Trial by Ice (A Star Too Far Book 1) Read online

  William looked at the weapons. “Send a man over, get your share of the rations. You’re on your own.”

  Grue began to speak but Berry raised a hand and silenced him. “There’s only one reactor and one purifier. Which do we get?”

  “Neither. You can pump all you want and fill up whatever you bring.”

  Berry shifted his feet. “One or the other, I either want that reactor or I want the purifier.”

  “No. You made a choice to leave. Now you’re dealing with the consequences.”

  Silence hung heavily. Waves broke slowly near the shore. With each receding wave the boat creaked. William kept his eyes on Berry, who was looking into nothing. Grue stared at the four men before him.

  “I want a share of the patches left too, and a chance to go through the supplies you’ve recovered,” Berry finally said.

  “Bullshit,” Leduc spat. “Pick your own gear.”

  The tension rose as everyone unconsciously reacted, rocking onto toes and preparing to move. William realized he didn’t have a gun anymore. Little use it would be if the shooting began.

  William raised his hand. “Done.”

  “What?” Leduc turned at a quartering angle to the group.

  “Are we done?” Berry asked.

  “Come get your rations, then we’re done,” William replied. He held Berry’s gaze for a moment and turned. He hobbled slowly through his men back towards the camp.

  The other three waited a moment and backed up, keeping themselves faced at the tent. Berry laughed and blew them an arrogant kiss. Grue stumbled backwards and caught himself before entering the tent.

  William hobbled and kept his head down. Maybe he should have shot them. He deflected the argument from Leduc on the way back—the others kept silent. He had avoided a shootout and would be rid of them soon enough.

  “That’s it?” William asked as he stood next to Crow and looked over the rations.

  Selim squatted nearby and nodded sadly.

  “That’s it,” Crow stated.

  A small sealed case sat apart from the rest. The ration bar pile was looking alarmingly thin. And now he was going to give away a quarter of them. Vito dropped a pile of the nanite patches near the case.

  Berry came with Grue and Nur. James sat outside the tent with an assault rifle on his lap. Nur grabbed the case of ration bars and the patches and lugged it back to the tent. Berry slowly poked through the pile of wreckage without comment. Grue whispered at him but Berry waved him off.

  “We’ll pump in the morning,” Berry said.

  The pair turned and walked away. All the eyes in the loyalist camp watched them trudge back.

  Crow stood and walked next to William. “I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t like it either, but we’ll be done with them soon,” William replied.

  Crow opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it.

  William saw it. “What?”

  “Hmm, we’ll see.”

  * * *

  Two days. In two days they had stripped half the shelter and rigged it into a sail. The meager pile of supplies stayed close to Crow, while nonessential gear was lashed to the boat. The night before, the reactor was hoisted into place and the wires ran to the purifier and both sets of heating coils.

  Berry had been seen with James working on the smaller boat but the progress seemed stilted. William had thought of going over and telling them they were leaving but decided against it. Instead he went back inside the torn tent. He laid down inside a damp sleeping bag and tried to sleep.

  Gunfire racked him awake from a dreamless sleep. The rapid fire burst of an assault rifle lit up one wall of the shelter. A man screamed in pain with a sound like a beaten animal.

  William rolled onto his side in the darkness and fumbled to get his bearings.

  “Move! Spread out!” Selim hissed as he dashed through the room and ran outside.

  Men rushed past William and spread out the door. He realized the imperative was to get out and into cover. The tent was a death trap, one grenade and boom, they were done. He crawled outside without his crutch. After the previous meeting, he had remembered the pistol. It was tucked into his jacket.

  “Get down dammit, get over here,” Avi whispered to William.

  William crawled towards Avi’s voice. Hands grabbed him and pulled him behind a frost-coated rock.

  Firearms opened up around him. He pulled the pistol out and clutched it to his chest. “Who is it?”

  “Gotta be Berry,” Avi said.

