winter in greenland

Dan felt that he had never been in such a mess since he was born, and he didn't know what he was thinking impulsively at the time, and it was too late to say anything now.He tossed and turned in bed for most of the night, and when it was nearly 5 o'clock in the morning, a message came on his mobile phone, it was the port administrator Sacco——

"Dan, call me back when you see the message."

He thought for a while, and dialed the number directly. Sacco picked up almost immediately, with a little surprise in his voice: "Dan? Are you up?"

Dan faltered a few words to deal with it, and asked, "What do you want from me?"

"That's right, I have an order here. A scientific research ship will take tourists to the North Pole. The whole journey will take about 10 days. One of the crew members on their ship contracted dysentery, and now one person is missing. I and the old man on the ship Acquaintance, he asked me if I had any recommended skilled sailors, I wanted to ask you, didn’t you say you had a chance last time and wanted to take a look. It’s just that they are looking for it urgently, if you are interested, tomorrow... oh no , It should be today, in short, I will be at the port at 7 o'clock in the morning, and if I am satisfied, I will set off this afternoon."

Dan made up his mind almost immediately: "I'll go."

Sacco was frightened by his eager tone, and tentatively said, "You don't have to think about it again? Although it's only 10 days, as an ordinary crew member, you have to deal with all kinds of unexpected situations of tourists..."

Dan heard the doubt in his voice, cleared his throat, and slowed down his speech: "After all, the opportunity is rare, I'll come and have a look at dawn, what if the captain is not satisfied with me?"

Sacco was amused by his tone, and his voice became lighter: "Okay, then we will wait for you in the administrator's office."

It was not long before dawn at this moment, so Dan simply tidied up the room and went out the door.

There are many routes departing from Reykjavik to the North Pole in summer. For experienced captains, starting earlier means ending the voyage earlier. If they are lucky, they can make 4-6 round trips during the entire tourist season, so their ships The crew are generally fixed sailors, and they need to find someone temporarily in case of an accident. They also prefer to be introduced by people they know.

When Dan arrived at the Old Port, it was just after 7:[-] in the morning, and there was a strong smell of wine in the caretaker's cabin. Sacco and a bearded man were sitting comfortably on the sofa, and a music talent show was playing on the TV in front of them. .

"Dan? So early?" Sacco raised his wrist and looked at his watch when he opened the door: "Didn't you take the guests out to sea for night fishing last night? Could it be that you didn't rest after being woken up by my news?"

Dan shook his head: "I came back early last night and didn't go far. I had been up for a while when I received your message."

"That's fine, come in. Let me introduce you. This is Fitch, the captain of the 'Moby Dick'. This is Dan, the boy I mentioned to you before."

Fitch stood up from the sofa, reached out to shake Dan's hand, and looked him up and down: "Do you have experience in long-distance sailing?"

"So far, the furthest I've ever been is the Greenland waters."

"I heard from Sacco that you always take tourists alone when you go out to sea? How many people did you take with you at the most?"

"7."

Fei Qi looked at him carefully for a few seconds, walked around him, and patted his shoulder: "I can trust the person Sacco introduced, and you don't look like a rookie who has never been out at sea. The reward Calculated by the number of trips, one trip includes a round-trip flight, you take this trip with us, and I will pay you 9 crowns, what do you think?"

Dan just wanted to avoid Reykjavik at this moment. It was better to wait until August had gone far away before he came back. Not to mention that the salary of 9 crowns was not bad, even if Fitch didn’t give him a penny. Not likely to refuse.

"make a deal."

Fitch grinned, and reached out to shake his hand: "You don't need sailors to take care of the tourists on the ship. Your job is mainly to assist the first officer. Xia Zuo is a very easy-going person. I believe you will like him." He raised his wrist and looked at his watch: "Our plan is to set sail at 2:[-] noon, and the 'Moby Whale' is parked at the port here. It is very recognizable. If you have nothing to do, you can go to the ship to have a look. This is your temporary crew. Confirmation, I will speak to Xia Zuo in a moment. All the crew gathered on the deck an hour before departure, is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Nothing."

