Planet of Ice (The Broken Stars Book 2)

by Tony Healey

  Snow crunched under the weight of approaching footsteps. Before Kort could draw his blaster, the armor-clad figure had the barrel of a pulse rifle trained at his head.

  "Toss it," a female voice said.

  Kort complied with reluctance, throwing his weapon a few feet away.

  "Good boy."

  "Look, you can have whatever you want," Kort said. "The boy is ill, and needs medical attention."

  The woman sauntered over, but kept a reasonable distance. She took a peek at Max's neck, and lifted her helmet's visor.

  "You . . ." Kort said. "You're Officer Wils's admin. What are you doing out here?"

  "Oh, I'm so much more than that." Annae placed two fingers against Max's neck. His vitals registered on her EPD. Blips on the screen synchronized to his weakened heartbeat. She shamed him with a click of her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "What a waste. The thornchiggers got to him first. Nasty little critters."

  "What are you talking about?" Kort asked. "Is he . . . is he dying?"

  "Most certainly," Annae said. "Thornchiggers are bred to survive amid much larger, relentless foes, and their bites are extremely toxic. You see that thing pulsing like a heartbeat on his neck?"

  Kort looked.

  "When a thornchigger inserts its fangs into its prey, they detach from its mouth and become lodged under the skin." Annae pointed at the wound. "With each pulse, venom is distributed into the bloodstream. The whole process is relatively quick. The boy should be dead soon. Oh, well. Saves me the trouble, I suppose."

  "What?"

  Annae cracked the butt of the rifle against Kort's face. "Get up, old man."

  Kort struggled to his feet, clutching his cheek.

  "Get your hands above your head and march," Annae said. "We're going back to see Officer Wils."

  "What does he want with us?"

  "He'll tell you himself when we arrive." Annae kicked him in the small of the back. He stumbled a few steps forward. "Before he puts a blaster between your eyes."

  Kort looked back at Max. "Wait. I'll need to carry Max."

  "Pfft," Annae said. "He won't survive the trip. Kid's got one foot in the grave already. Best we leave him here."

  "You can't honestly believe I'd do that!"

  "Trust me, it's a far kinder option," Annae said, raising her weapon. "Now go!"

  "No!" Kort bellowed. "I won't leave him."

  "Suit yourself." Annae peered through the rifle scope. "I'll tell Officer Wils that you resisted and left me no choice but to put you down. At least the kid won't have to die alone now."

  Kort made for Max.

  Annae stepped in front of him. "Nuh-uh. I'm doing you a huge favor here by sparing you a more agonizing death, so I’ll need something in return."

  "You can’t be serious."

  "Oh, quite." Annae grinned. "Get down and kiss my boot."

  Kort scowled.

  "What's the problem?" Annae asked. "Is your precious boy here not worth it?"

  Kort clenched his fists and dropped to his knees.

  "That's better." Annae wiped her boot clean of snow. "Now grovel, worm!"

  Kort exhaled, and scooted toward her feet.

  Thud.

  Annae gasped, flailing her arms in attempt to reach behind her. She collapsed to her knees in front of Kort, fear in her eyes. After one final breath, her body fell forward. Her face sank into a snowdrift. An axe protruded from between her shoulders.

  A group of three characters stood between Kort and Max. Kort locked eyes on his blaster, still a fair distance away.

  "Please, we mean you no harm," a woman said, showing Kort her empty hands. "We're not mercs or soldiers." She pointed to her protective gear. "See? No combat armor."

  The other two people helped Kort to his feet. The woman collected his blaster and returned it to him. He tucked it inside his jacket, and ran to Max.

  "Look, I realize you've just saved my life, and I'm thankful." Kort put his arm around Max. "I have no idea who you people are, but my nephew is dying. Can you help him?"

  The woman leaned Max's head forward and inspected his neck. She glanced at her party and said, "Thornchiggers."

  The others rushed over to join them.

  "How long ago?" the woman asked.

  "I'm not sure," Kort said. "An hour. Maybe two."

  The woman winced. "We need to hurry. Our camp isn’t far."

  "Will . . . will he be alright?" Kort kissed the top of Max's head.

