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Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Call
The satellite phone rang at three in the morning, its shrill tone cutting through the silence of Rebecca Hamilton's Seattle apartment like a knife through fresh snow. She was awake before the second ring, years of mountain rescue training having conditioned her body to respond instantly to any alarm.
She didn't recognize the number. International. A long string of digits that meant nothing to her sleep-fogged mind.
"Hello?"
Static crackled through the line, punctuated by what sounded like wind howling against metal. Then a voice she hadn't heard in four years.
"Becca? Becca, can you hear me?"
Her blood went cold. "Marcus?"
"Listen to me. I don't have much time." Her brother's voice was tight with barely controlled panic. "Something's gone wrong down here. The station—we're trapped. The whole thing shifted during the storm and now we're buried. Comms are down except for this emergency beacon."
Rebecca was already on her feet, pacing across the hardwood floor. "Where are you? What station?"
"Antarctica. Halverson Station. We're under the Eriksen Glacier, about sixty kilometers inland from the Ross Sea." More static. "There are eight of us still alive. We've got maybe five days of oxygen if we're careful. The heating system is failing."
"Marcus, I need you to slow down." She pulled a notepad from her desk, her hand steady even as her heart raced. "Halverson Station. Eriksen Glacier. Got it. Have you contacted the Antarctic rescue services?"
A bitter laugh crackled through the speaker. "That's the thing, Becca. We tried. The company—Meridian Resources—they're blocking our distress calls. They don't want anyone knowing we're down here."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would they—"
"Because of what we found." Marcus's voice dropped. "I can't explain it all now. Just know that whatever you hear about this station, about our research, it's not the whole truth. We were studying ice cores, yes. But we found something else. Something worth billions. And there are people who would rather we all die down here than let that secret get out."
The line crackled violently. Rebecca pressed the phone harder against her ear.
"Marcus? Marcus, are you still there?"
"I'm here. Becca, I know things between us—I know I messed up. After Mom's funeral, the things I said..." His voice broke. "I was wrong. About everything. And I'm sorry I'm only saying this now, when I'm asking you to save my life."
Rebecca closed her eyes. Four years of silence. Four years of unanswered calls and returned letters. Four years of wondering if her only sibling was even still alive. And now this.
"Just tell me how to find you," she said.
"The station's coordinates are sixty-four degrees south, one-sixty-eight degrees west. But the entrance we used is collapsed. You'll need to find another way in through the glacier itself. There's an ice cave system on the eastern face—we mapped it during our first month here. If you can get the survey data from our backup servers in McMurdo, you might be able to find a route."
"I'll find a way."
"Becca." Marcus paused. "Be careful who you trust. Meridian has people everywhere. And they've already sent someone to make sure we don't talk."
The line went dead.
Rebecca stood in the darkness of her apartment, the phone still pressed to her ear, listening to nothing but static. Outside her window, the lights of Seattle glittered against the rain-slicked streets. Somewhere far to the south, beneath miles of ancient ice, her brother was slowly freezing to death.
She had five days.
She started making calls.
