Nano Contestant - Episode 4: Arctic Survival: The Technothriller Futuristic Science Fiction Adventure of a Cyberpunk Marine (Nano Contestant Series)

by Leif Sterling

  Coach watched Roland’s video feed and the vitals terminal with a critical eye. “That’s probably altitude sickness.”

  Ivan nodded vigorously. “Him is right. Takes body two or three days to get acclimated to high altitude.

  Skylar’s fingers were a blur as she flew through her different commands sets for Roland’s system. “Roland. You don’t have two days to acclimatize. I’m working on speeding that process up right now. Hopefully, I can get your body adjusted within the next few hours.”

  Coach hit the mute button on the comms. “Skylar. This is serious. He’s extremely vulnerable in this position. Is there any way to speed up his acclimation?”

  Skylar paused her typing for a second and squinted as though she was looking past her terminals while she thought. “Well, my current plan was to integrate his regular profile with the new high altitude, cold weather profile that Angela built, but that would take several hours to gradually switch. If I do a full reboot on his nano system now though, I could make him come up immediately in the high altitude, cold weather profile.”

  Coach nodded. “Are there any possible side effects from the sudden profile change? He is using the High Altitude plugin right now, but it’s not enough to compensate for both the altitude and the extreme cold.”

  Skylar nodded again. “Yes. There will be side effects from the sudden change: vomiting for sure, dizziness, possibly vertigo and I’m not sure what else.”

  Coach unmuted the comms. “Roland. Skylar has a quick fix for the acclimatization problem, but she says there are possible side effects.”

  Roland continued his steep uphill trudge. “They couldn’t be worse than I feel right now.” He wheezed loudly. “I got nothing left in the tank. Just do it.”

  Skylar went back over her system again. “I’m going to reboot your nano system. When it comes up, I will change it over to the high altitude, cold weather profile. I just finished chatting with Angela. She says that you should expect vomiting and convulsions for up to a minute while you are rebooting.”

  Roland stopped walking. “I’ll sit down for this then.” He dropped to his knees.

  Skylar exhaled. “Ready?”

  Roland gave a small nod. “Do it.”

  Skylar hit the enter key. Roland’s system began to reboot.

  Roland felt a shiver run through his body. It was different from the shivers caused by the cold. This one came from the inside out. His eyelids fluttered. His fingers and toes tingled.

  Skylar watched the shutdown sequence on her terminal. Then it beeped and began its restart process. She tapped the function key on her holographic keyboard repeatedly, so as not to miss the option to change the profile and have to start all over. The screen flashed up briefly with two options: normal mode and high altitude, cold weather. She selected the latter from her holographic menu. “Okay. That does it on our end. Now we wait.”

  Ivan stared at the empty, black terminal in front of him, where Roland’s video feed had just been. “How we know it working?”

  Skylar shook her head. “We just have to wait.”

  Roland lay on his side in the deep snow. He was cut off from his team while his system rebooted. He hated that. He felt his eyelids flutter again. He would have braced himself, if he had had the energy. Instead, he just lay there. Then his eyes shot open. He felt his pulse quicken. He was breathing in quick, short breaths. His stomach felt like it was turning a backflip. He felt everything in his stomach traveling up his esophagus like an out-of-control freight train. He barely opened his mouth in time, as the projectile vomit launched itself out into the pristine snow.

  His jaw clenched tight. His body convulsed, as though he were a human jackhammer. He desperately wanted to take a breath, but he had no control over his body. Every muscle squeezed tightly and then released in rapid succession. Chunks of snow flew in every direction, making a misshapen snow angel.

  As quickly as the convulsions had come on, they left. He felt his heart rate return to normal and his breathing even out. He opened his eyes. His head was clear. He slowly sat up. He could see his bright orange vomit, which was a stark contrast to the clean white snow. Steam rose from it, as the last of its heat escaped. Roland stood up. On his HUD he saw a small blue snowflake in the bottom left corner, indicating that he was on the new system profile. He took a deep breath. He felt good.

