A Stirring in the Night

McMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA


It is 2:27 am, and of course it is broad daylight. Typically at this time of night, town is eerily quiet. There is the stray back up alarm of a loader in a distant cargo yard, but very little else. I work the night shift, along with a perhaps 100 others, while the other 900 people in town work the day shift. I eat eggs and toast for dinner, and pasta and wine for breakfast, if I'm lucky. Typically on my nights off, after 10 pm or so, when all of my day working friends have turned in, I feel like I have the place to myself. The galley is empty, along with the computer kiosk and gym. I often borrow an office to use the internet and phone, and no one is likely to notice I'm here. On occasion I've even snuck into an unused kitchen for some baking on the sly. I rarely see anyone until breakfast. 


Tonight however, I am not the only creature stirring. It is ship offload, which ought to be a season in it's own right. The population has swelled to 1100, thanks to Navy cargo folks, and the Kiwi defense force, and a handful of winterovers, all here to help with the boat. The container ship is finally docked at the pier after much ado. Ice has a way of wreaking havoc- it took explosives to get rid of an ice ledge growing off the pier, but the explosion caused a crack in said pier, also made of ice. Stubborn pack ice fills the channel, and at one point an iceberg blocked the channel altogether. But alas, the boat is finally here, stacked high with metal shipping containers. To get the boat unloaded and the containers unpacked is a massive feat, accomplished by changing to 24 hour operations. Most departments will go to 12 hour shifts, without a day off, until the boat is done. 


Outside I can hear the ancient truck and trailers rumbling over gravel roads, delivering milvans (20 ft. metal shipping containers) around town. The water truck makes it's rounds, spraying water on the roads in an effort to keep the volcanic dust down. A cacophony of back up alarms drown the silence, as nearly every loader on station is in use. At the midnight meal, the line winds around the galley. 


In comparison to previous seasons, this boat is supposedly small, with significantly less containers. I am hoping this will mean a quick offload, and an end to the madness.