His Frost Maiden

by Michelle M. Pillow

  “This place is stranger than a Lipknot on Torgan.” Lucien fell into step next to Evan. “It’s like time just stopped and the people disappeared.”

  Evan glanced behind them toward the prison. With all the prisoners dressed the same, he had the feeling the people of this village didn’t just disappear. The mystery thickened. Maybe the Federation had been trying to free the people from some strange malady. Maybe the Federation caused the malady. “Dev, what’s our reading? Anything out of the ordinary with the environment?”

  Dev checked his wrist. “Everything is normal. Why? What are you thinking?”

  Evan shook his head, not answering. The truth was, he didn’t know.

  “Do you think they ran out of room in the prisons and began storing them in the castle?” Viktor asked, his breath coming in soft, white puffs of air.

  “These log numbers were the earliest,” Rick said. “They were the first prisoners. And the front gates had been sealed shut, locking whoever was at the main complex out.”

  “Maybe they stored them here as they built the new complex,” Jarek said. “And then decided it wasn’t worth bothering to move them all since they were protected in this castle fortress.”

  “I don’t think so,” Rick answered under his breath.

  “What makes you think that?” Evan looked around.

  “The dog over there,” Rick pointed to the side. They all followed his finger with their eyes. It took a second, but Evan detected the outline of a small creature lying on its stomach under the sheet of ice. “He has the same look about him that the people in the prison had, only he’s covered in ice. Something happened here. To all of them.”

  “Dog?” Lucien asked.

  “There, look.” Viktor slugged him in the shoulder without real provocation, other than he was cold and looking for ways to aggravate his brother to take his mind off the weather.

  “Hey, watch it,” Lucien growled, dropping the gear he carried and tackling Viktor. The two rolled around on the ground, hitting the shards of ice that poked up from the moon’s surface and destroying them.

  “Blessed Stars,” Rick yelled, reaching down to pick up the pack. “You can’t throw this around like that.”

  Lucien looked up at Rick from his place in the snow. “Vik can fix it.”

  “Are you sure? This is from that medical unit. Who knows what kind of technology it is. If we find someone, we’ll need what’s in this pack in order to thaw them.” Rick carried the pack, refusing to give it back when Lucien held out his hand for it.

  “What’s with you?” Lucien asked. “You’re not the only one who hopes we can save someone, but let’s face it. The odds of doing any good are slim. At best we can salvage something worth selling for space credits when we stop for fuel.”

  “Just...” Rick frowned. “Come on. I’m freezing my ass off. This place gives me the creeps.”

  Evan didn’t answer. Rick braced his shoulder against the castle’s entryway and pushed. When it didn’t move, he reached into Lucien’s pack and took out a laser. Aiming it along the frozen seam keeping the door shut, he melted the ice along the entryway, until he was finally able to push through by small degrees.

  “All right, we stay in pairs,” Jarek ordered. “Put your comms on and leave them on. Dev, sweep for any kind of sensors. I doubt they have warning alarms on this thing, since the complex below didn’t, but we don’t want to alert the Federation to our nosing around. If you find anything worth scavenging that you can carry, grab it and seal it. If it’s too big to seal, leave it behind. We can always bring the ship closer to load, once we’ve determined we’re not bringing some kind of alien virus onboard.”

  “That’s right, space cadets,” Jackson barked like a commander, patting his side where the large sample collection kit was. Though initially meant for environmental samples, they found them handy for sealing and storing valuable artifacts. “We didn’t borrow this scientific equipment from the ESC for nothing!”

  The men laughed, despite the situation, as Rick finally managed to open the door. When Rick turned, Evan saw that he didn’t participate in the joking. Through the door, the way was dark, with only narrow streams of light coming through the tall, thin windows.

  “Maybe we should have put on masks.” Lucien coughed into his hand.

  Dev again looked at his wrist. “Air scans are fine.”

  “We’re just being cautious. I highly doubt there is anything dangerous here. Whatever happened here happened a long time ago. That said, my son is on the ship and we’re going to be careful.” Jarek’s explanation wasn’t necessary. “Viktor, see what you can do about lights.”

