BOOK 1: BEYOND THE ICE WALL - Chapter 20: The Route South (by Clive J. Welan)

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Chapter 20: The Route South

The rain had finally stopped, but the air still felt damp, cold, and heavy as they returned to the small room at the harbor, the dim yellow light flickering softly while the door was shut tight and the thin man immediately took the storage device from Quianna’s hand.

“Good,” he said.
“You’re still alive.”

Pierre dropped into a chair.
“Barely.”

Quianna stood beside the table.
“Open the data.”

The man didn’t reply; he was already working, his fingers moving quickly across the keyboard as the screen flickered and data began to appear—lines upon lines of coordinates, dates, and codes.

“Here it is…” he said quietly.
“Southern Access Logs.”

Silence. Everyone moved closer. Eljireh stared at the screen, his heart beating faster.

“Are these all the people who tried to go south?” Pierre asked.

“Not all,” the man replied.
“Only those who… almost made it.”

Quianna frowned.
“Almost?”

The man pointed at several entries.
“Some disappeared.”
“Some returned.”
“Some… were never recorded again.”

Silence. Eljireh spoke softly.

“Find a route.”

The man typed rapidly, filtering the data, removing irrelevant entries, until one path appeared—different from the others, used more frequently, yet also… failed more often.

“This one,” he said.

A line stretched across the screen—from the harbor… heading south, coordinates marked, several red points scattered along it.

Quianna read quietly.
“Storm zones…”
“Unstable sea currents…”

Pierre said,
“Sounds fun.”

Rhevan, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

“I’ve heard of this route.”

Everyone turned.

“This isn’t a normal path,” he continued.
“It’s an old route.”
“Used before the Global Council tightened control over the southern region.”

Eljireh looked at him.
“So… it can be used?”

Rhevan didn’t answer immediately; he stared at the screen for a long moment.

“Possibly,” he said at last.
“If you’re crazy enough.”

Pierre gave a faint smile.
“Good news. We’ve been crazy from the start.”

But Quianna didn’t smile.

“How many made it?”

Silence. The man answered quietly,

“…none.”

The room felt colder. Eljireh stared at the route, but he didn’t step back.

“Is this the only one?”

The man nodded.
“The last one left.”

Silence. Pierre stood.

“Then we use it.”

Quianna looked at him.
“We don’t even know what’s out there.”

Pierre shrugged.
“That’s exactly why.”

Eljireh said nothing, but his eyes remained fixed on the screen as thoughts spun through his mind—The White Rim, the Global Council, the mysterious signal, and now… the route south—but there was one thing he couldn’t ignore.

“Why are they recording all of this…” he said quietly.

Quianna turned.
“What do you mean?”

Eljireh pointed at the screen.
“If they’re trying to hide everything…”
“…why keep the routes?”

Silence. The man stopped typing. Rhevan answered quietly,

“Because they don’t want to lose control.”

Pierre frowned.
“Explain.”

Rhevan looked at them.

“The Global Council doesn’t stop everyone.”
“They just make sure…”
“…no one succeeds.”

Silence.

Quianna said quietly,
“So all of this…”
“…is a trap?”

Rhevan nodded.
“Most of it.”

Eljireh stared at the route again; if this was a trap… why did it feel like the right path? Suddenly, the man spoke.

“You don’t have much time.”

Everyone turned.

“After last night…”
“…they’ll tighten surveillance.”

Quianna nodded.
“Then we move fast.”

Rhevan said,
“I can prepare transport.”

Pierre smiled.
“Finally.”

“But…” Rhevan continued,
“…that ship won’t wait long.”

Eljireh asked,
“Where?”

Rhevan answered briefly.
“The outer dock.”

Silence.

“It’s the only place not fully monitored.”

Quianna asked,
“When do we leave?”

Rhevan looked at them.

“Tomorrow night.”

Eljireh’s heart beat faster. Tomorrow. Everything they had done… would lead to that point, and deep inside him something felt clearer than ever—this wasn’t just a journey, it felt like a path already prepared.

On the other side of the city, inside a dark room, Lucien Varkis stood before a screen showing the same route, a faint smile forming on his lips.

“The old route…”

An agent said,
“They’re going to use it.”

Lucien nodded.
“Of course.”

He looked at the screen, calm.

“Because it’s the only one left.”

Silence.

Then he said quietly,

“And because of that…”
“…they’ll go exactly where we want them to.”

At the harbor, Eljireh stood outside, staring at the sea—dark, calm, yet full of mystery—as he whispered softly,

“Tomorrow…”

The sea wind moved around him.

“…we begin.”

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