Chapter-2 Arctic Waters, 64° 57′ 0″ N, 19° 0′ 0″ W Hantaa Ship 01

"Keep this chunk of ice in place! We still have time to take it to a safe place. This ice will melt in 3 days max. We can still sail during that time and find a shipyard to repair the hull."

"Yoshido! Find the closest repair dock we can get to."

The successive orders were responded by the crew by bowing. Captain Shinji then ordered his crews to conduct a shift guard in the hull adjacent to the main engine room. They needed to keep him updated of the melting process. And of course, to keep their eyes on the humanoid silhouette in that mysterious ice.

Everyone followed Captain Shinji's orders. The crew of the ship resumed their activities. First Mate Yoshido opened the maps and internet information via satellite to search for the nearest cities with port facilities and shipyards.

Of course, the nearest city meant anywhere within less than 3-day away. They were in the most remote part of the earth, so they didn't have much choice. In fact, Reykjavik was the only option. Hantaa 01 set its course to Iceland.

Hantaa 01 was sailing at a moderate speed. Captain Shinji didn't want to risk cruising at a high speed. The ship was not in the best condition because it carried a large chunk of ice in its hull which disturbed the balance of the ship, including the damage to the ship engine cooling system caused by the impact. In addition, the sea seemed to be unfriendly. Black clouds in the distance were a sign of a looming storm which meant high waves and strong winds.

Deep down, Captain Shinji was uneasy with the condition of the ship. Not just because of the damage to the hull. But his mind was mostly occupied by the mysterious object inside the iceberg.

The faint silhouette closely resembled an adult human body in fetal position. Captain Shinji thought to himself. Was it an ancient human fossil? A real polar dweller trapped in ice? Or what would that be?

One thing for sure they must reach the nearest shipyard quickly. They needed to remove the ice chunk filling the hole in the hull before continuing their hunting expedition. They had fallen too far behind the hunting schedule.

Captain Shinji's wandering thoughts were interrupted by a drastic change in the weather. Hantaa 01 was swung violently. They had already begun to enter the vortex of the storm. Captain Shinji focused his concentration and ordered a warning alarm to alert all crew members.

On the hull of the Hantaa 01, Chief Engineer Takada Iyoshu looked anxiously at the 2 massive Mitsubishi engines that were the heart of the ship. It turned out that the collision with the iceberg had damaged the engine cooling components. Together with the ship's engineers and electricians, Takada had tried to mend the damage. It worked but only temporarily. That's why Takada advised Captain Shinji not to run the engine to its ideal capacity.

But under a harsh storm like this?

Even though the engine room was air-conditioned, it felt stifling to Takada and his four men. Everyone took off their top uniform and left only undershirts. The engine room was like a sauna. Incredibly hot.

The two crew members who were on guard experienced the same condition. The engine room was right next to the hull room. Nothing could be done to the heat emanated from the massive engines heating up all the steel nearby which then heating up the air in the hull room. They were drenched in sweat.

These two crews were trying hard to fan themselves with anything due to the almost unbearable heat. A strong roar from the engine room accompanied the violent shaking of the hull. Apparently, Captain Shinji increased the speed of the ship to the maximum, because he was trying hard to balance the ship which was being hit by a big wave.

The ship's engine roared loudly several times because the captain raised and lowered the ship's speed to the extreme in order to survive the onslaught of the big waves.

In the engine room, Takada and his men couldn't do anything when there was a loud explosion from the ship's engine cooler which were broken into pieces. Only one engine left that still worked with an abnormal cooler. Takada hastily asked one of his men to start the spare engine. The ship would not be able to survive in this kind of weather using only one engine.

The engine room temperature rose sharply until it was unbearable. Takada signaled his men to leave the room. But the hull of the ship was no difference.

The only way to have a relief from the heat was to get closer to the large chunk of ice that penetrated the ship's hull. The cold ice would help reduce the temperatures while they were keeping an eye on the engine room.

It was quite a hilarious sight. Six hefty people gathered next to a chunk of iceberg while repeatedly pressing their arms and body onto the ice surface to cool themselves while holding on to each other as the ship continued to rock violently.

Chaotic atmosphere in an extremely hot temperature made the six people in the room completely oblivious with the ice melting away. Besides, ship's rolling and pitching during a strong storm did indeed let the water seeped inside.

The searing temperature of the engine room had overwhelmed the mind of six men who were struggling to keep their balance. At the same time, the ice plug was melting fast.

Sea water seeped through crevices between the ice and ship's hull, which gradually enlarged because the plug was shrinking. It was too late for the six crew to realize when the water finally rushed into the room. They shouted orders to each other to immediately pump the water out.

But there was only so much that human power could do when faced by the force of raging nature. The rush of sea water entering the hull of the ship dislodged the ice plug and pushed it to the center of the room. Two crews who were hit by the large chunk of ice helplessly drowned by the fast-raising water. Four others tried to save themselves by running towards the stairs to the upper deck.

Two of them managed to reach the upper deck, but the rest were thrown back down when the ship was violently rocked by the wave. The ship's engine stopped as soon as it submerged into the sea water.

Captain Shinji stared in disbelief as he watched the monitor screen for engine room and the ship's hull as they were filled up with water. Hantaa 01 was completely helpless. The captain immediately raised the evacuation alarm. Without the engine, the ship would soon sink.

But suddenly, the weather changed drastically. The storm died down. The waves were getting smaller. Captain Shinji who was preparing for evacuation process sounded the cancellation alarm. Even without an engine, Hantaa 01 could still survive, even though it could only be adrift waiting for help. Of course, with the condition that the engine room and hull were totally sealed.

In the hull room. The last big wave that hit the ship pushed the iceberg which was completely submerged in the water and rammed a steel pole hard, causing its surface to crack.

Arctic sea was frigid, but in the adjacent room, the three giant machines that previously worked extraordinarily hard finally heated up the water. The ice cubes were melting faster.

The humanoid silhouette in the lump of ice was increasingly visible.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Captain Shinji was busy shouting orders. It was survival moment for everyone. The ship was leaking and the engine died. Luckily the navigation and electricity were still on, as the backup generator in the front deck was still working.

All crew members were recounted. Out of 40 crews, 4 were killed, eight injured. The rest were exhausted. Logistics stocks were also rechecked. Captain Shinji should be able to estimate how long they could survive adrift in the part of the ocean with barely any ship traffic. Obviously, rowing was out of the question. Even if they found a land, Captain Shinji was sure it would an island with snow and ice. They were in the middle of nowhere. Only God could save them.

And no more storms of course.

While below. The humanoid figure was floating in the water after the chunks of ice wrapping it melted and broke a part.

It wasn't moving at all but floating in the water. The swirling current of water in the room made his body bumping against surrounding objects.

It seemed that his face was covered by an oddly shaped, waterproof mask. What seemed the most absurd was that his head had long hair with unusual color. Deep blue like the color of the deep ocean.