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around him.
    ‘It’s just impossible out there,’ he said. ‘Conditions like these have never been encountered before. The temperatures are falling off the bottom of the thermometer and visibility is nil. With the best will in the world, it is not feasible to expose army personnel to conditions like those.’
    Tess thought he looked scared.
    ‘I still say it’s fishy,’ said her father.
    Her mother sighed in exasperation. Tess stood up with her tray. ‘I’m going upstairs to read,’ she said.
    ‘Don’t you want any pudding?’ said her mother.
    ‘No, thanks.’
    ‘It’s lemon meringue pie.’
    ‘I’m not hungry. Perhaps you could leave me a piece for later?’
    Tess took the tray out to the kitchen and went back up to her room. No one was saying it, but it was on everybody’s mind. If those snowstorms continued to spread, it would not be long before they closed in on Ireland, as well. And then what would it matter if that stupid boy did or didn’t know her secret?

CHAPTER FOUR
    I N A PRIVATE OFFICE in the Pentagon in Washington DC, the same army officer who had made an appearance on Tess’s TV was sitting at a table with several other men. One was his chief of staff, General ‘Whitey’ Snow, and another was the chief of staff of the airborne forces, General Wolfe. The others were ministers and advisors from the American government. There were no members of the public or the press among them.
    The officer, whose name was Colonel Dale ‘Big Daddy’ Dunkelburger, got up and wandered restlessly across the floor for a minute or two, then took his seat again in a leather chair at the head of the table. On a trolley at his right hand was a large, square tape recorder and, in front of him, covering most of the tabletop, was a huge map of the Arctic Circle.
    Colonel Dunkelburger sighed and rubbed his eyes. It had been a long time since he had slept, and it looked like being another long time before he would again. With an expression of grim resignation, he glanced across the table and nodded at General Snow.
    The General stood up and cleared his throat. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘the matter we are here to discuss today is one of the utmost seriousness and gravity.’
    There was a murmur of assent from the assembly.
    ‘Now,’ the General went on, ‘I know that all of us here are signatories of the State Secrets Act, and I know that you are all aware that the seal on the door of this office binds you to that oath. Even so, what Colonel Dunkelburger is about to reveal to you is so important that I want you to take another oath now, a personal oath, on whatever you hold most sacred, that what you are about to hear will not pass beyond these four walls, even if you might believe yourself that such secrecy is incorrect.’
    One of the President’s advisors shook his head and sighed.
    ‘General,’ he said. ‘We all appreciate that there’s something here that you consider to be pretty important, but don’t you think that maybe you’re being a little melodramatic about this? Most of us here have to deal with State secrets every day, and I reckon the oath we’ve all taken has been good enough so far.’
    ‘I appreciate your point of view, Mr Dunwoody,’ said the General. ‘But I believe that when you hear the evidence that we have on these tapes, you may understand. We’re talking about an issue of global importance here, as opposed to state security, and I believe that it might unleash a world-wide panic if it were to become public knowledge. I have no intention of calling the Secrets Act into disrepute, but it might not be sufficient in this case to cover all eventualities. I hope you can understand that and appreciate that no disrespect is intended.’
    Dunwoody nodded and, one by one, somewhat self-consciously, the assembly rose and swore their own personal oaths. When they were finished, Colonel Dunkelburger reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and produced a small tape which he fed into