  The woman delayed answering, and nodded toward one of her colleagues. A tall, hooded man bent down to pick Max up. Kort cinched his arms around Max.

  "Please, your boy's at a critical stage right now," the woman said. "It'll be faster if you let Adam carry him."

  "You can trust me, friend," Adam said. "We're the good guys."

  Kort released his grip around Max. He didn't know what else to do, and couldn't tend to Max on his own without medical supplies. The barrel-chested Adam scooped Max up with ease and cradled his body in his arms.

  The woman nodded to Adam. "You know what to do."

  Adam turned away and trampled off through the snow.

  "Come." The woman offered her hand to Kort. "We'll do everything we can for him."

  ___***___

  Thick strips of wood crackled and popped on the fire. Adam snubbed out an ember that landed on a blanket covering Max. The woman blotted perspiration from Max's forehead with a ratty cloth.

  "We got the fangs out without complication, and color is returning to his face," she said. "That's a good sign, but the next few hours will be critical."

  "The anti-venom will leave an awful taste in his mouth when he wakes up, but I doubt he'll care much considering the alternative," Adam said.

  Kort's jacket dripped from a clothes line. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms, warming himself by the fire. The flame's tangerine light flickered against the cave walls. As far as Kort could tell, the group's humble campsite consisted of cots on the floor, crates of food and supplies, and a selection of resources, such as firewood, and animal skins.

  "It's not much, I know, but it's kept us alive . . . for now," the woman said, and sat down beside Kort. "I'm sorry that the situation has not allowed for proper introductions. These are my fellow survivors Adam and Horace, and I'm Mayday."

  Kort arched an eyebrow. "Your name's Mayday?"

  "Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "My dad served the Terran Union with pride for over forty years. It could've been worse, I guess. I've got a sister named Flotilla."

  "Pleased to meet you." Kort shook her hand. "All of you. I'm Kort, and the boy you're tending to is my nephew Max."

  "I was kidding, by the way," Mayday said. "My sister's name is Anika."

  By the fire's light, Kort got a good look at all three humans. Young and dark, Mayday had curly brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail that barely reached the nape of her neck. With Adam's broad shoulders and copious pounds of muscle, his build reminded Kort of an ox. Long, blonde hair flowed past his tree trunk-like neck. Horace had a shaved head. Colorful tattoos peeked out from under his collar. Kort noticed scarring below his left eye, and what appeared to be a women’s locket dangling from a chain around his neck.

  "So, what happened back there?" Kort said. "Not to sound ungrateful, but why did you save me?"

  "We share a common enemy," Mayday said.

  "We do?"

  Adam filled a pot with snow and hung it over the fire. "We would've intervened sooner, but we had to make sure you weren't just another one of Wils's lackeys."

  "So, it's true," Kort said. "Officer Wils did send her after us. Why?"

  Mayday shrugged. "Can't answer that, my friend, but if he wants you dead, you're definitely a friend of ours."

  "Forgive me, but who are you people?" Kort scratched his brow.

  Horace shook his head at Mayday.

  "It's fine, Horace," she said. "We can trust him."

  Horace threw his hands in dissent.

  "Sorry, you'll
have to forgive Horace," Mayday said. "He's just being cautious, and we're not real big on trust these days."

  "Maybe he can help us." Adam stirred the pot of snow, now melted into near-boiling water. "Now that Annae's dead, there's even greater risk for us to venture across the tundra. Wils will raise the price on our heads for sure."

  Mayday put her hand up. "Adam . . ."

  "What?"

  Mayday stood and ladled water from the pot into an empty bowl. "I was hoping to ease our way into this conversation, but Adam's right. We could use your help." She dipped the ratty cloth into the bowl, and rang out the excess water. "The three of us are part of a Union research team. We were deployed to investigate after rumors of samarium deposits on Quaris didn't make it into any of Officer Wils's reports."

  "Samarium?" Kort said. "But isn't that rare?"

  "Extremely rare." Mayday dabbed the cloth on Max's face. "Not to mention valuable, which is why Wils failed to report it."

