The Arctic Code Read online

  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 looki
ng 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?”

  Eleanor 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.

  “You hungry, Ellie?” Julian asked. “Mind if I call you Ellie?”

  “Nope, that’s what all my friends call me. And yes, I’m hungry.”

  “Well, you’ve got a whole two flavors of instant ramen to choose from,” he said. “They make dinners in the evening, but during the day we’re on our own, and everything here is dehydrated. Want me to boil you some water?”

  “Sure,” she said, but before the kettle whistled, Dr. Skinner came up the stairs.

  “Miss Perry, may I speak with you a moment?”

  Eleanor’s appetite fled, and her stomach turned on her. It was about the Sync—she knew it. Finn and Julian watched as she got up from the table and followed Dr. Skinner down the stairs. They reached the living quarters, and he gave them a look around.

  “Are you satisfied with your room?” he asked.

  That wasn’t what he had come to ask, but the question was unexpected, so it tipped her a bit off balance. “Uh, sure. Yeah, it’s great.”

  “I’m pleased.” But then he sighed. “We had someone go to your school.”

  Silence followed. She wondered if he expected her to fill it.

  “They could not locate your Sync,” he said.

  “WHAT?” Eleanor had wanted her shock to sound genuine, but even to her own ear, it sounded forced. “What do you mean? That’s where I left it!”

  “My people tell me the location was not at all secure,” Dr. Skinner said. “Honestly, I can’t imagine what you must have been thinking to hide it there.”

  “I don’t know, I didn’t have a lot of time, I just had to—”

  “You are certain that is where you placed it?”

  She nodded. “Yes, sir.” She meant it to be convincing, but Dr. Skinner’s stare hardened. “I’m certain,” Eleanor added.

  “Then we must consider that asset lost. Miss Perry, I must tell you, without your Sync, our chances of locating your mother have diminished greatly.”

  Eleanor restrained her anger. Was he trying to make her feel guilty? Was it a ploy? Was he trying to flush out her deception? Did he expect her to just cave and whip it out?

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to your mother.” He turned away. “If we find her, that is.”

  CHAPTER

  13

  IF? THAT WORD CUT RIGHT TO THE CENTER OF ELEANOR’S chest as cleanly as the icy air, and she nearly gasped.

  “Hey, Skinner!” Luke charged out of his room. “What’s your problem, talking to her like that?”

  Dr. Skinner looked back. “I said nothing untrue.”

  “That ain’t the point!” Luke shouted. “You got no call to speak to her that way!”

  “May I remind you that I am—”

  “I don’t care who you are! She’s just a kid!”

  Eleanor appreciated that Luke was defending her, but she was afraid of what Dr. Skinner could do to his cargo business. Besides, she was the one who was hiding something.

  “Mr. Fournier,” Dr. Skinner said, “feelings do not matter, not even those of Miss Perry, young as she is. What is important right now is finding Dr. Perry and Dr. Powers. What is important is the continued health and success of my company. What is important is the continued health and success of our species. Those are things that matter.” He glanced at Eleanor. “She may indulge whatever emotions she chooses. I won’t waste my time and energy on such concerns. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have two missing scientists to locate.”

  He walked away toward the tunnel to the command module.

  “I really don’t like that guy,” Luke said.

  Eleanor was angry, too, but this was all because of her lie, and she didn’t like to see Luke so worked up on behalf of it. “It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t care what he says.”

/>   “Good,” he said. “Because your mom will turn up. No matter what that corporate TV personality says.”

  Eleanor smiled. “Thanks, Luke. And thanks for coming out here to the station with me.”

  “Beats sleeping on Felipe’s floor,” he said.

  “Ellie?” Julian called down the staircase.

  “Yeah?”

  “Ramen’s done.”

  Eleanor and Luke climbed back up to the dining area. Eleanor sat down to a steaming bowl, and Luke slid into the booth next to her. Julian and Finn sat across from them, each with a bowl as well. The underdone noodles were a little crunchy, but the salty broth tasted good.

  “We overheard some of what Skinner was saying to you,” Finn said.

  “Yeah.” Julian slurped up a mouthful of noodles and then spoke through them as he chewed. “That guy sucks. That’s our dad out there, too.”

  Julian didn’t sound as concerned for his dad as Eleanor felt for her mom. “How worried are you guys?” she asked. “Really?”

  Finn and Julian looked at each other. Julian pushed his nearly empty bowl aside.

  “I’m worried,” Julian said. “We’re worried. We just try not to think about it, you know?”

  Finn poked at his noodles with his fork. “Julian tries not to think about it.”

  “There’s just no point in getting all worked up about it,” Julian said. “There’s nothing we can do. We’re stuck in here. We just have to wait.”

  Eleanor didn’t feel that way, and she didn’t think she could just not think about her mom being lost out there. There was something she could do. With the information her mom had sent. She just needed to find out what it meant without revealing the Sync to anyone.

  Later that evening, Dr. Marcus returned to invite them all over to the next pod for dinner. When Eleanor reached the dining room, she found it crowded with what must have been every scientist and crew member of Polaris Station. Now that everyone was gathered here in one place, Eleanor tried to see if she recognized any of her mother’s previous coworkers. She had seen photos, and even met a few of them, but so far everyone in that mess hall looked unfamiliar.