I scurried around my room, gathering up whatever clothes I could get my hands on. With each item I grabbed, I felt like I was recovering some of the pieces of myself that I'd lost in the turmoil of the last few days. 

Zaphron fidgeted with impatience at my bedroom door. "Which mountain is the lodge on?" he asked, drumming his fingers on the wall.

"Mt Latobius, in the Austrian Territory," I replied, stuffing hoodies, jeans and shirts into the duffle. I stopped when my boot connected with the black box I stored my jewellery in. I cracked the lid and found the contents all tangled inside. My bracelets and necklaces had knotted together, snaring other keepsakes in the process. I spotted a pair of gold earrings that matched the star pendant I still wore under my shirt—they were tangled around something.

A memory chip.

My heart stuttered in my chest for the briefest moment—until I remembered, I'd put that chip in there for safe keeping. It was an old back-up of photos and vids from when I was a kid.

Still—it couldn't hurt to double check it.

I found one of my academy tablets and checked it was still operational, then shoved it and the jewellery box into the duffle.

"What's the plan?" I asked, catching my breath as I met Zaphron in the doorway. His gaze was unfocused, as though he was using his MR.

"Just checked the route and the radar," he said, shifting focus from his overlays to me. "If we leave now, we'll have twenty minutes to search the lodge before we need to get back to Danse Macabre."

"Is that long enough?"

"It's better than nothing for now," Zaphron said, striding toward the front door with me on his heels. "I'd rather get a quick search done now—then go back if we need to after the storm. If we leave it out there, Zenith could get to it first."

I agreed. Following any leads as soon as we found them was the best way to keep ahead—but I also didn't want to get caught out in a supercell. "Don't you think we'll be cutting it close with the storm?"

He grinned at me over his shoulder. "I'll have us back in no time."

I swallowed. I didn't know what carried a greater likelihood—getting caught in the storm, or dying in a fiery crash when he inevitably wrapped the car around a pole.

"What's that?" Zaphron asked, craning his neck to get a look at the tablet on my lap.

"Eyes on the road!" I shrieked, clutching the tablet in panic. We were drifting toward the tunnel wall at high speed.

He glanced back at the road, correcting the steering with one hand so we returned to the centre of our lane. "Astrid, what is that?" he asked again.

"A chip I found back at Dad's," I said with a sigh. "I wanted to double check it—but it's just full of old photos and vids." I scrolled through the files and looked up to find Zaphron frowning at me. My stomach jittered when our eyes met and I cleared my throat. "Could you put the car on auto-drive if you're planning on not watching the road?" 

He scoffed, but his expression remained serious. "Where'd you get the tablet?" he asked slowly.

"It's one of my academy ones," I replied, realisation dawning on me. It was probably bugged. "Oh—shit."

I ripped the chip from the port at the same moment Zaphron grabbed the tablet from my hands. He wound down his window, blasting a jet of air into the car. It sucked the tablet from his hand, carrying it out onto the road. I watched in the side mirror as it shattered against the asphalt, tiny pieces flying in all directions.

"You realise Zenith has all your tech bugged?" Zaphron said once the window was closed.

"I do now," I muttered, tossing the chip onto the dash. It skittered across the holo-controls, coming to a stop just above the steering wheel in front of him. I'd been so distracted by being back at Dad's that I'd almost compromised our location—again. "Sorry."

"Eh." Zaphron shrugged. "They're not going to be tracking it now, are they?"

I nodded sheepishly and turned to look out the window. The moment I did, the car began to drift toward the tunnel wall again.

There was a pause before Zaphron swore to himself and straightened the car. "So, what's the layout of this lodge like?" he asked.

"It's pretty small," I said, keeping my gaze fixed out the window. "Just a cabin really."

"Shouldn't take long to search then."

That's what I was hoping.

We took the exit ramp and surfaced on the border of the Swedish and Austrian Territories. The hulking outline of Mt Latobius rose well above the Austrian city, its peak obscured by an almost permanent ring of cloud.

Of the three artificial mountains on The Ark, Latobius was Dad's favourite to visit in snowboarding season. The sight of its formidable silhouette against the ominous grey sky brought back a flood of memories from the previous winter. Dad and I had spent days out on the slopes, returning to the cabin exhausted and covered in powder—but absolutely pumped to head out again the next day. It was probably the only quality time we got to spend together—and the only time he actually seemed to forget about work.

