The Arctic Code

by Matthew J. Kirby

  But now Eleanor had to figure out what she was looking for. She started with a simple search for the word telluric. That brought up a few emails between her mom and various scientists in different parts of the world with intriguing subject lines.

  Subject: Latent telluric strength . . .

  RE: Possibility of telluric concentrations . . .

  RE: Subject: Telluric energy currents: static or durable . . .

  FW: Loss of telluric energy strength over distance . . .

  When she opened these emails to read them, she found they were all more than a year old, mostly just debating whether telluric currents actually exist. Nothing about any sort of discovery. Eleanor’s search also brought up a few research papers, but they sounded pretty fringe, as Finn had said. Most were written by the same guy, Dr. Johann von Albrecht. Titles like “Earth Energy: Secret Power of the Ancient World,” and “The Great Pyramids: Power Plants of the Pharaohs,” and “Did an Energy Crisis Destroy Atlantis?” Pretty out there. Some of the articles even talked about aliens. But as far as Eleanor could see, none contained information that pointed to the situation here in the Arctic, so she moved on.

  She searched for Global Energy Trust, and this brought up a bunch of files, but when Eleanor dove into them, they seemed to mostly consist of legal documents, drilling claims, and accounting ledgers. Poring over them took up quite a bit of time, which Eleanor didn’t think she had to waste, but it didn’t result in anything useful.

  She tried searching Arctic, but that brought up more information than she could possibly sift through. Morning was coming, and she had no idea how early Skinner and the others would be up. She needed to try something else but didn’t know what.

  In one last attempt, she entered the number code she had memorized from her Sync. That search brought up a single result, an email her mother had sent to Dr. Simon Powers, Finn and Julian’s dad.

  Simon,

  I have revisited the site of the coordinates we discussed (70°56'28.24"N 156°53'27.80"W). Since my last expedition, the anomalous energy signature has increased tenfold and appears to be trending upward exponentially. What was first considered a trivial concentration is now a viable energy source, if it can be tapped (though I wouldn’t give von Albrecht a Nobel quite yet, ha ha). Would love your presence and input on this project.

  Sincerely,

  Samantha

  Coordinates! That answered Eleanor’s question about the meaning of the code. The numbers did, in fact, identify the site of the deposit her mother had found. That was what her mother had wanted Eleanor to keep secret. That was what Skinner really wanted, just as Finn had said.

  The email was dated several months ago. When Eleanor did a search for any additional messages to Dr. Powers, she found nothing. Apparently, her mother didn’t use this laptop much.

  A harsh light flashed on overhead, and Eleanor flinched. She looked around in a panic, but it seemed to have turned on automatically. Another light flared, and another, and another, dominoing through the command module. The pod was waking up.

  Eleanor deleted the email, signed out of her mother’s log-in, and closed the lid. Then she replaced the laptop in the desk drawer and hurried back to the tunnel. She wasn’t looking forward to this, but she turned the handle, opened the hatch, and climbed in. The hatch swung shut behind her with a clunk, and she started the frigid crossing.

  Those coordinates, that site her mom had discovered. They were the keys. She assumed that was where her mother and Dr. Powers had been going when they vanished, and now she knew for certain that would be the place to begin a search for them. For now, only Eleanor had this information, and she had to get there, somehow.

  Her limbs trembled from the cold of the tunnel. Her toes and fingers hurt. But she reached the far side and . . .

  There was no handle.

  Eleanor blinked at the hatch. She thought back. The command module hatch had already been open when she’d reached it. How had she not checked to make sure they opened from both sides? How could she have been that stupid?

  She willed herself not to panic but failed a few moments in. She was trapped in a tunnel suspended between two Arctic pods, above the ice sheet, in the middle of a polar storm. She wore a pair of sweats, had no shoes, and it was cold enough in here for hypothermia to set in if she didn’t get out soon.

  How long until someone opened the tunnel from the other side? It was getting difficult to breathe, both from the cold and the racing of her own heart. She could die in here. The cold had found her. It had waited, biding its time, to seize the first opportunity of weakness she gave it.

