Alfred Beadman was shaking his head and muttering to himself. “Who’s missing and what does he mean by indigenous biological? They’re a hundred feet below solid ice.” He stepped towards the conference unit. “Captain Hunter, Alfred Beadman here. Dr. Aimee Weir: is she OK?”

“She’s right here, sir.” Alex removed his comm unit and placed it over Aimee’s head.

Everyone held their breath in the command centre, the silence broken only by a hiss and crackle coming from the speaker in the centre of the large oak table. Then smooth complete silence as a signal was engaged.

“Hello?”

“Aimee! You’re safe, thank God. I was so worried.” Alfred Beadman rocked back on his heels and folded his arms about himself as though to give himself a big hug.

“Alfred, I’m better for hearing your voice.” Aimee couldn’t help smiling as she spoke to the avuncular chairman.

“Is Adrian there? Is he okay too?” Beadman asked.

Aimee paused for a second, deciding what to tell him, then thought it best to keep it brief. “I’m sorry, Alfred, Dr. Silex didn’t make it. He’s dead.”

“Oh, my dear, you must be shocked. Adrian was a good man; one of the best.” Alfred’s voice was full of pain.

“Yes, Alfred, Dr. Silex really surprised us all.” She turned to Alex and rolled her eyes before changing the subject. “I’ve got bad news on the petroleum signatures, I’m afraid. They were false positives given off from a gigantic body of deep-crustal warm water with a biomass reading that’s off the scale. There are also signs of ongoing geological activity, so I doubt there is anything of interest for GBR in the vicinity.”

“My dear, all I care about is getting you home. Now, what’s this about indigenous biologicals?”

Major Hammerson nodded to Alfred Beadman and leaned forward as a sign that he needed to take control once again. Though he was over the moon about hearing that Aimee Weir was alive, there was a lot to do if they were going to be safely extracted anytime soon.

“Dr. Weir, I’m delighted you’re still with us and I look forward to having you here again in person. Now, though, we have to plan to get you out of there. Can I speak to Captain Hunter again, please?” Aimee passed the headset back to Alex.

“Here, sir.”

“OK, Captain, continue with your update.”

“Sir, as Dr. Weir mentioned, there was no petroleum, but a deep body of warm water. The heat is probably from some geothermic activity. This body of water contains many large non-surface-dwelling aggressive life forms. We are currently being pursued by one of these biological hostiles that were most likely responsible for the removal of the previous plane crash personnel and termination of the Hendsen party.”

Hammerson leaned back in his chair and exhaled.

“OK, Arcadian. What is your current physical location and operational capabilities?”