Astrid Maxxim and the Antarctic Expedition Read online

  “Good grief,” said Astrid.

  “It’s a harsh environment,” said Christopher. “Imagine exploring here with the technology of 1928.”

  “That is true, young Mr. Harris,” said the film director. “This fellow didn’t die of starvation or exposure though. If you look just above his right eye, you will find a bullet hole.”

  “Mon dieu!” said Océane.

  “Have you heard of a man called Raymond Park, Miss Maxxim?”

  “Only as a name on a list of expedition personnel from my great-grandfather’s journal.”

  “We found Park’s journal here in the ice. It seems when the expedition discovered gold here in 1928, a group of them decided they had to stay and dig some of it out. They wanted to get rich. When your great-grandfather expressed the opinion that they should simply note the discovery on the map and move on, they tried to kill him and the men who agreed with him. They didn’t want word of their discovery to get out, you see. Four were killed and three escaped into the frozen landscape, including James Robert Maxxim. Park was the leader of those that wanted to stay and mine the gold. He and his four cohorts all died here. He assumed that your great-grandfather perished, but of course he and his comrades made it back home.”

  “It seems like such a waste,” said Astrid.

  “People get very strange when dealing with money, don’t they Miss Maxxim?”

  Astrid looked up at Greenwood’s face and into the camera lens, which was shooting over his shoulder.

  “People think about the money sometimes without thinking about what can be done with it,” she said.

  “I understand you’re giving up any claim on the gold here.”

  “I think the gold is just fine just where it is.”

  They spent the night in a tent and were ready when the copter returned the next day to pick them up. Astrid was more than pleased to leave. The site seemed too much like a graveyard for her taste and she really didn’t care for Mr. Greenwood.

  “That was all pretty creepy, wasn’t it?” said Christopher, looking out of the copter window, as the vehicle rose above the site.

  “It was terrible,” said Océane.

  Chapter Thirteen: Back from the Bottom of the World

  The next few days were quite stormy, but the scientific work aboard Amphitrite continued. Astrid was happy to help; knowing the end of her time on the research ship was approaching. A week after the trip to the 1928 expedition site saw Astrid, Christopher, and Océane packed and ready to go. They bid farewell to Dr. Feuillée and his crew, many of whom the two Maxxim City teens had become quite friendly with, and who all treated the French girl as though she was family. The three teens climbed aboard the helicopter and took off.

  Their journey back was the exact reverse of their trip to Amphitrite, with the addition of Océane. They arrived in Dumont du’Urville and spent the evening visiting with Melanie, Nathan, Remie, and Bob. The next day their plane arrived to fly them back to Melbourne. Though the crew was different, Astrid recognized it as the same Dassault Falcon 900LX that had brought them. Paige Leibowitz met their flight in Melbourne, informing them that she had booked rooms for them in the same hotel they had stayed in before.

  “We can’t stay,” said Astrid. “We need to get on our way back to America right now.”

  “You have to rest,” said Paige. “You all three look exhausted.”

  “I have to be back by Monday, and I’m going to loose a whole day because of the International Date Line.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” said the Maxxim construction chief. A few minutes later though, she informed Astrid that it was no good. “The next flight for LA is completely booked. You’ll have to take the one I originally scheduled for you tomorrow. The best I can do is to have a Maxxim Jet waiting for you at LAX.”

  From the hotel, Astrid placed a call to Maxwell Bauer.

  “Hello, Astrid. Are you back home?”

  “No, I’m in Australia.”

  “You have to be home by Monday, you know.”

  “I’ll be there,” she said. “How is everything on your end?”

  “Everything is set. I have my man ready to meet you in Maxxim City on Sunday. It occurs to me though that you could use a bit more personal representation.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking of another 10 million shares.”

  “I don’t think I can afford it, Mr. Bauer,” said Astrid. “My parents have never really given me a spending limit, but I’m pretty sure someone somewhere would balk if I put $5 billion on my debit card.”

