by Petra James
‘Perfect, Tango Juliet,’ said Arkie, studying the plans for the vault that she’d just downloaded from DATAMAX. ‘The vault’s been built 120 metres inside the mountain. There are four locked doors in total. One at the entrance, another about 115 metres down the tunnel, and then the air-locked doors to the two seed vaults where the seeds are kept in special sealed envelopes.’
‘Just like ours,’ said TJ.
‘Exactly the same,’ said Arkie. ‘They’re all stored in plastic containers on metal shelving stacks.’
‘Any security at the vault that we need to worry about?’ said TJ.
‘Steel-reinforced doors and a 24-hour video surveillance system.’
‘So not too much to worry about then,’ said TJ. ‘I’ve been exploring the intricacies of security systems since I was six.’
‘Then there are the polar bears outside the vault,’ said Arkie. ‘There are more polar bears than people around there.’
‘I was reading about polar bears last winter,’ said TJ. ‘I like my knowledge to be seasonally appropriate. Did you know that they are one of the biggest bears on Earth and that a male bear can weigh up to 680 kilograms?’
‘That’s a big bear,’ said Arkie. ‘It could squash you with a paw.’
‘If we have any close encounters,’ said TJ, ‘we just need to work out if they’re hungry or not. Polar bears that have just eaten don’t usually attack people unless the people make them really mad. But hungry polar bears can kill and sometimes eat people.’
‘So if a polar bear has just eaten you I should be okay,’ said Arkie.
‘Very funny, I don’t think,’ said TJ. ‘Though with all my creative juices, I’d probably be very tasty.’
‘Listen – can you hear something?’ said Arkie.
‘Sounds like the plane with a shipment of seeds,’ said TJ, checking BLUR’s radar. A small dot was bleeping its way across it.
The drone of the plane became louder.
Although visibility was low, they could just see a black shape emerging from the clouds. As they watched, a small plane landed on the airstrip and puttered to a stop.
Three men dressed in thick red jackets with fur-lined hoods climbed out of the plane and began unloading boxes of seeds onto several long trollies with wheels.
‘Ready to see inside the Doomsday Vault?’ said TJ.
‘Ready,’ said Arkie.
They opened BLUR’s hatch and dropped silently onto the ice.
It was time to find some seeds.
Three Blind Mice
Arkie, TJ and Cleo lay very still under the tarpaulin that was covering one of the trollies.
They had snuck beneath it while the men had been taking a break from their work on the other side of the plane.
As the men began to wheel the trollies towards the vault, wind whistled around the edges of the tarpaulin and the sides of it flapped, letting in rushes of Arctic air.
‘Hey, I need help with this one,’ yelled the man pushing their trolley. ‘There must be some giant seeds in these boxes. They’re heavy.’
TJ, Arkie and Cleo lay very still, barely breathing. If they were discovered now, it would all be over, before it had even begun. They’d just have to make a run for it and try to think of another way into the vault.
The IAEs, Arkie. That’s what her dad always said. They’re the mark of a really good treasure hunter. Improvise, Adapt and Exit. Knowing when to exit is just as important as knowing when to arrive.
Treasure hunting rose and fell on timing: being in the right place at the right time, being favoured by a sea breeze, the lucky winds of fortune.
Or not.
Another man laughed as he came over to help. ‘More likely you’re just lacking some muscles, Jack,’ he said. ‘Here, I’ll show you what real muscle looks like.’
He pushed the trolley and it began to move slowly along the ice.
‘Phew,’ said Arkie, relaxing her body and speaking to TJ through Lexi’s THink. ‘That was close.’
TJ nodded. ‘And just as well we’ve got our thermals and furs. That was considerate of the kidnappers to tell us we’d need warm things.’
‘Don’t forget those “considerate” kidnappers have got my mum and dad,’ said Arkie, scowling.
‘I haven’t forgotten,’ said TJ. ‘I just like to look for little sparks of goodness in everyone.’
These kidnappers are evil, thought Arkie. Their hearts are black.