  Skylar, Coach and Ivan all nervously watched the five black terminals in the team’s overnight room. They were waiting, hoping for some kind of communication from Roland.

  Skylar’s terminal beeped and displayed a blinking white cursor in the upper left hand corner. “Good! The system is coming back online.” She typed in several commands and sat back into her chair. After another few seconds, the dark monitors all sprang to life. They could see Roland’s video feed. He was running!

  Coach’s eyes widened, and he smiled ear to ear. “It is like night and day!”

  Roland heard Coach’s voice in his head. “And it feels even better!” Roland had enabled the O2, High Altitude and Speed plugins. “I should crest the top of the mountain by mid afternoon.”

  The sun reflected against the brilliant, white snow as Roland crested the mountaintop. He switched over to his Leapfrog plugin and bounded from icy boulder to icy boulder down the other side of the mountain towards the forested valley below.

  He could feel it growing colder as he made his way down the side of the mountain. Nearing the tree line, he heard the distinct ring of metal on metal, followed by the shrill war cry of a skilled female warrior. And then silence.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

  HONOR

  THE SUN WAS heading towards the horizon and casting long shadows into the forest. Tall pines and scrawny evergreen bushes filtered the dappled sunlight. Roland heard a groan on his right. Thirty feet ahead, he saw its source. A man, with his back against a tree, slumped his head forward and let out another groan. Roland saw no glint of metal from the man.

  The digital used both of his hands to press against the right side of his abdomen. He groaned once more, a little fainter this time.

  Roland could see a short, sharp branch that protruded six inches from the right side of the man’s abdomen.

  The man’s eyes flashed open. “Help me.” Then his head slumped forward once more, passed out from the pain.

  Roland leaned his head right.

  Coach took a sip from his water bottle. “Roland. You can help him, if you move fast. Once you get him off of the branch, you’ll need to pack the wound with whatever you can find, or he’ll bleed out.”

  Roland did not waste a step. He positioned himself squarely in front of the man, and then eased the man forward off of the branch. He sat him on the ground with his back against the tree.

  Ivan stroked his beard briefly. “Cut strip from parachute for wound.”

  Roland dropped the parachute onto the ground and knelt beside it. He reached behind him and pulled Charlotte from her case at the small of his back. He gave the thought command for a deer-skinning knife. The carbon alloy weapon responded immediately. After twenty more seconds, he had several strips of the parachute sliced off. He jammed them into the man’s abdominal wound on both the front and the back. He cut an additional six inch wide piece of the parachute and tied it tightly around the man’s middle, to hold the other pieces in.

  The man awoke just as Roland finished the knot. His eyes flashed open once more, and he produced a knife, which he held at Roland’s throat. “Come to steal my equipment, did you? Thought I was dead, did you?”

  Roland stared back at the man without blinking. “I just saved your life. I have packed and bandaged up your wound. Look for yourself.”

  The man glanced down at his middle and saw Roland’s field dressing. “Why so you did. Many thanks.” The man winced as the pain attacked him, reminding him of its presence. “Help me to sit up.”

  Roland did as he asked.

  The man’s knife disappeared into his sleeve. He held his hand out to Roland. “I wanted
to thank you properly. The name is William. Upon my honor, I shall repay what you have done for me.”

  Roland raised an eyebrow at the man’s formality. “Sure. Sounds good. Never know when I might need a favor around here. I’m Roland.”

  William nodded briefly as he fumbled around in his right cargo pants pocket. “One more favor, if you don’t mind. I need to cauterize this confounded wound, or it might slow me down.” He opened a small metal case and handed a syringe to Roland. “After I cauterize this little blemish, I won’t be able to see straight from the pain. This shot is adrenaline. Just stab it into my upper leg here.” He nodded his head towards his thigh. “And then you can be on your way.” The man nodded at Roland. “Okay. Ready?”

  Roland pulled the cap off of the syringe. “Yep. Do what you need to do.”

  William pulled a small cylindrical handle from his other cargo pocket.

