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  “Something like that,” Lora said. She pointed at the big rugged cases that the Guardians were carrying. “Can we set up our communications gear here before we leave?”

  “Of course,” Dr. Roberts said, “follow me.”

  Lora followed, leaving Sam and the others with the rest of the Guardians and several of the crew.

  “Well, that was weird,” Eva said quietly, sipping a hot chocolate. “Dr. Roberts, I mean.”

  “Really?” Sam replied, adding extra sugar to his hot drink. “Was it the thick red moustache? Or the nasally voice?”

  “What do you mean?” Gabriella said.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Eva said, adding marshmallows. “He just didn’t seem very concerned.”

  “Maybe that’s how they do things down here?” Sam said. “These scientists are used to living in pretty harsh conditions. I suppose that makes you tough, otherwise you wouldn’t survive. And rescuing someone stuck out there is a big ask. Storm or not, in this environment, time’s always ticking. And right now, we’ve got under six hours.”

  “Yeah, I guess …” Eva said as Lora came back into the mess hall with Dr. Roberts.

  “OK, remember the plan,” Lora said. “Eva, Gabriella and Arianna, you’re staying here with Harry and Larry.” She pointed to the two closest Guardians. “Stay in contact with Jedi via our communications and monitoring equipment. The rest of us will join Dr. Roberts and his crew who have volunteered to assist us crossing the ice to Alex’s last known location. It’s about an hour’s drive from here in those big snowcats.”

  “OK,” Sam said, looking meaningfully at Eva.

  See, they’re helping us out.

  “Let’s roll,” he said.

  “Good luck out there,” Eva said. She leaned toward Sam and whispered, “But be quick. I don’t like this place.”

  The wind blew up a wall of snow that whipped across the frozen ground. Sam watched as their driver ignored the view through the windshield, instead relying on the GPS and radar to navigate ahead.

  And he’s no slouch, even in these conditions.

  The three snowcats rumbled across the ice like mini tanks in a race. Inside, the sound of the engine running at full-speed was almost deafening. Dr. Roberts sat up front next to their driver, Sam seated behind him next to Jabari, with two of Dr. Roberts’s station crew at the rear. Every now and then they’d hit a ridge of ice and the snowcat would become airborne and crash back to earth with a bone-shuddering thump.

  “Just another day in the office?” Sam called out to Dr. Roberts, trying to make conversation in the harsh silence.

  The flame-haired station chief remained silent as he cross-checked their bearings, tapped the GPS screen mounted on the dashboard and pointed out at the view of white beyond their glass windshield, indicating a slight adjustment to their heading.

  “I guess so …” Sam said under his breath.

  Ahead of them in another snowcat was Lora, their Guardians and Agents, and another three station crew. The huge box shape of the vehicle was a blur in the snow, a red smudge that they were chasing. Close behind them, another ’cat rumbled on with the station’s medical team inside.

  Hang on, Alex, we’re coming … and I sure hope you’re pleased to see us.

  “You think this superstorm could be hitting us earlier than we thought?” Sam asked Jabari. “I mean, this wind, it’s crazy.”

  The Egyptian Guardian leader shook his head. “No,” he said. “This is just the fringe of it, the weather that’s being pushed out to make way for what’s coming. Believe me, when it hits, you’ll know it.”

  Sam gulped. He couldn’t imagine worse weather than this. Jabari didn’t appear concerned.

  “You’ve been in a snowstorm like this before?” Sam asked.

  “No,” Jabari replied, his lean tanned face behind his dark beard showing no emotion. “Not snow. But sand, yes. I have been in sandstorms that have lasted for days and engulfed entire towns. Buried them, as though they never existed.”

  “I think I’d prefer that,” Sam said. “Least it wouldn’t be cold.”

  Jabari shrugged. “The desert is cold at night. And the sand that blows with the storm winds? It gets everywhere. Everywhere. And when it never seems to end, it’s frightening.”

  “Great,” Sam said. “OK, then I think I’ll stick to the tropics. An island maybe.” He watched the GPS monitor and looked at the radar screen showing the three dots of their convoy as they moved toward the blinking green dot.

