Saul watched Hanover step inside an elevator, and the doors closed behind him. He then turned and walked back out the lobby entrance and into the warm, moist air, and realized his hands were shaking.

He received an incoming call from Olivia, as he was putting distance between himself and the Dorican. ‘Did you get what you were looking for yet?’ she asked.

‘I did. Have you explained to the others what I’m planning to do?’

‘Mitchell didn’t say much, at first. Jeff was pretty shoc, but he seems to be on your side.’ There was a bitter tone in her voice as she revealed this. ‘Mitchell offered to fly out there and pick you up.’

‘Really?’

‘Yep. Insisted on flying out all on his own to fetch you, but Lester vetoed that. Said he wanted one of his own pilots on board.’

‘Who’s Lester?’

‘Lester Rose. He runs Launch Pad with his wife, don’t you remember?’

‘Christ.’ Saul felt the warm patter of rain on his skin. ‘I do, now.’ Lester had been a cantankerous old fellow even back in those days, and Saul was surprised to learn he was still alive.

‘How is Mitchell getting here?’

‘He’s borrowed a tourist hopper. Try and see if you can find somewhere flat and even for it to land in the meantime.’

Saul moved further away from the Dorican until he spotted a deserted car park around the far side of the hotel building. ‘I think I’ve found somewhere, and I’ll send you the coordinates in a minute. How long before he gets here?’

‘Two hours maximum. Think you can hold out that long?’

‘Sure I can.’ Saul paused before his next question. ‘How long before you and Jeff set out for Inuvik?’

‘I . . . Saul, we’re already on the way there. We boarded a sub-orbital just a few minutes ago. We’ll be landing in the North-west Territories in another hour or so.’

Saul felt something lurch deep inside him. He pictured the sub-orbital arcing high over the northern wastes of Canada, before dipping down towards a settlement spread out along the shores of an Alaskan lake. It was a journey he’d made many times before, for the Inuvik Array had been one of the first of its kind, located in the remote north when the technology had still been experimental. It was still the only way to get to the Jupiter Research Platform.

‘About that enquiry you asked me to make,’ she continued. ‘I’m still not sure just what it is I’m supposed to be looking for, but I’ve set up a couple of automated queries. Assuming they aren’t discovered, they’ll return any correlations between Mitchell and the shipment. I don’t know how I’ll get anything back to you, once we’re out there, but if there’s a way, I’ll find it.’

Saul felt his throat tighten. ‘Thanks.’