  Roland heard an audible click from William’s weapon.

  The handle extended out to be a foot long. Then it glowed red hot.

  Skylar’s mouth dropped open.

  Coach nodded. “He’s got to make sure that the wound won’t bleed again, or open up while he’s running.”

  Ivan leaned intently towards the terminal.

  William took a deep breath and braced himself. “One, two, three!” He jammed the red-hot weapon into his abdomen where the branch had been only moments before.

  The odor of the parachute’s burning nylon reached Roland’s nostrils first. It was then completely replaced by the stench of overdone barbecue. It was followed by the sound of sizzling meat, which instantly melted around the burning weapon.

  William gritted his teeth but did not make a sound. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He yanked the weapon out of his guts, and dropped it into the snow beside him where it sizzled and hissed. Then he fell back into the snow, losing consciousness.

  Roland plunged the syringe into William’s thigh, burying the needle completely in the muscle. Then he depressed the plunger.

  William’s chest began to heave, and his eyes flashed open. He grabbed his first aid kit and weapon and stuffed them back into his pockets as he leapt to his feet. “Thank you again, sir. Now. Please excuse me. I have to make as much mileage as I can before this adrenaline wears off.” William lurched into a full sprint, spraying snow in every direction.

  Roland stood and jogged forward, laughing as he did. “It was worth helping William just to see him run off like that.”

  Ivan’s boisterous laugh filled the overnight room as he slapped his knee and was nearly doubled over.

  Coach, still smiling, adjusted his glasses. “Good work. Now be on the lookout for shelter. You have about fifteen minutes worth of daylight left.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

  NIGHTFALL

  IVAN STOOD UP straight and dried his eyes. He pointed at the terminal. “Up on left. Ivan see bushes.”

  Roland slowed and turned towards the clump of bushes. He looked down as he neared them. The scraggly excuses for bushes were barely two feet high. “They are awfully small.”

  Ivan nodded. “That okay. You be laying down.” Then Ivan explained to Roland how to make his shelter. He needed to dig out the snow at the base of the bushes. Then he needed to mound up the snow over where he would be sleeping.

  After ten minutes, Roland finished the structure for his shelter. He sat back to look at it. “It looks like a pathetic igloo.”

  Ivan grinned and nodded. “This protect you from wind.” Then Ivan instructed Roland to gather some springy tree branches for bedding.

  Roland changed Charlotte into a machete and whacked off a few of the low hanging spruce branches nearby. Then he lined the bottom of his shelter with them.

  The last few rays of the sun’s dying light escaped from the forest around Roland. He could feel the temperature dropping rapidly.

  Ivan studied the tiny shelter. “Make extra insulation by mounding up more snow on sides and top of shelter. One foot thick.” Roland knelt in the snow and begin piling it up around his shelter.

  A sharp Arctic wind came at Roland from the north like a sucker punch. He scooped up the snow around the shelter and packed it tightly onto the top and sides. As he was scooping up the snow, his mitten struck something hard. He reached in and grabbed the offending object from underneath the snow. It was a used, half-crushed water bottle. “Trash? Way out here?” He threw the water bottle over his shoulder and finished mounding up the snow.

  Ivan threw up both of his hands. “Wait! No! You not throw water bottle away. It necessary for survival.”

  He turned back around and grabbed the water bottle. “It’s empty. What do you want me to do with it?”

  “Inflate to full shape.” Ivan mimed blowing into an imaginary bottle. “Then pack with snow. Put next to body while sleeping. Body heat melt snow. In morning, you drink water.”

  Skylar wrinkled her nose at the thought of putting her mouth on a water bottle that someone else had used but said nothing.

  Roland took in a deep breath and blew hard into the bottle. I made a crinkling sound, as it inflated, regaining its full capacity. He crammed a little bit of snow into the top. Then he shook it around to try and clean out the inside before dumping it upside down. Next, he filled the bottle to the top with snow and put the cap back on. Roland climbed into his shelter, feet first. He doubled the parachute over around himself. He mounded up the snow around the entrance until the hole was completely filled. As he lay down, the shivering commenced. “You can really feel the cold once you stop moving.”

