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of your life. What about food?
Do you have anything left at all?'
    'We've
been eating toothpaste .'
    'Get
some sleep. Just make it through tomorrow. That's all you have to think about.
One foot in front of the other. That's all it takes. You're so close to home.'
    'This
is absurd,' said Jane, when Apex signed off. 'You know how much Arctic survival
training I've had? I built a snowman once. I'm talking up this cabin like it's
the answer to their prayers, but we don't even know if it is still standing.'
    'You're
doing a fantastic job,' said Sian.
    'I'm
trying to coax these poor guys to safety, and I'm not even sure it's physically
possible.'
    'Sometimes
people just need to hear an encouraging voice.'
     
    Jane
helped Ghost pack his possessions. They dismantled his bivouac. They stacked
CDs and books into boxes, and carried them to a room in the main accommodation
block.
    'I
was thinking,' said Jane. 'We're about three time zones away from the nearest
chocolate.'
    'Crush
that thought. It'll drive you nuts. This past week I've been craving beer. It
hit me the other day. I might never taste beer again. I get weepy just thinking
about it.'
    'Some
people get high on bereavement. Life is boring, a lot of the time. Then your
uncle drops dead and yeah, you're sad, but on the other hand you relish it
because it's the first real, solid emotion you have experienced for months. It
breaks the torpor. Suddenly you are awake and alive. I'm no different. I'm
scared and tired and I want to go home. But a little, childish part of me is
enjoying the drama.'
    'Yeah.
Well. People are complicated. There's no shame in it.'
    Ghost
had commandeered a disused tool store. He had glued a High Voltage sign to the
door to discourage visitors, and turned the place into a cannabis farm.
    The
refinery was equipped with UV lamps and sunbeds to help combat winter
depression. Ghost hung lamps over a bunch of grow-bags. Convection heaters kept
the room subtropical. The plants had grown tall and strong. It looked like a
room full of forest bracken.
    'Does
Rawlins know about this place?'
    'Frank
is a pragmatist. As long as the refinery runs right, he's happy.'
    'So
what exactly is it you do on the rig?' asked Jane.
    'Critical
systems technician. Glorified caretaker.'
    Ghost
took a tobacco pouch from his pocket. He rolled a joint.
    'Do
you smoke?'
    'Now
and again,' lied Jane. She didn't want to admit her sheltered life.
    He
lit the joint and passed it to Jane.
    'Mad
Dog blend.'
    She
inhaled. Giddy headrush. She felt her world implode.
    Ghost
wriggled on surgical gloves. He stripped leaves and bagged them.
    'I'm
going to miss you, girls,' he told the plants.
    'You
have names for them?' croaked Jane.
    'This
is Beatrice.'
    'You're
not really a people person, are you?'
    'Humans
piss me off.'
     
    Jane
cleared out the chapel. She boxed the cross, the candles and the communion
wafers. Ghost helped.
    'I
hope you don't mind,' said Jane.
    'What?'
    'The
only religious space on the rig is Christian.'
    'I
don't give a shit. I worked at a gas plant in Qatar for ten years. Religious
police everywhere. I had to apply for a licence to drink beer.'
    Rawlins
had told her to use one of the rooms in the main accommodation block as a
church.
    'Take
out the bed and the TV,' he said. 'Improvise an altar. The men need a special
place to sit and think. Some kind of meditation space.'
    'Okay.'
    'Make
yourself available. The lads will need to talk.'
    'Maybe
I should say a prayer each morning in the canteen.'
    'Good
idea. I think everyone would appreciate it.'
    Jane
felt useful for the first time in a long while. Part of her was glad the
Japanese tanker hadn't stopped. If they were rescued and taken to the mainland
her new family would disperse and she would be alone again.
     
    The
corridors of the main accommodation block were choked with men and bags like a
coach party checking in to a hotel. Rawlins suggested they draw numbers from a
cup.
    Nail
and his gang announced they would take the top