  "So, you're saying rather than disclose the findings to the Union, he's been selling to the highest bidder instead?" Kort folded his arms. "Low life, sack of garbage!"

  "Samarium has . . . certain properties of interest to the Union," Adam said. "We were dispatched to investigate under the sensor – only a handful of high-ranking officials knew about the mission – and we soon found the rumors to be true. Quaris is indeed a samarium-rich planet."

  "Unfortunately, our cover was blown, and Wils had us barricaded in a mining facility across the tundra." Mayday pressed the back of her hand against Max's forehead. "He couldn't kill us – that'd bring down too much heat from the Union – but he solved that issue by employing a private army of mercs. We have to do something before the rest of our team is wiped out."

  "I'm confused," Kort said. "How did the three of you escape?"

  "Through the kindness of strangers," Mayday answered. "An Ice Runner observed the increased military presence at the facility and somehow put two and two together. He tried to help, but there were too many of us to rescue all at once, and he certainly didn't come equipped to fight an entire army of mercs. So, the plan was for a few of us to get out, find help, and come back for the rest."

  Adam cleared his throat. "That's still the plan, but since Wils found out about our escape, he's had every merc and bounty hunter on this rock looking for us."

  "So, what is it that you want me to do?" Kort said.

  Horace slapped his palms against his head.

  "Does he talk much?" Kort said in hushed tone.

  "Horace . . . he's been through a lot," Mayday said. "More than most of us should ever have to."

  "We were supposed to have gone back for the others by now." Adam placed another log on the fire. "But we haven't heard from the Ice Runner in days."

  "We won't be able to cross the tundra without his aid," Mayday added.

  Kort licked his teeth. "You want me to find him?"

  Mayday exchanged glances with Adam. "We know it's a lot to ask – involving you in a fight that doesn't concern you – but we've exhausted our efforts. Finding you out there today was nothing short of kismet."

  Kort looked at Max. "Well, I don't know anything about miracles, but I do know that you helped me and the boy, and for that, I'm in your debt."

  "So . . . you'll help us?" Adam's eyes widened.

  "Let's just say that I owe Officer Wils a measure of payback myself, so if helping you hurts him, count me in," Kort said.

  Adam shook Kort's hand. "Thank you. You have our eternal gratitude."

  "Tonight we drink to the continued kindness of strangers," Mayday said. "Tomorrow we discuss the next steps."

  "To new friends." Kort raised a fist in the air.

  "And old." Mayday smiled, looking over Kort's shoulder.

  "Hello, I'm back." K1R-B entered the cave, his face obscured by a heavy load of firewood. "I was going to chop this outside, but did you know that your axe is missing? I'll just set it down – " K1R-B lowered the wood and saw Kort. It dropped the logs into a scattered pile and tackled Kort with a hug.

  "Good . . . to see . . . you, too . . . pal." Kort spluttered, crushed under K1R-B's weight.

  K1R-B got up. "I thought I might never see you again! Oh, what a glorious . . ." The droid noticed Max lying unconscious on a cot. " . . . day."

  "He'll be okay, Kirby," Kort said. "We're just going to let him rest a while."

  K1R-B nodded.

  "We found your droid traipsing through the forest," Mayday said. "It's not wise to be wandering on frost golem turf. They get cranky between meals."

  Kort observed steel plates of mismatching color grafted on to K1R-B's frame, covering the blaster damage. "Hey, and you fixed him up. Thank you."

  "All the credit goes to Horace on that," Adam said. "The guy's a real renaissance man."

  Kort bowed his head. "Much appreciated, Horace."

  Staring at his feet, a half-smile worked its way across Horace's face.

  11

  Fresh coffee brewed in a kettle above the fire. The blend filled the cave with the pleasing aroma of coffee bean and a hint of maple. Kort, Mayday, and Adam huddled around a round chunk of wood fashioned into a table. Mayday spread a hand-drawn map across the flat surface. Scrawled notes and icons marked points of interest in and around the mining facility.

  The level of detail she'd remembered impressed Kort. In addition to labeling entrances and guard posts, the map also documented distinguished landmarks around the facility. In particular, the presence of a nearby lumber yard caught Kort's attention.

