An Internship in Antarctica

By Karisa Stapp

“Don’t worry, I’m generally pretty good at this stuff,” Detective Thomason said, using a gloved finger to prod the corpse.

“Generally? What do you mean by that?” Sabrina couldn’t control the horrified look on her face as the detective started sniffing the body.

“Hmmmmm.” Thomason frowned. “I think it best to say this man was murdered.”

Sabrina studied the oddball detective. Ice was forming on his beard, and it added an edge to the mad look in his eyes.  Why was it that she was the intern assigned to this numb-nut instead of any one of the seven lead continental detectives? To top it all off, his jurisdiction was Antarctica.

“Murdered? You had to sniff him to be sure? The knife in his chest didn’t give it away?” Sabrina nervously glanced at the shifting ice floes. Hopefully, the one they were standing on didn’t break apart any time soon. She didn’t want to deal with the Pengeons. “Don’t you think we should be trying to figure out why he was murdered? Or what he was doing in the middle of Antarctica?”

Detective Thomason waved a hand at her. Then he began shifting through the pockets of the dead man, pulling out a few trinkets, along with a small purse.

“Hmmmmm.” The detective shook the purse, causing coins to rattle within. “So maybe he wasn’t murdered.”

Sabrina frowned. It was curious that a killer would leave a full purse of coins. With the world polluted with poisonous radiation and filled with mutated creatures, any amount of protective gear and food rations were incredibly expensive, especially here. A small bag of coins would be quite the treasure these days.

“What are you saying?” Sabrina shivered as the breeze picked up. In the distance, she could hear the ice continue to move. If it broke, the Pengeons would come running, baring razor fangs and sharpened teeth.

“He must’ve killed himself.”

Sabrina considered, then nodded. It made the most sense. Although it didn’t explain why he was in Antarctica. For a moment, she wondered what her fellow interns were experiencing out on the other six continents. With the world in shambles, there was always some mystery to solve. Unfortunately, Antarctica never had any of the interesting cases. This one had been far too easy to crack.

“So I guess that’s it then?” Sabrina sighed. There were plenty of reasons this man would kill himself if he was stranded out here. The Pengeons were one. Sabrina glanced nervously out at the white wasteland around them. Floes continued to crack.

“Now,” the detective said, “we need to find out why he killed himself, don’t we?”

Sabrina shrugged. “Do we really need to?” Everyone knew Antarctica was hit hard by the radiation. Nowadays, there were far too many mutated creatures living here to give anyone the hope of a happy life. She’d even heard there were creatures akin to vampires out here. It was certainly cold enough for them. Vampires, after all, would melt in the heat.

The detective looked at her. “Absolutely. That’s what we do. We figure this stuff out.” With that, he resumed his odd examination of the dead man. He kicked one of the legs. “Hmmmmmm.”

Sabrina stepped closer as the wind picked up. “What?”

“It’s not frozen. So pretty recent.”

Sabrina shook her head. She could tell that without kicking the body. She wondered if Thomason was slightly insane from spending most of his days among the ice floes. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard a loud crack in the distance.

The detective didn’t even look up. “Hmmmmmm.”

Sabrina couldn’t take it any longer. “Oh gosh, can you stop that?!”

The detective looked at her. “What? I’m thinking.” He turned back at the body and reached for the knife. “Ah!” He jerked his hand back.

“Now what?” Sabrina stepped closer, trying her best to ignore the shifting ice beneath her feet.

“Ah, nothing.” Thomason rubbed his gloved hand. “Just cut myself a bit.” A small drop of blood fell from the rip in his gloves onto the face of the dead man. The detective did not stop his investigation, though now he now seemed to avoid getting too close to the knife. “It’s almost like the blade pulled me in,” he muttered. “Hmmmmmm…”

“We should go. I can tell you why he killed himself. No one wants to be trapped out here with the Pengeons.”

“No.” Detective Thomason shook his head. “There’s something else.”

Another crack sounded in the distance. Sabrina glanced nervously in the direction of the noise. She certainly did not want to be trapped out there with the Pengeons. It was still a good walk back to base.

“Hmmmmmm. Just as I thought.”

Sabrina glared at him. “What is it this time?”

The Detective had a curious gleam in his eye. “This man is a vampire.”

Sabrina opened her mouth, but no words came out. At that moment, she felt the ice beneath her feet crack. Pengeons. Right after the crack, the eyes of the dead man flipped open. Sabrina screamed.

“Let’s go!” She grabbed the detective’s arm, attempting to pull him in the direction of Base. He did not budge.

“Now, now, Sabrina,” Thomason said in a calm tone. “Do not be afraid. I’ve learned a few things after all these years, stranded alone on the ice.”

The dead man began to rise beside them, but Thomason pulled out a small golden knife from his bag. “Don’t you know, Sabrina, Antarctica has the most thrilling cases in all the world?”

With the knife in his hand, Thomason smiled and turned to face the vampire and the approaching horde of Pengeons.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karisa Stapp is a new writer who spends her free time working on short fiction and her first full-length fantasy novel. When not writing, she works as a fitness coach and competes at a professional level in CrossFit. This is the first story she has published, and she is excited to dive into more.

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