Polar Quest

by Alex Archer

  Annja smiled. “You know, you’ve been speaking in a lot of clichés lately.”

  Garin frowned. “I’m trying to blend in with people who have no appreciation for language. Of course I’m cliché.”

  “Well, as long as you know.”

  “Annja, we may not have much time. Thomson was pretty badly injured by that blast and he may not survive.”

  “Well, why did you pack my laptop with that kind of explosive?” she asked.

  Garin looked at her. “Annja, I didn’t do that.”

  “You didn’t?”

  Garin frowned. “I know some basic skills when dealing with things that go boom, but in order to alter your laptop, I would have needed a lot of time and patience. I have neither. Whoever did that to your computer knew exactly what they were doing. More to the point, they had plenty of time to work on it.”

  “How long would something like that take to do?” Annja asked.

  Garin shook his head. “Judging from the expression of that guy Hawk, a good couple of hours at the very least. And to rig it to explode when a particular file was opened? That took a knowledge of computers, as well. Again, not exactly my forte.”

  Annja shook her head. “I thought you did it when you went and got my computer.”

  “Your computer was lying on your bed. All I had to do was scoop it up off the bed and go.”

  “It was on my bed?”

  Garin nodded. “Like I said when I came back, not exactly hidden from sight. I thought it a bit weird.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Garin sat down opposite from her. “Look, Annja, let’s be honest here, okay? If someone is going around wiring things to explode at the drop of a hat, then we should probably consider working together, despite our past differences.”

  Annja frowned. “I’m not crazy about it.”

  Garin sighed. “Well, look at it from this perspective—if Thomson dies, you’re a murderer. If he doesn’t die, he’s going to be incapacitated for a while. He might need an emergency evacuation out of here.”

  “Wouldn’t that leave you in charge?”

  Garin smiled. “Don’t start celebrating just yet. I’ll only be in charge until they do some checking back home and see that Major Braden died in an airplane crash late last year. And then you and I will both be persona non grata around these parts.”

  Annja nodded. “I guess that wouldn’t be a good thing.”

  “Not at all.” Garin paused. “So did you have anything to do with yesterday’s communication system hacking?”

  Annja took a deep breath. What the hell, she thought. They were both screwed anyway. “A guy I know. Back in the States. He’s quite good at penetrating government systems.”

  “Apparently.”

  “He was quick and we thought he’d gotten away with it. And then, of course, you nailed me at breakfast today.”

  Garin nodded. “Sorry about that. I’m sure you understand the need to keep up appearances. If it hadn’t been me, we might not have gotten any time to talk about things prior to Thomson giving you the once-over.”

  “Not that it helped.”

  Garin shrugged. “Well, you never know. At least we know we’re both on the same team here.”

  Annja stood. “Are we really? I mean, you’re here telling me all of this and I’m still finding it difficult to trust you.”

  “I think that’s because of our past.”

  Annja shook her head. “Maybe. But you moved behind my chair right before the laptop exploded. What was that about? Did you know?”

  Garin eyed her. “No. I didn’t. But of more importance is how come you didn’t know it was going to explode. Aren’t your instincts more fine-tuned now on account of the sword?”

  Annja sighed. “Garin, I’ve got more questions now than I ever did before. The sword has done a lot for me, but it’s also a loaded gun of sorts. Half the time I don’t understand what I can do or what I’m capable of with the sword around. It’s extremely frustrating.”

  Garin smiled. “You could always give it to me.”

  “Not a chance.”

  Garin nodded. “So there is some loyalty there, after all. Interesting.”

  “I’m loyal to what I believe the sword represents—helping thwart evil.”

  Garin walked to the door and peered out quickly. “Listen to me. I took the hard drive out of your laptop back at Thomson’s tent. I don’t know what’s on this thing or what was on that file you wanted so badly—”

  “The lab analysis.”

  “Of course.” He frowned. “Do you really think this is all a fake?”

  “I don’t know. But I think it’s odd he wouldn’t let me see it and he seemed to be going to extraordinary lengths to ensure no one sees it.”

  Garin handed her the singed hard drive. “Well, here it is. Maybe you should go and try to hook it up somewhere. See if you can get access to that file after all. Considering Thomson was injured by the blast and all.”

  Annja took the hard drive. “I don’t have another computer. How can I get access to what’s on here?”

  Garin walked to his bag and removed a case. “Here’s another one. Go back to your shelter and get started on it. I’m not exactly happy there’s something going on in this camp. It’s upsetting my plans.”

  “And what plans would those be exactly? I mean, now that we’re on the same team and all.”

  Garin smiled. “If these relics are extraterrestrial, I want them. It’s that simple.”

  Annja nodded. “You think there’s something inherent in their properties that you can use?”

  “Perhaps. But I do know that with my money and resources, I can get them examined faster than the bureaucrats in charge elsewhere. And if there’s power to be had, then I want it for myself, yes.”

  “Such a humanitarian,” Annja said.

  “Not a chance. Five hundred years can do a lot to make you rather self-centered, Annja. I’m horribly selfish, I admit it.”

