Wait, was he actually a good guy?
Rue mentally scolded herself. She’d been viewing all of them as potential adversaries since before this expedition even started, but she’d been especially judgmental of Noah and Camille, and that wasn’t fair. Yes, Camille was a spoiled pain-in-the-ass, and Noah was about as forthcoming as a brick wall, but they weren’t Praetorian. They weren’t the enemy.
“You did exactly the right thing,” Rue assured him. “That storm was a killer, and if you had stayed out in it trying to help us, it would’ve taken your lives. We only survived it because, ironically, falling into the ice protected us.”
In the quarantine area, Irina straightened from Tyler’s bedside and stripped off her gloves, disposing of them in a bin marked with a biohazard symbol before stepping out from behind the plastic sheet.
“He doesn’t have much time,” she said softly. “I don’t know what to do.”
Rue looked to Elliot, because he always knew what to do, but Cade’s betrayal had broken something in him. He had that thousand-yard stare of a man who was exhausted from warring with himself and the world. Her heart hurt for him, and she laced her gloved fingers with his, giving his hand a squeeze. He didn’t squeeze back.
She returned her attention to Irina. “Is anyone else sick?”
“No, it’s not airborne,” Irina said. “And, from my observations, unless you’re exposed to the pathogen directly through an open wound, it doesn’t actually spread that easily. We’ve been taking all the proper precautions. We’ve kept him as isolated as possible, limited contact, full gloves and masks, everything by the book.”
“Good.” At least one thing was working in their favor. “That’s good.”
Before anyone could say more, the door opened again. Two soldiers shoved Koos into the room. The mechanic stumbled, caught himself, and turned to glare at the closing door.
“Barbarians,” he muttered, his South African accent thickening with anger. “No respect.”
“What did you do to piss them off?” Noah asked.
Koos snorted and jerked his chin in Rue and Elliot’s direction. “Helped these two get inside. They didn’t like that.” He shrugged, seemingly unbothered by his captivity. “Worth it. Someone needed to do something.”
Several seconds stretched by in silence until Mia asked, “Now what?” She’d also shed her mask and gloves and now stood at Irina’s side.
Something about Mia’s small, terrified question finally broke through to Elliot. He exhaled hard and shook his head slightly, then scanned the room, taking everything in, his lips pressed together into a grim line. “Now we figure out how to get out of here, take our station back, and call for help.”
Thank God.
Relief flooded Rue’s system. She needed Elliot present, needed his strategic mind if they were going to get out of this mess.
“And we keep each other alive,” she added.
Camille looked up from examining her now-ragged nails, her gaze going to Tyler as he coughed. “How? They locked us inhere like lab rats, just waiting for us all to get sick.” Her voice wavered, and tears flooded her eyes. “This wasn’t what I thought would happen when I invested in this expedition. You have to believe me. I didn’t want this.”
Noah was beside her in an instant, smoothing a hand over her hair. “Shh. They know.”
“Actually, we don’t know,” Elliot said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why are you two here?”
Rue winced at the ice in his tone. Okay, so he wasn’t all the way back to her warm, sweet Elliot. He was still brittle, and she couldn’t blame him for it, but he needed to reel it in a bit if they were going to get any information out of the pair.
She set a hand on his arm, felt the hard coil of muscle twitch underneath. He stared down at her for a beat. So much anger behind those beautiful eyes now. So much hurt.
She silently called Cade Wilde every unflattering name she could think of and rubbed Elliot’s arm until his eyes finally softened.
Then she turned back to Camille and Noah. “What did you think you were investing in?”
Camille glanced up at Noah, who gave a slight nod. She sighed. “Rare earth elements. Antarctica is rich in the metals and minerals used in all of our technology. We were hoping to stake a claim before anyone else.”
Koos glowered at the pair. “The Antarctic Treaty prohibits commercial mining and resource extraction.”
“The Treaty expired two years ago, and the so-called extension is tenuous at best,” Noah said. “All of the nations involved are getting antsy about dwindling resources, and know this continent is chock full. It’s only a matter of time until the Treaty is dismantled completely.”
Well, that explained why Atlas was so interested in Antarctica. He partnered with Praetorian to stake his claim, buthe hadn’t banked on them going all doomsday mad-scientist with the pathogen. Which also explained why he’d shown a rare moment of conscience and warned Davey and Rowan that there were things in the world even he wouldn’t sell.
Koos stared at Camille and Noah in disgust. “Are you even really a geologist?”
