The Thing Revisited
Looking at the dog but speaking to Shaffer, Davison said, "We should take a look at the dog to make sure it doesn't have any frostbite or other problems."
Shaffer, somewhat surprised that he hadn't thought of the obviously humane thing to do said, "Yeah, good idea Davison."
With Davison leaning down and Shaffer stooping over, both men took a look at the dog's ears, mouth, paws, hindquarters and overall coat. The dog had a surprising amount of ice worked in and below the surface of its coat, but didn't shiver or appear injured from the severity of the cold it must be feeling.
"Damn, this dog is tough!" Shaffer said, admiring the dog's stamina for having survived in the Antarctic weather.
Davison said, "I'm especially surprised it doesn't have any signs of severe frostbite on it's paws, even a husky will get frostbite in time."
Shaffer nodded his head earnestly and said, "Well, we had all better get back up top."
Giving the dog a short pat on the head, Shaffer radioed from the small two-way radio attached to the dumb waiter and said "Walker, we're ready to come back up."
With a small lurch, they began their climb back up to the deck of the ship. With a smile, Davison said "Since he doesn't look like he has a master, what should we name um'?"
Shaffer replied, "Don't be to quick about that. Let's wait till we hear from Riles whether we had any communications this morning."
With a small-dejected frown, Davison turned and looked upward toward the deck. Shaffer could tell from the young man's looks that he hoped that no one had sent any messages to the Polar Star.
Shaffer, somewhat surprised that he hadn't thought of the obviously humane thing to do said, "Yeah, good idea Davison."
With Davison leaning down and Shaffer stooping over, both men took a look at the dog's ears, mouth, paws, hindquarters and overall coat. The dog had a surprising amount of ice worked in and below the surface of its coat, but didn't shiver or appear injured from the severity of the cold it must be feeling.
"Damn, this dog is tough!" Shaffer said, admiring the dog's stamina for having survived in the Antarctic weather.
Davison said, "I'm especially surprised it doesn't have any signs of severe frostbite on it's paws, even a husky will get frostbite in time."
Shaffer nodded his head earnestly and said, "Well, we had all better get back up top."
Giving the dog a short pat on the head, Shaffer radioed from the small two-way radio attached to the dumb waiter and said "Walker, we're ready to come back up."
With a small lurch, they began their climb back up to the deck of the ship. With a smile, Davison said "Since he doesn't look like he has a master, what should we name um'?"
Shaffer replied, "Don't be to quick about that. Let's wait till we hear from Riles whether we had any communications this morning."
With a small-dejected frown, Davison turned and looked upward toward the deck. Shaffer could tell from the young man's looks that he hoped that no one had sent any messages to the Polar Star.