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took the lead, pushing his snowmobile up to breakneck speed. The frozen surface was dangerously uneven in places, but he did not slacken his pace. Instead, he simply rode his bucking machine over the rutted snow, clinging on like a cowboy at a rodeo and ignoring the scream from the overheated engine. The others fell into line behind him, picking up their speed too.
    It was a nightmarish race. The snowmobiles were being pushed to their limit. The skis on the fronts of the little machines were twisting and jerking crazily and the belts on the rear caterpillar tracks were in danger of coming off their wheels. Alpha Force were all fully dressed for travelling and their hoods were securely tied, but the goggles they used when riding the snowmobiles were still swinging from the handlebars. The icy wind was cutting into their exposed cheeks and noses like a knife and tears were streaming from the corners of their eyes.
    Halfway to the tree line, black smoke began to pour from the back of Alex's machine but he gritted his teeth and kept the engine at full throttle. He could not afford to slow down. Alpha Force had a head start on their pursuer, but the man was travelling light, with no trailer to pull, and he was slowly gaining on them.
    By the time they reached the trees, the man was less than a minute behind. Paulo slewed his machine to the right in a tight turn, sending up a huge fan of snow. He rode along the edge of the stand of spruce trees until he found a track, then he swung the snowmobile in between the trees and the other four followed him.
    It was a mixed blessing to be in amongst the spruces. The wind was suddenly gone, giving their smarting cheeks and streaming eyes a chance to recover, but the snow was much deeper here, which put more of a strain on the snowmobiles. The danger of smashing into a tree or being knocked from their machines by a low branch meant that they had to slow right down and that felt bad, even though they knew that the man behind them would have to do the same.
    'Paulo!' yelled Amber, from behind him. 'We're gonna have to stop!'
    'We cannot stop!' yelled Paulo, looking over his shoulder.
    For reply, Amber pointed to the black smoke that was still pouring from Alex's machine. Paulo's heart sank and he nodded. Turning back to the trail, he began to look for a place to hide. Up ahead, the trail curved out of sight. Once they were around that bend, they might just have time to split up and hide in the trees before their pursuer arrived. He pointed to the bend and the other four nodded or gave a thumbs-up sign to show that they understood.
    By the time the man slewed his machine round the bend, Alpha Force had disappeared from the trail. He brought his snowmobile to a stop and turned off the engine. His breath was loud in the sudden silence, punctuated by the tick of his snowmobile's rapidly cooling engine. Pushing his goggles up on to the top of his head, he pulled the shotgun from its holster and climbed out of the saddle. He took his time as he checked out the deeper snow off-trail. Alpha Force might be hidden from sight, but it was impossible to leave no trace in snow and the tracks of their snowmobiles stood out clearly.
    The man frowned. His prey had been clever. They had split up. Five different tracks fanned off from the trail into the trees and he did not know which track would lead him to the camcorder. For a moment he stood indecisively, then his face cleared as he realized it did not matter which track he followed. He picked one at random and began to make his way into the trees.
    In her hiding place under the boughs of a fallen spruce, Amber heard the man approaching through the snow. She huddled further under the covering branches and held her breath. She had done her best to cover her tracks. Her footprints marched from her abandoned snowmobile up to the base of the fallen tree, then appeared to step over the trunk and continue onward into the forest. In reality, she had retraced her steps