  “Call me Maxwell, and it would only be $3.16 billion if we do it now. If everything works out it won’t be necessary, but then if everything works out you will make a killing.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have the money.”

  “How about an interest free loan?” he asked.

  “How about a low interest loan?” Astrid returned. “Say, two percent?”

  “Fine, I’ll take care of it for you in the morning,” said Mr. Bauer. “Just in the interest of full disclosure, I’m making a similar investment of my own.”

  “I expected you would, but thank you for telling me.”

  The next day Astrid spent with Paige, who showed her, Christopher, and Océane more of the sights, and excellent shopping locations. Although she found the city beautiful and bought a sharp business suit with a short skirt at the Bourke Street Mall, Astrid was anxious to be on her way.

  “You don’t seem to be very happy to be going home,” Christopher told her that evening at dinner. “I had a great time these past few weeks, but I’m not ashamed to say that I miss my mom and dad, and my room, and my own bed.”

  “I miss my parents too,” said Astrid. “I miss Toby… and um, all the gang. It’s just that there’s so much going on and it’s all coming to a head so quickly.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Paige.

  “She’s talking about Maxxim Industries,” explained Christopher.

  “Well, you just have to trust your parents to take care of that.”

  “Letting other people take care of things isn’t the Astrid Maxxim way,” he replied. “Or haven’t you been paying attention these past eight or nine years.”

  “You aren’t going to get yourself into trouble, are you Astrid?” asked Paige.

  “Again,” said Christopher. “Have you been paying attention?”

  “My father always say decide what you do, then do,” said Océane. “He say do not worry. It does not help.”

  “That’s good advice,” said Astrid. “And it sounds just like something Dr. Feuillée would say.”

  When they returned to their rooms, Astrid searched through her luggage and found her cell phone. The battery was completely dead, so she plugged it in through her travel voltage converter. As soon as she did, it rang, startling her.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, Astrid.”

  “Hi, Mom. Shouldn’t you still be in bed there?”

  “No, it’s morning here, very early morning.”

  “Oh, okay. Well it’s good to hear your voice. I’m looking forward to getting home.”

  “I’m sure you are,” said her mother, taking a tone that usually meant Astrid was in some kind of trouble. “I just received a call from the campus main gate. They have a Captain David Bonnefoy there, saying that you invited him to see you in your lab. I told them I didn’t know anything about it, because I don’t.”

  “Oh, well I did sort of invite him,” said Astrid. “I didn’t set a specific day though. I thought I would contact him when I got back.”

  “Why exactly is he here and why are you contacting grown men to come and visit you?”

  “He’s just there to help me with an experiment. Can you arrange for him to stay at the Maxxim City Hotel for a few days? I’m sure he won’t mind staying over. He probably has his wife and his sister with him too, so maybe a suite.”

  “I’m not very happy abo
ut this young lady. I have a great deal on my plate right now and I don’t have time to clean up after an absent-minded girl genius.”

  “Sorry Mom. I’ll take care of everything when I get back and you won’t have to worry about it. Bye.”

  “Good bye, Astrid… and honey?”

  “Yes Mom?”

  “Have a safe flight home.”

  Seconds after Astrid hung up the phone rang again.

  “Hello, Nerd,” she heard before she could even say hello.

  “Gloria, to what do I owe this pleasure.”

  “I have that information you wanted,” said Gloria. “You’ll find it in your company email account. I’m only sending it because my dad said that it was okay. It had better not come back to hurt him either.”

  “I’ll do my best,” said Astrid. “Thanks for your help. You know, maybe you and I could get together and start….”

  The connection terminated with a click. Astrid sat down and read the last chapter of her business book. It was all about proxy voting. Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby some members of a group delegates their voting power to others. A corporation might have a million stockholders, each of whom own a small part of the company. In the boardroom however, only a dozen people make the decisions. The person with the stock, and therefore the vote, is called the principal, and he can designate his proxy to vote for him. This allows the formation of voting blocs with which to exercise greater influence.

