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But when he opened them, all he could see was the fear swirling in the ancient streets.

In a city of so many, all of them vying for space, for a life, it was a beautiful kind of chaos at the best of times. Now was not the best of times—far from it. He could tell, from the crowds and the chants and the looks on faces that they passed, that the people of Egypt were going through nightmares on a massive scale. Unrest was spilling onto the streets as people seemed to be protesting about everything and demanding answers.

There were pictures of Sam on some signs, while others had slogans like
HELP US!
and
FIX OUR DREAMS
. Even walls had been spray-painted with
WHERE ARE YOU SAM?

Xavier tried to shut it out. He attempted to listen in as Phoebe made several calls—they were all about Alex and the others in Antarctica, asking for updates, for news, for anything. He could see the worry on her face as she desperately waited to hear about her son, still lost somewhere at the bottom of the world. The others were busy watching the streets outside the windows—soldiers were everywhere, trying to keep everything calm, but even they looked spooked, tired and ready to join the protests.

We all have nightmares
, Xavier thought as they drove into the neighbourhood where Dr. Kader’s home and workshop was tucked away.

No one is immune to them, even the best Dreamers like the Professor still have them
.

The cars pulled to a stop. Xavier and the others got out. It was quiet here, deserted.

In this part of the old quarter of town, most of the tiny shops and businesses were closed for the day. Xavier had seen it quiet before, but not like this. Something wasn’t right.

On the fifth ring of the doorbell, Phoebe made a call on her phone.

Xavier was nervous.

Where’s my father?
He looked up and down the street. It was still quiet.

Maybe everyone’s in the city centre, protesting. Or locked indoors for safety
.

He thought of when he was here with Sam, not that long ago.

Today felt different.

Then, it was all unknown, an adventure. Now—now we’re so close, and it’s as though things might fall apart at any moment
.

He couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched. That a group of bad guys—working for Hans, Stella, whoever—would descend upon them and wreak havoc. He looked at the windows of the houses and offices, watching, waiting, expecting to see some kind of menace.

“Xavier,” Zara said, standing right next to him.

He jumped.

“Sorry,” Zara said. “You are sure that your father is here?

“He said he would be,” Xavier said, ringing the bell yet again.

Cody stood at the edge of their group, looking around. “Wasn’t your dad supposed to meet us? Fate of the world hanging in the balance and all that? And what—he went out to grab a kebab?”

“You know what, Cody?” Xavier said, aggressively walking toward him. The others intervened as Cody threw his hands up in surrender.

“Yeah, dude,” Cody laughed, “I was just kidding around.”

“I’m thinking now is not the time for jokes,” Poh said.

Xavier turned as he heard footsteps on the other side of Dr. Kader’s door.

Two of the Agents drew their dart guns, ready to fire.

The door opened and a man stood there.

“
Dad?
” Xavier said. He almost didn’t recognize the man standing in the dark doorway. It
was
his father, he realized, but not as he’d ever seen him. He had the beginnings of a beard, for a start, and he’d never seen his father unshaven. But it was his clothes and all the dust and grime on him that was even more bizarre. He looked like he’d been living on the Cairo streets for weeks—no, not “on” the streets,
under
them.

What happened? I only saw him a few days ago …

“Son!” Dr. Dark hugged Xavier, and then looked up and down the street, spooked and concerned. “Quick, inside, all of you—there’s no time to lose!”

SAM

Sam looked at Stella and swallowed hard.

Enslave the world? No chance I’m going to let that happen
.

“You see,” Stella said, leaning forward into the space between them. “When I use this machine to lead me to the Dream Gate, well, boy, you’re going to be sorry you missed what happens after that.”

“Your evil plans sound just fascinating but …” Sam said quietly, looking at the floor by his feet. “This is going to hurt,” he mumbled to himself.

“What was that?” Stella’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Sam, leaning forward.

“I said,” Sam said, his voice still quiet so that Stella had to get even closer to hear him over the snowcat’s engine, “take
this!
”

Sam headbutted Stella with all the strength he could muster.

His forehead hit her right in the nose.

Stella fell back, clutching at her face, her dart gun clattering to the floor. He snatched it up and fired a dart into her neck without a moment’s hesitation. He spun around to the rogue Agent at the back of the snowcat who was rushing toward him—

WHACK! WHACK!

Sam darted him twice.

The driver turned—the situation dawning on him as he grappled to release his seat belt, reaching toward a holster hanging from the opposite seat.

“Don’t do it!” Sam commanded him, aiming his dart pistol.

The driver didn’t heed Sam’s warning. He pulled out the gun, swinging around to aim at Sam.

