“I’ll be coming with you, Rogers,” Hyde informed him. “Is that a problem too?”
Matt forced another smile. “Not at all.”
“Good,” Hyde said and started for Matt’s copter.
Each of the two copters could easily carry around three dozen people. There was plenty of room left even with the small squads of Hyde’s men that loaded into them. Honestly, Matt didn’t know what to expect out there. The Hercules was designed for rough landings. If whatever brought her down left her pilot in control during her descent, there could be a lot of survivors. If she’d broken up as she came down though or there had been an explosion onboard, well, that was another matter.
Hyde and three of his men settled into the copter’s rear while Matt took the pilot seat. Lorie was already running the pre-flight checks. She paused and looked over at him.
“What’s Hyde’s problem?” she asked.
“I think he’s scared,” Matt answered.
“Hyde? Scared? That would be a first. What could possibly scare him?” Lorie gawked at him as Matt started helping her with the last of the system checks.
“Colonel Dyvang,” Matt told her.
“Oh …” Lorie said.
“Ready?” Matt asked, nodding toward the sea of white that stretched as far as the eye could see.
“As I’ll ever be,” Lorie replied, grinning.
The copter rose from its landing pad, lifting into the air at an angle. Valerie and Hawkes’ bird followed after it.
“Alpha one, this Alpha two,” Hawkes’ voice rang out in both his and Lorie’s headsets. “We’ll meet you back at base in three.”
“Roger that,” Matt confirmed. “You be careful out there. That storm from the south is rolling in fast.”
“You too, sir,” came Valerie’s voice through the headset.
Their copter swerved away from Matt’s, veering off toward the northern section of Grid Eight. Matt kept his bird on course of the grid’s southern section. Matt had noticed the static in the transmissions between the two copters even at this range. He figured that within minutes, they would be entirely on their own. He didn’t like it but it was what it was. The major knew exactly where they were headed and knew too they were slated to return in three hours. Those facts brought him some degree of comfort.
“This interference we’re dealing with …” Lorie said. “It’s messing with our nav. and some of the other sensor gear. We’re not going to be able to use any of the instruments in finding the Hercules.”
“Then I guess we’re going to be doing this the hard way,” Matt said, chuckling.
Lorie stared at him.
“Oh come on.” He really laughed now. “I’m talking about the Mark I eyeball!”
“I hope that God broke the particular mold he used to make you, Matt. I really do. I don’t think the world could handle anyone else with a humor as corny and sad as yours,” Lorie said.
“You’re just jealous,” Matt said to her, smiling.
Lorie groaned. “We’ll be coming up on Grid Eight in about five minutes.”
Matt nodded to confirm that he had heard her. “You just keep an eye on the approach of that storm for us. Got it?”
“You can count on that, sir,” Lorie assured him.
****
A cold wind blew over Lee, stirring him toward consciousness. He didn’t want to wake up. In his dream, he had just won the lottery and was shopping like mad. Everything he had ever wanted but had been unable to afford on soldier’s pay was on the verge of being his. Another blast of frigid air struck him and Lee woke up gasping. His eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at the far wall of the Hercules’ rear section. He was still strapped into his seat, his harness holding him in place. The dim, red glow of the plane’s emergency lights lit the compartment. Harry was sitting right across from him, only Harry was dead. The plane’s hull had bent inward behind him and crushed him against the harness meant to save his life. Harry’s head hung slumped downward on top of his chest and blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.
Lee became aware of the voices around him. People were shouting and moving about inside the compartment. Colonel Dyvang paused directly in front of his seat. “This one’s alive! Somebody get over here and check him out!”
The colonel moved on as Jim appeared before him and unsnapped the straps of his harness. Lee felt pain in his ribs as they came free. It didn’t feel like anything worse than bruising though.
“You okay?” Jim asked him.
“I think I’ll live,” Lee answered weakly. “What in the devil happened?”
