“The rotor wash alone would send the colony into a panic and destabilize the birds that are already exhausted,” Nate agreed.
Reed nodded. “Even if I could manage it, the surface area up there is not enough for a safe touchdown.”
“Correct,” I said.
We exchanged a glance inside the cockpit.
I had an idea. “What if… you drop me at the base? I can try to scale the wall.”
Reed turned his head and looked at me with an expression I recognized from the war zone. It was the expression that cameright before he told me absolutely not. “Daniel. Those walls are completely vertical. You are a surgeon, not a free climber.”
“I have done harder things. I can rappel down.”
“I know. But not like this.”
“Wait, what?” Nate’s voice cut through. “Doctor Park, you can rappel down from a chopper?”
Reed grinned. “He can do many things.” He turned to me. “But no. Not this time. There are no handholds on sheer ice. I am not dropping you at the base of an ice wall in the middle of the Southern Ocean.”
“Doctor Park, even if you could somehow do it, it would take you hours.” Nate clearly agreed with Reed.
I blew out a breath. “Fine. Nate, any way to get the vessel closer?”
“I have been trying for the past hour, Doctor. The brash ice around the base is too dense and unpredictable for us to dock anywhere near it. We cannot get close enough to do anything useful, and I cannot get anyone off the vessel safely even if we could.”
“Drop me in the ocean,” Reed said.
I stared at him. “And then what exactly?”
“I trained for Everest two years back. That is how I got the Guinness record. I know how to climb.”
“Whoa. I didn’t know that.” Nate sounded awestruck.
Reed grinned. “Well, technically I didn’t set the record for climbing. I landed a chopper on Everest.”
“That’s even more impressive. I had no idea Waypoint Station was full of heroes.”
Reed laughed. I was still glaring at him. “No. You are not climbing. We just went over it.”
Reed said nothing. He looked out through the windscreen at the iceberg, then up at the sky, and then back at the iceberg.
“I am not leaving them,” Reed said quietly.
“I know,” Daniel said.
Reed turned back to the instruments. Several seconds passed as the three of us racked our brains. Suddenly, Reed snapped his fingers. “I have it!”
“What’s the plan?” Nate asked.
“What about a zipline?”
“I am sorry, what?” Nate asked.
“A zipline.” Reed was smiling wide, his eyes alight. I felt dread spread inside me. He was onto an idea, and I already knew this was it. But it meant Reed’s life was on the line.
“What about a zipline?” Nate asked again. “I am sorry. I don’t get it.”
“I have a grappling hook in the gear locker behind us. I throw it from the open side door and catch it on the rim of the iceberg. Once the hook is set, we have a fixed line running from the chopper to the iceberg edge.”