  Alex.

  10

  XAVIER

  “Think we will ever be back at the Academy again?” Maria asked.

  “Sure,” Xavier said, trying to sound relaxed and upbeat. “Definitely. Just a short detour first to the safest place in the world.”

  “Nowhere is completely safe,” Phoebe said, driving their van. “Even where we are going. You have to remember that. You need to stay alert, OK?”

  Xavier nodded. The others did too. They all knew it. Too much had happened to think otherwise. As they drove on in the darkness, undetected by the UN guards or the waiting media throngs, he could tell that Phoebe was frustrated about not being able to go to Antarctica.

  Phoebe probably had to come with us instead of going after Alex because they’re worried she might be too emotionally attached.

  He couldn’t blame her for being anxious. Xavier, along with the others, had been told about the huge storm that was sweeping across Antarctica—time really was against them all.

  “Yeah,” Cody said from his seat next to Xavier. “I’d believe that. The stuff I’ve seen. Solaris—” he trailed off as if reliving it.

  Xavier looked to where his fellow last 13 Dreamers sat. He was the only one of them still with his Stealth Suit switched to match its surroundings, blending in to appear invisible, the feature they’d used to slip past the security cordon around the Academy.

  Not that we were prisoners there, Xavier reminded himself.

  The need to be secretive about their departure was crucial. If it became known that the last 13 were on the move, the world would want to move with them.

  We’ve got the world behind us but we can’t risk using any of their armies in case they decide to take over the race, or the Gate, for themselves. Then what use to us are they?

  The Director had warned them that there wasn’t a country in the world that didn’t want the prophesied “ultimate power” beyond the Dream Gate.

  Trust no one, he’d said.

  “Solaris’ Suit can’t be better than these Stealth Suits, can it?” Cody said, bringing Xavier back to the present. He changed his Suit several times, until he settled on an outfit. “I mean, he never changes his appearance like we do. Maybe he doesn’t have the ability to blend into his environment and be invisible.”

  “Are you sure?” Maria said. “Maybe he can.”

  “And he just doesn’t need to,” Poh added.

  Cody paused, thinking about it, then shrugged.

  “Truth is,” Xavier said, looking to his friends, “we don’t know much about Solaris at all, do we?” I mean, who’s behind that mask? It could be anyone.”

  “And who knows what he can do?” Rapha said. “Who knows what he’s really capable of?”

  The others fell silent. Phoebe drove on, the headlights piercing the dark of the empty road to London.

  “I think that is the one thing we do know about him,” Xavier said, his voice firm. “Solaris is capable of anything and everything.”

  “And that’s all we need to know,” Phoebe added.

  “What’s the matter, Cody?” Xavier said, the last to board the plane. “You never been on a private jet before?”

  Cody looked around in awe. “I’ve been in plenty of small, private aircraft,” he replied, sitting in one of the plush leather chairs. “Just nothing this … fancy.”

  “Is this really your father’s?” Poh asked, looking uneasy in the luxurious surroundings.

  “Yeah,” Xavier replied, sitting opp
osite Phoebe and feeling self-conscious. He liked the perks that came with having a successful businessman for a father, but he wanted to fit in with the others too. He shrugged. “It’s a family business.”

  “Must be some business,” Cody said, nervously fiddling with his entertainment screen.

  “The business of dreams,” Phoebe said, “can be quite profitable.”

  “Sure looks like it,” Cody said. “Beats running a little tour company in Arizona like my family did.”

  “Well, that’s not all they did, though, is it?” Xavier said, one eyebrow raised.

  “So, your dad will be waiting for us in Egypt?” Maria asked, changing the subject.

  “Ah, yeah, that’s what the Professor said,” Xavier said, buckling in. “We’ll be there before you know it.”

  “What is he like?” Rapha asked.