  The three teens said goodbye to Paige Leibowitz and boarded their plane just before 8:00 the next morning. They didn’t arrive in Los Angeles until 5:00 AM the next day. The flight wasn’t actually that long, although they did spend more than sixteen hours in the plane, but they had lost back the six hours they had gained on their flight a month before. As Paige had promised there was a Maxxim plane waiting on the runway, though it wasn’t a jet. It was a Starcraft 170 like the one that had brought Astrid and Christopher to LA from Maxxim City. This one wasn’t piloted by Dennis Brown, but by two Maxxim Industries pilots that Astrid knew slightly. As soon as she was aboard the little plane, Astrid stretched back in her seat and fell asleep. She didn’t wake up until the landing gear touched down on the runway of the Maxxim Industries airfield.

  Astrid’s father was waiting for her beside his car. He took one look at her and scooped her up into a hug and guided her to the passenger seat. A few seconds later, he helped Océane into the back. Looking out the window, Astrid watched Christopher get into a car with his parents. They waved to each other.

  “You poor kids,” said Dr. Maxxim. “You look completely exhausted. Let me get your luggage and then I’ll get you home.”

  Astrid didn’t sleep on the way home. She sat and looked out the window. It was late afternoon and the sun was still high in the sky. It seemed so bright and so green in Maxxim City. She wondered why she had never noticed it before. And when they pulled up in front of her house, she couldn’t believe how huge it looked to her. As she traversed the sidewalk to her front door, Astrid felt like she had a second wind. Standing beside the step was Toby.

  “I saw your car coming and so I jogged over here to meet you,” he said.

  “Bonjour, Toby,” said Océane.

  “Hi Océane. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “I’m glad you came to meet us,” said Astrid. “Everything looks so different. You look different too.”

  “Yeah, I lost my tan.”

  “I bet I’m pretty pale too,” she said. “I’ve seen about two days worth of sun in the last month, if that.”

  “She look beautiful,” said Océane. “Don’t you think so?”

  “Um, yeah. You both look great.”

  Astrid’s father came up the walk, loaded down with their luggage.

  “Dr. Maxxim,” said Toby. “My dad said that since your wife is working late tonight, you should come over for dinner. Aunt Gerta is making wiener schnitzel.”

  “Sounds good,” said Astrid.

  “It’s a breaded veal steak,” Toby told her, “and not a hot dog as some would have you believe. She usually makes potatoes and a salad to go with it.”

  “We’ll be over as soon as we get cleaned up,” promised Dr. Maxxim.

  Twenty minutes later, after all the suitcases were in Astrid’s room though still not unpacked, they were welcomed into the front door of the Bundersmith home by the two male residents. Dr. Maxxim had changed into a pair of slacks and a casual shirt and the girls had found a couple of simple dresses in Astrid’s closet. Océane was a bit thinner than the girl inventor, but not so much that they couldn’t share clothes.

  “Thanks for having us over, Martin,” said Dr. Maxxim, shaking hands with Toby’s father.

  “We should be doing this more often,” said Mr. Bundersmith. “It’s just that everybody is so busy lately.”

  “I’ve had Martin working night and day to get the launch facility up and running,” Astrid’s father told her. “Thankfully we’re back on schedule and we’ll be able to launch on August 10th.”

  “You mean everything wasn’t destroyed?”

  “There was a lot of damage,” said Mr. Bundersmith. “We really had to move heaven and earth to get it ready again on time. We had workers on shifts around the clock and your father and I slept in our offices more often than not. At least with Toby in Europe, I didn’t have to worry about him being neglected.”

  “Speaking of Europe,” said Astrid, as they all sat down in the living room, “tell us all about it.”

  Toby told them all about working in the European Union bureaucracy. He went on and on about watching committee meetings and Parliament sessions. In the end, as far as Astrid could tell, he seemed to have spent most of his time typing reports and memos. It sounded dreadfully boring to her.

