Polar Quest

by Alex Archer

  Garin shook his head. “No, you’re not supposed to die here. But maybe I am.”

  “Garin, if what you just told me is true, then if I leave now, I’ll be shirking that responsibility. I’ll be proving that I don’t have the courage to see this through to the end. And I might lose the sword. What would happen then?”

  “But if you die—”

  “I won’t,” Annja said. “Now, go.”

  Garin looked at her for another moment. “I’ll never forgive myself if you die in that mountain, Annja.”

  She smiled and then did something she never thought she would. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his lips. “You know, you’re pretty cool when you show that you actually care about someone other than yourself.”

  Garin looked shocked. “I don’t know what will happen to the sword if you die,” he said.

  Annja smiled. “I’ve got to go.”

  She turned and hurried back into the entrance before she thought twice about it. The last thing she wanted to do was run back toward the danger. Toward what might be her death.

  But she had no choice.

  She hurried down the tunnel passageway, back into the cavern.

  Hawk looked at her. “What kept you?”

  “We had to get everyone out.”

  “Everyone?”

  “We’re the only ones left,” she said.

  Hawk nodded. “I’m an eternal optimist. You made sure we’ve got a Sno-Cat, right?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He smiled. “All right. Let’s do this.”

  Annja knelt next to him. “You’ll have to explain to me exactly what I’m supposed to do.”

  Hawk used a pair of wire cutters to point out the wire in question. “This one is yours. Tony’s got that one, Don has the one next to it and I have this one here. That puppy is all yours.”

  The guy Hawk had called Tony cleared his throat. “Hawk, we’ve got another problem here.”

  Hawk looked up. “What now?”

  Tony held up two more wire cutters. “Only two left. And there are three that need cutting.”

  “Shit. None of you has a knife or something?”

  Don brought out a Swiss Army knife. “I’ve only got a blade on it and there’s no guarantee it would cut in time as the others were cut.”

  Hawk shook his head. “We can’t risk it.”

  Annja looked at him. “What does that mean?”

  “It means we get the hell out of here and put some distance between us and this mountain before this entire places goes up.”

  Annja frowned. There had to be another way. “Wait,” she said.

  Hawk turned back. “What?”

  “I’ve got something that can cut the wire.”

  “You do?”

  Annja nodded. “Yeah, but you guys won’t believe it. So I’m going to ask you to not ask any questions. Just accept the fact that I can cut the wire and let’s move on from there.”

  Hawk frowned. “Yeah, okay. No sweat.”

  Tony and Don nodded. “Let’s get it done,” Tony said. “I’ve got three minutes on the clock here. Time’s ticking down.”

  Annja raced into the tunnel out of the men’s field of vision. She closed her eyes and unsheathed the sword. As she rushed back into the cavern, she heard the sharp intakes of breath.

  “What the hell?” Tony said.

  Hawk pointed at her. “You said not to ask, but damn—”

  “No questions,” Annja said firmly.

  Hawk looked at Tony and Don and they simply shrugged. “Let’s get in position,” he said.

  Hawk backed off to allow Annja room to get in with the very point of her sword. He turned to her. “You absolutely positive that thing will cut?”

  “It’s razor sharp,” she said.

  “Okay,” Hawk said. “Positions.” He placed his wire cutters over his wire. Tony got his into position and Don did the same.

  Annja waited until they were set and then she carefully placed the tip of her sword next to her wire. “I’ll cut upward to sever it, just so you guys know which direction the blade will be moving.”

  “Thanks,” Hawk said. “It would suck to get beheaded right after we deactivated this thing.”

  Tony smirked. “Don’t make me laugh, man.”

  “You guys ready?” Hawk asked.

  Don and Tony nodded. Hawk looked at Annja. “Annja?”

  “I’m ready.”

  Hawk looked at the detonator clock. “One minute to go.”

  Tony took a breath. “What’s the count?”

  “On three,” Hawk said.