  “My dad?” Xavier said. Rapha nodded. “Well … he’s—I guess he’s pretty awesome. Works hard, away from home a lot, doing his psychiatrist dream work around the world wherever Dreamers need him the most. Running our family company, does all kinds of stuff. Funding expeditions to find Dreamer stuff from history. He’s … he’s always been busy. As long as I can remember.”

  “Did you always know you were a Dreamer?” Rapha asked.

  Xavier shook his head. “No, my dad never let on. Sent me to a ‘normal’ school too, instead of the Academy. That’s where I met Sam.”

  “I always knew I was a Dreamer,” Cody said, looking more relaxed now. “I wonder why your dad never told you about the world of Dreamers.”

  “I guess he wanted me to work it out myself, in my own time,” Xavier said.

  “Gotta make you wonder, though,” Cody said, closing his eyes and tilting his chair back, “what else has he kept from you?”

  “Xavier?” Phoebe woke him. He’d been dreaming, the same dream about his father again. Though this time, he was somewhere deep and dark that suddenly became bright when he woke. “We’re nearly there.”

  He sat up and looked around. The others were asleep. He checked his watch—five in the morning, London time.

  “Did you sleep?” he asked Phoebe.

  “No,” she replied, “but don’t worry about me. It’s you and the others that need rest.”

  “You’re worried about Alex,” Xavier said, “in Antarctica.”

  Phoebe nodded. “Yes.”

  “Any word?” Xavier said. “Any trace of him?”

  Phoebe shook her head. “We have some information, but it’s not enough. Jedi’s looking, Shiva too. A few search and rescue crews from bases down there have been out. But the storm is getting closer.”

  “Sorry.” Xavier could see that Phoebe was tired and pale from being so stressed. “Phoebe, Alex will be OK. He’s there, at the end. I know it.”

  “You dreamed it?”

  “Yes,” Xavier replied. “The Professor too. We are all there at the Gate.”

  Phoebe nodded and said, “Thank you, Xavier. And I want to believe that. But you know dreams can change—as things change in real life, so they change in dreams.”

  “Not this one,” Xavier said. “He’ll be there. You’ll see.”

  Phoebe allowed herself a small smile. “And the thirteenth Dreamer? Have you seen who that is?”

  “No … but then that’s not my job,” Xavier said, and Phoebe laughed.

  11

  ALEX

  It was the movement that woke Alex. At first he’d thought it was a dream, a dream where he was flying high above the snow, close enough to the sun so that he was warm. But it wasn’t warm. It was cold. He was hungry. He was alone.

  But then he heard a voice. “Alex …”

  Alex felt as though he were floating between the dream world and the waking one, not all awake yet, not asleep either. It was cold. He concentrated on keeping warm.

  “I’ve found him! Over here!”

  Dr. Kader?

  “Alex!”

  Alex opened his eyes. Blinding white light crashed in.

  “Am I …?”

  “Alex!” Ahmed said again.

  Alex squinted against the sun to see Dr. Kader pulling him from his snow cave.

  “Am I … dreaming?” Alex asked as he looked around.

  “No, no. This is quite real,” Ahmed said, smiling.

  Relief flooded through him, almost making him pass out.

  Not dying in a snow cave. Not today.

  But how—?

  “You … Hans … the rope …” Alex said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about that now,” Ahmed said. “And it’s quite alright. I’m certain I would have cut the ropes too in your position, ha! And we are all OK. Now, are you able to stand?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Alex said, slowly getting up and working the cold stiffness from his legs. Looking back inside his makeshift sleeping hole, he saw his backpack, which he’d used as a pillow, and the radio, still with its tall antenna poking up. “You traced the signal?”

  Ahmed shook his head.

  “Then how’d you find me?” Alex asked.

  “Well,” Ahmed said, “remember those shots in the arm we all had on the way down here, the vitamin boosters?”

  “Yeah …” Alex had a vague recollection of the medical they’d had on board the Ra.

  That’s right, we did get shots! Huh, my brain has turned to mush out in the cold. Geez.

  “Turns out they included some kind of tracking device.”

  “But why?” Alex subconsciously rubbed his arm where he’d taken the shot.

