The Arctic Code (12 page)

Without a tent, food, and gear, how could her mom have possibly survived on the ice sheet the last few days? Or in this storm? Why had she abandoned her camp?

What could possibly have made her that desperate?

“M
ISS
P
ERRY
,” D
R
. S
KINNER SAID
, “
WHERE DID YOU
hide the Sync?”

Eleanor glanced up to find everyone looking at her. She'd become lost in her fears. “Sorry, Dr. Skinner, what was that?”

Dr. Skinner closed his eyes. “I know how upsetting this must all be. Especially after the ordeal I imagine you went through getting here. But I need you to think, all right? Every moment counts.”

“Okay,” Eleanor said.

“Good girl.” Dr. Skinner smiled. “You said you hid your Sync. I need you to tell me where it is.”

“It's . . .” Eleanor had started to sweat inside her
polar gear. She had to bluff something. If she didn't give a convincing answer, they'd know she was lying, and they might even figure out that she had the Sync with her. “It's at my school.”

Dr. Skinner frowned. “What, in your locker?”

“No. I didn't want anyone to find it, so I hid it where they're doing the construction.”

A flash of irritation, and perhaps even anger, crossed Dr. Skinner's eyes. “Your Sync is hidden at a
construction
site?”

“Yes.”

“Where, exactly?” Dr. Skinner asked.

Dr. Marcus had pulled out a small notepad, her pen poised to write.

“There's an air duct near a fire hose,” Eleanor said. Off to her side, she heard the scratch of Dr. Marcus's pen. “I pulled off the grate and stuck the Sync inside.”

“Thank you, Miss Perry.” Dr. Skinner gave a quick nod to Dr. Marcus, who nodded back and left the command module. Dr. Skinner patted the side of Eleanor's shoulder. “We'll have someone retrieve that shortly. And as soon as we can, we'll return it to you. I know how important it must be to you.”

Unlike Dr. Marcus, who said the wrong things at the wrong time, Dr. Skinner said the right things, even if they still somehow managed to
feel
wrong. But he
sounded just right enough for Eleanor to wonder if she was being too paranoid. What if the Sync really could help find her mom? Wasn't that worth it, no matter what her mom had told her to do?

The building heat in her gear shortened her breath. “Dr. Skinner?”

“Yes?”

She was about to tell him the truth. She wanted to. But she remembered what Felipe had said.

I'm telling you. Something is going on
.

With the G.E.T. mobilizing up here the way they seemed to be, and ghost wolves and Inupiat sleds out on the ice, her mom going missing, inexplicably abandoning her camp, the secret messages she had sent . . . Eleanor needed to know more before she said or did something she might later regret.

“Miss Perry?” Dr. Skinner asked.

“I—I just appreciate everything you're doing to find my mom.”

“No thanks are necessary. We take care of our own.” He paused. “Was that all you wanted to say?”

“Yes.”

He looked at her for an uncomfortable moment in which she tried to keep her expression blank. “Very well,” he said at last. “I'm sure you're tired. Our transports are not known for their comfort. We have a room
for you in the next pod where you can remove your gear and stow your pack. You too, Mr. Fournier.”

Luke tipped his head. “Much obliged. Though I hope I won't enjoy your hospitality for long. I plan to fly out as soon as the storm breaks.”

At that point, Dr. Marcus returned from wherever she'd been. Another nod passed between her and Dr. Skinner, and Eleanor felt certain that in that very moment, someone from the G.E.T. was speeding toward her high school.

“Oh,” Dr. Skinner said. “And I suspect you'll want to meet Finn and Julian.”

“Who?” Eleanor asked.

“Dr. Powers's sons,” Dr. Skinner said. “They're staying in the next pod as well.”

Dr. Powers had brought his sons up here to the Arctic? Eleanor's mom had always said it was no place for children, every time Eleanor had asked if she could come visit.

“Right this way, please.” Dr. Marcus gestured with her usher's hand again, and her hostess polish returned. “I think you'll find your living quarters to be
very
comfortable.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes, and she and Luke followed the woman up the staircase from the command module to a second tunnel. This one led to the last of the
three pods, and Eleanor traversed it in the same way she had the first.