She could feel anger spreading through her as she thought of them. For a moment, it even made her feel a little warmer. But it was still so cold.
‘I wish I had some fur on my face,’ she said. ‘My nose feels as though it’s about to drop off.’
‘It’s called frostbite,’ said TJ. ‘Extremities like fingers and toes are usually the first to go. And the nose.’
Arkie wrinkled her nose, then twiddled her fingers and toes. Still ten of each. She touched her THinc ring. The gold was cold against her skin. She checked the temperature: -12 degrees Celsius – the coldest she had ever been.
She and her mum had been to Omsk, the treasure city of Siberia, a couple of years ago, but even Omsk wasn’t as freezing as this.
Arkie’s bones were rigid with cold and she imagined the blood in her body slowly turning blue.
She snuggled in closer to Cleo, and Cleo rested her head on Arkie’s leg.
‘I know it’s a bit late now but I hope this was a good idea,’ said Arkie.
‘That’s the thing about good ideas,’ said TJ. ‘You don’t know if they’re good until later, when you can assess the outcome. So, at the moment, this is technically just an idea. And I think we can agree it is.’
Arkie sighed. TJ could be so logical at times.
The wind and ice seemed to be whipping into a blizzard as the men wheeled the trollies across the ice. They were silent as they walked, burying their faces into their jackets, keeping their thoughts warm.
‘Are we slowing down?’ said Arkie, after about ten minutes. ‘We must be getting close.’
She peeked out from under the tarpaulin. ‘I can see lots of lights ahead,’ she said.
‘It’s a work of art,’ said TJ.
‘I wouldn’t call it that,’ said Arkie. ‘It just looks like a whole bunch of lights on top of each other.’
‘No, I mean it’s an actual work of art,’ said TJ. ‘I read about it on the way here. The roof and entrance to the vault have lots of mirrors and prisms. They reflect the polar sun in the summer and generate their own power for the winter. It’s like a beacon that will last forever.’
‘Even when it’s the end of the world?’ said Arkie.
‘Even then,’ said TJ. ‘A beacon for a dead world.’
Arkie shivered at TJ’s words and looked at the greeny-blue white lights illuminating the icy mist.
It was almost as she had imagined Santa Claus’s mansion, glowing in a winter welcome.
It didn’t seem real – this place of darkness and bright light. The colours of Arkie’s world didn’t exist in this twilight land.
And in this land where it looked as if nothing could ever grow they were about to find seeds for the future of humanity.
‘We’re close,’ said TJ. ‘Lie very still.’
They were being wheeled across a rickety bridge with judder bars that shuddered all the way through them.
Then, they stopped.
‘We must be at the first door of the vault,’ said Arkie.
They heard the hiss of the airlocked door as it opened. And suddenly there was no more wind. Just an intense cold.
‘Let’s unpack the seeds after a cup of tea,’ said one of the men. ‘We’ve got time and my hands are frozen.’
‘All right,’ said another. ‘We’ll have to wait for this blizzard to settle before we can fly out anyway. I’ll put the kettle on.’
They could hear the footsteps of the men, walking away.
‘Quick,’ said Arkie, throwing back the tarpaulin and jumping off the trolley. ‘We h
ave to get out of sight before they come back.’
TJ and Cleo jumped off the trolley after her.
They gazed around them.
They were in a long tunnel, with pipes and lights running all along the roof. It was still and silent, as though they were in the centre of the earth.
‘I guess this is what it would be like inside an iceberg,’ said TJ.
‘I thought it would be warmer in here,’ said Arkie.
‘Those pipes give the vault extra refrigeration,’ said TJ, pointing above to the long lines of piping.
‘As if it needs it,’ said Arkie. ‘It’s freezing on freezing already.’ She pulled her fur coat around her as tightly as she could. ‘It’s like being in a giant ice box and I’m feeling like an ice cube. Let’s get moving.’
Road Kill
They hurried along the corridor, their breath evaporating like a slipstream behind them.
Blue lights curved around the walls, wrapping the tunnel in long tubing.
