Free The Eskimo Invasion by Hayden Howard Page B

with distant

islands glittering. They were icebergs. God help me! I have to cross

that! Edwardluk had told him the Sanctuary Guard Station must be on

the gray smudge on the horizon. It was the whitemen's island. He looked

back at Edwardluk so happily sleeping. Angrily Dr. West thought: I can

travel there alone -- if the dogs are harnessed to the sled, by you -- Flies buzzed above Edwardluk's sleeping smile, and his massive jaw

moved. He was dreaming. These people, Marthalik, all of them -- Dr. West

marveled how animated their faces were when they slept, as if their

dreams were more real than reality. Surely I can outthink Edwardluk. I'm the one who should be pulling the

strings. I'm not his puppet. He should be mine, if I have any brains left

at all.
     
     
Quietly, Dr. West picked up his sleeping bag. He slid his arm through

the sling of his recoilless rifle. He hefted his pack. Heavy-laden, he

started walking across the ice toward the distant icebergs in the polar

strait. He hoped he was setting a trap for Edwardluk. He hoped Edwardluk

would not be angry. Perhaps Edwardluk would laugh, "Eh-eh, we go!"
     
     
With each step, the silicone rubber membranes in Dr. West's boots exhaled

fog. Yet he waded with dry feet through shimmering puddles of meltwater

across the thawing sea ice. Like a giant, he strode over eroding stream

beds on the ice. Fresh water trickled toward dark leads where the sea

surged, where seals could rise.
     
     
This summer ice was rotting, dangerous. He opened the vents in his outer

parka because to perspire also was dangerous. "Bad, bad-bad," Edwardluk

had said, "for whiteman to walk alone on sea ice."
     
     
Then you come rescue me, Dr. West thought and walked on and on.
     
     
The icebergs seemed no closer, but when Dr. West looked back he saw that

the encampment had miniaturized into a cluster of dots.
     
     
Like a midget, a midge, a dark speck, Dr. West plodded endlessly across

the flat sea ice. He hoped Edwardluk was watching, massive jaw beginning

to sag with worry. Dr. West was gambling that Edwardluk would grunt with

decision, hitch the dogs to the sled and come out after him to rescue him.
     
     
"You will, if you truly like me." Dr. West's pack-straps sawed into his

shoulders. His feet plodded on and on across the sea ice. He squinted

at the sky although he had given up all hope of being arrested, rescued

by a Cultural Sanctuary copter. The only way of carrying his warning

message to the Outside seemed to be through hopeful physical exertion,

plus guile if Edwardluk fell into his trap.
     
     
Above the peak of the iceberg, a flock of dark fulmars whirled. Around

the berg gleamed broken ice and dark water where sea birds could feed.

Dr. West was surprised that he did not sight a single seal. He circled

behind the berg, setting the psychological trap.
     
     
Now he was out of view from the camp. Dr. West hoped Edwardluk was harnessing

the dogs. If his friendship is genuine, he'll come to rescue me. if not,

he'll come to recapture me. But there was a third possibility. Edwardluk

simply might sleep. But Marthalik would awaken, asking: "Where is my

husband?" She would awaken Edwardluk quickly.
     
     
From his pack, Dr. West took out a pad of caribou skin and sat down on it.

Rifle propped against his thigh, he waited. The trap was set for Edwardluk.

And he waited.
     
     
Cold rose through the ancient caribou skin pad into Joe West's haunches.

Restlessly, he remembered his Alaskan Eskimos had used bear skin pads

because they were thicker. But these Boothia people owned no polar bear

skins. They said they never killed bears, and Dr. West was inclined to

believe them.
     
     
The cold enfolded him. From the corner of his eye, a small part of the

white background trotted across his field of vision. It was an Arctic fox,

plume-tailed and oblivious.
     
     
Suddenly the white fox stared at him or past him. Dr. West felt a creeping

urge to look behind