  Viktor nodded, following Rick inside. He reached to touch along the door frame. Rick made a strange noise and leaned over, running his fingers over the wall. Lights flickered in torch-shaped fixtures along the wall. A few of them didn’t light all the way—others sputtered softly, looking as if they might go out completely.

  “Lucky guess,” Rick said with a light gesture of dismissal.

  Evan shared a look with Lucien, who merely shrugged. The men walked into the hall. Dev pushed the door shut, blocking out the cold draft that threatened the castle. Aside from the sun-bleached spots on the dark red carpets where light streamed in from outside, the home was intact. Or at least what Evan would imagine as being intact.

  They moved forward, only to come to a large, open room. Rows of tables were set up along the stone floor. A cylinder fireplace in the middle was barren, but it didn’t matter. More torch fixtures lit the room. Banners hung on the walls, long strips with images woven inside them. Other, larger cloths formed scenes of men on large animals, swords lifted above their heads.

  “Viktor, Lucien,” Jarek motioned to the side, indicating they should check the room. “Go back out and check the grounds once you’re done in here.” The brothers nodded. Dev and Jackson paired up, heading through a side door. To Rick and Evan, the captain said, “Let’s check the towers.”

  “I don’t think there are any prisoners left,” Jarek said. “None of the others have found traces of anyone.”

  “They could have deteriorated, or the logs we found could have been an older copy.” Evan’s fingers and toes were cold. He unconsciously stretched and bent them in a weak effort to pump warming blood through the stiff digits.

  “We keep looking to be sure,” Rick said. Evan frowned, part of him wishing he could block Rick’s strange mood and another part wanting to explore it to see what was going on inside the pilot.

  Evan shared a look with Jarek, but they both nodded in agreement, continuing up the winding stairwell of what they guessed to be the tallest tower. Personal objects of the people who’d lived there decorated the castle. Reaching a cluster of rooms, they entered. Evan found himself alone as they explored, each taking a room but staying within shouting distance. Jarek had been a little more cautious about safety since the birth of his son. The crew understood, even if they were mildly annoyed by it. By the decoration, the area was clearly for the ruler of the castle and his family.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Viktor yelled. “We found some treasure.”

  Evan smiled slightly, tuning out the answering call through their comms. He walked into a private study. This room wasn’t like the others. Sickening vibes seemed to snap through the air and his stomach tightened, as if responding to an echoing pain that radiated from the walls. The lights didn’t come on, but he could see why instantly in the sunlight coming from outside. Candelabras were overturned, the wax candles broken. The torch fixtures were crushed, hanging from wires on the wall. Furniture had been overturned. Books, their ancient pages weathered to the point they looked as if they’d blow away at the slightest breeze, spilled over the floor.

  Something had happened in this room. It wasn’t just the out of place destruction, but a feeling, not too unlike the feelings he got when reading someone else. His hands trembled and he realized he was stuck in his place, dread hitting him as something inside him re
fused to let him turn his head. Forcing his neck to move, he looked directly at the frozen visage of a young woman.

  Unlike the other statues, she was intact. Her arms bent at the elbows, lifted up at the side as if she were being held on her feet by unseen hands. Someone spoke through the com, and Evan absently pulled it from his ear, letting it drop on the floor. He couldn’t take his eyes away from her, from the sadness he felt when looking directly at her face. His heart beat hard and fast in his chest, drawing him forward on stiff legs. Her eyes were closed, the light coming in from the other room giving contrast to the fine texture of long lashes. Beautiful lips were parted, so full they looked as if she’d been stung by a raspet, or worse, beaten. But unlike the other prisoners, she didn’t look locked in fear, only sadness.

  Evan lifted his hand, hesitating. This woman was a lady, from her long, manicured fingernails to her fine floor-length tunic gown. His fingers hovered along her frail shoulder as it poked out from beneath locks of tousled waist-length wavy hair. The frozen sheen made it impossible to tell what color the locks would be, but they appeared a light brown by the stone’s discoloration.

