Category: White Voyage

Extracts from The White Voyage

Abandoning ship

He heard the throb of the engines stop, and the lights winked off. It was a moment in which the full understanding came home to him that they were abandoning this stout and comfortable refuge...

Night bear

Olsen awoke during the night; his watch told him it was nearly three o’clock. About him there was the sound of steady breathing. He found his boots, slipped them on, and quietly made his way...

One never fathoms a fool

Mouritzen stood staring at the water. Olsen, scrambling down the ice, stood beside him. ‘You’re a fool,’ Olsen said. His voice was controlled, coldly bitter. ‘And one never fathoms a fool; however often you sound...

The last supper

She put her boots on and went outside. Already, in so short a time, the tent had become stuffy, and she breathed the fresh night air with relief. A brown hump showed where Katerina had...

I need you down here!

Thorsen continued to stare into the crevasse. Nadya called up: ‘It is still sinking.’ ‘We must lose no time,’ Mouritzen said. ‘I will go first. You come after me, by the same route.’ He eased...

Bear fight

This was the time to get away. Mouritzen called to Nadya: ‘This way! We will escape while they are fighting.’ But instead of coming towards him, she threw herself against the flank of the polar...