  Annja smiled. “I didn’t want to say anything, but—”

  Garin held up his hand. “Get back to your shelter and stay there. If anyone stops you, tell them I said you’re to stay in your shelter until I say it’s okay to come out.”

  “So, I’m grounded?”

  Garin frowned. “Get to work, Annja. Lives just might depend on it.”

  Annja turned for the door and then stopped. She looked back at Garin. “Say, something just occurred to me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When the laptop exploded, we weren’t injured. Why not?”

  Garin shook his head. “The blast blew us both back.”

  “That was the concussion wave, though.”

  Garin frowned. “You think it was a shaped charge? Designed to only blow out in one direction with effect?”

  “Maybe.”

  “That would mean that the laptop was designed to injure only the person who triggered the blast.”

  “Which would also mean the person we’re looking for is even more skilled than we thought,” Annja said. “And who was the target? Thomson—or me?”

  Garin nodded. “This just keeps getting better.”

  Annja opened the door. As she did, one of the medical team soldiers came in and reported to Garin.

  “What is it?”

  The medic shook his head. “We did all we could.”

  Annja felt her stomach turn.

  Garin frowned. “Is he—”

  The medic nodded. “Yes, sir. Colonel Thomson is dead.”

  32

  Annja made it back to her shelter without being harassed by the soldiers surrounding the area. Garin had informed everyone that she was allowed to move around the camp. His argument was simple—where could she go in this environment? If she left camp, she would die from exposure.

  Sitting on her bed, she looked around the shelter. There was no way of knowing who had come in and rooted through her stuff, although apparently someone had. Her poor laptop was fried. And it had taken Colonel T
homson with it.

  Annja looked down at the singed hard drive and wondered if the file would still be intact. Only one way to find out, she reasoned, and she placed the laptop that Garin had given her onto the small table nearby.

  Annja used the screwdriver blade on her Swiss Army knife to unscrew the back of the laptop case and gain access to the interior. She picked out the hard drive right away and un-clipped the wires leading to it before reconnecting them to her hard drive. Once that was done, she closed everything back up and switched on the computer.

  She heard the drive start up and, fortunately, it seemed to work. Annja had no clue how someone could wire explosives so that when a file was opened, the laptop would explode but still keep the hard drive intact. To her, it seemed impossible. But then again, it wasn’t the first time she’d wondered about stuff like this.

  Annja clicked open the various file directories and started looking for the file that Knightmare had stolen from Thomson’s computer.

  She spotted the file name and clicked it open.

  A new screen blossomed into view, and Annja could see the letterhead from the laboratory where the colonel had sent the necklace. She quickly scanned down the report and then saw what she needed to see.

  Object in question composed of aluminum and lead. Carbon dating estimates that the object was made in the past year.

  Annja looked at the screen. There it was. Proof that the relics weren’t relics at all. Nor were they from some far-off planet in the solar system. They might have just as easily been made in someone’s basement in Duluth.

  She shook her head. Who would go all this way and through all this trouble to create such a fraud? Obviously, Thomson knew about it. Was he behind this fraud? Or was there some other reason for wanting to keep it such a secret?

  Annja frowned and closed the file. Not good. Now, with Thomson dead, she had more questions and the only source of answers was lying in an improvised morgue until his body could be transported back to McMurdo.

  What the hell is going on here? she wondered.

  There was a knock at her shelter door. “Come in.”

  Garin poked his head in. “Did you have any luck?”

  “Sure did.”

  Garin closed the door behind him. “And? What’d you find out?”

  “The things we’ve dug up are fakes. Aluminum and lead counterfeits by the look of it. Someone is playing an awful big trick here.”

  Garin frowned. “But why? To what purpose? I can’t figure out why someone would want to stage something like this. Can you?”

  “I’ve been sitting here thinking about the same questions.”

  Garin sat down. “You think Thomson was behind it?”

  Annja shook her head. “I don’t know. Part of me wants to say yes. But then again, maybe I’m hoping he was a true patriot after all who stumbled upon this fraud and decided to let it play out so he could get to the bottom of it.”

  “Dangerous game,” Garin said. “We’re trapped here until the thaw. And now we’ve got a killer on the loose? Talk about playing with fire.”

  “What’s the mood in camp?”

  Garin sighed. “Well, a lot of them want your head. Can’t say I blame them. Thomson was the kind of officer who seemed to engender a lot of respect from his troops. Some of them have been with him for years.”

  Annja frowned. “Would that give him the time to plan something this elaborate?”

  “I don’t know. He’s only a colonel, after all. But then again, there really is no way of accurately gauging the extent people will go to do what they feel they have to do.”

  “So you think he could be behind it?” Annja asked.

  “I don’t know what I think,” Garin said. “But if there’s no value to the relics, then there’s got to be something else of value here that we haven’t looked at yet. After all, whoever is behind this is apparently perfectly willing to kill.”

  “Scary thought.”

  Garin smiled. “At least you’ve got the sword to protect you.”