  Or was it his imagination? How could he possibly know her hair was brown?

  “What happened to you?” he asked, letting his fingers skate lightly over her arm. She was cool to the touch, as hard as the castle that held her in her prison, but he couldn’t stop from feeling her. Grainy texture, so fine of a grit, snagged his fingertips in little pulls. Evan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He could almost feel the soft flesh, warm and alive, if he imagined it hard enough. Unable to resist, his eyes opened and his gaze dipped to her mouth. The overwhelming need to comfort her washed over him. He began to lean forward, his lids drooping over his eyes as if under a spell.

  “Die with honor?” Jarek asked. “Evan, what’s with you? Why did you take off your com?”

  Evan spun around, his eyes meeting Jarek’s. Rick appeared behind the captain. When he moved, Evan must have exposed the woman because both men’s eyes rounded.

  “Die?” Evan asked, frowning.

  “Just now, you said, ‘die with honor’,” Jarek answered. The tone of his voice changed, making it easy to decipher when he was talking to the group in general through the comms and when he was having a conversation in the room. If everyone really wanted to listen, they could, just as Evan could hear the soft chattering of the others through his unit—at least when he wore his unit.

  “When?” Evan found himself glancing back at the woman, only to force his eyes away. The spell, the pull, whatever it was, had broken.

  “Just now.” Jarek looked past him, eyeing the statue.

  “You found one.” Rick rushed forward. “Is she intact?”

  Rick instantly began running his hands over the woman. Concern rolled through Evan, Rick’s concern. Evan took a step back. The rush of feelings he had when seeing her were apparently not uniquely his. It wasn’t unusual for a place to remember times of great pain. He’d had sensations of it before—at old massacre sites or towns whose population had been ravaged by yellow plague.

  “She’s whole.” Rick let go of her. “I think we can save her.”

  “That’s right, we found one,” Jarek said, clearly speaking into the com. He leaned over, picking up Evan’s discarded communicator. Handing it to Evan, he glanced around the room. “This might sound strange, but parts of the palace remind me of the Draig palace back home. Curious how two completely different cultures can design close to the same structures.”

  “She’s the prisoner we’ve been looking for. See here, her number matches. Two, two, five.” Rick picked up a metal plate up off the floor, wiping at it.

  “Let me see,” Evan reached for the marker, unnecessarily reading it before handing it over to Jarek.

  “A treasury filled with jewels and one damsel to rescue,” Rick said to the group at large. “I have to say this has been a worthwhile trip.”

  “Uh, captain,” Jackson’s voice sounded over the com as Evan slipped it over his head, fitting it into his ear. “I think you should come down here.”

  “What is it?” Jarek asked.

  “A body dump,” Dev answered. “Someone threw about fifteen or so bodies into a pit and covered it up. From the tears in the clothing and breaks of the bones, I’d say there was a massacre here. Not everyone in the castle was frozen.”

  “Either that,” Jackson’s voice added, “or the rumors of them being thawed and tortured are true.”

  “There is nothing we can do for them now,” Jarek said. “Let’s concentrate on getting this woman—”

  “Wait, the prisoner is a woman?” Lucien’s voice called.

  “Kiss my comet, a woman,” Viktor added. “I’d call that a successful salvage indeed!”

  “Easy with my future wife, captain,” Lucien said. “Hold that rock, Rick, is she pretty?”

  “Beautiful.” Rick’s voice was a little breathy.

  Evan’s gut tightened. Something had been off with Rick and now, as they stood by the woman, the odd feelings only deepened.

  Needing to busy himself with work, Evan reached to take the pack from Rick’s shoulder. They’d taken the equipment from the prison complex and it contained everything they needed to thaw the woman.

  “How heavy?” Jarek asked. “I’d rather do this on the ship by the medical unit.”

  Rick wrapped his arms around her and tried to lift. “No chance of lifting her out of here like this, especially with that stairwell. It’s probably the reason she was left in here.”