  William felt dread and relief wash over him. He feared they were under attack from the mainland. They could handle Berry. Aleksandr’s words came back to him. Maybe they should have shot them.

  “Stay behind me, we’re moving,” Avi hissed as he crawled forward.

  The whole area was quiet. There was only the sound of waves sliding against the rocks. William crawled forward, listening for the sound of Avi moving in front of him. How the hell could the Marine see? A slight mist began to fall that grew into a steady rain.

  Sebastien bellowed out, “Move! They got the boat!”

  William cursed and tried to stand. His leg rebelled painfully as the muscles were stiff. He could hear Avi rush forward. Gunfire erupted in front of him. The muzzles flashed towards the waves and darkness. Only the sound of the rain came to him. He was soaked and staring into darkness.

  “They got the boat,” Selim said, walking past.

  William couldn’t see anything in the darkness. He shook his head and felt the droplets of icy water run down into his jacket. He felt helpless. “I can’t see.”

  Selim grasped him by the elbow and helped him back to the stripped tent. Once inside, the lightstrip gave off enough light to reveal a slim pair of glasses on Selim’s face. The water beaded up and ran off before it could even puddle up.

  Men streamed inside.

  “Set a watch.” Sebastien pointed at Kerry and Kwesi. The two privates walked back into the rain.

  “Did we lose anyone? Is anyone hurt?” William asked.

  “No, we’ve got a headcount. Crow caught them coming in.” Sebastien slid his glasses off and ran his hand down his face, wiping the water off him.

  Crow walked into the room with his head held low. In his right hand was the purifier. He lugged it a step further in and set it down. “They’re going to get thirsty.”

  “How?” William asked.

  Crow shrugged. “A hunch.”

  “Crow?”

  “Yes?”

  “Next time I’d appreciate it if you share your hunches.”

  Crow nodded and sat on top of the purifier. “They went to the boat first. I heard them come up from the shore. I thought they’d come at us from the north. I hit someone, and then they fell back.”

  “I hope it was that arrogant ass,” Vito spat out as he slid down next to William.

  * * *

  The swells pitched and rolled the boat as the wind shrieked through the electrical cable ropes. The sound of gunfire had died away and now only the wails of a man, shot in the stomach, carried. They sat huddled and soaked, peering back to where they came.

  “He’s going to die,” Berry said. He wiped water from his face and looked around the sea. There was nothing visible but the heaving swells. He took off the night vision glasses and tucked them into his jacket.

  Grue shook his head and clutched at the rigging. The lines were intertwined with his legs and arms. He moaned with every swell. “Give him a patch.”

  “Just give him one, he’s gonna pull through,” James said. He had wedged himself into the space between two struts.

  Berry listened to Nur howl. The bullet had passed through his abdomen. It was the sort of wound that you didn’t get better from, even if the bleeding stopped. He’d be damned if he was going to waste one of the patches on him.

  “Just one, just give him one,” Grue pleaded through clenched teeth.

  Nur howled as the boat dropped into a swell. Every shift and motion brought more
livid howls.

  Berry felt his way along a line and crouched next to Nur. He slid out a patch from his jacket and paused with it. It was so dark that he couldn’t see the tip of his nose. The man below him was a dead man, he just hadn’t died yet. “He’s not going to make it.”

  “What are you going to do?” Grue asked.

  “Get over here,” Berry called.

  “I can’t see,” Grue replied. His voice was a squeak.

  “Follow the fucking lines,” Berry yelled back.

  James crawled up next to Berry. Grue whimpered with each swell.

  “Roll him, we’re gonna roll him,” Berry said.

  James worked his way down to Nur’s feet. Berry pushed on the shoulder and fought to roll him over. The muscles were taut under his hands. “Get behind his legs. Push!”

  The pair scrambled to push the curled form forward into the darkness. The wails turned into screams. Frantic fingers latched onto whatever could be held. The storm grew and the three men wrestled.