“Engine failure,” Jim told him. “They went out and we hit the ground pretty hard.”
“I’d say,” Lee agreed as he looked to see that the plane’s rear door had been dislodged from its normal position and was cocked partially open. He knew at once that was where the cold wind was coming from.
“We’ve got 12 dead, including both pilots,” Jim said. “More than that wounded.”
“The colonel seems fine,” Lee joked.
Jim snorted. “Yeah, he’s a pretty tough bastard to kill.”
Lee noticed Jim looking him over beyond just checking for injuries. “You’re one of the newbies, aren’t you?”
Lee nodded. “I just got transferred right before we took off for Antarctica.”
“I’m Jim,” the medic said, getting to his feet, apparently having decided that he wasn’t hurt bad enough to require treatment.
“I know who you are,” Lee said. “I make a point of learning the medic’s name right after the COs.”
Jim didn’t respond. He had moved on to help the next closest of the wounded.
“Hey, you!” Sergeant Lopez shouted at him. “Get over here. I need help with this!”
The sergeant was desperately trying to force the rear door of the transport the rest of the way open. Lee wondered if that was really a good idea but kept his mouth shut. He hurried over to Lopez’s side and put his hands on the partially open door to where he could help push against it.
“On three …” Sergeant Lopez ordered Lee and the other soldier who were assisting him. “One … Two … Three!”
The men heaved against the door. There was sharp cracking noise and it toppled outward. Lee nearly lost his balance as the door gave way but managed to grab onto the wall and steady himself.
Outside the plane, there was only white. Lee could tell it was still daytime but that was about it. Snow blew about in waves on the wind. From the look of things, they had crashed in the heart of a raging blizzard.
“Frag me, that wind is cold!” the other soldier grumbled.
The transport’s broken door was open now though, and there was no easy way of putting it back into place. If the sergeant had hoped to escape the plane, he was crap out of luck. Anyone that went out into the mess outside was sure to freeze to death long before they reached Zulu Base. Lee found himself desperately hoping that the colonel had a plan. If he didn’t, they were all totally screwed. It was likely too much to hope that the transport’s comm. was intact and functional, though at least for now its heat was still working, along with the emergency lights.
When the post-crash chaos settled, the survivors gathered where the colonel could talk to them all at once. Colonel Dyvang was scowling, but that was normal for him.
“Okay, boys,” the colonel started, getting everyone’s attention. “As you may have noticed … we’ve had a bit of an accident. My best guess puts us about 150 miles out from our intended destination. We’re at the very edge of the base’s long-range perimeter. If I recall correctly though, they have observation cams out here, so there’s a fair chance they know exactly where we are.”
Colonel Dyvang paused a moment before continuing. “The Hercules stayed together on impact so we’ve got heat and shelter for the time being. Supplies too. We’re not in any danger out here. All we have to do is hang on until help comes for us,” Colonel Dyvang said, trying to be reassuring.
The
man sucked at it, in Lee’s opinion. The colonel didn’t tell him anything that he hadn’t already figured out on his own. And the colonel had carefully omitted that some of the wounded likely wouldn’t make it until help arrived if it was a while in coming.
“We could just sit here and everything would be fine,” Colonel Dyvang started up again as if he had read Lee’s mind. “And some of us will be doing just that but not all of us though. Both of the new Snow Beasts survived the crash intact. We’re going to load the worst of the wounded onto them and send them out. Despite whatever the hell is messing with their nav. systems, we’ve got a pretty solid idea of where Zulu Base is in relation to our position. The Snow Beasts will be hauling butt for Zulu Base as soon as we can get them off this wreck and loaded up.”
Now that was a great idea, Lee had to admit. Having the Snow Beasts on the move not only got the wounded already in transit to Zulu but put them out there in the sea of white where they could be seen by any search-and-rescue birds that might be hunting for the Hercules.