TJ stopped to look at her GPS. ‘We just have to walk in a straight line,’ she said, smiling. ‘Excellent.’
‘What about the video monitoring system?’ said Arkie.
‘I’ve already recorded a feed of the empty corridor with CAMMAX and uploaded it into the vault’s security system,’ said TJ. ‘It will play continuously for about 30 minutes. That should give us enough time to find the chickpea seeds and get out of here.’
It was eerily quiet as they walked through the vault to the seed storage areas. The only sound was the insistent whirr of generators and the occasional flick-flicker of a light that sent shadows darting around the walls.
Arkie tried not to think about the mountain around her, all that solid rock pressing down.
What kind of treasure hunter suffers from claustrophobia? Not a very good one, she thought, trying to calm her breathing. It sounded impossibly loud inside her – as though her icy bones were the pipes of an organ, sending deep resonant sounds through a church.
She glanced at TJ to see if she could hear her breathing but TJ was looking at DATAMAX.
‘Second airlock door 50 metres ahead,’ said TJ.
‘How are we going to get through that?’ said Arkie.
TJ held up her hand. There were two access codes written on her palm. ‘I hacked into the system while we were still en route,’ she said. ‘I like to be prepared.’
‘DATAMAX says the seed storage areas are at the very end of the vault,’ said Arkie. ‘In the deepest part of the old mine. Safe from nuclear explosions, meteors and flooding seas. The chickpea seeds should be in the second storage vault.’
They walked quickly through the tunnel and finally saw the door to the second seed vault.
TJ keyed in the code and pulled the door open.
They were inside the seed storage area.
It was an ordinary looking room, filled with blue and orange metal shelves. The shelves were overflowing with plastic containers and thousands of silver envelopes.
‘It doesn’t look like the place that holds the seeds for the survival of humanity,’ said Arkie.
‘No, it looks like the post office at Christmas,’ said TJ.
‘Let’s split up,’ said Arkie. ‘You take the shelves on the left and I’ll take the ones on the right. Cleo, you can come with me.’
They hurried along the rows and rows of shelves, past envelopes holding seeds of rice, wheat, strawberries, soybeans, tomatoes, corn and beans from places such as Canada, Switzerland, Colombia, Syria and Mexico.
It’s a snapshot of the world’s crops, thought Arkie.
‘Arkie,’ cried TJ. ‘Over here. I’ve found it. Chickpea centre AUD 293. Hey, and you wouldn’t believe it!’
‘What?’ said Arkie, hurrying over.
‘There’s a note attached to it,’ said TJ. ‘ARKIE SPARKLE PART 3. How did that get here?’
‘The kidnappers have been one step ahead of us all the way,’ said Arkie. ‘Guess we shouldn’t be surprised to see that they’ve already been here as well. But why?’
TJ handed the note to Arkie.
‘What does it say?’ TJ said, as Arkie opened it.
‘“The measure of a treasure”,’ said Arkie, reading slowly.
‘I don’t understand,’ said TJ. ‘What does that mean?’
Arkie was silent for a moment. ‘I know what it means,’ she said. ‘It’s Point 73 of the Treasure Hunter’s Code.’
‘But I still don’t understand,’ said TJ.
‘The Treasure Hunter’s Code is on DATAMAX,’ said Arkie. ‘Check out Point 73.’
TJ keyed in The Treasure Hunter’s Code and it soon appeared on DATAMAX’s screen. She began to read out loud:
≥≥ POINT 73:
The Treasure Hunter’s Dilemma
-------------------------------
Can a wrong ever make a right? All
treasure hunters will be faced with
this dilemma at some stage. How do
you measure a treasure? ≤≤
‘Well, that explains nothing,’ said TJ, frowning. ‘What’s the dilemma?’
‘If these are the only chickpea seeds left in the world,’ said Arkie, ‘and we take them all, that means humans will never be able to grow chickpeas again.’
‘But we need them,’ said TJ. ‘We have to take them because Part 2 said “Just a photo is not enough”. They’re telling us to take the seeds.’
