By now, the team would know the Hobart Bay silo was destroyed, and must undoubtedly assume all the other silos were in the same state. So, what would they do? Where would they go?

They’d look for another escape hatch. She threw a leg over her snow mobile. She needed to speak to a local geologist, now.

The machine roared to a start, and she sped away through the twilight snowdrifts.

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

Jack, Cate, Greg and Abby stood around the inflated raft. It was twelve-feet long with a raised bow and three inbuilt seats. There were also two telescopic paddles now lying in its bottom.

Jack bobbed his head. “We could have done a lot worse; it’s a Whitewater, they’re often used for rough-river rafting. Polyurethane alloy with a reinforced floor – pretty damn tough.”

“Plenty of room,” Greg said, nodding as he felt along one gunwale.

Cate, hands on her hips, tilted her head at Jack. “We have fifty miles to cover, all under paddle power. How long do you think?”

Jack rubbed his chin. “Couple of days, at least… and that’s if we only take short breaks. For paddling it’ll be two on, two off, right around the clock.”

“And ah, what happens if something from below takes an interest in us?” Greg straightened, but kept his eyes on the raft.

Cate nudged the raft with her toe. “You think those oars are just for paddling? We beat the shit out of anything that even looks sideways at us. Deal?”

Greg held up one of the lightweight, plastic oars. “Ooookay.”

Jack smiled. “That’s the spirit.”

Abby hugged herself, her voice tiny. “Maybe someone might rescue us.” She looked out over the dark water. “Some of those things down there were a lot bigger than the raft.”

Jack’s smile faded. “Yes, they were. But the bottom line is, right now, we’ve got plenty of bad options. We can certainly stay here and wait to be rescued. But how? The entry site is contaminated, and no one even knows where we are.” Jack went and placed a hand on Abby’s shoulder, and looked into her eyes. “We’d just end up dying slowly in the dark. We could paddle to the next buoy, which is probably sabotaged as well. Or we risk it all trying to find a way out… and that could also be a dead-end – back to square one.” He sighed. “But the way I see it, the worst thing we can do is become paralysed by indecision.” He gave her a grim smile. “Because doing nothing, will lead to certain death.”

Abby continued to look out over the water. “Maybe Valery will overpower Dmitry, and come back for us…” Her voice trailed away, and she turned and walked off along the rock ledge.