by M. D. Cooper
“Our ship is at your disposal, Major Harl. How can we help?”
Harl’s expression lightened, though only a touch. “That means a lot, Captain Rika. I’ve got a group in the mountains that I can’t get to. Some of the Niets dirtside have taken them hostage, making all sorts of wild demands. Right now we’re in triage mode, saving as many as fast as we can. We’d expend too many resources on that mission when we can save lives elsewhere…however, if you’d like to take a crack at them….”
“Major Harl,” Rika’s lips pulled back in a predatory smile. “You had me at ‘Niets’.”
“I thought that might do it,” Harl replied. “I’d heard you mechs have a special dislike for the bastards…something about them making you like that?”
Rika shook her head. “No, our people made us like this to kill Niets.”
“Shit…really? That’s…uh, nevermind. I’m sending you the coordinates and all the data we have. Keep me apprised.”
The comm system registered a data burst, and then the connection went dead.
“Cheerful fellow,” Chase muttered. “You sure about this, Rika? We could spend a month down there rescuing people, and from what you said, Tanis is going to send us all on our own special mission before long.”
Rika sighed, nodding slowly. “I know, but I can’t go on my own personal crusade while people are freezing to death around us. We’ll keep our eyes and ears peeled. We know that Patty docked on a station here, and there are no records of her leaving before the Niets showed up, which means she’s still around somewhere.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Chase replied as he rose. “Patty’s tough as nails. Proved that more than once.”
“Where you going?” Rika asked him, as Niki programmed a flight path that would take them down to the coordinates Major Harl had provided.
“Armor,” Chase said as he stretched, his tight shipsuit sliding across his muscled back. “Shipsuits are nice and comfy, but not much protection against the elements, or a Nietzschean beam rifle.”
“That’s why you’re my kind of guy.”
Chase leant over and kissed Rika on the top of her head before walking out of the cockpit. She watched him go, a happy smile on her lips.
Niki snorted.
“What? Who?” Rika asked aloud, her voice raised more than she intended.
Rika growled. “Not funny, Niki.”
“Do you need a nap, Niki? You seem surly.”
Rika watched the snow-covered surface of Hudson fill more and more of the forward view as they entered a polar course, passing over most of the debris that had gathered on the equatorial plane, as she considered Niki’s words.
“Well, I’m not biting it down there. Take more than the cold and a few Niets to take Rika down.”
“At least I’m not neurotic.”
* * * * *
The location Major Harl had provided was deep within a rugged mountain range just north of the planet’s fiftieth parallel. It was over five thousand kilometers from climes where temperatures rose above freezing, and was currently blanketed by a blizzard of epic proportions.
Even with its grav systems on max, the pinnace was buffeted by the winds, lurching through the skies as Niki brought it down toward their target, staying as far from the craggy peaks as she could.
“How is it that flying through a gas giant didn’t shove us around this much?” Rika asked, as the ship bucked again, straining her harness as she lurched to the left.
Rika would have commented on Niki’s attitude, but the shuttle slewed to the side, stopped, rolled, and then dropped a hundred meters in a heartbeat.
“Did you do that on purpose?” Rika asked, her tone guarded.
He only shrugged in response, but she could see by the way he was gripping his armrests that he was more than a little nervous.
She gave a meaningful glance to his armrest, and he lifted his hand to see that the plas was twisted.
The pinnace shook again and slewed to the side, and then the vibrations stopped.
“Can we talk again?” Rika asked cautiously.
“We’ll do our best,” Chase said, drawing in a deep breath and leaning his head back. “You didn’t get us killed, so I guess we owe you.”
“Last ping from the ISF said the storm is going to carry on for another twelve hours at least,” Rika said. “That’ll give us enough time to get in, scope the place out, and then kill all the Niets before it lets up. Then we get the hostages rounded up and head on out of there.”
Chase glanced behind them, down the pinnace’s single corridor. “They estimated thirty people down here. Think we can fit that many in the pinnace?”
“Worst case, we make two trips.”
“I hate making multiple trips. Maybe some of them can ride on the hull.”