‘I know,’ said Arkie. ‘That’s the dilemma. Because a treasure hunter is always supposed to think beyond the individual. They have to think about the greater good. And I think that’s what this treasure hunt is all about. Seeing what kind of decision we’ll make.’
She leaned against the shelf. ‘I just need a minute to think.’
‘Well, think fast,’ said TJ, looking towards the door. ‘We’re about to get company.’
They listened. Footsteps were stomping along the corridor outside. Footsteps coming their way.
‘OH, NO,’ said Arkie. She hated thinking under pressure. It made her brain take shortcuts that didn’t always lead her to the right place.
Mum and Dad. The future of humanity, she thought. Mum and Dad the future humanity Mum and Dad the future of humanity Mum and Dad the future of humanity
Arkie looked at the envelope bulging with chickpea seeds. ‘Take half of the seeds and leave half there,’ she said. ‘I reckon there’s enough for the kidnappers and humanity.’
TJ filled their original envelope quickly with half the seeds.
The footsteps were getting closer. And closer.
‘By my usually accurate estimation, we’ve got about 45 seconds before they come through that door,’ said TJ.
They looked around at the shelves. There was nowhere obvious to hide. No cupboards or big empty spaces.
‘Quick,’ said Arkie, pointing to the bottom rung of the chickpea shelf, ‘you and Cleo squeeze in there.’
‘But what about you? Where are you going?’ said TJ, as she and Cleo climbed onto the shelf.
‘The shelf’s not big enough for all of us,’ said Arkie. ‘I’ll find somewhere.’ She covered them with a canvas. ‘Don’t make a sound.’
She looked around desperately. She needed to hide too. But where?
The chickpea shelf was the only one with an empty bottom rung.
The airlock door was opening.
Any minute now the men would see her standing in the middle of the room like a terror-locked rabbit – bounding into the safety of the bushes too late to avoid the headlights and
She was about to be road kill.
Run, Rabbit, Run
The doors opened.
The two men were mid conversation when they saw Arkie.
They stared at her in shock, their mouths slack in surprise.
She stared back.
For many long seconds, the staring moment seemed locked on replay:
Men. Shock. Shock. Men. Men. Shock. Shock. Men.
The taller of the men shattered the moment first.
‘HEY YOU,’ he yelled. ‘What —?’
Arkie turned and ran as fast as she could down the aisle, hurtling past shelves with beans from Brazil.
The men broke out into a run behind her.
‘STOP,’ they yelled. ‘There’s nowhere to hide.’
They were right.
Arkie could see the wall in front of her. A wall where she would soon be trapped.
Was it all about to end here?
Just as her brain was exploding with fright, someone put a hand over her mouth.
‘Don’t make a sound,’ said a quiet voice in her ear.
The person yanked her sideways and pushed her through a small door that was blending into the wall.
A door! thought Arkie. She hadn’t even seen it.
Arkie stumbled through the narrow entrance and tripped on a step.
‘There’s a step,’ said the voice behind her. ‘Hurry. This way.’
The person grabbed Arkie’s arm and led her through a tunnel with a low roof.
They could hear the men shouting on the other side of the wall and the sounds of an alarm echoing through the vault. It was going into lockdown.
It was too dark to see ahead but Arkie’s rescuer seemed to know where they were going.
They ran down the long tunnel, stumbling with jerky speed.
‘Stay close,’ said the voice – a girl’s. ‘They’ll be looking for us in the main storage vaults. This is an alternative way to the outside – through an air-conditioning shaft. It’s going to be a tight squeeze.’
Great, thought Arkie. This is my nightmare.
‘But I have to go back,’ she gasped. ‘TJ’s still in there. I have to help her. And Cleo.’
‘It’s too late,’ said the girl. ‘If TJ’s smart, she’ll stay hidden till the men leave and the lockdown is deactivated. If not, they’ll have found her already.’
‘She’s smart,’ said Arkie. ‘She’s the smartest person I know.’
The girl didn’t respond, just pushed Arkie to go faster and faster.
Please be okay, TJ, thought Arkie. I need you.
