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still time for another ending.”

09
    SAM
    “Remember!” Lora said loudly to be heard over the engines as their aircraft turned in the air for the landing approach. “No one down there knows our real purpose, so keep to yourselves.”
    “It’s just a ‘rescue mission,’” Sam replied across the aisle with a thumbs-up. “Got it. And whatever we do, don’t mention the Gear that forms part of a machine that will lead to the Dream Gate and help us save the world.”
    Gabriella laughed, Arianna was tight-lipped. Sam wondered if the Russian was pleased to be back among so much snow. Outside Sam’s window, he saw what would be their base of operations: Crawley Station.
    It was doughnut-shaped, with a central structure in the middle and two outer rings, connected by corridors at each point of the compass. From the air it looked small, but, as they neared, it grew to be a complex that could easily house fifty researchers. There were some outer buildings too, domes poking up into the air, a large one next to the icy runway.
    Two figures were standing out in the cold, dressed in bright red snowsuits. They had orange burning flares in their hands, using them to direct the pilots. The jet touched down and they taxied to the largest of two cigar-shaped buildings, which looked like it served as an aircraft hangar. The engines died down as soon as the jet was inside.
    “Wow,” Sam said as he alighted the aircraft, walking down the fold-down stairs at the back of the jet between the undercarriage, pulling his Stealth Suit up around his face as he moved. Like the rest of his friends, he also had a yellow snowsuit over the top. But the wind still shocked the senses, blowing snow and ice through the air as it blasted through the huge hangar doors.
    The aircraft’s engines had wound down and four station crew emerged from the hangar and went about running a fuel line. Sam figured that in this environment, there was no way a vehicle could stay idle for long and still be expected to work. The large building was full of equipment. Through an open door, Sam could just make out a helicopter, wrapped up against the cold, and several large red snowcats—boxy reinforced vans with thick tank treads instead of tires.
    Their jet would be taking off once it was refuelled, returning to collect them the next day.
    No way out until then. And a clock ticking to find Alex
.
    “And don’t forget,” Lora said as they shuffled behind Jabari and the others toward the door of the main base, “stay close at all times.”
    Ahead, a huge yellow door, the outer airlock, hissed open as they neared.
    Sam checked his watch as they entered the base.
    Just under six hours to go …

    A greeting party had formed in the mess hall. All the station crew were dressed in the same red snowsuits. Twelve of them in total. A short man with red hair, a thick moustache and yellow-tinted glasses introduced himself as Dr. Roberts.
    Lora introduced everyone as hot drinks were handed out while preparations got underway for their rescue mission.
    “We’re ready to go when you are,” Dr. Roberts said finally, his voice deep but quiet.
    “Thank you, we will be ready in five minutes,” Lora said.
    “Do you have any idea where your missing friend might be?” Dr. Roberts asked.
    “We have his last known location,” Lora said. “He’s been stationary for some time.”
    “Hmm,” Dr. Roberts said. “Does he have a tracking device?”
    “Something like that,” Lora said. She pointed at the big rugged cases that the Guardians were carrying. “Can we set up our communications gear here before we leave?”
    “Of course,” Dr. Roberts said, “follow me.”
    Lora followed, leaving Sam and the others with the rest of the Guardians and several of the crew.
    “Well, that was weird,” Eva said quietly, sipping a hot chocolate. “Dr. Roberts, I mean.”
    “Really?” Sam replied, adding extra sugar to his hot drink. “Was it the thick red moustache? Or the nasally