A survivor's story

Chapter 2

We had been at sea for two months. The air was cold and crisp. Most people stayed below decks while we sailed over Russia but I had been cooped up in a stuffy cabin for almost a week now and I had to breath some fresh air. The sea always looked so beautiful when the sun was up. The ice sparkled in the midday light. However the ice also had a curse. I retreated to the warmth of the ship's cafeteria before my fingers gave way to frostbite.

The cafeteria was as lively and busy as ever. The large room was very much like the others. Steel walls and a slate floor. Several metal tables were scattered around the room. Most of the seats were occupied by crewmen trying to fight off the cold. I wandered over to an empty seat next to Jess. "hey where is everyone? It is lunch right?" usually everyone was down here feasting on the meal of the day by now.

"They'll be down in a minute. They're... negotiating with Max to get the heating turned up." She said in her southern drawl

"Again?" they had been asking for the heating to get turned up a lot recently. Admittedly it was freezing. The more time we spent over Russia the colder it seemed to get. Although when you spend a lot of time in your cabin researching Asian history you tend not to notice.

"could you be a doll and get me some soup please? Jake makes a good vegetable soup." Jess asked. Jake being the ships Galley Master, does indeed make a good vegetable soup.

When I eventually got to the steel counter after waiting in a lengthy queue of hungry sailors I got a friendly greeting from Jake (who by the way was the guy with the funny story about the cake/snake) "Hey Alex. what can I get you today?" The kitchens were bustling with kitchen staff and the sounds of clattering pans.

"Two vegetable soups and a coffee. You know how Max gets if he doesn't get coffee as soon as he arrives?"

"What, the whole undead zombie thing? Yeah I am well aware. Okay so two vegetable soups and one coffee"

"Make it a strong one, He is getting more complaints about the heating issue and he may not be in the best of moods."

"Message received loud and clear. a very strong coffee coming right up." He turned his stunning brown eyes towards the coffee machine while one of the kitchen staff delivered piping hot soups in front of me. "Good luck with Max." Jake said while placing the coffee on a tray next to the soups.

"Thanks Jake." I took the food and retreated back to my seat in time to see a defeated group of people walk in followed by a very stern looking Max. Nick slumped down in the seat opposite me. "No luck?" I asked. Although the fact I was shivering answered my question.

"Nope. He said that we don't have enough resources to raise the heating and then he started giving me a lot of grief because I'm the head engineer and should know better."

Christian, who had sat himself next to me, weighed in "apparently we are sailing on a ship from the the 19th century so the heating is coal powered." The two boys then raised from their seats to get food from the kitchens. Max then seated himself down into Christians empty seat. I handed him the coffee that had cooled slightly.

After drinking half of the coffee without taking a breath - which I thought wasn't even humanly possible - said " well, those guys don't quit do they? That's what? The fifth time this week they have come to me about the heating?" he quietly laughed to himself and continued "Anyways, Scott says we have less than a month until we get out of the arctic." Scott was the helmsman of the expedition. He was small and had copper red hair that slightly blinded you when he stood directly in sunlight.

Nick and Christian had arrived with trays full of steaming hot soup. Nick re-occupied his seat opposite me and Christian next to him. I couldn't ignore Nick's shirt. It was a black shirt with the periodic table on it with the tag-line in white saying 'I wear this shirt periodically'. I couldn't help but but giggle at that. "Good news guys. Scott says we have less than a month left in the frozen north."

"Hallelujah!" "Thank God." Nick and Christian chorused. Chuckles eminated from around the table. "Oh ,hey, Alex I meant to say, Leanne wanted to talk to you about something on the main deck, she sais it's important." Nick added.

"Better be going then, see you guys there later?" that was meet be a series of nods. I gulped down the rest of my soup - which was still piping hot - and headed to the main deck.

I was met with the site of a small blonde haired woman waving enthusiastically from a desk cluttered with ancient history books and worn out charts. Leanne the ships juniour historian. I wandered over to see what has got her so excited. "Alex! you'll never guess what! I was pondering of 6th century Japanese history and I came across this!" She slid over a leather bound book open at a page describing Japanese deities. I didn't see what was so exciting about this until I noticed a small paragraph at the bottom of the page. It read:

Fire, earth, water, air and spirit,

The things of legend that walks these lands,

all shall bow to these mighty beings,

the rulers of the kingdom at the heart of the storm.

"Heart of the storm..." I repeated. The Japanese didn't have deities for the elements, however Nyukaredonians did.