Ice Station
|
|
Ice Station is Australian thriller writer Matthew Reilly's second novel, released in 1998.
The book tells the story of a remote American research station in Antarctica. On a routine drilling for natural gases, the scientists at the station hit something buried in the ice more than 1000 metres deep - something made of metal.
Two divers are sent to investigate, travelling down in the station's diving bell, before swimming up a large underwater tunnel. Upon reaching the underground cavern where the metal object was struck, they are attacked by some kind of unknown creatures, and radio contact is lost.
The station's chief goes down in the diving bell with half the station's other scientists, determined to find out what's going on. They arrive in the underground cavern, keeping radio contact with the other scientists left up in the station. The chief sees what looks like some kind of spaceship embedded in the ice - before the party is attacked by more unknown creatures. Sounds of the slaughter echo around the radio room, to the horror of the remaining scientists. They immediately send out a distress call on an open radio channel, making the mistake of mentioning that they found an alien spacecraft. The ice station receives no answer to its call - although it is picked up on at least three separate radio installations.
The U.S. Government immediately sends in the closest unit they have available, to protect the station's residents and secure the spaceship by any means necessary - a team of twelve U.S. Marines, who were stationed on an aircraft carrier being repaired in Sydney, Australia at the time of the distress call. Led by the enigmatic Lieutenant Shane 'Scarecrow' Schofield, the Marines will face not only the harsh Antarctic weather, hostile forces from other countries, and traitors within their own unit - but something else, something unnatural, lurking deep beneath the ice...