On the other side, Dr. Marcus led Eleanor and Luke to the living quarters and gave them each a key card to the sensors on their doors. Eleanor tried hers, and the door slid away with a gentle whoosh. Inside her narrow room, she found a small desk against the pod's outer wall, with a circular window above it. To the right of the desk were two beds, each within its own private alcove, one stacked atop the other. Each alcove had a bright lamp recessed in its ceiling. They looked like tanning beds.

“Those lights are full spectrum,” Dr. Marcus said. “We prescribe mandatory time under them to maintain vitamin D levels and emotional health in our staff.”

Eleanor nodded. Her mother had complained about both of those problems at her previous facility.

“I'll leave you alone a moment to change and stow your equipment.” Dr. Marcus swiped her hand in front of the sensor, and the door whooshed closed. Eleanor went to it and peered through the door's window, hoping for a bit more privacy, especially with Dr. Powers's boys running around. She noticed a button beneath the window. When she pressed it, the window turned opaque.

Eleanor marveled for a moment and then quickly
peeled herself out of her gear, down to her underwear. The air of the pod hit her skin like a cool shower, and she sighed for a moment in relief from the heat. But a few moments later, her skin raised in goose bumps, and she noticed a pair of loose-fitting gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt folded neatly on her bed. She figured they were for her and put them on. Next, she had to figure out what she would do with her Sync. She wasn't about to leave it unattended in her room. Dr. Marcus had a key.

Eleanor reached into her pack and pulled out the device. The only safe place would be with her, so she slipped the Sync into one of her pants pockets. The sweatshirt was baggy enough to hide its presence. Then she stepped out of her room. Dr. Marcus and Luke were waiting for her.

“Ah, wonderful. I believe Julian and Finn are upstairs having lunch,” Dr. Marcus said. “Would you care to join them?”

“Yes,” Eleanor said.

She and Luke followed Dr. Marcus up the spiral staircase to the pod's kitchen. Two boys sat at a table, one of them laughing, the other not. The one laughing appeared older, about sixteen, with deep-brown skin and green eyes, his black hair shaved close. His younger, much skinnier brother, who looked about
Eleanor's age, wore his hair a bit longer but had the same green eyes. Both wore the same gray sweatpants and sweatshirt Eleanor did.

“Julian, Finn,” Dr. Marcus called. “I'd like you to meet Eleanor Perry and Luke Fournier.”

The Powers brothers looked up. The older one smiled.

“Which one of you is which?” Luke asked, reaching out his hand.

“I'm Julian,” the older one said, returning Luke's solid shake. “This is Finn.”

“I can introduce myself,” Finn said.

“Sorry,” Julian said. “This is Finn, who will introduce himself at some point.”

Finn narrowed his eyes.

“And you're Eleanor?” Julian asked. He spoke like a coach. “Dr. Perry's daughter?”

“Yes,” Eleanor said.

Dr. Marcus brought her hands together. “Well, now that introductions have been made, I have work I must attend to. I'll leave you all here to get further acquainted. There's a video game console for your diversion. So, relax and settle in.”

Relax?

She swept from the room, leaving the four of them alone.

“Have a seat,” Julian said, motioning Eleanor and Luke to their table. “You just got in, right?”

“Yeah,” Eleanor said. “We were in Barrow last night.”

Julian shook his head. “That place is crazy. I heard you came up here alone?”

“Um.” Eleanor tipped her head back and forth. “Sort of.”

“What she means,” Luke said, “is that she stowed away on my plane and wouldn't even be here talking to you boys if it weren't for me.”

“Yes, Luke,” Eleanor said. “That's what I meant.” She looked at Finn, who still hadn't said much of anything. “What about you guys?”

“Our dad sent for us,” Julian said. “We were with our mom in Florida. That's where she moved after they got divorced. We were supposed to get here the day before our dad disappeared, but they kept delaying our flight.”

“Your dad sent for you?” Eleanor asked. “Here? To the
Arctic
?”

Julian shrugged. “Sure. He takes us everywhere. It just depends.”

“On what?” Eleanor asked.

“Whether he can convince our mother to let us go,” Finn said. His voice was quieter than his brother's, but no less confident. “If you knew our mother, you would
know how difficult that can be.”

