"The Ice," Chapters 1, 2, and 3 Summary

When Smilla awakens the next morning, she can tell by the ship's sounds and movements that the Kronos is breaking into ice. Fojl releases Smilla from the sick bay and they head to the ship's cargo bay and discover a large refrigeration unit containing a huge amount of mayam, the substance at the halfway point between raw opium and heroin. Tork had revealed to Smilla that the mayam is Verlaine's compensation for his participation in the expedition.

A short while later, Fojl reveals to Smilla that the objective of the expedition is to pick up a huge meteorite wedged into the side of a cliff. Tork has told Fojl that there are diamonds and other valuable substances embedded in the meteorite. Fojl also tells Smilla that Isaiah had accompanied his father on the 1991 expedition but...