  Annja looked at him. “I always get confused by that. Do we do it one-two-three-cut or one-two-cut?”

  “One-two-cut,” Hawk said. He glanced around. “Clear?”

  “Clear,” everyone said in unison.

  Everyone took a breath and readied themselves. Annja looked at the tip of her sword. She closed her eyes. Please let this work, she thought to herself. These people don’t deserve to die.

  Hawk cleared his throat. “Here we go.”

  Annja tensed.

  “One.”

  Annja gripped the sword.

  “Two.”

  Annja took another breath.

  “Cut.”

  38

  Nothing happened.

  Hawk exhaled in a rush. “Tony, check the clock.”

  “It’s stopped.”

  Annja stepped away from the bomb. “Did we do it?”

  Hawk nodded. “Sure looks that way.”

  Don pointed. “Holy shit, was that close. Look at the clock.”

  Annja peered at the digital readout display and saw that there were eight seconds left on the countdown. “Oh, my God,” she said weakly.

  Hawk smiled. “Better early than late, I guess.” He looked at Annja. “Thanks for your help. And I’m sorry that no one believed you earlier about killing Colonel Thomson.”

  “Forget it. I’m just glad that we were able to stop the detonation.” Annja pointed at the piles of explosives. “But what happens now? Is it safe to just leave this stuff here?”

  Hawk frowned. “I didn’t even think about that. I mean, I suppose we could stay—”

  “No, you can’t. They stole the generator. That’s what this whole thing was about. There’s no power left in camp. No lights, no heat. You’d never survive out here,” Annja said.

  Hawk frowned. “I thought this whole mission was to uncover relics that might have been from another planet.”

  “That’s what we all thought,” Annja said. “But it was all a setup to get their hands on the latest technology from the government and then sell it on the black market to anyone with the right amount of cash.”

  “And there’d be plenty of people willing to play a lot of money for that, as well,” Tony said. “Non-nuclear powers in particular. Cripes, can you imagine what that would do? They’d have the ability to make more of them and become a nuclear power.”

  Annja nodded. “We know they’re on their way back to McMurdo. Major Braden is tracking them and we hope to stop them before they get away with it.”

  Hawk stood. “In that case, we’d better get going. I don’t think there’s much chance of someone coming by and stumbling on a huge cache of explosives, especially since the generator is gone.”

  Annja led the way. “There’s one Sno-Cat left. It won’t be comfortable, but it will get us all back to McMurdo.”

  Hawk nodded. “Well, let’s get back on the hunt for those guys. I don’t want to hear about some place like the Sudan getting their hands on a nuclear generator just because we were too busy defusing a bomb.”

  Annja led them out of the cavern and back up the tunnel. “You sure the explosives will be okay?”

  Hawk nodded. “As soon as we can get another team mounted, we’ll come back and retrieve them. That way, there won’t be any danger to anyone. But for now, I think the priority is getting back to McMurdo.”

  They walked back up the tunnel a
nd out of the shelter. Annja pointed at the Sno-Cat sitting by the parking area. Its engine was already idling and the wipers kept the snow from collecting on the windshield.

  Garin must have left it running, Annja thought. That was optimistic.

  Hawk and his men climbed in and then Annja climbed into the shotgun seat. As soon as she got the door closed, Hawk put the gear into Drive and the Sno-Cat ground its way out of the parking area. In no time, they were leaving the camp behind.

  Annja keyed the radio. “Major Braden, come in, please.”

  She heard nothing but static. Outside, the wind was blowing even harder, kicking up fearsome snow squalls and drifting snow.

  Hawk pointed. “Look at that storm. You may not get any kind of transmission right now.”

  “You think the other Sno-Cats are okay?” she asked.

  He nodded. “The GPS units will work regardless. They should be fine with finding their way back to McMurdo. It’s just a question of how long it will take us to get there. These things max out at about twenty-five miles per hour. And you can bet the bad guys are pushing the pedal to the metal right now.”