The sight of Latobius brought back another, more recent, memory—Zaphron's tattoos. The mountain I saw on his chest this morning hadn't looked like any of the artificial mountains built on the Ark. It had looked wild and real—like something from the Old World. I wanted to ask him about it, but didn't know how to broach the subject without sounding like I'd been checking him out.

Which I'll admit, I had been.

Zaphron slowed to an acceptable speed when we reached the ski village at the base of the mountain. The access road leading to the ski cabins was obstructed by a holo-projected sign. The words Danger—Road Closed explained the emptiness of the grounds.

The car idled for a moment as Zaphron peered through the windscreen at the warning—and the rows of cabins beyond it. "Is your lodge in this lot?" he asked.

I nodded and pointed ahead. "It's the second last one in the next row."

He eased the car through the projection and up the narrow road. There wasn't a person in sight and all the cabins looked dark and abandoned in the gusty rain.

Rows of neatly arranged pines lined the road, bending and swaying dangerously in the growing wind. Zaphron steered clear of them, parking the car along-side the lodge.

It was slightly bigger than most of the other cabins, but not by much. Its compact size, along with the imitation-wood exterior, brought an other-worldly charm. If you ignored the unnaturally perfect rows of pines and manufactured snow, the landscape was almost convincing enough to be real.

The wind tumbled my hair into my face as we climbed the faux stone steps and peered in through the front window. It didn't take long to work out that the building was just as abandoned as the others.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, watching Zaphron attach a passcode generator to the front door.

He kept his eyes on the device as it configured, watching frantic numbers flicker across the screen. "I guess these buildings aren't safe in severe weather?" he replied distractedly.

That was true. They may have looked cute, but they were pretty flimsy.

Zaphron's device flashed green and the door unlocked. We slunk inside, a swirl of drizzly wind trailing in behind us. I was hit with another weird sense of visiting a past life as I looked at the familiar surroundings. Not much had changed since last year. The concrete floors were still covered in an eclectic mix of rugs—somehow managing not to clash with the dark green fabric of the heavily upholstered couch. The electric fireplace sat cold in one corner, sparking memories of happier times—and a life I would never get back.

I swallowed and let my eyes travel up to the glass panes of the vaulted ceiling. Clouds hung low outside, pressing fine droplets of rain onto the glass.

Under different circumstances, it would have felt cozy.

"Right," Zaphron said, startling me with the proximity of is voice. He was standing so close that when he mused his hair, droplets of rain flicked onto my face. I huffed, but my annoyance died a swift death when I caught sight of him. With his hair all tousled and slightly wet, he looked like a model that had just stepped of shoot—except for the bruising of course.

"I'll take the lounge, you take the kitchen?" I suggested, dragging my eyes away from him before my cheeks could change colour.

"Sounds good," he replied, already heading off in the direction of the imitation wood and granite kitchen. "We've only got twenty minutes, so make it count."

I scoured the furniture, checking every piece thoroughly for signs of tampering. There wasn't a secret nook or false cavity to be found anywhere. Maybe Dad had never gotten a chance to come up here before—

I squashed the thought before it had time to take over, heading to the bedroom to start a search there.

The first room was usually mine when Dad and I stayed—and it was exactly the same as the last time I visited. Right down to the woodland themed bedcover. I turned it over pretty quickly, coming away empty handed.

"Astrid?" Zaphron called, nearly colliding with me as I rushed into the short corridor.

"You find something?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head, frowning. "Nothing in that bedroom or bathroom," he said with a gesture to the rooms behind him. "Time is up though. We have to get back."

I felt my shoulders sag and nodded, following him as he headed for the door.

The wind outside had picked up to near ferocious, sending stray picnic chairs scuttling across the road and bending the trees dangerously.

As we reached the car, a huge gust blustered through the valley, pushing me into the passenger side door. I yanked it open and fumbled in—a blast of rain following me. It was almost comforting to think that Zaphron would be speeding home now. The way the weather was deteriorating, I didn't want to be out in it much longer.

He slid into his seat beside me and pushed the start button—but nothing happened. My eyes widened in panic.

"Come on," Zaphron muttered, trying again—and getting nothing from the engine. A collection of error lights blinked to life on the dash. "Shit," he hissed, slamming his palm against the steering wheel. It set the horn off, making me jump.

"What is it?"

He slumped back in his seat, staring at the gathering storm through the sunroof. "The battery's dead. We're stuck here."