Rika cast Chase a hard look, only to see him grinning at her. “You’ve recovered from your bout of nerves quickly, I see.”
“I never doubted Niki for a second.”
“OK, fine.” Chase’s eyes grew wide. “We came within three meters of a cliff face! That was nuts, and I’m totally within my rights to be freaked out by it.”
“I seem to remember you being rather tense as well, Niki,” Rika added.
Rika and Chase glanced at one another before speaking in unison, parroting Niki’s prior utterance. “Suuuuuuure.”
The AI didn’t respond as she set the pinnace down on a ledge in a narrow canyon that the winds had swept clear of snow. It was fifteen meters above the floor of the canyon, but the ship’s sensors showed that there was another forty meters of snow below, much of it only loosely packed.
“Stars, that’s like my worst nightmare,” Rika said as she peered over the edge of the ledge. “I’d sink right to the bottom.”
“Rika, come put this on.” Chase stood at the bottom of the ram
p, holding a white EV suit. He was already wearing one, his JE-84 slung over his right shoulder.
“Why?” Rika asked. “We won’t get cold; our armor can handle space, for stars’ sakes.”
“Have you ever fought in snow?” Chase asked as Rika approached.
“Umm…no, I guess not.”
“Well, you’re going to hate it. It gets everywhere. You may think your armor will keep you warm, but ice is going to get in all the nooks and crannies and bind things up where you least expect it.”
“You forget,” Rika said as her body disappeared from view. “I got the swanky flow armor upgrade. I’m coated in a non-stick surface.”
Chase snorted and gestured to her body. Rika looked down to see snow melting against her invisible form and running down her legs, freezing around her feet.
“Damn…that could be problematic.” She pulled her feet free of the ice forming around her and walked up the ramp, stomping her feet to knock the ice free. “I hate snow already.”
Chase tossed her the EV suit. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Five minutes later, with a-grav packs strapped to their thighs, they reached the canyon floor and began the slow five-kilometer hike to where the Niets were holding the hostages.
Every two hundred meters, Rika pounded a comm relay into the canyon wall, so that when the time came, Niki would be able to initiate a remote piloting routine and bring the pinnace to them.
The relays were rated for a longer distance, but she wasn’t going to take any chances, given the intensity of the storm.
While they walked, she reviewed their target. It was something called a ‘ski lodge’, nestled at the base of a series of mountain peaks that formed a near-complete bowl around it. From what she understood, people went to the tops of the mountains, strapped various things to their feet, and then slid down the slopes.
Why can’t they just planetdive like normal people?
The lodge itself consisted of several outbuildings for equipment and supplies, and one central structure that served as a hotel. The hotel contained a pool, several gathering areas, two restaurants, and rooms for two thousand visitors.
Luckily, the information the ISF had from before the Niets arrived showed that only a dozen guests had been at the lodge, in addition to the off-season staff.
Rika couldn’t imagine why the lodge had more than zero guests if the weather frequently got like this in the stormy season.
<’Trigger Ridge Resort’,> Chase read as they passed a sign anchored on the side of the canyon wall.
<’Trigger’, or ‘Resort’?> Rika asked.
Chase laughed.
Rika groused.
Rika assumed that they’d normally be greeted by an amazing view of towering peaks with the lodge nestled at their base, and crazy locals sliding down the slopes with boards strapped to their feet.
Granted, Rika considered. Most of the people doing that weigh a fraction of what I do. Maybe it’s not so nuts when you come in at less than seventy kilos.
Despite the vision in Rika’s mind, what they could actually see was little more than a white blur. Even with passive sensors—running active would be like telling the enemy to shoot them—they could barely make out the next ten meters.
Now that they were past the canyon’s confines, Rika didn’t want to give off any EM. With a hand signal to Chase, they moved out across the snowy expanse.
Hudson’s atmosphere was thick, and even up in the mountains, trees could reach twenty to thirty meters in height. Before long, it was clear they were moving up the central road by the shadowy shapes on either side of them.