Sam shot him twice in the arm and he immediately slumped to the floor. As he did, he let go of the steering wheel. And his foot slammed downward on the accelerator.

Oh no!

With no time to reach the brakes or steering wheel, Sam threw himself into the nearest seat and pulled his harness on, clicking the straps over his shoulders and into the seat just as the snowcat went out of control, turning hard to the right.

It was turning too hard for their speed. A second later, the treads hit the snow at such a sharp angle that they bit in, stopping them cold.

They flipped and flipped again, rolling sideways at an incredible rate.

Sam felt as if he was inside a giant washing machine. Equipment and the unconscious bodies of Stella and the Agents tumbled around him, a coil of rope hitting him in the face, an Agent luckily missing him by a hair’s breadth as he flew around the cabin like a rag doll.

The snowcat catapulted across the ground, finally coming to a slowing stop, sliding on its side and digging into the ice until it had cut deep enough.

Sam didn’t pause for a second. As soon as the snowcat ground to a halt, he made for the rear cargo door, punching the release button. As the ramp hissed open, he unclipped a snow bike and threw his leg over to kickstart the lever and turn over the engine. He pulled on snow goggles and a heavy snowsuit from the rack and tied it around his waist. There was no time to put it on now.

The door ahead opened. He revved hard and shot out into the snow.

The other two snowcats had stopped ahead. Sam didn’t bother waiting to see if they turned around to give chase. He sped up, heading away from the scene.

I wish I could rescue you now, Lora, but the odds just aren’t on my side
.

I know this is what you’d want me to do
.

I’ll come back for you, I promise
.

He knew that she’d understand—in fact, he knew that she’d be mad if he didn’t take the chance to make a run for it. Sam grit his teeth and kept the bike speeding along, the chill wind biting into his face. He didn’t know if the other vehicles had bikes also, so he wanted to put as much distance between him and them as possible.

Any head start is a good head start
.

He followed the tracks of the snowcats back toward Crawley Station.

Eva and the others are there—and I’m betting they’re in danger too
.

The weather beat Sam to it. A bank of clouds, coming from over the mountains to the east, brought an eerie calm for a few minutes. But then the snow started, and it soon became so intense that he could barely see his feet on the bike let alone the tracks in the snow.

He checked his watch.

Two and a half hours until the superstorm hits
.

Maybe this is just a front that will pass
.

He slowed the bike to a crawl. He tried to make out the deep tracks left by the heavy snowcats, but they’d now been wiped away.

I can’t go on, not in this. I could get lost forever
.

Sam stopped the bike. He was on flat terrain, the snow already up to his ankles as he got off and pulled on his snowsuit.

Well, I can’t see where I’m going—but at least they can’t follow me in this
.

The back of the bike had a small pack strapped to it. He used the ice axe and his gloved hands to dig into the snow to shield himself from the worst of the freezing wind.

I’m going to have to wait out the worst of it. Soon as I get a bit of a clear patch, I’ll head off again
. He dug a ditch to hunker down into.

Least we’re all in the same boat—Alex won’t be finding any Gear in this weather
.

EVA

Eva walked swiftly down the corridor, cringing as she waited for someone to call out. But the footsteps behind her died away and she realized it must just have been one of the other personnel moving around the base. But as she continued to walk, she heard more noises up ahead.

I’ll do a circuit of the whole building—go back the other way
.

A man came out of a room ahead of her. He looked at Eva and seemed a little surprised, either by the fact that he hadn’t seen her before, or that she herself seemed spooked.

Eva smiled, forcing herself to appear calm and at ease, and passed by him, taking the first turn to the left. It was one of the interconnecting corridors, linking the three rings of the main buildings. She walked through the habitat ring and did not pause, just kept going, frantically trying to work out what to do.

They’ve got to be Stella’s Agents. They must have gotten here just before us
.

And they’ve got Arianna and Gabriella!

And that means Sam and Lora are in danger too. I have to get word to them
.

But how? I can’t go back to the communications room—they’ll be there, waiting for me
.

Eva entered the inner pod, glancing at the sign above the double doors: MESS HALL.

She pushed through the doors and came into the kitchen and dining room, a space big enough for maybe fifty personnel to sit and eat.

Now there were only two people seated across the room, casually watching a small television screen while playing chess. They noticed Eva. She smiled a nervous smile. They didn’t smile back.

Are they station crew, or Stella’s Agents? How do I know?

Eva walked slowly over to the kitchen counter and started making a drink. The two guys were silent at their game, stealing glances at her. They even moved their little TV screen so that she couldn’t see what was on it.

Maybe this is what happens when you spend too long down here in the snow and ice—you become secretive, wary of outsiders
.