‘I know.’ Lazarovich focused on the operative sitting opposite her. ‘But this time I mean it.’
32
JANUARY ISLAND, SOUTH CHINA SEA
NOW
The lights were dimmed in The Broker’s ‘War Room’ and the temperature was exactly how he liked it. Beside him, on the table, was a mug of green tea. The design on the mug said ‘World’s Best Dad’. He picked it up without taking his eyes off the ultra-high-definition screens on the wall in front of him.
The display on the left showed a regularly updated satellite image of Outpost Zero. On the right, the last ten images were stacked together so he could see the growth of what was beneath the ice. Whatever it was, it had begun to increase in size at an incredible rate.
The centre screens showed images fed directly from Lazarovich’s team. Each operative had a camera set into their battle helmet so The Broker could watch them every step of the way. He never spoke to them, never communicated with them, but he was always watching. He saw what they saw.
Their eyes were his eyes.
The Broker sat back and cleared his throat. He raised his mug, but before it touched his lips he stopped and glanced at his hand. There was a slight tremble there, the tea rocking from side to side. He smiled, and allowed himself a moment to enjoy the buzz of nervous anticipation. After all, life and death was about to unfold on the screens in front of him. What could be more exciting than that?
33
OUTPOST ZERO, ANTARCTICA
NOW
Zak left The Chasm with a sense of wonder. He wasn’t forced to leave. His body wasn’t controlled, and his mind was his own. He left because he knew he was safe from the hive below the ice, and that Mum and Dad and May would be safe too. He knew the people of Outpost Zero would be safe as long as they stayed in Storage. And he knew what the insects wanted.
He crossed the ice-cavern, and made his way up the incline towards the large door he had first entered through. As he reached the top, the door slipped open and Zak looked out across the calm desert of snow and ice stretched in front of him. In the distance, Outpost Zero was crowned by the green and purple glow of the Aurora. He watched the lights dancing in the sky, then glanced at the Arctic Cat snowmobile beside him.
He had driven something similar once before, so he climbed on and turned the key. The engine jumped into life. Zak twisted the throttle and drove the snowmobile out on to the ice. He accelerated away from The Chasm, closing the distance to Outpost Zero in just a few minutes.
It was time for him to join the others; to be safe from the swarm’s great escape.
The air inside Storage was warm and there was enough light for Zak to make out the silhouettes of the figures standing at the far end of the room. Dima was there, some of the others he had seen out on the ice too. Mum and Dad and May were standing at the front, eyes closed as if they were in a peaceful sleep.
‘It’ll all be over soon,’ Zak said as he approached them. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be long now.’
They remained motionless, eyes closed.
‘You should have seen it,’ Zak said to May, leaning in to whisper in her ear. ‘It was amazing. Kind of gross, but amazing.’
Something moved behind him and he turned to scan the room.
There were boxes here and there, crates and other paraphernalia. Some of them were open, the contents piled up as if someone had been digging through them. And there was something else – something in the shadows at the side of the room, half-hidden by a stack of boxes. Zak frowned and leant forward, trying to see. At first he thought it might be the explorer, and he wondered why the insects needed to show him that again.
‘Stay right there,’ it said. ‘Don’t move an inch.’
Zak recognized the voice. It carried a familiar Australian twang.
Could it really be her?
‘Sofia?’ Zak peered into the shadow. ‘Is that you? You’re alive?’
There was a pause. ‘You know me?’
‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re alive!’ Zak said. ‘That’s so cool! We found your video. You uploaded it to ViBac and—’
‘Why aren’t you like them?’
‘I…’ Because I’m different. My brain is different.
‘Get over here,’ Sofia said without waiting for an answer. ‘Don’t wake them up.’
‘No, honestly, it’s fine. They’re—’
Sofia came forward like a moray eel darting out from its lair beneath a rock. She grabbed Zak by the front of his jacket, and retreated, pulling him into the darkness.
‘Don’t you dare wake them up,’ she said. ‘Don’t you dare. When Peters and I set them off, I thought they’d never stop but I’ve managed to get in and out of here a few times without starting them off again, so don’t you go getting them all riled up.’
Zak thought it best to agree. This close up, he could see Sofia’s eyes and she looked crazy. Scared and mad.
‘How did you avoid them?’ she asked. ‘I saw you lot land. Watched you get off the plane and go into the base. I tried to make contact, but I couldn’t get past the Spiders. A few hours later four of you are in here – but not you.’
‘They’re going to be OK. Everything is going to be OK.’
‘Wait a minute.’ Sofia grabbed Zak again and spun him round, staring at the back of his neck. ‘Have you got one of those things on you?’
‘No.’ Zak struggled against her.
‘Something in your nose, then.’ Sofia spun him round again and leant close to peer up his nostrils. ‘What are you people even doing here?’
Zak pushed her away. ‘Will you listen to me?’
‘No, you listen to me. I watched you go out on to the ice. I saw you go into that BioMesa place at least…’ She checked her watch. ‘An hour ago and—’
‘Wait. You saw me?’ Zak remembered how he had heard an engine out on the ice. ‘You were on a snowmobile, weren’t you? And you left me out there. You didn’t help me.’
‘Don’t change the subject. Anyway, of course I tried to help you. I saw the others get caught and you ran off on to the ice. When the Spider was gone, I came after you, tried to find you, but when I did, you were already on your way inside the BioMesa place. There’s no way I was going in there again. Not after what I saw last time. I thought you were a goner for sure.’
‘You’ve seen?’ Zak asked. ‘You’ve been down there?’
Sofia took hold of Zak’s arm and pulled him towards the window. On the other side of the landing strip, one of the Spiders was making its way across the ice, heading out towards The Chasm.
‘The other two are still in there. Down there.’ Sofia said. ‘And there goes the third one. I’ve been watching them going in and out since the start of this, coming back for I don’t know what. To recharge, find new parts, something like that. But a while back, all those Spiders were up here, tearing your plane to pieces, so I went over there and saw those bugs and… they were everywhere. Now, I don’t know what they are, but they are not good… and I reckon there’s a whole ton more of them under the ice. Maybe something else too. Something big and bad that wants to get out, and those Spiders are helping to set it free.’
‘It’s not bad,’ Zak said. ‘They’re just trying to—’
‘So I rigged the whole thing with HEX 13,’ Sofia stopped him. ‘They’re only small pieces but it’s enough to blow that whole place to bits. Bring the roof in and kill everything inside it. I’ve been waiting for them all to go back down. Get them all at once and put an end to this. Only thing that stopped me was seeing you go in there, but you’re here now, and you seem OK so…’ Sofia raised her left hand to show Zak something similar to a smartphone. In large white letters it displayed the word ‘CONFIRM’ and beneath it, a glowing dot traced across the screen in the shape of a letter Z. Sofia put her finger to the screen. ‘All I’ve got to do is swipe here and… Boom.’