She saw the ropes Eddie had placed across the cliff – below her.

Roche’s remains were still mashed against the anchor’s leading edge. Nina tore the waterproof pouch from his harness – and jumped.

She hit the cliff a few feet above the ropes as the anchor pounded into the ice overhead. The impact hurt, but before she could recover, she slithered downwards.

One spiked boot snagged the lines. They pulled taut, Martel acting as a counterweight to slow her—

She dropped, hitting the ice face-first. Then the ropes jerked taut again, pitching her back.

She fell—

Her free hand caught the juddering lines. She slowed, Martel’s body again acting as a shock absorber to ease the jolt. Gasping, grimacing, she wedged the pouch into her harness, then twisted to clutch the ropes with her other hand. ‘Holy crap,’ she wheezed.

‘Nina!’ She squinted to see Eddie outside the fortress. For a moment she thought the blow to her head had affected her vision, as colours seemed to be crawling over the ancient structure, but then she realised they actually were. Its metal skin was shimmering, a faint rainbow effect like oil on water roiling across its surface.

But she had more urgent concerns. ‘Some of the ice screws are coming out!’ Eddie warned. Martel’s unsecured body was still swinging from the line, the steel shafts twitching and straining in the ice. ‘I’ll put some more in, then help you up.’

Nina dug her crampons into the cliff. ‘No rush,’ she said sarcastically. The iceberg’s roll had brought the Dionysius directly overhead. Pieces of ice fell from around it, cracks widening. How much longer could it resist gravity?

He drove a new screw into the cliff face with the Fast Ice. ‘I’ll be quick. I don’t want the ship to hit the femme.’

Despite the situation, she laughed. ‘That was pretty good, for you.’

‘Law of averages. If I do enough jokes, I’ll manage a really clever one eventually.’ The screw in place, he attached a carabiner and forced the tight rope through it before sidestepping along the ledge to fix another.

Cheng and Imka looked on from inside the hatch. ‘Watch out!’ Imka cried as a ten-foot spear of ice broke from beside the Dionysius.

Nina cringed and flattened herself against the wall. The icicle exploded into glittering rubble a few metres away, but she was still hit by flying fragments.

Eddie fixed another screw, then started towards her. The cliff’s angle had changed so much he could walk across it, albeit hunched down to maintain his balance. A glance at the Dionysius looming overhead, and he quickened his pace. ‘Try to climb up,’ he called to Nina. ‘I’ll grab you and—’