  For the next few minutes, she banged on the hatch, hoping to wake Luke, Finn, or Julian. But no one came. It was still early, and they were sleeping in their rooms, their doors closed, one level down, unable to hear her.

  Her teeth chattered so hard her jaw ached. She tucked her legs up tight and pulled her arms inside her sweatshirt, hugging herself in the fetal position. She had to conserve the heat at her core.

  Minutes went by. She didn’t know how many. Her whole body began to numb, and she knew what that meant. The fact that it didn’t feel as cold anymore terrified her, but soon, that fear gave way to a blurring of her thoughts. Through her fog, Eleanor knew these were all very, very bad signs.

  She roused what energy she had and banged on the hatch again. “Help!” she shouted, her voice echoing weakly back and forth from one end of the tunnel to the other. “Help me! Luke! Finn! Anybody!”

  Still no one came.

  She slumped against the hatch, drained of energy. The storm seemed to be laughing at her outside the tunnel. A savage, pitiless laugh. She closed her eyes, and that laugh filled her, its icy disdain echoing through her bones.

  Something clunked near her head. The hatch fell away, and Eleanor fell with it, right out of the tunnel.

  “Hold on,” a voice said. “I gotcha.”

  Eleanor felt hot hands grabbing her. She looked up as someone lowered her gently to the ground. It was Finn.

  The worry on his face roused fear back into her. “Be right back,” he whispered.

  Eleanor already felt a bit warmer there, lying on the floor. But she felt even warmer when a moment later Finn returned with a thermal blanket.

  “There,” he said, tucking it in around her. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “Finn?” Eleanor felt the warmth of the blanket charging inward, driving out the storm, waging a painful battle for her muscles and bones.

  “I’m here,” he said, rubbing her shoulders with both hands.

  She winced. “Thank you.”

  “Not a problem,” he said. “I’ll make you wait to tell me what you were doing in there.”

  Eleanor felt the fog burning away from her mind. She blinked. “My mom’s laptop.”

  “What about it?”

  “I opened it up.” Eleanor’s leg and arm muscles spasmed, coming back to life. “I know what my mom was after. With your dad. I know what Skinner is after.”

  “You do?” Finn asked.

  Eleanor nodded, letting her eyes close. “And I know where to find it.”

  A short while later, Eleanor sat at one of the tables in the kitchen with a hot bowl of undercooked ramen, the blanket still wrapped around her. Finn and Julian sat across from her while Luke paced the small space.

  “Pretty dumb move, kid.” His voice was even, but Eleanor could tell he was angry.

  She found she was even a little angry with herself, but she wasn’t about to let him know that. “Was it, Luke? What are you, my dad now? And I would have been fine if the doors had actually opened from inside, like pretty much every other door in the world.”

  “They do,” Julian said. “But the outer doors only open by key card. For security.”

  “Oh.” Eleanor felt the key card she had in her pocket. The key card that had been in her pocket the entire time. She bowed her head, embarrassed, but also reminded of what a simple mistake up here could mean. “How did you
know I was in there, anyway?” she asked Finn.

  “I heard you banging,” he said.

  “What if he hadn’t?” Luke asked. “You’d be dead. You know that, right?”

  “Yes, Luke.” A shiver grabbed Eleanor by the spine. “I’m well aware of that.”

  “No, I really don’t think you are.” He stopped pacing and came to lean over her, his knuckles on the table. “I saved you once. Finn saved you this time. What happens next time, if one of us isn’t around?”

  “Hopefully, there won’t be a next time,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter. I came up here to find my mom, and that’s still what I plan to do.”

  “How?” Finn asked.

  Julian rolled his eyes.

  “On my mom’s laptop,” Eleanor said, “I found an email she wrote to your dad.” She then told them what it read, including the coordinates, which could now be shared without revealing her Sync, and then she filled them in on her theory about what had happened.

