“Then let’s do this, and before I lose all feeling in my fingers and toes.” There was muffled sound over the comm-link as Freddie fiddled with something, followed by a small electronic whine.

“Camera up.”

Immediately the curved screen on their desk popped to life, showing nothing but a close up of rock, a scattering of snow, and some hardy lichens.

“Here we go.” Cate sat back.

The image vibrated for a few seconds before stabilizing and lifting higher. The quadcopter swiveled in the air to show a freezing landscape, thankfully with manageable wind gusts. It continued its slow turn until they could see a young, Asian man on a small foldaway chair, heavily bundled up in a bulky parker, beanie, and with a large hood pulled up over the lot.

He had a box on his lap that contained two joysticks, numerous dials and toggles, and a small screen, whereby he was seeing the same feed as they were.

“Can you see me?” Freddie lifted a hand and waved.

“Can see and hear you loud and clear, Freddie. This is great.” Cate grinned, waving back.

“Then we’re good to go.” He looked up at hovering drone. “Buzz, you ready?” Freddie made the camera tilt up and down as it whined mosquito-like above him.

“Okay, he’s ready, so…” He pointed. “…to infinity and beyond.”

Greg groaned.

Freddie kept the quadcopter hovering above him, and Cate shrugged her impatience.

“Cate, just remember, we have limited time. And if the drone loses power somewhere inaccessible, then it’s staying.”

“So go for it; we’re just along for the ride,” Greg said, pulling up his chair, and sipping coffee as if he were at a movie matinee.

“Along for the ride and paying the bills.” The grating laugh again.

Greg mouthed: I love this guy.

Cate rolled her eyes and leant back in towards the screen. Abby had a pad on her lap, and pen poised. The images coming through were so sharp they looked more like they were seeing out of a window rather than an image feed from over ten thousand miles away.

“Status check, ladies and gentlemen.” Freddie’s voice became business-like. “We have a slight breeze of three knots from the south-southeast, temperature is a bracing three degrees, and time is 10:20 hours and counting.”

The drone rose higher, and then moved towards the cliff edge. It lifted rapidly for a few seconds as it was caught in a sudden updraft, but the gyros kept the image balanced. It moved out over the lip, and then the drone started to drop.

Cate clicked her fingers at Greg. “Start recording.”

“Will do.” Greg crossed to one of the computers and hit a few keys and then returned to his seat. “Going to E-Drive. We can clean it up later.”