For forty-two days aboard the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer, we watched the engineers and oilers seem to magically emerge at mealtimes, only to disappear once more to places off-limits to us, knowing they were literally keeping things moving and safe. They were a quite a mystery to me, these quiet, busy men, as were the unseen places below where they toiled. Except for when they were doing the myriad other things they do such as unclogging sluggish plumbing, fixing door handles, a