"By the way, my phone number is XXXXXXX." Fitch patted him on the shoulder, and turned to Sacco: "I'm going to find something to eat, and I'm leaving first."

Sacco and Dan stood at the door of the hut and watched him walk out of the port gate. Sacco stretched his waist: "It's still early, do you want to go back and pack your things? Change clothes or something, after all, it will take 10 days."

Dan shook his head: "No need, Uncle Sacco, I'll borrow your sofa to lie down, I didn't sleep much last night."

Sacco waved his hand: "You go, I went to the port to inspect."

"By the way, if someone comes looking for me... just say you didn't see where I am."

Sacco had already walked out a few steps, but he turned his head with some doubts when he heard this: "What?"

Dan said vaguely: "Forget it, I guess he won't...it's nothing, you can go."

He lay on the sofa in the caretaker's hut and slept until almost noon. Saco woke him up after his inspection, and the two of them got something to eat. After eating, Dan went to the port.

The "Moby Dick" is a medium-sized scientific research ship, the whole body is painted white, just like its name, only a vivid whale pattern is drawn with sea blue lines on the stern of the hull.The simple and clean lines make it very conspicuous among the many ships in the port.

Dan didn't see anyone else in front of the gangway, and he hesitated for a while, thinking whether to call Fitch and ask, when a voice came from above his head.

"Hey, new crew?" Dan looked up against the sun, and saw a tall figure standing at the end of the gangway, wearing a dark blue uniform with a hat tucked under his arm.

"Yes," said Dan, and walked a few steps up the gangway net.

The man also took a few steps down in Dan's direction, and when Dan was about to reach the end of the gangway, he stretched out his hand to him: "Xia Zuo, first officer. All passengers will board the ship in half an hour, and I will show you first." Moby Dick."

The ship has a total of four floors, the first floor is the cargo warehouse, the first floor is the dining room, activity room and crew lounge, the second floor is the guest room, and the third floor is the second deck and the captain's cabin.The structure of the hull is not complicated, Xia Zuo took him around and returned to the first deck, and pointed to a room opposite the pilothouse: "Kane and I lived in this room before, and it was the one who suffered from dysentery. Crew, the room has been disinfected and cleaned, so you can sleep in his berth."

Dan nodded, "Okay."

Xia Zuo turned his head and looked him up and down: "Fitch said you were introduced by Sacco. Although you have no experience in long-distance voyages, you have taken guests out to sea many times alone?"

Dan nodded again: "Yes."

Xia Zuo narrowed his eyes: "My assistant doesn't have many requirements. We implement a shift system, and you must stay in the cockpit when you are on duty. If there is an emergency, you must immediately notify me or the captain. In addition, on call, can do it?"

Dan straightened his shoulders: "Yes."

Xia Zuo nodded: "Let's go, we are ready to pick up tourists."

On the other hand, August didn't know that Dan had already "scaped into the sea", he didn't think so much about it, he just thought that the kiss the night before was not bad, if it was Dan, maybe he could give it a try .For so many years, he never thought about what kind of person he would fall in love with, including those years when he was a classmate with Arthur.Until the promise before his death, he always thought that this was the so-called "love", and he couldn't afford to think about it carefully, because that person was no longer there.He maintains an extremely self-disciplined lifestyle that is almost harsh, and he doesn't feel bitter when he gets used to it.

It wasn't until Dan dragged him hard to force him out of the narrow circle, and forced him to open his eyes wide to look at the person in front of him, that he suddenly realized that his heart, which had been silent for many years, could still beat alive. .

Early in the morning, he first used the Intranet to submit the process of applying for leave, and then directly bought the earliest flight ticket to Goha.Three hours later, he was already standing at the headquarters.