  “It was exciting, but I’m glad to be back home,” said Toby, summing up his experiences. “Now it’s your turn, girls. Tell us about your adventures.”

  “They can tell you over dinner,” said his Aunt Gerta, sticking her head through the doorway from the kitchen. “The food is ready.”

  They adjourned to the dining room for a delicious meal. As Toby had predicted, boiled potatoes with butter, garlic, and chives, and a lovely green salad accompanied the wiener schnitzel. Astrid found the salad a special treat, as most of the vegetables she had eaten during the previous five weeks had come from a can.

  “So how was Australia?” Toby asked Astrid. “I always wanted to visit there.”

  “I was only there for a couple of days total, coming and going, but I really liked it. Christopher and I had a great time at Phillip Island. We saw koalas and everything.”

  “There is nice shopping,” said Océane.

  “Yes, there are great shops and restaurants in Melbourne,” added Astrid. “Our hotel was really nice too.”

  “All right, get to the exciting parts,” said Mr. Bundersmith. “I want to hear all about your adventures in Antarctica.”

  Astrid recounted her experiences in Dumont du’Urville and then on Amphitrite. She described all of the dives but didn’t go into much detail about the encounter with her leopard seal. Océane apparently felt compelled to offer color commentary however.

  “When the seal grab Astrid, I never so scared,” she said.

  “That must have been terrifying,” said Aunt Gerta.

  “It was kind of scary,” agreed Astrid. “I was afraid for a moment that my dry suit might not live up to its name.”

  “It drag her right down and I think we lose her,” continued Océane.

  “It probably seemed more dramatic at the time than it really was,” said Astrid.

  “You see how exciting when it is on television.”

  “What’s that now?” wondered Astrid.

  “They film for my father’s Antarctic television special,” said Océane. “They don’t have pictures of when the seal grab you, but I see the pictures of when she bring you the penguin.”

  “Well I for one, can’t wait to see that program,” said Mr. B
undersmith. “This is certainly more than I expected. I was just waiting for you to tell us about how you gave away millions of dollars worth of gold.”

  Astrid paused while she took a drink of water. “You heard about that, did you?”

  “It’s all over the news,” said Toby.

  “Well it was probably more like billions of dollars,” she said, glancing at her father. “But it’s not like we could get at it anyway.”

  “I think you did exactly the right thing, honey,” said Dr. Maxxim. “I don’t see a need to rip every resource right out of the earth as soon as it’s found. Leave something for the future, I say.”

  “You know you’ll have to tell all these stories again tomorrow,” Toby told Astrid. “We all got together and decided to fly out to Pearl Lake tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I can’t go,” said Astrid. “I’m going to be busy most of the day.”

  “I guess we could put it off…”

  “No,” she said. “Go ahead and go. Take Océane with you. She can ride my hoverbike.”

  “Hoverbike!” squealed Océane. “Oui. Yes.”

  Toby’s Aunt Gerta served a cherry pie with ice cream for dessert and afterwards the Maxxims and their French guest left to walk back home. After showing Océane to the guest room, Astrid unpacked her luggage, deposited her dirty clothes in the hamper, and climbed into her pajamas. She decided to practice her oboe, which had sat untouched for almost a month and a half, but she only played for about twenty minutes before she was too tired. She climbed beneath the covers of her bed and was soon asleep. She woke briefly sometime later when her mother came in and kissed her on the forehead, and then she was back to sleep.

  Chapter Fourteen: Captain Bonnefoy

  Astrid was up early the next morning and had the kitchen all to herself. After a quick breakfast of toast and yogurt, she got her hoverbike out of its space in the storage shed, but didn’t use it. Instead she left if for Océane, and walked down the hill to Main Street and took the sleek monorail train into the Maxxim Campus and to the R&D building where her lab was located. She checked through her experiments and equipment and then took the monorail back to Main Street.