  “But,” Annja said, “they’re weighed down with the generator. There’s a chance we might overtake them. Or rather, Major Braden might overtake them.”

  “Possibly,” Hawk said. “I wouldn’t count on it, though. I think the best thing to do is get back and try to catch them before they leave McMurdo.”

  Snow pounded the windshield, and Hawk switched the wipers on to full force. “We’re driving right into the brunt of the storm now,” he said. “It’s going to be tough going from here on out.”

  Annja glanced back at Tony and Don. “Did you guys happen to bring any weapons with you?”

  Tony smiled. “What, like maybe large broadswords?”

  Annja frowned. “Funny.”

  Tony smiled. “We have pistols. That’s it.”

  “It’ll have to be enough,” Annja said. “You’re going to need them because these guys we’re going after are not going to play nice when we catch up with them.”

  “There’s something else,” Hawk said.

  “What?”

  “They may not be alone, either. They might have a whole bunch of friends there just waiting to help them smuggle that generator off the continent.”

  No one said anything for a moment.

  And then Annja cleared her throat. “We’ll have to take it as it comes. And if there are other people, we’ll have to deal with them, too.”

  39

  The Sno-Cat took another left turn. Annja watched the map on the screen and frowned. “Where are they going?” she asked.

  Hawk shook his head. “I thought you said they were heading straight for McMurdo.”

  Annja studied the map, trying to pick out a route and wondering how Zach intended to get the generator out of Antarctica. Going to McMurdo didn’t make sense. Her instincts were screaming that Zach had some other plan than the one he’d told her about. She tried to put herself in Zach’s mind. Where would he go? Could she figure it out? “Look at this. Is it possible to put a boat into shore here?” she asked after some time.

  Hawk peered closer. “Between Berkner Island and that cover?” He frowned. “I don’t know. I think there’s a huge ice sheet that makes that part of the coast completely blocked this time of year.”

  Annja looked closer. She felt sure she was on the right track. “Yes, but what if they traversed the ice sheet? Would it be strong enough yet to hold the weight they’re carrying?”

  “Theoretically. But it would still be a huge risk,” Hawk said.

  Annja nodded. “He’s already taking a giant risk doing what he’s doing. I don’t know how much he’d mind taking another.”

  “You think that’s his plan?”

  Annja thought about it. “I think he’ll traverse the ice sheet and rendezvous with a ship somewhere around here. If they can put in just offshore, they should be able to transport the generator and get in on board without anyone knowing about it.”

  Hawk sighed. “That’s a long haul. We’ll never make it unless we get some more fuel into our tank.”

  They drove in silence for some time as Annja formulated a plan. She glanced out of the windshield. Something about the area seemed familiar. She snapped her fingers. “Pull over there,” she suddenly told Hawk.

  “Huh?” Hawk looked at her. “Why are we stopping?”

  “Gas station,” she said as she zipped up her parka and hopped out. The wind tore at her, and she had to stoop low to avoid being swept off her feet. Snow and ice particles bit into her and pelted her parka from every angle.

  But there it was. It all made sense now.

  Just across the way, partially buried in the snow, was Zach’s original Sno-Cat. She knew she’d find some jerricans filled with fuel. Did he cause the snowslide for just this purpose? Luckily, it looked as if Zach had drastically overestimated the amount of gas he would need, and there was plenty left.

  Hawk jumped out to help her load up and they took a bunch more of the cans along, stowing them in the back of their vehicle. When they hopped back into the cab, the tanks were full and Annja felt a surge of confidence that they could catch up with Zach. She tried reaching Garin on the radio but still got nothing but static. At least if he got to McMurdo he could head off Zach if her instincts were steering them in the wrong direction.

  “He’ll be moving slower because of what they’re towing. We can catch up with him,” she said.

  Hawk gunned the engine. “Let’s see if you’re right.”