It felt like they walked forever in silence, with only the howling wind to keep them company as they worked their way toward the lodge. Rika had decided that their sweep would start with the large equipment shed where the snow vehicles were stored. They’d disable them to prevent any Niets from escaping.
From there, they’d clear the smaller outbuildings before selecting the best location to breach the lodge itself. Though with passive scan, she wasn’t certain they’d be able to detect where the Nietzscheans were gathered—it would be a blind strike.
An hour later, Rika deemed that they were almost at the largest equipment shed, and, as if on cue, its dark, wooden walls materialized out of the storm. The pair worked their way around the building until they found a side door—though it was nearly buried in snow.
A few minutes of careful digging exposed enough of the door to pull it open. Rika looked at Chase and held up her three fingers, counting down before she snatched the door and pulled it wide.
It had been locked, but that didn’t matter; a second later, she was inside the structure, her GNR sweeping across the space in front of her.
Chase came through a second later, and pulled the door shut behind him.
The first thing that came to Rika’s attention was that it was warmer in the building than she’d expected—which meant the wooden walls were better insulated than their rustic exterior led her to believe.
Secondly, the interior was lit, albeit dimly.
The third was that she heard a cry of alarm—barely audible over the hum of equipment—from somewhere in the building.
Directly in front of them was one of the large vehicles that Rika had seen in the brochure. Emblazoned on its side were the words ‘Trigger Ridge Snow Express’. Given its paddle-like treads and skids on the front, she doubted that there was anything ‘express’ about the vehicle.
Chase pointed to the right, and Rika nodded before turning to the left.
Niki informed her.
Rika glanced up at the roof and gauged the building to be at least sixty meters deep.
She worked her way around the vehicle, only to see four more of what Niki had dubbed ‘snow crawlers’ lined up. The third one stood out from the line, in that its running lights were on.
After a moment’s consideration, Rika stepped back and pulled off her EV suit, glad to have the bulky clothing out of the way. She set her JE-84 on the ground—ensuring it was locked down—and activated the flow armor’s stealth system, walking as quietly as possible toward the running vehicle.
She peered inside and saw a Nietzschean soldier asleep in the operator’s seat, and a second one further back on one of the passenger benches.
She rounded the vehicle to see yet another Nietzschean leaning against the crawler, this one holding a pulse rifle and staring toward the rear of the equipment shed.
Rika crept up behind the man and nearly swore in disbelief. Behind the row of vehicles were at least fifty people, all huddled together for warmth.
Rika hated killing in cold blood, but it was
too risky not to. She had to ensure that the Nietzschean closest to her wouldn’t cry out and alert any others, or alarm the hostages.
She reached out, clamped her hand around the back of his neck, and twisted sharply. His spine snapped like a twig, and she leant him against the crawler, hoping he’d stay upright.
He slumped forward a bit, but didn’t topple, and though a few of the hostages looked up, none seemed alarmed. Perhaps he wasn’t the first guard to fall asleep on the job.
Rika glanced into the vehicle and decided to let sleeping dogs lie—for now. She walked to the back of the vehicle and saw another Niet. This one was glaring at the Thebans on the ground before him, patting his rifle from time to time.
Rika walked to his side and repeated the move she had used on the previous guard. Just then a scream came out from the far side of the building, and then a pulse rifle’s thump thump could be heard over the crawler’s engine and the building’s heaters.
Rika still held the guard at the back of the vehicle, but decided to let him slowly slip to the ground. Most of the Thebans were studiously not looking at the Nietzschean, but nearby, a young man frowned as Rika lowered the dead Niet.
“What the…” he whispered, and then his eyes went wide as Rika disabled the stealth armor around her head.
“How many?” she whispered.
The man’s mouth worked for a second, and then he seemed to understand what was happening.
“Seven,” he whispered.
A weapon’s report echoed through the building, and Rika rose to see the two guards in the vehicle come awake.
With surprising grace for two people who had just been asleep, they exited the crawler, rifles held ready. Like the other Niets, they were lightly armored, and Rika allowed herself to materialize fully as Chase reported that the seventh Niet was down.