  Skylar went over the environmental data. “It looks like you’ve finished just in time. There is a heavy snowfall rolling your way. The winds will be thirty miles an hour and bring in twelve inches of snow tonight. The temperatures will reach a low of negative sixty-eight degrees.”

  Ivan’s eyes widened. “It be much worse with wind. It feel like negative eighty-five.”

  Roland looked at the temperature on his HUD. It showed twenty-five degrees. “Twenty-five degrees is starting to sound real warm.” He shivered again.

  Ivan crossed his arms. “Snowstorm is good for you. It offer protection, because no one run when it is this cold.”

  Skylar began typing quickly. “Hey, Roland. I just got a message from Angela. I asked her to look into a way to help with warming you up. I think you’re going to like this.” She hit the enter key to upload a file to Roland. “This new plugin is called Blood Warmer. Disable all of your other plugins, and then enable this one.”

  Roland shivered as he gave the thought command to disable all of his other plugins. Then he enabled Blood Warmer. He felt it first in his heart. It was like his heart had been plunged into a bucket of warm water. As it pumped, the warmth began to spread throughout his body. “That feels nice.”

  Skylar watched Roland’s vitals and his nano system stats to make sure that everything was working. “The Blood Warmer plugin uses a lot of resources and energy, so you can’t use any other plugins at the same time. You’re not going to want to use it during the actual race.”

  Roland half-smiled as he felt warmth spreading into his fingers and toes. “I don’t need it during the race. Running keeps me plenty warm. Okay, Sky. Put me into sleep mode and make sure that I am awake just before sunrise. Good night.”

  Skylar nodded. “Good night.” She swiped through the pages of Roland’s nano system until she found the sleep controls. Before the race, Coach had been reiterating how important it was that Roland was able to rest and recover during the race. Then she flipped over one page, which had an alarm clock icon. She entered the sunrise time and set it to go off just before sunrise, as Roland had requested. She took off her headset. “His sleep mode is enabled. I have enabled his sensors to alert us if there are any changes to his vitals or his environment.”

  There was a knock at the door. Ivan went to answer it.

  Coach set his headset on the desk. “Let’s all get some shut eye while we can.”

  Ivan c
ame away from the door holding a new vodka bottle and three shot glasses. He poured the clear liquid into each one. “Let us drink to successful first day.”

  Skylar yawned as she lay down on her bed. She shook her head. “None for me.”

  Coach shook his head also. “Me either.”

  Ivan grinned ear-to-ear. “You best drinking buddies ever!” Then he downed all three shots of vodka in rapid succession.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

  SNOWSHOE

  ROLAND’S EYES SHOT open wide. His breathing was quick and shallow. His heart was pounding like a caged animal trying to escape. The walls of his shelter felt like they were closing in on him. He clawed at the entrance.

  Coach set his steaming cup of coffee on the desk. “Roland. It’s okay. It’s just time to wake up.”

  Upon hearing Coach’s voice, Roland felt the panic inside of him begin to subside. “Sky. You definitely need to fix that alarm. It feels like I’m waking up out of a nightmare.”

  Roland crawled out of his shelter and stood up. He turned off the Blood Warmer plugin and began doing some stretches to get his body limbered up. As soon as the Blood Warmer was turned off, the cold greedily returned. “That Blood Warmer worked really well. I already miss it. How far did I make it yesterday? Did I make it the full sixty-four miles?”

  Skylar added a small amount of soy milk to her coffee. “Not quite. You are right at the fifty-nine mile mark.”

  Roland braced his leg against a nearby rock and pulled his stretch tight. “That means I’ll need to go sixty-nine miles today.” Roland reached inside his shelter to pull out the parachute he had been sleeping in. Along with it came the water bottle that he had had next to him. He picked up the water bottle and chugged the whole thing. Then he bent down and refilled it with more snow and crammed into his bag along with the parachute. “I’m ready to go. Which direction?”