The Arctic Code (15 page)

“He's the
CEO
, Julian,” Finn said. “Think about it.
What's he even doing up here in the first place?”

Julian just shook his head, like he was trying not to let any words or thoughts in, but that only lasted a moment, after which he settled, leaned forward on his elbows, and blew into his fists. Eleanor could imagine the argument he was having with himself. He'd put all his hope for his dad's safe return in Skinner. And it was hard to let go of hope.

“I don't like what this means either,” Eleanor said to him. “It means we're on our own.”

“So what do we do?” Finn asked.

“We get to those coordinates,” Eleanor said. “We see for ourselves what's there.”

“In case you forgot”—Julian pointed at the wall—“there's a polar storm out there right now.”

Eleanor hadn't forgotten. In fact, now that the cold had been given a taste of her, she could almost feel it prowling around the station, waiting for another opening to tear into her, and she feared it even more than before.

“We need to steal a transport,” she said.

“I
'
M JUST GONNA PRETEND
I'
M NOT HEARING ANY OF
this,” Luke said. “Honestly, kid. After what almost happened to you, you're—”

“Luke”—Eleanor spread her hands—“you
just
agreed that Skinner would stop the search for our parents.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, “I did, and he might. But that doesn't mean I think it's anything but suicide for someone to—”

“The station has three transports that I've seen,” Finn said. “They keep them nearby.”

“Hey,” Luke said, “I'm not finished—”

“Can either of you drive one of those?” Eleanor asked.

Julian nodded. “My dad showed me once when we were in Canada. But that was a while ago.”

“Hey,” Luke said, a little louder. “Are you guys even listening to me?”

“Everyone will be awake soon,” Eleanor said. “Maybe we should get back to our rooms for now. Pretend like everything is normal. I think Skinner already knows I lied about the password to the laptop. We don't need him suspecting us of anything else.”

Julian and Finn nodded, then started to rise, but before they reached their feet, Luke slammed his fist down hard on the table, causing them to fall back into their seats.

“Stop talking and listen to me,” he said. “What you are talking about doing is insane.”

“No, Luke,” Eleanor said. “It's
desperate
. Like us. So unless you're going to rat us out to Skinner, which I don't think you are, there isn't anything you can do to stop us.” She folded her arms and looked directly into his eyes for several moments. “So are you?”

Luke glowered. “Am I what?”

Finn spoke up. “Are you going to rat us out?”

Luke narrowed his eyes. He glanced downward, in the direction of the tunnel, and actually seemed to be thinking about his answer. Eleanor hadn't even thought it would be a question.

“Luke . . .” She swallowed. “Please don't.”

“Relax.” Luke scratched his beard. “I'm not going to rat anyone out. Frankly, all I really want is for this storm to break so I can take off and get out of here.”

“Great,” Finn said. “So let us go.”

“Or you could help us,” Eleanor said.

Luke laughed. “
Help
you?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Because I know you're a good guy.”

Luke sucked air through one side of his teeth. “Here's the deal. I'm not gonna get in your way, but I'm also not gonna help you. There's only so much I'll have on my conscience when you three get yourselves killed. Understood?”

Eleanor didn't try to hide her disappointment and anger. “Understood.”

“Good,” he said. “Now if you don't mind, you all woke me up way too early. I'll see you in a few hours.” He left them alone in the kitchen and stomped back down the spiral staircase toward the sleeping quarters.

The three of them waited until he was gone.

“He won't tell Skinner, will he?” Julian asked.

“No,” Eleanor said. “He'll do exactly what he said he would.”

“We don't need him,” Finn said. “You have the coordinates, and Julian can drive a transport.”

“Right.” Eleanor inhaled and gave a sharp sigh. “So, now we just need a plan.”

L
ater that morning, they met in the kitchen for breakfast, acting as though they had just woken up. Eleanor didn't know about Finn and Julian, but she hadn't gone back to sleep. She hadn't even tried, because she knew it wasn't going to happen. Luke was already sitting at a table, yawning over his coffee, and Dr. Marcus was there, too. She stood by as Eleanor and Finn made some instant oatmeal.

“Did you all sleep well?” Dr. Marcus looked at Eleanor. “It was your first night here at Polaris Station.”

“I slept fine,” Eleanor said.

Luke chortled at that.

