‘We’ll check on Dima, then head over to Control,’ Dad said as they reached the door at the end of the tunnel. But when they re-entered The Hub, they saw they weren’t going to be able to do that.
Because Dima was gone.
11
OUTPOST ZERO, ANTARCTICA
NOW
‘Dima?’ There was still a dent on the cushion where the pilot had been sitting. His glass was lying on the floor, on its side, with water pooled around it. Close by were the remains of armoured insects, like the ones they had seen in the lab.
‘I don’t think these were here before,’ Zak said. ‘I mean… we’d have noticed, wouldn’t we?’
‘I don’t know.’ Dad put his arm around Zak’s shoulder. ‘Maybe not.’
‘And why is it just the shell?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, shouldn’t there be something inside it? The grey yucky thing we saw in the lab?’
The two of them stood there, staring at the insect remains. This whole situation was turning out like one of the weirder Jackson Jones adventures, except actually being right in the middle of it was much scarier than reading about it.
‘Come on, my young Padawan,’ Dad said eventually. ‘Dima didn’t turn into a bug. He must be with Mum and May.’
‘Yeah.’ Zak took a last look. ‘That must be it.’
At the far end of the Control Room there was a semicircular bank of ten screens arranged in two rows of five. Right now, they displayed images fed from CCTV cameras around the base. In front of the screens, keyboards and unfamiliar electronic devices were neatly arranged on a long desk. Mum and May were sitting behind the desk in swivel chairs.
‘Find anything?’ May asked when Zak and Dad came in.
‘Where’s Dima?’ Zak said, looking around. ‘He’s not out there. Where is he?’
‘We haven’t seen him.’ Mum was confused. ‘Not since we split up.’
‘What about the cameras?’ Zak pointed at the screens, but he could see the feed that was coming in from The Hub, and it was obvious that all four cameras in there were pointing away from where Dima had been sitting.
‘Nothing works,’ Mum replied. ‘Well, the cameras are on, and they move from time to time, but none of the controls work.’ To prove her point, she punched her fingers at a keyboard on the surface in front of her. ‘See? Nothing happens. And that’s not the only thing; none of the communications are working except for email, but—’
‘Email Head Office, then,’ Dad said. ‘In Switzerland.’
‘Totally tried it,’ May replied.
‘And?’
Mum put her elbows on the desk and rubbed her face with both hands. ‘Where to start? OK, the email system seemed to be working, so I sent a message to Head Office explaining the situation. A couple of minutes later, they replied.’ She pulled a keyboard towards her and brought the message up on screen.
To: outpostzero@exodus.com
From: hoffice@exodus.com
Subject: Outpost Zero Status
Dr Reeves
Thank you for your status update. Apologies for disturbing your holiday.
Everyone here is relieved to know that you have landed safely and that Outpost Zero operations are under control. Please keep us up to date with your findings on the drones.
And there’s good news; the Project Leader has promised to refund the cost of your holiday!
Best wishes
Dr Ernest Hardy
Dad frowned. ‘I don’t understand. What did you send them? Why do they think everything’s under control? How is our situation even close to being under control?’
‘That’s the thing.’ Mum tapped the keyboard again. ‘This is the email that went to them…’
To: hoffice@exodus.com
From: outpostzero@exodus.com
Subject: Outpost Zero Status
Please be advised that some systems are down due to adverse weather conditions, but everything is under control. Normal communications will resume as soon as we manage to get everything back to full operational capabilities.
Dr Evelyn Reeves
‘…but that is not the email I sent. Not even close. I told them the actual situation, but somewhere between me writing it, and it leaving the base, the text of the email changed.’
‘What do you mean changed?’ Dad stared at the screen. ‘How? Who changed it?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘And why would they say everything’s OK?’ May asked. ‘Everything isn’t OK.’
‘To stop them sending help,’ Zak guessed. ‘I mean, there’s no need to send help if everything’s OK.’
May stared at him like she was trying to get her head round what he’d said; that someone was doing this – deliberately isolating them here in Outpost Zero.
‘And that’s not the strangest thing,’ Mum said, ‘because as far as I know, the only way to access this system is from Head Office in Switzerland, or from inside this room.’
‘You think someone hacked into Head Office?’ May asked.
‘What for?’ Mum pushed the keyboard away. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
‘Yeah, like everything else in this place,’ Zak said. ‘We found some weird insects in the lab; all pinned out and cut up. And there’s a big glass container full of live ones and – all those bits on the floor? I think they come from the insects.’
‘Insects?’ Mum asked.
‘See for yourself.’ Dad handed the tablet computer to Mum and waited for her to scroll through the document. May stood and peered over her shoulder.
‘They’ve been taking ice core samples?’ Mum said.
‘Looks like it.’
‘Why? From where?’
Dad took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Well, we’re close to the Antarctic Chasm. Maybe they’ve been taking samples from there.’
‘But Outpost Zero isn’t equipped for that kind of operation,’ Mum said. ‘You need kit, personnel. These people are here to train for life on Mars, not to take core samples. And anyway, they couldn’t find all this down there. All this… life. It’s impossible.’
‘That’s what I said,’ Dad agreed. ‘We have to be reading it wrong. We’re not biologists, we don’t understand the data. There’s no way it’s from that deep in the ice.’ He tapped the tablet screen. ‘That would make it old.’
‘How old?’ May asked.
Dad raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m no expert, but as far as I know, the ice in cores is usually thousands of years old. This, though? This looks more like billions.’
Mum put the tablet on the desk. ‘I need to see these things.’
‘Or maybe we need to find out what happened to Dima first,’ May said. ‘And everyone else. Maybe if we do that, we’ll find out what’s going on here.’
‘You’re right.’ Dad sighed. ‘Maybe Dima’s with the others.’ He dug his hands in his coat pockets, tapping his fingers against his hips. ‘Wait a minute.’ He stopped tapping and stood tall. ‘Project members all have implanted microchips, don’t they? So the Exodus Project can monitor their vital signs. Heart rate, blood sugar. They can be tracked. There should be a handset that—’
‘Well, duh, Sherlock.’ May crossed her arms. ‘We already thought of that, but we can’t find the handset.’
‘You checked Medical and Science Two?’
‘Yes.’
‘OK, well…’ Dad threw up his hands. ‘You two stay here, see if you can get anything working. Zak and I will head to the Drone Bay; it’s the only place left in the main part of the base. Without going outside, there’s nowhere else they could be.’