Lee was certified to drive the Snow Beasts so he knew he would be among the teams picked to take them out. The only others left alive who had training on the vehicles were the colonel himself and another soldier named Kurt.
With the colonel’s “speech” over with, it was time to get to work.
****
Hawkes slammed a fist against the window next to him in frustration. They’d arrived at the northern part of Grid Eight nearly half an hour ago. With the strange interference still messing with the bird’s nav. and sensors, their only means of attempting to locate the downed Hercules was by line of sight. Not an easy thing to do if the snow had covered it. The storm from the south had come raging in out of nowhere like a hurricane. He knew if they didn’t get the hell out of it and head back to Zulu Base soon, they would be just as screwed as those aboard the Hercules likely were. The temperature was dropping as the storm blotted out the sun and nightfall drew ever closer. If the plane had broken up as it went down, the odds of anyone surviving decreased with each passing hour.
“We need to head back,” Valerie said. “This storm is getting worse every minute.”
With a frown, Hawkes looked over at her. “I know, okay? Just another minute or two. We need to find that plane if we can.”
“It’s not going to do anyone any good if we end up crashing out here too,” Valerie argued. “And the nav. system … We’re basically flying blind as is.”
“Fine,” Hawkes relented and the copter came about in the air. As it did so, its engines sputtered.
“Frag!” Valerie screamed. “The engines are trying to lock up. It’s all the snow. It must be getting into them. It’s got to be melting and refreezing!”
“That’s just bloody great,” Hawkes raged.
“Forget what I said about heading back,” Valerie told him. “We need to find a spot to set down.”
“On it!” Hawkes answered her. He scanned the horizon as best he could through the snow storm. “We’ll set her down by that ridge up ahead.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Valerie managed a smile as she did what she could to keep the bird’s engines from failing. The copter had several systems designed to deal with this sort of thing, but she didn’t trust them to fix the problem completely. If they could, they would have done so already.
Hawkes brought the copter in slowly toward the spot he had picked. He brought her down easy onto the snow. No sooner he had gotten her landed than the CO of the squad of soldiers in the copter’s rear came rushing forward to the doorway of the pilot’s compartment.
Before the soldier could even ask what was going on, Hawkes said, “The engines were freezing up and we were taking a heck of a beating from the storm. We’ve had to set down for the time being.”
“No other choice, huh?” the soldier asked.
Valerie shook her head. “It was either this or running the risk of a crash ourselves.”
“So what do we do now?” the soldier asked, looking from her to Hawkes.
“We wait,” Hawkes answered simply.
“And be grateful this bird has a heating system,” Valerie added, smirking at the soldier.
“Roger that,” the soldier said. “We’ll be in the rear if you need us for anything.”
“Thanks,” Hawkes said. “Might as well make yourselves comfortable. We’re likely going to be here for a pretty good while.”
“We’re soldiers, sir,” the squad CO told him. “We’re really good at waiting.”
When he was gone, Hawkes shot a glance at Valerie as he ran a system check on the copter’s engines. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you sooner about heading back. If I had, we might not be in this mess.”
Valerie shrugged. “We’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
“You didn’t happen to bring a pack of cards, did you?” Hawkes asked, chuckling.
“No, I didn’t, sir,” Valerie replied with a laugh. “I guess we’re just going to have to enjoy watching the snow come down and hope it doesn’t bury us.”
“Now that’s a cheerful thought,” Hawkes teased her.
Hawkes shifted in the copter’s pilot seat, getting comfortable to where he could watch the snow outside. As he did so, something moved out in the blowing waves of white. Whatever it was, it was big. It was there and then it was gone.
“Did you see that?” Hawkes asked.
“See what?” Valerie stared at him as if she thought he was joking and she was waiting for him to drop the punchline on her.
“I’m serious,” Hawkes said. “I saw something moving about out there in the storm.”
“You’re messing with me.” Valerie shook her head. “You might as well stop because it’s not going to work.”