“Something amusing, Mr. Fournier?” Dr. Marcus asked.

Eleanor tensed, while Luke took a sip of his coffee. “I'm more comfortable sleeping on my plane than inside this tin can.”

Dr. Marcus pursed her lips. “You are welcome to return to your plane at any time.” She then turned her attention back to Eleanor, Finn, and Julian. “I have some exciting news. The storm is expected to break tomorrow, and we have scheduled a plane to fly you home.”

“No!” Eleanor shouted, almost reflexively, and everyone looked at her. “You can't do that.”

“She's right,” Finn said, more calmly. “We're not leaving.”

“Children.” The patronizing way Dr. Marcus inflected the word reminded Eleanor of the start to an old-fashioned bedtime story. “Were it not for the storm, you would already be gone. This is no place for you.”

“But our parents . . . ,” Julian said.

“We will continue the search,” Dr. Marcus said. “But your presence here does not help with that. What it does do is put you at greater risk, which I am certain is the last thing your parents would want.”

Eleanor shook her head. “But you can't—”

“This is not up for discussion,” Dr. Marcus said. “I was merely informing you of what will happen.” With a curt nod and a pivot on her toes, she marched away.

Eleanor swung a look at Julian and Finn. Then she glanced at Luke.

He shrugged. “That's what I would do if I were her.”

“I wasn't asking,” she said.

“Today is our one chance to search,” Finn said. “If the storm breaks tomorrow like she said, we won't have another shot.”

“So let's do this,” Julian said.

They had made a simple plan before going back to bed. Polaris Station had a main entrance in the first pod, the one Eleanor had entered through, but each pod had its own emergency exits as well. Finn's job would be to disable the alarm on the emergency exit on their third pod. Julian would obtain one of the transport keys, which were kept near the main entrance in the first pod. During all of this, Eleanor would distract Skinner. Then they would all meet back up in their third pod, gather the gear they needed, leave through the emergency hatch, and head out onto the ice in the transport.

The three of them rose from the table and went to complete their assignments. Finn went down the staircase to the bottom level of the pod, where the escape hatch was located. Eleanor and Julian went toward the tunnel.

It was wide open now, but Eleanor still froze at the entrance.

Julian climbed in, then looked back. “You okay?”

Eleanor clenched her hands into fists at her side. “Yeah.” Then she made herself climb in.

The door stayed open behind her this time, and the warmed air from the pods flowed through it, though Eleanor could still hear the storm outside, almost
taunting her, reminding her in its ragged voice of how close it had come to claiming her.

They reached the far side and went to the command module. Skinner was there, and Eleanor approached him, her chin high.

“Could I try a few more passwords on my mom's computer?” she asked.

Skinner's eyebrows went up. “Certainly. I'd say this represents a change in attitude.”

“Not really,” Eleanor said. “Maybe you just have me all wrong.”

“I would be pleased for that to be the case.” Skinner went to the desk, reached into the drawer, and pulled out the laptop. “Take your time, Miss Perry.”

Eleanor lifted the screen and started typing more fake passwords. She couldn't make it too obvious, but having seen what was on the laptop, and then deleted the one email she'd found, she felt like she could give Skinner something. Enough to distract him for a little while and allay his suspicions, anyway. She just had to hope that she hadn't missed anything important in her previous search of the computer. Julian stood nearby, waiting for his cue to leave.

A few minutes later, Eleanor exclaimed, “Got it!”

“You did?” Skinner leaned in, his voice rising in excitement. “What was it?”

“EllBell,” Eleanor said. “It's a nickname my uncle Jack gave me.”

“Charming.” Skinner rotated the laptop toward him. “Well done, Miss Perry, well done.” He immediately started opening files and typing searches, much the same way Eleanor had the previous night. In a matter of moments, it seemed Eleanor and Julian had faded from Skinner's awareness.

That was when Julian slipped away, without even looking in Eleanor's direction. She noticed him going but didn't look his way, either. She kept her focus on Skinner and the laptop. She was sure a tech guy could dump all the data and find the deleted email, but that would take a lot of time.

Skinner's eyes flicked back and forth across the screen, up and down, constantly moving.

“Do you think this will help find her?” Eleanor asked.

It took a moment for him to respond, and even then, his voice sounded absent. “Hmm, perhaps.”

“What are you finding on there?” she asked.

