Arctic Fire by Stephen W. Frey

like Cherry Coke, and it seemed like that was the only thing they ever had to drink here besides tap water. “I’m fine.” He searched her dark eyes for clues to how she was really doing. She hid her emotions well for a young woman, though he wasn’t sure she was trying to. It always seemed to him that it was a natural gift, that it wasn’t anything she’d perfected. “Are you OK?”
    She looked wonderful for having given birth only two months ago, maybe even better than she had when they’d first met overa year ago. She still had that pregnancy glow about her, but the extra weight was gone. In fact, she looked slightly thinner to him than she had before she’d conceived.
    Lisa shrugged. “All right. You?” she asked as she eased onto the chair beside his.
    “I’m fine.”
    He kept gazing at her. She was so nice and so beautiful, and he understood why Troy had been so attracted to her.
    He let his chin fall slowly to his chest and took a deep breath. Troy…he couldn’t bring himself to tell her.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “Nothing, nothing at all.”
    “Are you sure? It looked like you were going to say something bad.”
    “I was just thinking about this guy I need to call,” he lied.
    “Oh.”
    He wanted to tell her about the terrible thing that had happened. But now that he was here and he was gazing into those soulful eyes and that vulnerable expression, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t make himself break her heart. He knew how much she loved Troy.
    He reached into his suit coat and pulled out an envelope. It had five hundred dollars inside, and that was all he could spare right now. He figured he was going to need the rest of the money he was pretty sure he’d scraped together today to get to Alaska. In fact, he’d probably need more than that when it was all said and done. But he’d work that out later on the fly, while he was in the middle of everything.
    “Here.” He held the envelope out for her. “Take it.”
    Lisa caught her breath and put a hand to her chest when she saw the cash. “Ay dios mio!” she shrieked, springing out of her chair to give him a huge hug.
    “Don’t get too excited,” he said when she finally pulled back. “It’s just five hundred bucks. I’m sorry that’s all I can give you right now.”
    “You’re so good to me. Why?”
    “I have to be,” Jack answered simply. “That’s just the way it is.”
    Lisa gazed at him for several moments, and then she turned and trotted into one of the bedrooms. A few moments later she was back, cradling her two-month-old son in her slender arms. He was wrapped snugly in a blanket and sleeping soundly, but Jack could see the tiny features of his handsome face as well as a shock of jet-black hair protruding from beneath his blue knit hospital cap. This little boy was her first child.
    Lisa held the baby out and smiled. “Here, you hold him.”
    Just the thought of doing that sent Jack’s heart rate into the stratosphere. He’d only held babies a few times in his life, and he’d been sweating profusely after only a few moments each time.
    “Oh, no, I don’t think so.”
    Lisa laughed as she pressed the little boy against Jack’s chest. “Make sure you support his head.”
    “OK, OK.” He took a deep breath as he gazed down at the tiny human being resting in his arms. “Well, hello there, little Jack,” he said quietly. “It’s nice to see you again.”



CHAPTER 12

    S PEED T RAP was eating dinner by himself at the crumb-strewn table in the galley of the
Arctic Fire
. Tonight it was two hot dogs and some baked beans that had been sitting in a big, uncovered pot on the stove since yesterday afternoon, undoubtedly attracting all kinds of attention from bacteria. Even in the frigid air on the Bering Sea, those nasty creatures survived. So he’d zapped his helping of beans and the two hot dogs in the microwave that was on the dishwasher beside the stove.
    The ship would make Akutan in a