  “For just this kind of situation, I would think.”

  “Who were you calling out to before?” Alex asked.

  “Over the other side, come look,” Ahmed said. He helped Alex shake out the numbness from his body and walked higher up the mountain. He motioned to the lip of a high stone ledge. Alex clambered up and looked down to the icy plain below. He squinted against the brightness of the day on the white surface, his hand raised against the fierce sunshine cutting through the clear sky.

  A team was spread out on the snow plain below. Hans, unmistakable in his bright yellow snowsuit, stood near a heavy-lift aircraft on the ice—and a lot of guys in snowsuits, who’d been scouring the mountain looking for Alex and were now moving down to the aircraft.

  “I found something, near a thermal spring,” Alex said, hoisting his backpack over his shoulder and following Dr. Kader down the mountain.

  “So did we, Alex,” Ahmed replied. “So did we.”

  As they approached Hans, Alex stopped at a hole that had been cut into the ice. How they’d cut it he was unsure, but it must have involved huge saws or something. It was about the size of a bus.

  “Similar stuff to thermite,” Ahmed said. “Burns hot and fast, right down through the ice.”

  Hans walked over to them, smiling broadly. “Alex!” he bellowed. “How marvellous to have found you once again. That was a lucky escape for all of us, eh? What an adventure!”

  Lucky for me they don’t seem to be holding a grudge.

  “It’s good to see you too,” Alex replied. “But how did you—I mean …”

  “How are we not all dead?” Hans said, laughing at Alex’s horrified face. “Lady Luck was on our side, my friend. After an exciting but horrifying slide down a very large crevasse, we landed in relative safety in a lower snow field. Our guide sustained a minor injury, but he’ll live.”

  “Hans found some higher ground and radioed for assistance,” Ahmed added.

  “I like to think of that as my hero hour,” Hans said, Ahmed rolling his eyes behind him. “But come, come, follow me,” Hans said, heading toward a ladder hooked over the hole in the ice. In the water a few metres below was the submersible.

  Alex followed Hans and Dr. Kader down the ladder. With every rung he descended, Alex felt an ever-increasing weight sink into his stomach. Whether it was fear about what unknown dangers lay ahead, or if it was his dream of Sam, he was unsure. What he did know, what he was certain
of, was that today would not end well.

  “Position marked,” the sub pilot called out.

  “Position confirmed, continue,” the co-pilot replied.

  Alex stared at the screen showing their progress through the ice. The sub’s powerful lights lit up the underside of the ice sheet, the world before them shining every shade of cold blue.

  “Position marked,” the pilot said.

  “Confirmed. Continue.”

  They went on like that for ten minutes, plotting out their course slowly, following a route that they’d apparently taken a few hours before.

  “It was incredible,” Hans said to Alex, seated facing him across the sub’s cargo area. “My team followed the overland route plotted in my grandfather’s log book and took measurements of the ice below. I believe it is navigable the whole way, under the ice, to the point marked.”

  “So you’ve been under the ice?”

  “No—not yet,” Hans replied. “We cut through the ice with thermite to meet up with the sub.”

  Alex nodded, looking at the screen once more. The thought of untold tons of ice overhead sent a shiver through him.

  It’s OK—I’ll be OK. I mean, I would have seen it, if I was crushed like an empty soda can, right? In my dream? Surely.

  Surely …

  “It’s OK, Alex,” Hans said. “We’ll be there in—”

  “Contact,” the pilot called. “Dead ahead.”

  All eyes moved to the monitors. Up ahead, another light emerged from the shadowy underwater world.

  “Undersea rover in sight,” the co-pilot announced. “Fifty metres. Continue on.”

  Alex watched as a little underwater robot came into view.

  “It scouted the way,” Hans said to Alex, not taking his eyes off the screen. “That’s how we knew we had the right place …”

  “What did it find?” Alex asked.

  Hans was quiet for a while, and then he broke into a huge grin and pointed at the screen. “That!”

  Alex looked at the monitor and nearly choked in shock.

  12

  SAM