Trial by Ice (A Star Too Far Book 1)

by Casey Calouette

  William stepped out and took in the shore. Vito walked silently next to him. They passed Kerry, who carried a bundle of wires trailing behind him like a dead snake. Xan lugged a large box with a display screen.

  “Mr. Grace!” Tero called out as he ran up. He held out a large brown box of socks.

  “I never thought I’d be so excited to see a box of issue socks,” William replied with a dim smile.

  “Anymore patches?”

  Vito shook his head. “Not yet.”

  William nodded. He pried back a metal plate and looked into a sophisticated pumping array. He dropped it loudly and focused on the next bit of wreckage. The pair investigated each mangled piece of wreckage. He found himself sitting more often. His knee was both cold and hot all at once.

  Sebastien jogged up at an easy lope. “Mr. Grace, do you have a moment?”

  William nodded and sat up from an empty methane tank. “Lead on.”

  “I’ll keep poking about,” Vito said as he detoured to a hull section.

  Sebastien began to run.

  William struggled to keep pace and stopped, barely walking.

  “Is something wrong?” Sebastien asked.

  William shook his head and set his chin downwards. The pair plodded on until they rounded a black gravel point. His leg ached as they passed the five kilometer mark. Beyond lay even more wreckage and a piece of the ship’s spine.

  Sebastien waved his arm in an arc. “It looks like most of it ended in the water, but there’s even more wreckage farther down the coast and more back on the plateau here.”

  The ship’s spine was stiff and slightly bent. The honeycombed core was nearly impossible to destroy. It had to handle the shock of entering the atmosphere and blinking out again a few moments later. A task most starships would crumble under.

  “Do you see what’s missing?” Sebastien asked with a slight smile.

  “Damn near everything?” William replied.

  Sebastien pointed to the end of the spine. “What was latched on there?”

  William squinted. His eyes felt warm and scratchy. Then he saw the giant hydraulic clamps. Open. “Oh…”

  Sebastien nodded with a wide smile. “The orbital assault pods made it out.”

  William looked up for a moment and then back to Sebastien. “But we’ve got no comms.”

  “No, well, not yet. If we do we’ve got orbital support.” Sebastien replied with a bit of a cocky grin. “Those little buggers are running silent now, each one ready to slide a nasty little package over the horizon.”

  The orbital assault pods were small satellites that carried a payload of ceramic coated warheads. They were fast and designed to live in low orbit for a very brief time. They had enough fuel to keep them on station for a few months. For now they would silently orbit, awaiting instructions.

  “So what do we need?”

  Sebastien nodded and stuck his hands into his pockets. “An orbital commset that works, or a broadcast station somewhere that Xan can tap into.”

  William felt a bit better, though he dreaded the walk back. “Well, shall we?”

  * * *

  Halfway back William crumbled. When he opened his eyes next, Vito stood over him cradling his head. The cool water was spilling down his neck as he tried to sip. He burned with fever.

  “Doesn’t the Navy get inoculated?” Berry asked.

  “Everyone does, for every drop,” Vito replied.

  “Then what is it? Some alien bug?” Selim asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Vito said.

  “What about the patches?” Crow said.

  “Maybe, but something doesn’t seem right.”

  “He was limping,” Sebastien said.

  Vito tossed the cup. He slid down William’s pants and recoiled backwards. The skin just above William’s knee was a black dimpled patch of rotting skin. In the center of the wound was a gash like cracked mud. A slight red tint grew on the edges of the crack with a fierce red burning near the skin.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Eduardo said.

  “What is that?” Berry said.

  “That is gangrene,” Vito said simply.

  William closed his eyes and drifted into darkness.

  He dreamed of his father. They were sitting in a tunnel playing with toy horses. The eyes of the horses glittered and rolled as the pair slid them along the dusty floor. Men walked past and saluted his father.

  His father spoke, but he couldn’t remember the words. He knew he didn’t like it. He didn’t like the tunnel or the machine that bored into the rock. It was loud. Loud everywhere. The machine went up and out, boring farther near the surface. All he could taste was stone.

  But still his father came down and they played with the worn horses. Then the sounds stopped and he had to leave.

  * * *

  Berry walked out from the tent, giddy with anticipation. He’d been waiting for a moment to seize upon a change of pace. He’d be damned if he was going to follow the fools to the needle. He had his own plans with his own men.

  The meaty-sweet smell of gangrene hung in his nostrils. He trekked towards the supply pile and found Grue sorting through wreckage. “Find Nur and James.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I fucking told you. Go!” Berry yelled back. He walked back down towards the second tent and poked his head inside. It was empty, everyone else was in the other tent. He popped the release and watched it deflate slowly. The stakes slid out from the damp soil easily. The wind rustled and lifted the shell as the last bits of air finally drifted out.

  “What are you doing Corporal?” Crow asked. He stood with his arms on his hips.

  “Taking matters into my own hands,” he replied and began to fold up the tent. His heartbeat was racing. This was the critical moment.

  “Stand at attention, Soldier,” Crow snapped back.

  Berry stood slowly, but not to attention. “The civilians were signed on to the ship—they have no legal contract binding them to any of this. They’ve requested my assistance.”

  Crow looked back with a strange look on his face. “It’s called desertion.”

  “I’ll not abandon them if they want to go their own way. They requested my help.”

