Matthew Reilly - Ice Station

Schofield paused at that. "Yes."

And then at that moment, something clicked inside his head. Something about why only the male elephant seals had abnormally large lower teeth.

If the spaceship really had a plutonium core inside it, then it was a good bet that that core was slowly emitting passive radiation. Not a leak. Just passive ambient radiation, which occurred with any nuclear device. If the elephant seals had set up a nest near the ship, then over time the passive radiation from the plutonium might have had an effect on the male seals.

Schofield remembered seeing the infamous Rodriguez Report about passive radiation near an old nuclear weapons facility in the desert in New Mexico. In nearby towns, there were found to be unusually high instances of genetic abnormality. There were also found to be strikingly higher instances of such abnormalities in men than in women. Elongated fingers was a common mutation. Elongated dentures was another. Teeth . The writers of the report had linked the higher incidence of genetic abnormalities in men to testosterone, the male hormone.

Perhaps, he Schofield thought that was what had happened here.

And then suddenly he had another thought. A more disturbing thought.

"Gant, when did the SAS team arrive in the cave?"

"I'm not sure, somewhere around eight o'clock, I think."

"And when did you arrive in the cave?"

"We left the diving bell at 1410 hours. Then it took us another hour or so to swim up the tunnel. So I'd say about three o'clock."

Eight o'clock. Three o'clock.

Schofield wondered when the original team of divers from Wilkes Ice Station had gone down to the cave. There was something there, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on just yet. But it might have been able to explain ...

Schofield looked at his watch.

9:50 p.m.

Shit, time to go.

"Gant, listen; I have to go. There's a window in the solar flare coming over the station in ten minutes and I have to use it. If you and the others are safe down there, do me a favor and look around that hangar. Find out everything you can about that plane, OK?"

"You bet."

Schofield clicked off. But no sooner had he done so than he heard a voice from somewhere high up in the station.

"Lieutenant!"

Schofield looked up. It was Renshaw. He was up on B-deck. " Hey ! Lieutenant!" he shouted.

"What?"

"I think you better see this!"

Schofield and Kirsty entered Renshaw's room through the square hole in the door.

Renshaw was standing over by his computer.

"It's been on all day," Renshaw said to Schofield, "but I only looked at it just now. It said I had new mail, so I brought up my e-mail screen and had a look. It came in at 7:32 p.m. and it's from some guy in New Mexico named Andrew Wilcox."

"What's it got to do with me?" Schofield said. He didn't even know anyone named Andrew Wilcox.

"Well, that's the thing, Lieutenant. It's addressed to you."

Schofield frowned.

Renshaw nodded at the screen. On it was a list of some sort, with a message written above it.

Schofield read the message. After a moment, his jaw dropped. The e-mail read:

SCARECROW,

THIS IS HAWK. BE ADVISED:

AWARE OF YOUR LOCATION.

USMC PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT HAS YOU LISTED AS DEAD.

SECONDARY TEAM IS EN ROUTE TO YOUR LOCATION.

SUSPECT THAT YOUR MISSION HAS BEEN TARGETED FOR TERMINATION BY ICG.

FEAR THAT THIS SECONDARY UNIT WILL BE HOSTILE TO YOUR INTERESTS. WOULD HATE FOR THE SAME FATE TO BEFALL YOU AS BEFELL ME IN PERU.

WITH THIS IN MIND, SCAN THE FOLLOWING LIST OF KNOWN ICG INFORMERS. MY UNIT IN PERU HAD BEEN INFILTRATED LONG BEFORE I GOT THERE. YOURS MIGHT BE, TOO.

TRANSMIT NO. 767-9808-09001

REF NO. KOS-4622

SUBJECT:THE FOLLOWING IS AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PERSONNEL AUTHORIZED TO RECEIVE SECURE TRANSMISSIONS.

NAME

LOCATION

FIELD/RANK

ADAMS, WALTER K.

LVRMRE LAB

NCLR PHYSCS

ATKINS, SAMANTHA E.

GSTETNR

CMPTR SFTWRE

BAILEY, KEITH H.

BRKLY

AERONTL ENGNR

BARNES, SEAN M. N.

SEALS

LTCMMDR

BROOKES, ARLIN F. A.

RNGRS

CPTN

CARVER, ELIZABETH R

CLMBIA

CMPTR SCI

CHRISTIE, MARGARET V.

HRVRD

IDSTRL CHMST

DAWSON, RICHARD K.

MCROSFT

CMPTR SFTWRE

DELANEY, MARK M.

IBM

CMPTR HRDWRE

DOUGLAS, KENNETH A.

CRAY

CMPTR HRDWRE

DOWD, ROGER F.

USMC

CPRL

EDWARDS, STEPHEN R.

BOEING

AERONTL ENGNR

FAULKNER, DAVID G.

JPL

AERONTL ENGNR

FROST, KAREN S.

USC

GNTC ENGNR

GIANNI, ENRICO R.

LCKHEED

AERONTL ENGNR

GRANGER, RAYMOND K. A.

RANGERS

SNR SGT

HARRIS, TERENCE X.

YALE

NCLR PHYSCS

JOHNSON, NORMA E.

U.ARIZ

BKJTOXNS

KAPLAN, SCOTT M.

USMC

GNNY SGT

KASCYNSKI, THERESA E.

3M CORP

PHSPHTES

KEMPER, PAULENE J.

JHNS HPKNS

DRMTLGY

KOZLOWSKI, CHARLES R.

USMC

SGT MJR

LAMB, MARK I.

ARMALTE

BLLSTCS

LAWSON, JANE R.

U.TEX

INSCTCIDES

LEE, MORGAN T.

USMC

SGT

MCDONALD, SIMON K.

LVRMRE LAB

NCLR PHYSCS

MAKIN, DENISE E.

U.CLRDO

CHMCL AGNTS

NORTON, PAUL G.

PRNCTN

AMNO ACD CHNS

OLIVER, JENNIFER F.

SLCN STRS

CMPTR SFTWRE

PARKES, SARAH T.

USC

PLNTLGST

REICHART, JOHN R.

USMC

SGT

RIGGS, WAYLON J. N.

SEALS

CMMDR

SHORT, GREGORY J.

CCA CLA

LQO SCE

TURNER, JENNIFER C.

UCLA

GNTC ENGNR

WILLIAMS, VICTORIA D.

U.WSHGTN

GEOPHYS