The dense, cold air invaded the lungs of all three of them. Ernani was walking a little ahead, enjoying the lunar aspect of the landscape. As I walked over the hard, stony volcanic soil, I observed the almost non-existent vegetation, just mosses, lichens and fungi, found both on the beach and on the hills. The contrast between these plants and the dark volcanic rocks was beautiful, even more so with the snow covering parts of the hill. It was exotic beauty.

     In various places, especially on the beach, there were many whale bones, the result of the slaughter that had taken place in the region. Right there, where the Brazilian base was located, was a Norwegian fishing base, which had been banned by the Antarctic Treaty since 1959.

     "So many bones! Are those whale bones, Ernani?"

     Ernani looked at Patrícia, in Ema's shoes, and found the question strange:

     "Yes, Ema! But there are also elephant seals and harbor seals."

     Patrícia picked up a piece of bone from the ground, part of a vertebra, which resembled a medium-sized dagger, very pointed and sharp at the tip.

     "It looks like a dagger, don't you think?"

     Playfully, she held up the bone, raising it with her hand as if to strike a mortal blow. She turned to her lover:

     "I could kill him, you know? But not in front of witnesses!"

     Ernani frowned:

     "Ema, don't play with that! This place is already sinister... And you can't take anything from here, okay? It's not allowed!"

     He picked up the pace a little:

     "In fact, I don't know how you manage without gloves in such cold weather!"

     She laughed, slipping the bone into her coat without him noticing, then putting her hands in her pockets to protect them from the cold. I had forgotten my gloves inside the station. Carlos slowed down, forcing his lover to do the same, chiding her:

     "Patrícia, have you notice the stupid question you asked? Imagine if Ema didn't know they were whale bones! Be careful!"

     "I have to be careful, but I won't be able to fool these people for long. I've read Ema's notes, I've done some research in Punta Arenas, but they're going to unmask me soon. And don't call me Patrícia! Watch out for yourself too! And what was the idea of coming out here? Does it have to do with the collector's package?"

     "Of course! I need this idiot to take me to the right place."

     "You're turning out to be a perfect crook, but I'm more worried about securing your alibi. It's this damn storm that could ruin it. That wasn't in the plans."

     "That's right!"

     Patrícia's idea had taken shape after she and Carlos had causally overheard part of the conversation between Basílio and the admiral at the Magallanes hotel.

     They heard enough: that the admiral was going to the Antarctic station and would return a day later. Although Carlos didn't know the military officer, he had been instructed by USP to look for Admiral H. Nunes, in the departure area of the airport. And, as fate would have it: Admiral H. Nunes had practically materialized in front of them, like the snap of a finger, in the hotel's piano bar. A great stroke of luck!

     "And your idea of faking a kidney disease, will it work?"

     "It was already working! But if we have to stay here longer than planned, then I don't know. The medication is making me sleepy!"

     And what was the brilliant idea? As soon as they arrived, she would pretend to have renal colic. She would certainly be medicated. After a while, the pain would come back — and come back strong! When the admiral left the next day, she would ask to go back with him to a hospital. Naturally, the request would be accepted. Carlos would pretend to want to go back with her, but she would insist that he stay, after all 'he had fought so hard to be there, he couldn't lose the chance of a lifetime'; and she couldn't risk staying at the Ferraz Station with such an unstable health problem; it was prudent to go back and take care of herself. In Punta Arenas, Ema was seen leaving the hospital after being discharged and... Never again! When they found her body, which Patrícia hoped would take a long time, they would deduce that she had been killed by someone who had assaulted her. Ema, reacting to the robbery, had allegedly been slapped and had fallen, hitting her head, and the thug had dumped her body on the cliff. After a long time, it would be difficult to determine the time of death. They would then assume that the death could only have occurred after she had left the hospital, while Carlos was 1,000 kilometers away from the scene of the crime, there at the Ferraz Station, separating it from Punta Arenas, simply, the Drake Sea. A more than perfect alibi!

     "It's all very risky! And how long will this storm last?"

     "I don't know! But let's stay calm", she suggested.

     "And watch out for superintendent Basílio!" he pondered.

     Patrícia sneered:

     "That's nothing! Despite his fame, he's already retired. He came here for a walk."

     "I'm not so sure!"

     They approached Ernani again, who had parked next to a blue whale carcass, almost thirty meters long. They were still on the beach, less than 100 meters from Ferraz Station. The meteorologist commented:

     "It was Jacques Cousteau who assembled the skeleton with bones that were scattered on the beach."

     The famous French oceanographer and filmmaker had passed through there on one of his countless trips in 1972. The skeleton was seen as a great call to humanity regarding the need to preserve species, not only for ecological reasons, but fundamentally for the respect that is owed to any living being.

     The three of them, now walking along the upper side of the station, spotted five crosses. Ernani led them to them, explaining that members of a British station, deactivated in 1961, were buried there. And also a Brazilian, who died in 1990. The rough wooden crosses, set in piles of stones, bore descriptions of what had happened, with the names and dates of birth of the deceased Englishmen.

     "Death surrounds this place!" Ernani declared solemnly.

     "Beliefs, Ernani! But is it because of these crosses that is hill of the cross?"

     "No, Carlos. Hill of the cross is due to the fact that there is a cross at the top of the hill."

     The cross was placed on the hill after the first Mass, celebrated on February 5, 1984, the day before Ferraz Station was inaugurated.

     "They made a via sacra along the mountain, carrying the cross, which was then placed at the top."

     Patrícia commented:

     "You're on top of everything, huh?"

     "You guys should too! Didn't you study anything about it before you came here?"

     They both shrugged. Ernani intimately considered their lack of knowledge about the history of the place to be a total lack of respect.

     "What kind of facilities are those?"

     Carlos pointed to an old wooden shed, long and yellow, in the English style, which was not far from Ferraz Station. If seen from the cove, it was on the right side of the Comandante Ferraz station's Ernani explained:

     "This is the english station, which was closed in 1961. It was even a weather station. The guys on the crosses... They used to work there!"