The next day was absolutely gorgeous. The sky was clear, the sun shining brightly, and the temperature somewhere around five degrees. Really toasty.
There was a fair amount of floating ice chunks in the waters which made it slow going for our Zodiac. We had a lot of costly equipment with us, so I was glad Sam was driving extra cautiously. Our destination was Humble Island, a much smaller Adélie colony than the more famous one nearby, which was precisely why I had chosen it for my field study.
Adrien and Grant were dropping us off so they could take the Zodiac back to the station. After an hour of bobbing on the choppy waters we finally drew close to the island. The sound of penguins chattering all around was the sweetest melody to my ears. I had been right. This week was going to fix my mood, because I loved these birds more than anything else. With their googly, funny eyes they were such an adorable and dorky-looking species. Who doesn’t grow up loving penguins? They were probably the quintessential and universally loved bird, and the fact that I had gotten to become a penguinologist was the best thing ever.
Adrien scrunched up his face and groaned. “Ughhh.”
I grinned. “That is the famous guano gravy stench.”
“Holy hell.” Adrien covered his nose. “I did not think penguins — these cute penguins — could create such a mess.”
“Oh, you are going to fall in love with it. And when you go back home you are going to miss it.” I paused for effect. “The best way to recreate the experience at home is to take some old cigarette tobacco, soak it in ammonia, mix in some rotten shrimp, and let it sit in the sun for a few days. Then take a whiff.”
Grant punched me in the shoulder and laughed. “Get off the boat so I can take Adrien back away from this shit soup.”
Sam and I carried our gear onto the rocky surface of the island. The unique smell of bird droppings and krill carcasses was everywhere. The first time I had encountered it I had almost gagged, but now it was second nature to me.
I waved at Grant and Adrien as they took the Zodiac back to the station. Once the boat was a tiny dot bobbing away, I started trekking toward the spot where we had come earlier in the season and set up the research tent. It was a bright yellow color, easily visible even in the worst blizzard. It was installed on top of a sturdy wooden plank that served as the floor, and on top of that we had a couple of layers of insulated bedding to make it as comfortable as possible to sleep inside.
Once the tent was all zipped up, body heat and a tiny kettle boiling water created enough warmth that sometimes it could actually get hot enough that you had to step outside to cool down. People didn’t believe me, but it was remarkable how comfortable it could become — especially given how pleasant the weather was outside.
“Wait.”
I was suddenly brought to a stop by a pull on my bicep. Sam had grasped my arm and was now looking down at me with the same concerned gaze I had seen earlier in the day.
“Everything okay?”
I frowned in confusion. “Of course. We have come here so many times, we are used to the stench. I was just making a joke for Adrien,” I replied.
“At the doctor’s yesterday.” Sam looked away for a moment and swallowed thickly. He did not meet my gaze as he continued. “I know I am not supposed to pry into any doctor-patient matter, but…” He trailed off awkwardly.
Sam had never been good with words, but I made up for both of us.
“Oh, that was nothing important. It was just something Daniel and I have been talking about,” I shrugged.
Sam did not look convinced, but he nodded once and said okay and let me go. We decided to first do a perimeter tour of the island and return in the evening to settle camp.
“Viktor?”
“Da?” I turned toward him.
“Don’t you want to launch the drone first?”
“Oh, right. Shit — I forgot. Let’s do that.”
Carefully, the two of us extracted the drone from its well-packed insulated bag. While Sam checked the propeller legs, I cycled through the startup sequence. The green light blinked steadily.
I scanned the ground for a suitable launch surface. There was a flat rock just to our left, clear of penguins for the moment.
Both of us were dressed in the red parkas everyone at Waypoint wore. The penguins were used to us — but even if they hadn’t been, penguins had no natural land-based predators, and as such they had no fear of humans or anything else that arrived on two legs.
Sure enough, a group of grey-wool-covered chicks startedwaddling toward us. The sight made my heart leap. They were absolutely adorable — their swinging gait, the thick grey down covering them from top to bottom. Later in the season they would moult and the adult coloring would come through, but right now they looked like lumps of grey felted wool wandering the island on a mission only they understood.
“Crèche incoming,” I murmured to Sam.
Sam paused and turned his head to watch the incoming group. His face lit up and a smile spread across his lips.
I could only stare.