When the gray-haired lieutenant general heard his application, he almost couldn't sit still on the chair, his eyes widened: "Did I hear you right, August? Are you going on vacation?"

August stood up straight: "Report, you heard me right. I have submitted the leave application to the intranet process, and it is estimated that I will reach your approval authority this afternoon. I will come here in advance to make an oral report."

The lieutenant general stared at him for a while through the glasses on the bridge of his nose, then slowly leaned back in his chair: "Is the handover over at the base?"

"Report, not yet, but I have already told Captain Hiss. I will go back to the base first and finish the handover."

"So the leave you're applying for is... from next Monday, June 6th, to July 14rd?"

"Report, yes!"

The lieutenant general pondered for a few seconds: "I see, it's rare for you to take the initiative to apply for vacation these few years. If there are no unexpected circumstances, I will approve it. You are also an 'old man'. I don't need to repeat the vacation rules, right?"

August saluted straightly: "Report to the general, no need!"

The lieutenant general nodded: "Okay, you go back to the base first."

Because he had greeted Heath in advance, when he returned to the base, Heath had basically sorted out the more urgent documents that needed his signature and put them on his desk.

"Only these?" August roughly flipped through and began to sign one by one.

Heath propped his elbows on his desk, staring at him unblinkingly.

"What?" August noticed his gaze, and asked a little strangely.

"Where are you going?" Heath asked suddenly.

"Iceland," August replied simply.

There was an "I knew it" expression on Heath's face: "Go to Dan?"

August didn't look up, kept his hands on his hands, and simply gave a "huh".

Heath straightened up and circled around his office a little anxiously, trying to figure out how to speak.

August saw his anomaly, put all the documents aside after signing, and looked at him with some amusement: "What do you want to say?"

"..." Heath stared at him for a few seconds, discouraged: "Forget it, it's too early to say anything, wait for you to come back." After finishing speaking, he took the stack of documents from the table and said in a muffled voice, "All the way Shunfeng" ran away like an escape.

The night before departure, August went to Arthur's mother's house.

This is the first time he has been there in half a year.Since the accident happened last time and he had such a conversation with the old lady, the number of times he went there was obviously much less.In the past, they deliberately avoided the topic of Arthur, as if some things could be pretended not to exist without mentioning them, but once the facts were revealed to their eyes, they could no longer pretend to ignore them as before.He found himself a little afraid to meet those eyes that seemed to see everything.

"Auggie?" The old lady was a little surprised when she opened the door.

When August saw her expression, a trace of guilt flashed in his heart: "Sorry, I haven't seen you for a long time."

The old lady narrowed her eyes with a smile: "You should have your own life, as long as you remember to come to my place occasionally."

After the two sat down in the living room, the old lady made a pot of tea: "How is the base these days?"

"Very good. I just came back from the joint exercise in Iceland. I'm here today to tell you that I plan to take a vacation. I won't be at the base for the next month. If you have anything, please contact Heath."

The old lady took the knitting needles aside: "I've been urging you to have time to rest and go for a walk outside, and now you finally figured it out?"

August's face was a little hot: "That's right."

"When you come back, bring him to see me if you can."

August was a little surprised: "Who are you talking about?"

The old lady sighed, and stopped her knitting work: "You don't have to hide it in front of me, Auggie. I know Arthur. I have been with you for so many years, and I think I know you a little bit. After all Your piano sound will not lie. I know that Arthur likes you, although he never mentioned it to me, and I also know that you have been taking care of me all these years, it must be because you promised Arthur something. Just like I was with you before That said, I almost regard you as my second son, the past is over, and I hope you have your own life. No matter who the person who can bring you these new changes is, I am very grateful to him."

After a long silence, August gently held the old lady's hand and said in a low voice, "Thank you."

The author says:

The remuneration is calculated in Icelandic krona. I checked the exchange rate and roughly estimated a number. If it is inaccurate or unrealistic, please don’t be serious.