  “If they defrosted the prisoners one by one, it’s possible they started below and worked their way up. She’s about as far as you can get from the hall below. It could be what saved her life,” Jarek said quietly so as not to be heard through the com.

  “I wonder why they froze her here if they weren’t going to be able to get her out,” Rick mused.

  “It might not have been planned out,” Evan answered. They were all throwing out theories, but they didn’t know any of it for sure.

  “There is only one way to find out,” Jarek said. “We thaw her.” Then into the com he ordered, “Vik, get outside and hail the ship. We don’t need them right on top of us, but near that front gate so we don’t have to run too far. Have Mei get the medical booth ready for a full scan, so all we have to do is put this young lady in there. Also tell Mei to quarantine herself and Parker in our quarters until I know it’s safe.”

  “Do you have a hand-held medic unit?” Evan asked, not really directing the question at either man in particular. “If we do this here, we’ll need to stabilize her.”

  “Um, not to be the space cadet,” Lucien said through the com, “but what about all this treasure?”

  “We’ll come back down for it so the ship doesn’t freeze up,” Jarek said.

  “Can’t,” Rick answered. “Not enough fuel reserves to land and take off another two times. We’ll have to come back, otherwise we’ll be floating into a space dock on fumes—if we’re lucky.”

  There was no debate amongst them as to which they would take first—the woman or the treasure. Jarek nodded. “Then we come back. Viktor, Lucien, seal up whatever you can carry that might fetch a good price and then block the treasure the best you can. I doubt anyone will come down here looking, but it can’t hurt to be safe and guard our find. Dev and Jackson, finish your search and get whatever you can. I’m going to see what I can find out about the family who lived here. Call me when you’re ready to do this.” Jarek left to finish searching the rest of the tower.

  “The process should be simple.” Evan tried not to look at the woman, but found himself staring up at her face. Every nerve pulled him toward her, but before he could act, Rick had his hand on her cheek. Evan cleared his throat, trying to focus. What he felt wasn’t his own feelings, they were Rick’s. The concern beating in his heart was not his concern. The protectiveness was not his. The fear and the worry were not his. He was channeling Rick, maybe not just Rick but others. Hi
s empathic powers had never been so strong.

  “We’ll get you out of here, star beam, I promise,” Rick whispered, saying the words that had been on Evan’s tongue.

  Evan stood, holding two containers. “The manual says when we combine these two powders, they’ll have some kind of chemical reaction and reverse this process. Look in the pack. There should be some injectors. Get them ready.”

  “This is going to hurt,” Rick paused, looking at Evan, “isn’t it?”

  Evan glanced at the containers, lifting the first and sprinkling a pale green substance over her head. Then, taking the second, he coated the green with pink. When he was done and the statue didn’t move, he frowned. “This can’t be right. It’s too simple.”

  Very slowly, a light smoke curled from the woman’s lips. It danced in the air, as if burning a silent trail along the plump flesh. A pale red burned into the ashen dust of her face, as if coming to life as they watched. The process was slow, but the tip of her nose paled where the smoke hit it. Suddenly, the smoke disappeared up her nostrils, as if being breathed in. The flesh renewed itself faster, her cheeks blooming with rose, as the chemical reaction of the powders burned a trail over her face. More smoke lit the air and Evan tried not to breathe too deeply. It wasn’t hard as the breath was caught in his chest. Her hair shimmered at the roots, sparkling down the full wavy light brown length, revealing blonde highlights into its depths. As the growth worked its way down, she coughed.

  “It’s working,” Rick whispered, moving as if to touch her.

  Evan swallowed, his gut tight. He stared at her face, waiting for her to open her eyes. His heart beat erratically and he couldn’t tell where his feelings ended and Rick’s started.

  “...quod intereo per veneration,” a soft whisper filtered past her lips.

  Evan stepped toward her. Rick’s shoulder bumped his, but he didn’t care. He turned his head to the side, trying to hear her.