“No, really. I saw something huge out there but it disappeared in the snow,” Hawkes assured her. “You think it could have been a polar bear maybe?”
“Dang it, Hawkes,” Valerie snapped at him. “I said stop it. There aren’t any bears on Antarctica. That’s just crap you read in fiction.”
“Well, I saw something,” Hawkes told her again.
“Sure you did.” Valerie was ticked off now and done with him. She looked away from him, turning her face toward the window to her right. As she did so, her eyes looked directly into the yellow, almost glowing eyes of something outside the copter on the other side of the window. Valerie had no time to scream before the thing’s hand shattered the glass of the window as it came plunging into the copter at her.
Hawkes heard the sickening snap of breaking bone as the massive, white, clawed hand closed about Valerie’s neck. With a jerk, it yanked her up from her seat and through the shattered window. Her body flopped over the edge of the window, disappearing below it. Hawkes could only see a vague outline of her attacker. The creature was covered in white fur that made it blend in almost seamlessly with the falling snow. He could see the blazing orbs of its yellow eyes very clearly though. They were filled with a primal rage and hunger. Hawkes heard someone screaming at the top of their lungs. It took him a second to realize that it was his own voice that he was hearing.
John, the CO of the squad of soldiers in the copter’s rear, came running into the pilot compartment, his rifle held at the ready. He took one look at the thing outside the copter through the shattered window and opened fire at it. His rifle chattered as John fired several three-round bursts at the monster. The monster vanished from sight. Whether John had hit it and the monster had fallen or it had run off into the snow, likely dragging Valerie’s corpse with it, was impossible to tell.
“What the frag was that thing?” John rasped, keeping his rifle aimed at the window.
Hawkes wanted to answer him but couldn’t. He was frozen by shock and fear.
“Sir!” one of the soldiers in the rear cried out as something smashed into the side door of the copter. It was closed up and locked tight against the weather. Its metal was dented inward by whatever struck it.
John took control of the situation. �
��Get on the radio and let Zulu know we’re under attack!” he shouted at Hawkes.
The pounding on the copter’s side door continued. All of John’s men were out of their seats with their rifles in hand. One of them shouted, “What the hell is going on?”
John turned where he stood to look back into the copter’s rear compartment. That was a mistake. Hawkes finally broke his silence, screaming a warning at John as the pilot threw himself out of his seat and away from the copter’s forward window. The white form leaping toward it struck the window, smashing into a shower of glass that exploded into the pilot’s compartment. Several of the shards peppered John’s skin, cutting into the exposed flesh of his face, neck, and hands. John whirled about, bringing the barrel of his rifle around at the monster that now sat like an ape in the forward window. It roared at him with a voice like rolling thunder. Its yellow eyes burned as its lips parted in a feral snarl. Squeezing the trigger of his M-16, John put a three-round burst into the thing’s chest. The bullets drew blood splashing red onto the white fur of the creature’s chest but didn’t do much more. It was as if they couldn’t fully penetrate the thick muscles that rippled beneath the monster’s fur. The monster hurled itself at John. He ducked out of its path, leaping into the copter’s rear section. Letting loose another roar of pure rage, the monster followed after him.
One of John’s men moved to intercept it, his M-16 firing into the monster at point-blank range. His shots dug a ragged hole in the monster’s side, spraying blood onto the copter’s wall. With a back-handed blow, the monster took off the soldier’s head. His headless corpse flopped to the floor as those behind him opened fire at the monster, and John threw himself down out of their line of fire. Bullets riddled the monster’s body with holes that leaked red. The beast thrashed about beneath the onslaught, shaking the entire copter. Hawkes was watching all of it where he had drawn his body crouched up against the underside of the copter’s control console in the pilot compartment. It took every ounce of his will not to scream as another monster came leaping through the shattered forward window. It landed only a few feet from where Hawkes sat and charged directly for the copter’s rear. Wounded, the first monster stumbled out of its path as it came.
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