He leant back in his chair and closed his eyes, saying nothing.
‘Sir, I have something for you,’ said the woman at the other end of the call.
‘Go on.’ The Broker’s voice was deep and pleasant. His tone was neutral and there was no trace of an accent.
‘One of your operatives at NASA contacted me with something a few minutes ago. I’ve prepared a package.’
‘Send it.’
With a gentle ping, an icon popped up in the top right-hand corner of The Broker’s smartphone. He opened his eyes and leant forward to touch it. Straight away, an image opened on the screen. ‘Tell me what I’m looking at.’
‘Less than an hour ago, a satellite passed over Antarctica and took a series of photographs. The man at NASA who is assigned to monitoring the satellite is one of your operatives, sir, and he called me straight away. He thought you should see the photographs. This is exactly the kind of information that matches your particular interests. And it’s linked to BioMesa, sir, which is high on your watch list.’
The Broker said nothing. This new information was interesting, but he didn’t want to hope for too much. When he was ready, he reached for the smartphone and picked it up. The image was mostly white, with stormy swirls like an abstract painting. Hidden in the spiralling patterns, though, were the dark shapes of buildings formed into a T-Shape. The Broker could also make out the faint markings of a landing strip and one or two outbuildings.
On the other end of the line, Phoenix watched a mirror image of what her employer was seeing. ‘Apologies for the image quality, sir, they’re currently experiencing adverse weather conditions over Antarctica, but you’re looking at Outpost Zero. As you know, it’s a training facility for—’
‘Don’t tell me what I already know.’
‘Of course, sir. Please forgive—’
‘Get on with it.’
‘In the second image, sir, you’ll see an object in the centre of the landing strip.’
The Broker flicked to the next image and, sure enough, there was a large oval object visible through the storm.
‘We believe that to be one of the Spiders, sir. You’ve seen the blueprints.’
‘Yes, I know I have.’ The Broker admired the ingenuity Drs Evelyn and Adam Reeves had shown in the construction of the Spider drones. He had even considered taking control of the project for himself. The drones would fetch a high price. But he had become more interested in what BioMesa was doing in Antarctica. BioMesa had sent a group of researchers to Outpost Zero, and The Broker suspected they were breaking regulations, searching for something beneath the ice. Oil, perhaps. Gas, or some other resource he wasn’t yet aware of. Whatever it was, he wanted to know about it. ‘I hope this is good, Phoenix. I’m afraid you have caught me in a rather dour mood.’
‘I’ll get to the point, sir.’
‘I wish you would.’
‘If you flip through the images, sir, you’ll notice the Spider drones have been rather active. And there’s evidence to suggest they have been building things beyond their usual instructions. It’s as if the drones are acting alone.’
‘Alone?’ The Broker leant forward. ‘Are you suggesting some kind of artificial Intelligence?’
‘Your man at NASA doesn’t think so. He suspects something else. You’ll see that he’s used thermal imaging to enhance the last few pictures, sir, and…’
The Broker stopped listening. What he saw in those last few photographs made him stand and walk to the edge of the balcony. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air. When he had filled his lungs and calmed his mind, he switched his focus back to the last three pictures displayed on the device he was holding.
Each image showed him a grey land of ice and snow. In the first, though, the buildings of Outpost Zero were a dull orange, emitting a heat signature lower than he would have expected. There were three red blobs on the landing strip, and he guessed they must be the Spiders – the drones. The blobs were about the right size and shape. In the second image, the buildings had lost heat and were now only a faint orange. The Spiders had moved to the front of the base, but without good video footage it was impossible to tell exactly what they were doing. None of those things concerned him, though. There was something else far more important about the image.
About a kilometre east of Outpost Zero, there was now a large, bright orange patch. The Broker flicked between the two images again, seeing how the patch appeared as if from nowhere.
He glanced at the time coding on the pictures and saw they were taken sixty minutes apart. In the short space of an hour, something had appeared beneath the ice. Something warm.
The Broker flicked to the third, most recent, image and paused to process what he was seeing. ‘Do we know how deep that is?’
‘It’s impossible to tell without being on the ground, sir.’
‘And how soon can we have men on the ground?’ The Broker knew Phoenix would have an answer. That’s why he paid her so well – because she was smart and efficient.
‘We have the two prototype Ospreys you acquired, sir. I know they’re to be sold to your buyers in Russia, but they’re currently at November Island, so I have taken the liberty of ordering them to be fuelled and waiting on the tarmac. Analysis suggests they’re the best-suited aircraft for this operation. I’ve contacted Lazarovich, and instructed her to assemble her team. They will arrive at November Island with all the necessary equipment within the next ten hours. The Ospreys don’t have the range, but the pilots assure me they can refuel mid-air and be on site in eleven hours. We can have our teams at Outpost Zero in just over twenty hours, sir.’
The Broker raised his eyes to the view beyond the balcony and watched the waves cresting. ‘Good. Make sure Lazarovich gets everything she needs. Does anybody else know about this?’
‘No, sir.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘One hundred per cent, sir.’
‘Keep it that way. Make sure my man at NASA buries those images. And I want someone working on all communications coming in and out of Outpost Zero. Take complete control of it. The base needs to be sealed tight.’
‘About that, sir…’
‘Why do I have the feeling you are about to disappoint me, Phoenix?’
‘I’m afraid we have been unable to take control of communications at the base, sir. It seems somebody else has already done that.’
‘Who?’
‘We don’t know. Everything has been shut down from inside Outpost Zero. The only thing working is a primitive email system, and even that is only intermittent. Something is happening out there, sir, but we’re not quite sure what.’
‘All right. Keep on those communications; I want to know everything that happens.’ The Broker cut off the call but stayed where he was on the balcony, watching the sea. It was particularly calm today. He paused to take in the view and settle his thoughts before once again studying the image on his tablet.
The snow, the base, the Spiders. And something else.
The second thermal image had shown the appearance of something warm beneath the ice. The third image showed how much it had grown; like a wide, orange river running towards Outpost Zero. Something was buried deep in the ice and it was either warming up, or it was growing. Whatever it was, The Broker was certain it was the reason why BioMesa was in Antarctica. They were searching for something. They had found something. And, as far as he was concerned, it now belonged to him.
Perhaps this wasn’t going to be such a bad day after all.