  “Makes perfect sense,” Finn said when she finished.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Julian said. “We need to give Skinner those coordinates. Right now.”

  “No,” Eleanor said. “We can’t risk that.”

  “I agree with her,” Finn said.

  “Are you kidding me?” Julian said. “This again?”

  “The coordinates most likely point to the energy deposit,” Eleanor said. “Let’s say Skinner reaches it but our parents aren’t there. What then? Skinner will have what he wants. You think he’s going to keep looking for our parents?”

  Julian snorted. “He wouldn’t just give up like that.”

  “He might,” Luke said. “Much as I hate to admit it.” He pointed at Eleanor. “If this theory of yours is true, Skinner could easily say he put in a good-faith effort, cut his losses, and move on with whatever he finds out there. Wouldn’t be the first time, from what I hear.”

  “He’s the CEO, Julian,” Finn said. “Think about it. What’s he even doing up here in the first place?”

  Julian just shook his head, like he was trying not to let any words or thoughts in, but that only lasted a moment, after which he settled, leaned forward on his elbows, and blew into his fists. Eleanor could imagine the argument he was having with himself. He’d put all his hope for his dad’s safe return in Skinner. And it was hard to let go of hope.

  “I don’t like what this means either,” Eleanor said to him. “It means we’re on our own.”

  “So what do we do?” Finn asked.

  “We get to those coordinates,” Eleanor said. “We see for ourselves what’s there.”

  “In case you forgot”—Julian pointed at the wall—“there’s a polar storm out there right now.”

  Eleanor hadn’t forgotten. In fact, now that the cold had been given a taste of her, she could almost feel it prowling around the station, waiting for another opening to tear into her, and she feared it even more than before.

  “We need to steal a transport,” she said.

  CHAPTER

  15

  “I’M JUST GONNA PRETEND I’M NOT HEARING ANY OF this,” Luke said. “Honestly, kid. After what almost happened to you, you’re—”

  “Luke”—Eleanor spread her hands—“you just agreed that Skinner would stop the search for our parents.”

  “Yeah,” Luke said, “I did, and he might. But that doesn’t mean I think it’s anything but suicide for someone to—”

  “The station has three transports that I’ve seen,” Finn said. “They keep them nearby.”

  “Hey,” Luke said, “I’m not finished—”

  “Can either of you drive one of those?” Eleanor asked.

  Julian nodded. “My dad showed me once when we were in Canada. But that was a while ago.”

  “Hey,” Luke said, a little louder. “Are you guys even listening to me?”

  “Everyone will be awake soon,” Eleanor said. “Maybe we should get back to our rooms for now. Pretend like everything is normal. I think Skinner already knows I lied about the password to the laptop. We don’t need him suspecting us of anything else.”

  Julian and Finn nodded, then started to rise, but before they reached their feet, Luke slammed his fist down hard on the table, causing them to fall back into their seats.

  “Stop talking and listen to me,” he said. “What you are talking about doing is insane.”

  “No, Luke,” Eleanor said. “It’s desperate. Like us. So unless you’re going to rat us out to Skinner, which I don’t think you are, there isn’t anything you can do to stop us.” She folded her arms and looked directly into his eyes for several moments. “So are you?”

  Luke glowered. “Am I what?”

  Finn spoke up. “Are you going to rat us out?”

  Luke narrowed his eyes. He glanced downward, in the direction of the tunnel, and actually seemed to be thinking about his answer. Eleanor hadn’t even thought it would be a question.

  “Luke . . .” She swallowed. “Please don’t.”

  “Relax.” Luke scratched his beard. “I’m not going to rat anyone out. Frankly, all I really want is for this storm to break so I can take off and get out of here.”

  “Great,” Finn said. “So let us go.”

  “Or you could help us,” Eleanor said.

  Luke laughed. “Help you?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Because I know you’re a good guy.”

  Luke sucked air through one side of his teeth. “Here’s the deal. I’m not gonna get in your way, but I’m also not gonna help you. There’s only so much I’ll have on my conscience when you three get yourselves killed. Understood?”