“Nothing of relevance yet,” he said.

Eleanor waited a few moments, watching a scowl form and deepen across his face. It seemed he was as frustrated as she had been. At one point, he looked up at her. “Is there something else you need?”

“Oh, uh, no.” Eleanor gave him a sheepish shrug. “I—I'm just hoping you're going to find something.”

He looked back at the screen. “Where did Mr. Powers go?”

Eleanor clamped down the sudden fear. Skinner may have noticed Julian's absence, but that didn't mean he truly suspected anything. “Oh,” she said, trying to make it sound as if she had just noticed he was gone. “I don't know.”

Skinner went back to skimming the laptop.

Eleanor waited, but shortly after that, her presence began to feel awkward, obvious, even to her. Skinner glanced up periodically and seemed to be growing increasingly irritated.

“I can come tell you if I find something,” he finally said. “There is no need for you to hover.”

“Sorry,” Eleanor said. “I'm just . . . worried.”

“Well . . . maybe you should go worry somewhere else,” he said, without any hint of compassion or patience.

In the next moment, Julian was standing next to her, his chest rising and falling quickly, like he was trying to hide being out of breath. Eleanor and he avoided looking at each other, but Skinner's eyes shot up.

“Where have you been, Mr. Powers?” he asked.

“Just ran back to our pod to talk to my brother.” Julian gestured to the laptop. “Did you find anything?” Julian asked.

“Not yet,” Skinner said. “And one anxious child breathing over me is quite enough without adding a second. Why don't you both return to your pod, and should I find something worth noting, I will certainly inform you.”

Eleanor and Julian nodded and left the command module. At the tunnel, Julian gave her a thumbs-up as he climbed in. He'd scored the key to a transport. Eleanor followed him, her excitement driving away some of her fear at the crossing.

Back in their pod, they waited in the kitchen until Finn appeared.

“Did you get the key?” he asked.

Julian nodded. “You get the alarm?”

Finn glanced over his shoulder at the staircase. “I think so. I cut the power line, and I didn't find an internal battery. I don't think it will go off.”

“I guess that means we're ready,” Eleanor said. But she couldn't leave without doing one last thing. “Give me just a minute?”

They nodded, and she left them and went down to the sleeping quarters. Then she walked up to Luke's room and knocked on the door. It whooshed open, and
he propped an arm on the doorframe above his head, leaning toward her.

“What is it, kid?”

Eleanor took a breath. “Look. Even though you're not helping us now, I wanted to say thanks for all you've done for me. I couldn't have made it this far without you. I mean it. You saved my life. So . . . thank you.”

Luke nodded. “Hope you find what you're looking for.”

Eleanor nodded once more but didn't leave.

“Something else on your mind, kid?”

“I—I guess I was just thinking that after this is all over . . . when I'm back in Phoenix with my mom . . . maybe when you're in Phoenix . . .”

Luke's mustache twitched with a bit of grin. “You can come see
Consuelo
anytime.”

Eleanor smiled and turned to leave.

“Hey, kid.” Luke's voice softened. “I've been thinking about something you said when we first met. Anyone thinks you're a freak who doesn't fit needs to rearrange themselves.”

Eleanor wanted to hug him for that, but resisted. “Thanks, Luke.”

“You really doing this?”

“We are.”

“I truly don't want to see you hurt.”

“I won't get hurt.” She turned away before he could try again to talk her out of their plan. She didn't want to argue with him after what they'd just said. “Bye, Luke.”

“So long, kid.”

A few moments later, she rejoined Finn and Julian, and the three of them went to their rooms and dressed in their polar gear. Eleanor moved the Sync from her pants pocket to a pocket in her coat. She grabbed her pack and headed for the pod's supply stores. They took a hermetic tent, food, lights, power packs, microgenerators, a GPS unit, anything they could fit that seemed useful. When they reached the point where they couldn't stuff any more in, they went to the emergency hatch and put on their masks.

Finn took hold of the hatch's handle. “Ready?” he said, his voice metallic.

“Let's hope you got the alarm,” Julian said.

Finn took a breath, a hiss through his mask, and pulled. The hatch fell open. No alarm, but the storm blared inward at them. There was no staircase like there had been at the main entrance. They would have to drop to the snow below.

Julian leaped first. “Let's do this!”