The Ice People #OpenNovellaContest

0900 Hours

Mission Log: December 15th 2056, 0900 hours: I've been contacted by the Master of the Ice People. This is going to sound insane but it contacted me through my dreams and, as it turns out, he is Captain Scott, my great uncle. According to the Master, he had saved Captain Scott by transferring my great uncle's consciousness to himself. For years, he used Scott's knowledge of Antarctica and of the world to build his army and train them to know exactly how to take us, the humans, down.

But Scott's brain has taken the Master as far as it can, and now it wants me. He said he'll trade Christine if I willingly go to him in return, but it would mean I would put the entire world at risk. I know things about the I.N.R.I.A., about the Navy, and about how our world works that, in the wrong hands, could be very dangerous indeed. I had never really thought about how precious the information I had was. It isn't like I'm an army general or the Prime Minister or even the King, but there were things that I knew that could be devastating.

He wants me. My consciousness. My knowledge.

I still can't wrap my head around that. I still can't believe that I could be the source of all our problems.

I just don't know what to think anymore.

I just stood on the edge of the ice cliff, staring at the huge, white beacon that shot into the sky like a rocket. My hands were dug deep into my pockets and my chin buried into my coat. I had been like this for two hours now and the cold was starting to creep into my fingers and toes.

There was something oddly beautiful about the beacon. The way that it was so perfect, so precise as it split the sky in half.

It was like the glory of angels, as if God had decided that we didn't deserve the Earth anymore.

I knew that I had to go there. If Christine and the scientists were going to survive, then I had to give myself up. But the cost for their lives was the world. I remember doing an exercise like this in basic training with the I.N.R.I.A. They always told us to go for the greater good and save as many people as possible.

But I doubt that they ever thought we'd have to deal with a situation like this.

"Matt," Pete said from behind me.

"Yeah?" I asked, not turning around to face him.

"Captain Jackson wants you," he told me. He hesitated for a moment. "Are you going to tell him? Are you going to tell him the dream? The message?" I took a deep breath of the clear air.

"I guess I have to," I replied. "I need his help to get there."

"You're seriously considering going through with this?" Pete asked, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Matt, if what you told me was true, the world is at risk here. Christine wouldn't want you to do this. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'd kill you if you did."

I didn't reply. I only closed my eyes and let the cool breeze brush past my face. Pete was right, and I knew that. But at that moment, I couldn't think of another way. The Master had us cornered, every escape route blocked. By the time any authorities got here, it would be too late. In fact, they'd just be heading into a trap.

Turning, I slowly trudged back to camp, ignoring Pete. I heard him sigh and follow behind me, but I'm pretty sure he got the message that I seriously didn't want to talk.

The other sailors were all gathered with Captain Jackson around the map that I had drawn on yesterday. They had already packed up everything which was piled up, ready to be transported to the only working boat. Captain Jackson looked up on my approach, his eyebrows raised.