  ZACH STUDIED the GPS display and sighed. The worst part of this barren land was the incredible amount of time it took to get anywhere. The Sno-Cats lumbered along at a slow pace, and the miles between anything remotely civilized stretched like years.

  He checked his watch. Horlick Mountain should have exploded by now, reducing the entire area to a pile of rubble. He frowned. It really was too bad about Annja.

  He cared little about the soldiers he’d just killed. They were an acceptable amount of collateral damage. And it was a sacrifice for the greater good—his greater good.

  He tried to picture the reaction of the U.S. government. At first, they’d be horrified that there’d been a disaster of that scale down here. And not knowing right away what had happened to their precious generator, they’d have to assume it was also a casualty of the explosion. They’d send in nuclear-emergency specialists to try to contain the nuclear waste that would damage the environment.

  Eventually, they’d discover that the generator wasn’t there.

  And then they’d panic.

  Zach allowed himself a smile. The plan had been incredibly expensive and elaborate to produce, but it had worked. Since he’d first heard whispers about the generator, he’d spent nights lying awake thinking about how he could get his hands on it.

  Now, it was his. Soon he’d have wealth beyond belief.

  His radio crackled and Mitch broke the silence. “You okay back there?”

  Zach smiled and grabbed the microphone. “I’m fine. A little sleepy, but it’s been a long haul.”

  “Yeah. Hey, the explosives should have detonated by now, huh? I’m surprised we didn’t feel anything.”

  “I guess we got far enough away,” Zach said.

  “Sorry about your friend,” Mitch said insincerely.

  Zach chuckled. “Don’t be. Just the cost of doing business. And the money will help me forget all about her.”

  “I think it will help us all.”

  “Absolutely. Have you both settled on a country with no extradition policy to the United States?”

  “We were thinking about someplace nice and warm.”

  Zach understood that. After this jaunt, the last thing he ever wanted to see again was a snowflake. “Agreed. A beach resort with those fruity drinks and umbrellas?”

  “And chicks with thongs,” Mitch said.

  Zach laughed. “Another few hours and we’ll be on our way. We can cel
ebrate by cracking open a bottle of champagne. You made arrangements with the freighter to have some stocked, I assume?”

  “You know it,” Mitch said.

  “We’ll talk soon, then. We shouldn’t have more than fifty miles left to travel before we start seeing landmarks for it.” He disconnected and continued driving. The biggest danger had always been getting out intact. There’d been no way they could go back through McMurdo. Killing the marshal had been a simple ruse and he expected it would work flawlessly. Investigators would search for signs they’d gone back that way, when in reality, they’d done the opposite, traveling across the barren land that skirted the South Pole to drive toward a more isolated section of the coast.

  Once at their rendezvous area, they could stop, prepare for the meet and take a breath.

  Soon, he thought, as the Sno-Cat’s tracks churned through the snow and ice. Soon, I’ll be able to relax.

  ANNJA PEERED out of the windshield. The wind seemed to be dying down. Less snow pelted the windshield and the outside-temperature gauge was rising.

  “Is it getting warmer outside?” she asked.

  Hawk looked at the gauge. “Seems to be. Weird, huh? You can never tell what it will be like down here.”

  “It’s still freaking cold,” Tony said. “That’s a constant.”

  Annja smiled. “Yes, it’s still cold, but the storm seems to be dying. And that’s a good thing.”

  “We might make better time, huh?” Tony said.

  “Yes,” Annja agreed. “Zach should be surprised when we show up. And we’ll need every advantage we can get.”

  Don leaned in from the backseat. “How many guys do you think Zach will have with him?”

  “I don’t know. We know he already has two with him. I suppose it depends on what he has planned and how close they can get to the coast.”

  Hawk glanced at her. “You’re convinced it’s a ship, right?”

  “How could it be anything else this time of year?” she asked.

  “Yeah, you’re right. I just had a strange feeling, that’s all.”

  Annja nodded. “I’ve had a few of those.”