  Kort pressed his finger against the map. "There. What can you tell me about this area?"

  "Before the discovery of rare minerals, Quaris used to be a logging planet," Mayday said. "There're remnants of its past all over the place."

  "So it's unmanned?"

  "As far as we know," Adam said. "It has a tower, which provides a pretty good vantage point."

  Kort rubbed his scruffy chin. "Probably safe to assume that it's guarded. What's the approach look like?"

  "Well, once the logging industry dried up, the trees sort of reclaimed the area." Mayday circled a blank area with her finger. "It's not dense like the forest we found your droid in, but it's secluded enough for a small group to pass through unnoticed."

  "Perfect," Kort said. "That's our best course of action. We’ll use the tree cover to get close, take out that guard post, then split into two groups and flank the facility."

  "You make it sound so easy," Mayday said. "There's still the small matter of getting across the tundra. You got a plan for that?"

  "Yeah," a male voice said. "We find the Ice Runner."

  The group turned to discover Max standing behind them. Max's coloring had returned to normal, and he didn't appear wobbly or weak. Kort held his hand to Max's forehead and cheeks, not detecting a trace of fever. He peeled back Max's collar and inspected the wound. A rosy, circular mark remained, but the swelling had subsided.

  Mayday got up and conducted her own assessment of Max's neck. She pressed on various points below the skull. "Any unusual pain or discomfort when I do this?"

  "It tickles a little bit," Max replied.

  Mayday smiled. "Well, to the best of my knowledge, there's no cure for that."

  "How are you feeling, Max?" Kort said.

  Max paused a moment to assess his current condition. Everything felt normal. Other than a sour, metallic taste on his tongue, nothing seemed out of sorts. He spit. "Did Kirby kiss me while I was out?"

  Kort laughed and hugged Max. "You had me so worried, kid. I'm glad to have you back."

  Max moved his gaze to Mayday. "Are you to thank for taking such good care of me?"

  "Well, not just me.” Mayday blushed. “Adam, here, did a lot of the heavy-lifting. Literally."

  Adam nodded.

  Max returned the gesture. "Thank you both for everything."

  "Don't mention it," Mayday said. "All in a day's work."

  "The anti-venom is strong stuff, but I've never se
en it work quite this fast before." Adam tucked his hair behind his ear. "You've got some strong genes."

  Kort patted Max's back.

  "Not to gloss over this happy occasion, but the boy's not wrong," Mayday said. "Our priority should be on locating the Ice Runner. The rest of our plan is moot if we can't cross the tundra."

  "Any idea how to find him?" Kort asked.

  Mayday frowned. "That's the question we've been asking ourselves for days. We've searched to the best of our abilities, but with all those mercs in Wils's pocket, it's not safe for us to stray far from camp."

  "Let us do it," Max said.

  "That's sweet, kiddo, but you're not back to a hundred percent yet." Mayday returned to the table. "No, we'll have to risk it. I'll go with Kort."

  "Now wait a minute," Adam protested. "Let's talk this through. If anyone should go with Kort, it’s me."

  "What sense does that make?" Mayday spread her arms. "I have more experience in covert operations."

  "Yes, but I've got more advanced combat training," Adam said.

  "Granted, but I've got medical training in case anything should happen out there," Mayday retorted.

  "Not going to argue, but look at me." Adam flexed his bulging biceps. "These babies are always in high demand."

  Mayday pointed to her temple. "I'll give you that, but don't forget who outscored you by a hundred and fifteen points on the Officer's Exam. We need brains as much as brawn for this mission."

  "Oh, my God." Adam smacked the table. "How long have you been waiting to bust out that nugget?"

  Mayday smirked.

  "Fine," Adam said. "You're smarter, but you wear contacts, and poor eyesight could hinder you on this mission."

  Mayday scowled. "I outrank you. End of discussion."

  Adam lowered his head and sulked.

  "Okay, it's decided," Kort said. "We should get a move on – "

  Max put his hand on Kort's shoulder. "Sorry, but I must insist that I go with my uncle."

  "No way, kid," Kort said. "You've only been conscious for a few minutes. You're staying put to rest, and that's final."