Like every other dragon, Flash knew a great deal about Antarctica. As hostile, remote environments go, it was like no other, being the coldest, windiest, highest continent on earth. As well as containing seventy-five percent of the world's fresh water frozen in its ice caps, Antarctica is twice the size of Australia. Anyone exposed to the elements here could expect blizzards, frighteningly high winds, frostbite and exhaustion. All of which would be child's play, if Flash could access the dragon powers locked away in his human shaped body, but because of the extreme cold, just like the lost scientists, he couldn't.
Since Casey Station was the last place the scientists had been seen alive, he'd made sure to read up on it. One of four Australian permanent bases, the present day Casey Station was opened in 1988. Built from a steel frame on concrete foundations, covered with an external skin of steel clad polystyrene foam panels, the base consists of sixteen buildings, all painted in bright, bold colours. Situated on the Windmill Islands in the midst of Wilkes Land in East Continental Antarctica, it lies near the Law Dome, a small ice cap, 1300m high, 200km in diameter, and also the Nanderford Glacier, which is the major ice outlet for the Law Dome, at the southern end of the region.
The station itself boasts all the usual things you'd expect to find somewhere so isolated, as well as a living area in the Red Shed that includes indoor climbing facilities, a home theatre, gym, a well stocked library and communal sitting areas. There is also a bar called Splinters, where the hard working community spend a lot of their free time. Flash was surprised to learn that part of the station was devoted to a special hydroponics building, where they are able to grow such things as lettuce, tomatoes, green vegetables and fresh herbs. All in all, it is quite a setup for somewhere well off the beaten track.
Some thirty-six hours later, the ship Penguin Emperor came within sight of the Windmill Islands, nearly at the end of its 3835km voyage from its starting point of Perth, Australia. Approaching the land mass, huge icebergs the size of houses littered the landscape like popcorn on a cinema floor. Flash, like most of the other passengers, had come out on deck, despite the flurry of snow, to witness the ship's arrival at Casey Station. In the distance he could just make out the different coloured buildings. Some were gold, green, yellow and red. The other passengers were pointing, some waving at long lost friends. Most were scientists, like Flash was supposed to be, with the exception of an engineer and carpenter, all of whom Flash had talked to whilst trying to gain any insight into his covert investigation. Every single one had bored him senseless. It was all he could do to remain in their company for more than a short while.
Two more hours passed before they started unloading the equipment. Like the other scientists, he pretended to be over protective when it came to all the gear he had brought aboard. It was all cutting edge stuff, and he'd been thoroughly briefed on what it did and how it worked. However, he had to be careful not to be caught out by any of the other scientists on the base. There were some incredibly smart people out there, and although little was known about the type of work he was supposed to be doing, he wouldn't put it past some smarty pants on the base to know enough to catch him out. After all, his primary mission was to recover the scientists, or at least find out what had happened to them.
He'd thought being on the ship and practising his breathing would prepare him adequately for his arrival at Casey Station. How wrong he'd been. Nothing he'd done came close to readying him for the biting cold that assaulted his very being, as he helped move the equipment from the dock to the main base. Wind battered his semi-exposed face, while huge blobs of wispy snow burnt him, at least that's what it felt like.
After what seemed like two lifetimes, the last of the equipment was finally moved off the boat and into the base. Completely exhausted, never in nearly one hundred years had he ever felt so wasted. The cold had taken its toll, totally and utterly. Heading for his quarters, which he'd been shown earlier when he'd brought all his personal stuff off the ship, all he wanted to do when he got there was sleep, but by the time he'd slipped off his outer layers, he'd changed his mind, deciding that a shower was way more important. Heading back from the washroom that he was expected to share with two other people due to the limited space on base, he caught sight of a card that had been tucked under his door. Bending down wearing just a green towel, he picked up the card and turned it over. It read:
Greetings Party at Splinters Bar 19.00... be there!!!!!
Shaking his head in dismay, as the last thing he wanted to do was meet lots of new people, he checked his latest wristwatch, one that he'd procured and modified especially for this particular mission. It was a magnificent piece of engineering from the humans, enhanced even further by himself, with the help of a few very select and secretive mantras. The timepiece was a Polar Surveyor Redesign by Kobald, the choice of most discerning polar explorers. Incredibly crafted, designed to perform in the harshest of environments, the normal watch itself was magnificent. Flash's upgraded version saw it equipped with eight toxic darts, titanium tipped, each one capable of felling an elephant almost instantly, a microscopic GPS transmitter and the ability to cause quite a large explosion, if needed, but that particular function would mean sacrificing the watch itself. All in all, it was very 'James Bond.' The time showed it was 15:51. Flash decided to grab a couple of hours of sleep, before heading on over to Splinters for the greetings party. If nothing else, it would at least give him a chance to check out quite a few of the other residents, telepathically, to see if they had anything to do with the missing scientists.
Much later that night, Flash staggered back to his quarters, through the deserted labyrinth that was Casey Station.
'Boy,' he thought to himself, 'these guys sure know how to party.' He'd thought he was tired earlier, but now he could barely stand up due to fatigue. Reflecting on the evening, he thought of it as a partial success, having managed to convince everyone that he was a lonely scientist, slightly nerdy and introverted. In all honesty, they didn't need much convincing. He'd been one of seven new arrivals, all of whom had to take part in a series of challenges, most of which had involved alcohol as a forfeit in some way, shape or form. Thanks mainly to his dragon constitution, he'd remained relatively sober, even though he'd had to pretend to be rather drunk, not really a problem for him, as blending in was one of the many skills he'd mastered over the years. Throughout the evening he was able to telepathically scan just about everybody present, with only half a dozen members or so missing due to being on duty and had come a lot closer to understanding the environment he was in. Ruling residents out of having something to do with the disappearance of the missing scientists was in fact much easier than having to covertly chase shadows in the dark.