The drive west from Wick into the Cairngorms was made in the dark hours before dawn, using the white commercial delivery van Clara had stashed near the coast.
The storm that had battered the coast had given way to an icy inland fog that hung low over the narrow, single-lane A-roads. High moorlands gave way to towering granite peaks whose summits were hidden in the thick, black clouds.
Julian sat in the passenger seat, his laptop connected to a makeshift external antenna mounted to the van's roof.
As they climbed higher into the mountains, the seismic hum registered by his handheld transducer grew more distinct. The granite roots of the Scottish Highlands were acting as an acoustic conductor, funneling the spire's 14.2-Hertz signal straight up into the high-altitude terrain.
"Signal str
