He saw they were at an airfield, where the cold hit him like a wall. Helicopters were parked in ranks, and guarded by rover-units whose electronic eyes constantly scanned the nearest rooftops. A world-pillar rose in the near distance, dwarfing the buildings clustered around its base. Near the helicopters were several heavy air-transports, from whose open bellies packages and crates were being lowered to waiting trucks. There were even a few dropships nearby, the concrete beneath them blackened and cracked.

The driver turned out to be a guard wearing a Legislate trooper’s uniform. He exited the front cabin and took hold of Ty’s right arm.

Willis led the way, and it was soon clear they were heading for one of the dropships.

Lamoureaux kept pace with Ty and his guard. ‘Remember, as far as anyone’s concerned, your name is still Nathan Driscoll.’

‘I’ll need a change of clothes,’ said Ty. He could hardly speak for his teeth chattering.

Lamoureaux and Willis exchanged a glance. ‘Should have thought of that,’ Willis muttered, as if it were the machine-head’s own fault.

‘Okay,’ said Lamoureaux, looking annoyed. ‘There’s probably spare engineering jumpsuits on board the dropship. If I can find one, you can use it.’

Ty nodded in a daze, half-convinced some unbelievably cruel trick was being played on him.

Either that, or he really was about to finally leave Ascension behind for ever.

Chapter Five

The dropship lifted from the concrete not long after they boarded, accelerating hard until it passed through an open portal in the coreship’s ceiling, more than a dozen kilometres overhead. A screen mapped the dropship’s progress for the benefit of the three men, now strapped into couches in a space not much larger than the rear of the transport that had brought them from the compound. Half an hour later the dropship rendezvoused with a cargo ship that had been commandeered by the Consortium for the relief effort.

Four men were waiting for them as they disembarked. They were all dressed in plain clothes, but their muscular physiques, air of watchful attentiveness, and the zippered jackets that failed to conceal the bulge of holstered weapons, all strongly implied a career in security. Ty himself had been given a jumpsuit three sizes too big for him.

‘You’re on your own for the next couple of days,’ Lamoureaux told him. ‘But there’s some material I want you to look over in the meantime. You’ll find it waiting for you in your berth.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Ocean’s Deep.’