  They stood and looked at each other in the wind. Sebastien stepped out and walked over.

  “Mr. Villeneuve, we’ve got a deserter,” Crow said.

  “No ship, no contract, the civilians want to go their own way and have requested my help,” Berry said again.

  Sebastien looked back and crossed his arms. “I think not.”

  Grue returned with James and Nur. The group stood by Berry and listened.

  “Grue, James, you signed on to a ship, and with no ship, you aren’t signed up with anyone,” Berry said with a sweep of his arm to the wreckage.

  “That’s right!” Grue stammered, out of breath.

  Sebastien looked to Crow and back to the tent behind him.

  Berry saw the moment and seized it. He reached down and grabbed the handle of the collapsed tent and began to drag it. Grue and Nur grasped on and tugged the awkward bulk.

  “Negative,” Sebastien said. “We are not splitting up.”

  “This is our right, we’ll split the rations and supplies, but we need a tent,” Berry said.

  Crow shifted on his feet. “You’ll get no power. Find your own damn reactor.”

  Berry bared his teeth like an animal in a mock smile. It was agreed and they didn’t even know it, down to only the bartering. “I’ll talk with that Midshipman once he’s awake, we’re just one less thing for you to worry about now.”

  Sebastien dropped his hand onto the holster at his side. “Drop the tent.”

  Berry continued to drag the bulky mass. Nur and Grue strained while James lagged behind, unsure of what to do. “Mr. James, if you please.” He locked his eyes onto James and watched as the quiet man grabbed a corner. “You’re not going to shoot a civilian?”

  “No, but I’ll have no problem shooting you.” />
  Berry released the front of the tent and it dropped slowly. “Is that how it is now, Marine? An argument doesn’t go your way so you shoot it?” He stooped down and grabbed the forward edge. “Tell that Midshipman I’ll barter this with him.”

  Berry had an audience now. Most of the survivors were watching as the bulky tent moved a few hundred meters away. Sebastien held his hand over the cover of the holster, resting his palm on the top.

  Berry turned and gauged the distance before setting it down in a slight bowl. “All right boys,” he said, turning to his crew. “Let’s get to work.”

  * * *

  William opened his eyes. The room was dark. The crashing of waves shook the ground beneath him. He could still see the glittering eyes of the horses slowly recede in the darkness. Only a small piece of the light strip gave any light. For the first time he noticed the smell, that rank animal odor from too many men in too small an area.

  Gangrene? He felt fine. His knee was sore, but the soreness was different. He could feel a patch on his neck: the priceless, precious patches. His fingers danced down his soiled shirt and found a heavy dressing sitting over the top of his knee. He pushed gently and was rewarded with raw pain.

  He closed his eyes and listened to the waves as he drifted back to sleep.

  William woke as the morning grew. Around him the men were tossing and turning while one man went outside. William sat up slowly.

  “He’s awake!” Avi called out.

  The room sprang to life with the sounds of nylon and fabric moving. All eyes were on him. He blushed and felt rather sheepish.

  “Vito? Where’s Vito?” Kwesi asked.

  “Outside,” replied a voice.

  “Go get him!” Kwesi shouted back.

  “He’s pissing, and heard you by now. Relax,” Crow said. He climbed out of his sleeping bag and scooted over to William.

  “I, uh, well. How long was I out?” William asked.

  Crow smiled. “About two weeks.”

  William took a deep breath. “That bad?”

  Crow nodded. Others around the room nodded as well. “You had a nasty bit of gangrene, even the nanites couldn’t stop it.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “We had to do some surgery,” Vito replied as he stepped back into the tent.

  William wiggled his toes. He could still feel them. His mind wandered to amputation.

  Around the room sat most of the survivors. William looked around and did a quick head count. The room was crowded. Too crowded. Four men were missing: Berry and his crew.

  “Where do we stand?” William asked.

  Crow ran a hand through his growing stubble. “We’ve found a lot of useful things.”

  “We’re welding some pontoons onto a piece of decking.” Xinhu’s eyes glowed with excitement.

  “Supplies? Food?” William asked.

  Vito shook his head. “Not really.”

  “Someone help me up, please. I’d like to see this boat. And I really have to use the bathroom.”

  Vito and Crow helped him hobble outside.

  The snow was completely gone, showing mostly bare gravel. The second tent was a few hundred meters away. On the beach basked a set of large fuel tanks with a section of perforated alloy decking on top. Assorted sheeting, pillars, tubes, and struts lay on the beach above the high tide line.

  Further down the beach lay a second craft. It was smaller and cruder. Lashings of power wire and plastic tubing held the tanks together. William had a hunch what had happened.

  Vito noticed him looking at the other craft. “There was a bit of a legal battle.”

  “Legal battle?” William asked. He slid his arms off his supporters and stood gently on both legs.

  “Always a lawyer somewhere,” Sebastien replied as he walked out of the tent and rummaged through a collected debris pile.

  “Grue and James are both contractors, signed on to the ship. So they decided no ship, no valid contract,” Vito said.

  “What about Berry and Nur?” William asked. It wasn’t unheard of for civilians to leave when the terms weren’t satisfactory. But this was different, it wasn’t like the ship was stuck in repairs.

  “Deserters,” Crow spat.

  “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 id
ea,” 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.