  Annja frowned. “Well, yeah. If my instincts are right.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I’m more than a little concerned that my gut didn’t tell me that damned laptop was about to explode. I’ve been in plenty of hairy situations and known that trouble was coming.”

  “All the time?” Garin asked.

  “Well, maybe not all the time…”

  He shrugged. “Maybe your instincts knew that the laptop was only going to take out the good colonel.”

  “How is that possible?”

  Garin smirked. “Annja, how is you having a sword that once belonged to Joan of Arc possible? And how is it possible that you apparently carry it everywhere but aren’t weighed down by it? How many other things in your life right now border on the unexplainable?”

  “Plenty,” Annja admitted.

  “But they’re still a part of your life. My advice is to make peace with the fact that you may never be able to explain everything, and just move on from there. We’ve obviously got a lot more to worry about right now.”

  Annja sighed. “You’re right.”

  Garin stood and began pacing. “Who would have had access to your stuff?”

  “Anyone. I don’t think we’re walking around locking our doors. Well, except for the colonel. His place and yours were the only ones that I’ve tried and found locked. Our door has always been unlocked.”

  “That doesn’t exactly limit our suspects.”

  “No.” Annja frowned. “But I suppose we would have to start with my roommates.”

  “You’ve known Zach for a long time?”

  “Long enough. I trust him, if that’s what you’re getting at. I’ve never had reason not to.”

  “He’s going through a horrible time right now, yes?”

  “Divorce, separation from his children. It’s one of the reasons he took this job. He said the paycheck would enable him to get himself out from under a mountain of debt.”

  “Motivation?” Garin asked.

  “For what, though? So the relics aren’t real. He’ll probably be the one who is most devastated by that news. I think part of him dearly wants them to be real. It might restore his faith in the mysteries of life.”

  Garin sighed. “God, another dreamer.”

  “You’re just a five-hundred-year-old cynic.”

  He smiled. “I am at that.”

  “Not everyone is,” Annja reminded him.

  “What about the other guy—Dave?”

  Annja shook her head. “He’s something of a mystery. He claims to be a geologist, but there’s a part of him that seems to be anything but a scientist. I get the feeling he’s worked in covert operations before.”

  “He’s a spy?”

  “Maybe not a spy, but he knows that world. I’m pretty sure of it,” Annja said.

  Garin crossed his arms. “So why’s he here?”

  “He told me his job was to look after Zach. Help him out on the dig site and make sure that things got on okay.”

  “You believe him?”

  “He was the first person I met when I got down here. Picked me up at the landing strip.”

  “You didn’t have the typical in-briefing with the marshal like I did?”

  Annja shook her head. “Dave told me Zach asked him to pick me up and get me squared away before we saw the marshal. As it turned out, I met the marshal that night anyway after my near-death encounter with the Sno-Cat.”

  “Dave seems a bit off the mark. I don’t know what he would be up to, though. That’s the thing. If we can figure out why there’d be such an interest in being down here, we could reverse engineer the plot and find out who is in command.”

  Annja pointed outside. “What about the mountain itself?”

  “What about it?”

  “Is there anything of value to it? I saw large chunks of coal. Lots of fool’s gold, as well. Are there any other mineral deposits there that could make someone rich?”

&n
bsp; Garin frowned. “Does it make sense for all of this to be about a mountain of rocks? I just think there’s got to be something else. Something probably right in front of us. We just aren’t seeing it.”

  “We’re too close,” Annja said.

  “Undoubtedly.”

  “So what’s our next step?”

  Garin sat down and ran his hand through his hair. “All right, let’s assume for a moment that everything is proceeding according to whatever plan is in place. That means that someone wanted Thomson dead for some reason. I say we sit back and wait and see what happens next.”

  “Sit back?” Annja was appalled.

  “Think about it. If they wanted Thomson out of the way, they must be getting ready to put another part of the plan into action. That’s the only way we’ll know what they’re up to.”

  Annja shook her head. “Yeah, but what if the next part of their plan involves killing everyone else who isn’t in on it? Or Thomson wasn’t the target?”

  Garin smiled. “Well, I’d suggest sleeping with your sword. I know I’ll have my gun under my pillow—that’s for sure.”

  Annja sighed. “It’s not much of a plan, Garin.”

  “I’m open to suggestions, Annja. I just don’t think we have very many of them at this point. We can do nothing and see what transpires. Or we can try to force their hand by doing something drastic.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. How about announcing to the entire camp that Thomson was murdered by someone who is, as of yet, unknown?” Garin said.

  “Yeah, that would just spread paranoia throughout the entire camp. I might end up dead anyway.”

  Garin nodded. “Hence my suggestion that we keep quiet for now.”

  “What about my role as the terrorist? I can’t very well stay in the shelter here and not get any food or water.”

  “I’ll pass the order that you’re to be allowed access and without harassment. I don’t think anyone will mess around with you.”

  Annja nodded. It wasn’t a good plan, but it was the only plan that seemed open to them at the moment. And perhaps Garin was right. Maybe the people behind this would make their next move and reveal themselves when they did.

  “How much longer do you think your cover will hold up?” she asked.