  Eleanor didn’t try to hide her disappointment and anger. “Understood.”

  “Good,” he said. “Now if you don’t mind, you all woke me up way too early. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He left them alone in the kitchen and stomped back down the spiral staircase toward the sleeping quarters.

  The three of them waited until he was gone.

  “He won’t tell Skinner, will he?” Julian asked.

  “No,” Eleanor said. “He’ll do exactly what he said he would.”

  “We don’t need him,” Finn said. “You have the coordinates, and Julian can drive a transport.”

  “Right.” Eleanor inhaled and gave a sharp sigh. “So, now we just need a plan.”

  Later that morning, they met in the kitchen for breakfast, acting as though they had just woken up. Eleanor didn’t know about Finn and Julian, but she hadn’t gone back to sleep. She hadn’t even tried, because she knew it wasn’t going to happen. Luke was already sitting at a table, yawning over his coffee, and Dr. Marcus was there, too. She stood by as Eleanor and Finn made some instant oatmeal.

  “Did you all sleep well?” Dr. Marcus looked at Eleanor. “It was your first night here at Polaris Station.”

  “I slept fine,” Eleanor said.

  Luke chortled at that.

  “Something amusing, Mr. Fournier?” Dr. Marcus asked.

  Eleanor tensed, while Luke took a sip of his coffee. “I’m more comfortable sleeping on my plane than inside this tin can.”

  Dr. Marcus pursed her lips. “You are welcome to return to your plane at any time.” She then turned her attention back to Eleanor, Finn, and Julian. “I have some exciting news. The storm is expected to break tomorrow, and we have scheduled a plane to fly you home.”

  “No!” Eleanor shouted, almost reflexively, and everyone looked at her. “You can’t do that.”

  “She’s right,” Finn said, more calmly. “We’re not leaving.”

  “Children.” The patronizing way Dr. Marcus inflected the word reminded Eleanor of the start to an old-fashioned bedtime story. “Were it not for the storm, you would already be gone. This is no place for you.”

  “But our parents . . . ,” Julian said.

  “We will continue the search,” Dr. Marcus said. “But your presence here does not help with that. What it does do is put you at greater risk, which I am certain is the last
thing your parents would want.”

  Eleanor shook her head. “But you can’t—”

  “This is not up for discussion,” Dr. Marcus said. “I was merely informing you of what will happen.” With a curt nod and a pivot on her toes, she marched away.

  Eleanor swung a look at Julian and Finn. Then she glanced at Luke.

  He shrugged. “That’s what I would do if I were her.”

  “I wasn’t asking,” she said.

  “Today is our one chance to search,” Finn said. “If the storm breaks tomorrow like she said, we won’t have another shot.”

  “So let’s do this,” Julian said.

  They had made a simple plan before going back to bed. Polaris Station had a main entrance in the first pod, the one Eleanor had entered through, but each pod had its own emergency exits as well. Finn’s job would be to disable the alarm on the emergency exit on their third pod. Julian would obtain one of the transport keys, which were kept near the main entrance in the first pod. During all of this, Eleanor would distract Skinner. Then they would all meet back up in their third pod, gather the gear they needed, leave through the emergency hatch, and head out onto the ice in the transport.

  The three of them rose from the table and went to complete their assignments. Finn went down the staircase to the bottom level of the pod, where the escape hatch was located. Eleanor and Julian went toward the tunnel.

  It was wide open now, but Eleanor still froze at the entrance.

  Julian climbed in, then looked back. “You okay?”

  Eleanor clenched her hands into fists at her side. “Yeah.” Then she made herself climb in.

  The door stayed open behind her this time, and the warmed air from the pods flowed through it, though Eleanor could still hear the storm outside, almost taunting her, reminding her in its ragged voice of how close it had come to claiming her.

  They reached the far side and went to the command module. Skinner was there, and Eleanor approached him, her chin high.