freezer, I have six Danish in the oven.”

The town finally accepted the bodies, and now capitalizes on the publicity by having an annual “Frozen Dead Guy Days.” James had missed the event this year where there were frozen dead guy look-like contests, coffin races, and more.

James’ thoughts returned to the Antarctic, and he reflected on the day. Indeed,  it had been a wonderful day. James was an early riser, and with coffee cup in hand  he made his way back to his usual spot, the middle-rear of the lower deck near  the cargo gate. There he watched a spectacular sunrise over the mountains  between six and seven as the ship made its way to the Yalour Islands after crossing the Antarctic Circle the previous day; it had indeed been a  wonderful crossing.

After breakfast, they had zodiac cruises in the morning along the mountainous coast. The weather had been pleasant as the ship crossed Waddington Bay passing through lots of brash ice and some beautiful icebergs. They spotted more humpback whales and some crabeater and leopard seals and made a few stops in the zodiacs to watch Adelie penguins with the icy mountains in the background.

After lunch, they visited Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian research center once owned by the British and called Faraday Station. They toured the station and were informed that its scientists were mainly performing upper atmosphere studies and were instrumental in discovering the ozone hole. James gave a short talk on his environmental radioactivity studies at Clemson University to a small group of Ukrainian scientists. The station was colorful, with a bar and home-made vodka, pool table, dart board, and souvenir shop. They also visited Wordie House, a small museum preserving part of the early British base and ended the visit with a walk to the top of a nearby snow hill to enjoy the view followed by sledding down on their bottoms.

Then they went back to the ship for dinner. Following their meal, they were treated with a super display in the bay by a pod of eight killer whales including a mother and calf. There were also humpback whale sightings as fifteen campers were being transported to Hovgaard Island for their camp out.

James was pleased that he had the night off from his surveillance of the  Argentinean Nuclear Scientists and whoever was suspected of trying to pass  nuclear weapons technology to them. James really thought that Brazil, or  even Venezuela, would be a more likely country, but of course, Argentina was  having economic problems and might be starting down the road to nuclear  blackmail like the North Koreans.

Only one of the Argentineans had opted for the campout. Despite terribly missing Ying, James was not going to pass up an experience of a lifetime and stay aboard ship to continue his covert government assignment. At least this way he would not have to worry about another attempt on his life and could hopefully get a good night’s sleep.

But James was mistaken as he was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp jar to his sleeping bag, and found himself sliding fast down the hill, cocooned in his sleep equipment and heading for a high ledge over the icy channel. As James  was frantically trying to unzip the bag and cocoon, all he could think about was, 

“Is this the same feeling his wife Margrit had experienced when she lost control of his car going down Black Canyon in the Santa Susanna mountains in California.”

Margrit’s death was no accident as the brakes of the car she was driving had been tampered with. As James was sliding down the hill, he too knew this was no accident, but another attempt on his life.