  “Don’t!” Grue pleaded.

  “Push, dammit!” Berry yelled as they neared the edge. A taut lifeline flexed and buzzed with the rise of each wave. He pushed the shoulders and head underneath the lines.

  Nur thrashed against his fate and in a swift blow knocked James off his feet and into the water below. The inertia turned Nur’s body and he slid headfirst into the water. The screams stopped.

  “Is it done? Is it done?” Grue asked from across the boat.

  Berry looked out into the dark. Rain pelted his cheeks. “It’s done.”

  The darkness swallowed the boat. It was at the mercy of the winds.

  * * *

  The tent that Berry and his crew had stayed in was gone. A bare spot in the rocks showed where the boat had lain. The other, smaller boat still lay on the shore.

  William stood on the crutch and looked out to the sea. Nothing. He cursed his stupidity. He had laid awake through most of the night replaying the day’s events. He should have set a simple watch, one man, and that was all it would have taken. Gravel crunched and he turned.

  Aleksandr stood and looked out to the sea. “We should have shot them,” he said in his slow Russian drawl.

  William turned back to the sea and looked down the shore. The smaller boat sat like a worn out mule. It lacked a single square edge. Every wave made it wriggle and move in a fluid motion. The cords holding it together had already stretched. They needed to weld. To weld they needed a reactor.

  William found Eduardo sitting next to Von Hess.

  “Eduardo, where did you get the reactor?”

  “Eh? Well, I stripped it out of one of the striders.”

  Selim walked up with Xan and stood silently to the side.

  “Is there more?” William asked.

  Eduardo hunched forward and ran his hand through his greasy hair. He looked at Von Hess who returned a simple shrug. “Maybe. It looked rough last time we were there. That harrier smucked it good, eh?”

  William nodded and thought. Two days. No, four days. Two each way. He looked at the men around him. Everyone moved slower and was sluggish—well, everyone except Leduc and Sebastien, but everyone had a breaking point, even those two.

  Selim spoke up. “It’s going to take a few days. The boat isn’t big enough.”

  Xan nodded. “We can try lashing, but it’s not holding up well. The cable is stretching.”

  “I thought it was looking rather floppy,” Eduardo said.

  “Eduardo, are you in any condition to make a trip back to the striders?”

  “Alone?”

  “No, we’ll send a squad,” William replied.

  Eduardo nodded and looked tense. “Yes, I will try.”

  William thought for a moment and realized he couldn’t go. His leg was too weak. He could hardly walk a few hundred yards without the muscles cramping and rebelling. He would be ordering men north, back to the snow and ice, to recover something that shouldn’t have been lost to begin with. Men might die because of his stupidity.

  “Selim, who’s in good enough shape to go with Eduardo?” William asked.

  “I will go. Maybe Sebastien, or Leduc, Aleksandr, Avi, hmm, Crow too.”

  “Leduc and Avi, too. Take whatever supplies you need, full rations,” William said.

  Selim nodded. “Tent?”

  “I’m open to ideas.”

  The group stood in silence for a moment before William finally walked away. Selim could handle it, he had no interest in saddling him with bad advice. The NCO knew more about moving overland than he did, but he worried.

  He found Crow squatting near the shore.

  Crow rocked back on his haunches and nodded to William. “Someone was hit about here. There was some blood under the gravel.”

  William watched him. Crow was like a hunter following a trail as he squatted low and poked at various rocks. William followed behind as he silently pointed out details and moved towards the water.

  “About here they stopped.” Crow pointed to a large boulder with red algae on the back side.

  “Then?” William asked.

  Crow stood and gestured out to sea.

  “How do you know?”

  Crow smiled slightly and rested his back against the boulder. “I would have done the same if I were in his shoes.”

  “Selim, Leduc and Avi are going out with Eduardo for another reactor.”

  Crow nodded.

  “Because I fucked up.”

