Trial by Ice (10 page)

“What do they want?” William asked.

“They want to talk to you about it,” Vito replied.

“But I’ve been unconscious for what, two weeks?”

“Exactly,” Crow said.

“I’m not walking into that mess just yet,” William said. He needed to get a crutch and think for a bit.

* * *

The trio slowly moved down the beach to the large shape of the boat. It was tied down with heavy conducting cable and rested on a set of metallic tubing. Xinhu was looking away while a pure white light danced behind. Sebastien dropped a handful of black rods on the ground and walked back onto the rise.

“How are we welding?” William asked with a thin smile.

“We’ve got the reactor, Xinhu was able to scrounge up some alloy rods and we’ve been arc welding. I tried. It’s tough to do,” Vito said.

“They wanted to weld, too, but they don’t know how.” Crow looked down the shore to the smaller craft.

William looked down the rocky beach. “No bodies.”

“We moved them away,” Crow said.

“How long?” William called out to Xinhu.

Xinhu had his eyes focused away from the camp with his head tilted as if listening to the weld. Behind him the arc crackled and sizzled like tearing paper. His hand twitched and moved down the alloy beam as he caressed the arc into a stream of cohesiveness.

William stood and waited for the crackling to stop before yelling again. Xinhu dropped the rod and walked closer. His eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot.

“How long?” William asked again.

Xinhu raised his hands before dropping them to his sides. “A few days, we get the mast up and then string the wires. Maybe another hard day to weld on lashing loops for the gear…” He looked back to the craft.

Vito pointed to the tents. “We’re going to use the tent as a sail.”

William nodded as he kept his eyes on the tent farther down the beach. There wasn’t any activity yet.

“How can I help?” William asked.

“Get some rest for now, you’re in no shape to scrounge for supplies,” Vito said.

William smirked. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Just like you judged that gangrene, yes?”

William sighed and looked to the tent. “Shall we grab a bite?”

He spent the day helping sort through the debris that was brought in. Any device or piece of equipment that seemed to possibly function came into the camp.

Among the highlights for the day was a single flexible tablet that still functioned and a box of freeze dried beans. Normally beans would not elicit much response but at this point any meal was welcome beyond the gritty blandness of the ration bars.

The tent with the disgruntled men was still mostly quiet. A man would emerge from time to time and relieve himself in full view of the loyalists’ tent. William didn’t miss the imagery of being pissed at. He made his mind up halfway through the day. The deserters could go.

CHAPTER SIX

Decisions

Vito shook his head. Sebastien stood with his arms crossed and his chin back. Selim and Leduc both argued with their hands as vigorously as with their mouths. The others sat in silence and watched the debate.

“Enough,” William said. “My decision stands, they will get a split of the rations and are on their own.” He could feel the eyes on him.

“It’s a bad idea,” Crow said. He sat on his haunches and rocked from side to side. “They’re going to fuck us.”

“I’m going to go over and tell them how it is. They can come get the share of rations,” William said.

“They don’t deserve it.” Selim shook his finger in the general direction of the other tent.

“I agree, bad idea,” Xan said. A mass of wires and circuit boards lay on his lap as he tried to patch together an orbital link up.

Tero nodded in agreement. The other end of the wires sat on his lap as he tried to work on his end.

“We just go, shoot them,” Aleksandr whispered.

William looked to Aleksandr and it dawned on him what they were all thinking. “No. They get a share and are on their own. This is settled. We’ll be off in another day or two.”

Protests continued as William stood slowly with the alloy crutch. He ignored them and hobbled to the door. “Enough. We’re done with this conversation. Crow, break out a four man share, set it aside from ours and lay it out. Sebastien, Leduc, Kerry, you’re with me.” He set his chin down and pushed himself outside.

He trudged through the uneven ground, hobbling the entire way. He never turned to look behind him. He knew they were there. The rations were worrying him. They had enough for a week at the current rate. They were hungry, all the time.

The dark pit of hunger seemed to grow and creep into everything. A man can handle many things with a full stomach, but the slightest insult becomes amplified when he’s hungry. He snaps, he argues, he finds offense in everything and defends against anything. William hoped that the mainland really was south and not another chain of islands.

“I’m here to talk. Come outside,” William called.

Silence came from the tent before a stirring sound came from inside. A voice spoke something. Nur maybe. William looked down to the beach, their boat hadn’t progressed much but looked like it would float.

“What do you want?” Grue called through the wall. His tone was harsh.

“Come outside. I’m not speaking to a tent.” William turned around. His escorts all had weapons showing. Sebastien looked particularly at ease with a stubby assault rifle strapped to him. He wondered if there were guns inside pointed out at them. He wanted to step back a bit but knew he couldn’t.

Berry stepped outside followed closely by Grue. The two had assault rifles. Berry carried his nonchalantly, Grue cradled his awkwardly. “What can we do for you?” Berry asked.

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.