“And she agreed to let you come to the Arctic?” Eleanor asked.

Julian and Finn looked at each other, a momentary glance. They had that sibling thing going, and Eleanor suspected each knew what the other was thinking most of the time. She felt like she had that with her mom, sometimes.

“We didn't exactly tell her,” Julian said.

“We lied and told her we were going somewhere else.” Finn folded his arms. “Somewhere she wouldn't worry about us.”

“Where would that be?” Luke asked.

“Venezuela,” Finn said.

“She's figured it out now, though.” Julian chuckled, shaking his head. “And believe me, I am
not
looking forward to going home to face
that
.”

Finn glared at his older brother. “Really? That's what you're worried about?”

Eleanor did find Julian's cavalier attitude a bit odd. His dad was missing. In the middle of a polar storm, just like Eleanor's mom.

“Relax, bro.” Julian kept his smile in place, even as his tone fell a note. “Just trying to keep you from dragging us all down.”

Finn raised his voice, as if to counterbalance his
brother's. “I believe the situation is what's dragging you down,
bro
. Not me.”

“Now I know you two are brothers,” Luke said.

“Whatever.” Julian rose from the table. “I'm going to my room.”

“
Our
room,” Finn said.

“Not for the next hour, if you know what's good for you.” With that, Julian stalked out of the kitchen and went downstairs.

Silence followed. Eleanor decided to just let it settle and leave it alone until Finn chose to disturb it, which he did a few moments later.

“Have they found anything?” he asked.

Eleanor shook her head.

“Dr. Marcus said you've been communicating with your mom through a Sync.” He raised his eyebrows, making that a question.

“Yeah, I have,” Eleanor said.

“So they can use that to find them, right? They said they can use that.”

“I, uh, left it back home.”

His eyebrows fell together into a scowl. “Why would you do that?”

“Excuse me?” Eleanor narrowed her eyes. “This happens to be my first trip to the North freaking Pole. I didn't exactly think this was the safest place to bring
an irreplaceable piece of technology.”

Finn leaned back and said, “Whatever,” sounding just like his older brother had.

Eleanor snorted. “Don't whatever me.”

“Well, this is fun.” Luke slapped the table with both hands. “But I'm gonna follow Julian's lead and head to my room.” With that, he leaned on his hands and rose from the table, then strolled out of the kitchen and down the spiral stairs, leaving Eleanor and Finn alone.

“You can go, too,” he said a moment later.

Eleanor wasn't about to let him think he'd told her what to do. She also knew he was only acting this way because he was scared for his dad. Like she was for her mom. So she stayed.

“They're going to find them,” she said.

“You don't know that.”

“And you don't know they won't. So why not believe what you want to believe?”

He seemed to be thinking about that, but then he shook his head. “I can't just . . . ignore the odds like that.”

“My mom says human beings are terrible at figuring odds. If we were better at it, we'd never get in a car.”

Finn looked up, a half grin on his face. “I guess that's true.”

“Of course it's true,” Eleanor said. “And I'm glad
you can admit when you're wrong.”

He looked like he was about to argue that but decided to let it go. “I really got my hopes up about your Sync,” he said.

Eleanor lowered her gaze to the almost imperceptible bulge beneath her sweatshirt and then moved it to the table, studying the fingerprints on the stainless steel. “I'm sorry.” For a moment, she thought about letting him in on the secret, but she decided against it. Not until she knew whether he'd go running to Skinner. Of course, very soon the G.E.T. would realize her Sync wasn't hidden at the school, and Eleanor didn't know what she would do then.

“Sometimes—” Finn started. “Sometimes I feel like they're keeping something from us. Like they know something.”

Eleanor realized she had felt that way since arriving at Polaris Station, too. She had assumed that suspicion arose from the texts her mom had sent, but if Finn had also sensed it, perhaps there was something else to it.

“I feel the same way,” she said. “What are the odds of that?”

E
leanor spent the next few hours playing video games with Finn, and then Julian came back upstairs. He gave a single nod to Finn and Eleanor as he entered
the kitchen. Finn nodded back, and Eleanor decided that was probably their way of making up.