  “Follow back far enough and you could blame Jesus,” Crow said.

  “Who?”

  “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

  William turned and started to walk away.

  “Someone’s got to take the blame, someone has to lead the way, someone has to fuck up.”

  “But people might die.”

  “That’s our business, people always die.” Crow turned and walked a few steps down the rocky beach. “Your job is to keep that count as low as possible.”

  “And what’s yours?”

  “To help you in your goal.” Crow turned, smiling. “And to shoot the other people.”

  William smiled and turned away.

  * * *

  The tent was slit once more and stitched with an electrical cord. The piece that remained near the shore was propped up with bent tubing while the piece heading north still had the inflatable rib to give it form. A single sled was loaded and lashed. Tense conversation preceded a brief goodbye. Everyone stood in the cool wind and watched them pull north.

  They stood and watched as Selim led them over the rise. One of them turned, too far away to distinguish, and gave a wave before disappearing. The crew on the shore stood for a moment before returning to the task before them.

  William found the other boat to be a poorly designed and ramshackle affair. He doubted Berry had ever intended on launching it. The electrical cord had in some places only been wrapped and not lashed. It was not big enough and that was the first obstacle.

  The earlier scouring had found the low hanging fruit, the easy stuff, the close stuff. Now they had to range farther and search harder for less. The pace that they ranged was slow and ponderous. The calorie deficit was particularly difficult.

  Kwesi found a pair of oxygen tanks that required the entire crew to toil back. Even Sebastien, with his augmentation, was sluggish. They had turned from the masters of the stars to plowman without a crop, forever tilling salted soil.

  The pile of salvage slowly grew. Von Hess had an eye for organization and broke down each recovery into what was useful. Tik wrapped strands of wire into a coarse rope. An occasional odd item would sit out of the organized areas. A carbon fiber barber chair. The door from an oven with a smiley face sticker on it. Goggles from a microscope. And the favorite of the locals: a poster warning against venereal diseases.

  On the fourth day, William walked slowly, though faster than before, with Sebastien and Vito up to the rise. They had made as much progress as they could without a power source for more ar
c welding. Now they needed a reactor.

  As soon as they crested the rise, the wind attacked. Just the slight elevation gain was enough to focus it. It was humid and soaked them right through their coats. The color of their clothing was now an off shade of brown and red.

  They squinted and huddled behind a potato-shaped boulder. They could see to the south and watched the sea while sneaking glances north. Nothing came but the wind.

  The following day they did the same. And the day after that. Seven days was the cut off. If they hadn’t returned by then, the remaining group would begin lashing the boat together as best they could.

  They huddled once more behind the mist soaked potato and watched the rain fall in sheets over the sea. Below them, eyes gazed upwards. They waited ‘til the end of the day and trudged downwards in the waning light.

  * * *

  The following morning they sat around the dwindling pile of ration bars and ate in silence. William had slept, as best he could, with an aching leg. The mist had crept in through the night and they were all cold and wet.

  “At least it’s not the Hun,” Sebastien said absentmindedly.

  “You fought the Hun?” Kwesi asked in awe.

  Sebastien nodded. “Before the last treaty, they hit Ebony and we came down into the streets. Never thought they’d shell the town. But they did.” He tapped his left shoulder. “Got a left shoulder, lung, and alloy spine on that adventure.”

  Kwesi wasn’t the only one staring. Augments were rare. With the advent of more effective killing machines came the rise of more effective medical treatment. Coupled with advanced hospitals in orbit, there was a plethora of maimed battle-hardened soldiers. The Covenant would not allow for unwilling cyborgs, but men missing limbs were willing indeed.

  “They’re not actually Hun,” Vito said.

  “How do you know?” Kwesi asked.

  “The Hun attacked the Roman Empire, I assure you, these are not the same people. They are Chinese, Burmese, Indo, some Phillipino. Chinese couldn't lift ‘em fast enough on the elevators to ease the pressure.”