Eddy turned around to see Marutas standing on the shattered floor, which had somehow remained intact. Marutas lowered like a cat about to pounce. Eddy had only one chance. He raised his leg into the air and brought his boot down hard on the ice. The cracking noise grew louder, and Marutas looked down.
The ice shattered beneath Marutas as he attempted to leap away. The force of his jump crumbled the ice beneath his feet and he plunged into the frozen water. He thrashed and yelled, clawing at the ice with his sharpened gray fingers. But the ice was fragile and every time he grabbed the edge, it crumbled in his hands.
Wasting no time, Eddy threw his backpack on and began to scale the red wall. His fingers burned from his weight but he held tight, moving up toward the dot of blue sky. He could hear Marutas splashing in the water, but it was clear he would free himself from the freezing ocean; and when he did, Eddy was sure he would waste no time in spilling Eddy’s guts.
Smashing through the ice ceiling with one hand and gripping the grooved wall with the other proved to be harder than Eddy had hoped. He swung at the ceiling with his fist several times, feeling the skin over his knuckles grow raw, but freeing very little ice. Eddy looked down and saw the pool of ice empty. Marutas was free.
A growl shook the cavern below and Eddy realized it was not human. Marutas had talked about his true form earlier. He wondered if that was the form he now took. A shadow below raised the hair on his exposed arm. It was huge and non-human. Eddy shouted as he swung hard at the ceiling of ice.
The force of his blow shook the ceiling and a portion caved in, tumbling down into the pool of ocean water. A bright swath of blue sky was exposed over Eddy’s head. He heaved himself onto the ice and rolled onto his back, panting from the effort and ignoring the burning snow on his sleeveless arm. Marutas had disappeared, though Eddy was sure he was still on the hunt. Or was he? Eddy wondered if it was the saltwater that bothered him. No, the Earth was covered with saltwater… Perhaps the cold, then? Maybe. There had to be some reason the Aeros built their citadel so far north, beneath the frozen ocean. Of course, Marutas could just be prolonging the inevitable. Eddy had put up a valiant fight, again, and Marutas seemed to respect such outbursts of violence.
Eddy rolled onto his stomach, praying that the ice below him, which he now knew was the ceiling over a vast system of ice caves, would hold his weight. While every bone in his body gave protest to the effort, Eddy got to his feet and was happy to feel the easy grip of rough ice and snow beneath his boots.
The GPS communicator was warm in Eddy’s hand. He looked at the screen, which seemed dimmer than before, but he could still make out his position and that of his final destination, which was unbelievably close. Eddy turned in the direction indicated on the map. His eyes opened wide.
In the distance was a single red object, jutting out of the ice and reaching for the sky. It looked to be the same color as the grooved wall he had only just climbed. Eddy smiled and held the communicator to his lips. “Hey, guys. This is Eddy. You out there? Over.”
Eddy took his lips away from the communicator and held it to his ear. Nothing. Eddy’s forehead scrunched as he took it away from his ear and gazed at the LCD screen. It was blank.
“Damn.”
The batteries were finally dead. Eddy pocketed the device and struck out for the gleaming beacon of hope. His legs pounded with sharp stabs of pain brought by each footfall, like someone was throwing golf balls at his shins. He knew if he survived this mess, he’d be in serious pain for at least a few weeks. He hoped he’d be spending those weeks with Eve.
As thoughts of Eve’s face swirled in his mind like a light-speed slide show, Eddy’s pace began to pick up and the pain seemed distant, unimportant. He resolved to expose his heart to Eve when they returned to civilization. He only hoped that after all this time, she’d receive him.
He thought back to when they had first met, that summer at the tyrannosaur dig site. She’d crept into his heart back then, but after their budding romance had nearly destroyed his future career, he’d forced himself to keep an emotional distance—all because of a single test.
And now he was here, being tested like never before, and there weren’t any other students to steal the answers from. The red streak of vertical material placed in the ice by an alien civilization came into clear view. His pace slowed and he looked from east to west. Nothing. The others were nowhere in sight. They were either stuck somewhere on the ice…or dead. Eddy dropped to his knees. He might be able to save the planet, but he’d failed to save Eve. In that moment he knew he should have clung to Eve, regardless of the effect she had on his career. The effect she had on his heart suddenly seemed much more important. He turned and looked back the way he came.
Climbing out from the ice were four figures. Eddy realized that Marutas had probably just gone to collect the others before finishing him off; now all four would have the pleasure of dicing his body with their inhuman claws. They walked toward Eddy with a calm, confident stride. Eddy shuffled away from them, but his energy was sapped. He was defeated. His legs stopped pushing against the ice and he waited for death.
24
THE CHASM
Norwood estimated the crevice to be fifteen feet across, a hundred feet deep, and perhaps miles long. They had come all this way, survived such hardships, and for what? To be stuck here, stopped by the split ice. He could hear his father, screaming at him in his head.
That’s just like you, taking something important and screwing it up! You’re worthless and you’ll never amount to anything, no matter how much money you have.
Norwood squeezed his fists. That bastard was always right. Even from his grave he found ways to torment Norwood. “Well, this is just perfect,” he said.
Kevin sat on the ice and crossed his legs. “Looks like we’re done.”
“There’s got to be a way around,” Eve said. “We’re only a hundred yards out. It’s got to be just over that rise.”
Norwood looked across the gorge where the ice rose up about ten feet, just enough to keep them from seeing the other side and feeling a stab of hope. If they could contact Eddy, maybe they would have a chance. Norwood’s eyes widened. “Eddy.”
“What?” Steve asked as he paced near the chasm’s edge, peering down to its sharp, icy bottom.
“The GPS communicator. Give it to me.”
Steve paused, then pulled the communicator from his pocket and tossed it to Norwood. Norwood switched it on and pushed the button. “Eddy, Eddy. This is Brian. Do you copy? Over.”
Static.
“Eddy, if you can hear me, answer, damn it! We’re stuck!”
“You didn’t say over,” Steve said.
Norwood glared at him. “Eddy, answer me, now!”
“If Eddy could answer he would have,” Eve said.
“Yeah, man. He could be running for his life. Or maybe buried in snow. Or frozen.”
Eve shot Steve a harsh glance.
“Sorry. Look, he’s probably just out of range or his batteries died. Just forget it, okay?”
Norwood looked at the GPS screen and saw the markers for their current position and the coordinates given to them by Artuke. They overlapped. “We’re so close.”
“We have to start going around,” Eve said.
“It could take days to circumvent the entire gorge,” Norwood said. “We’ll freeze to death as soon as night falls.”
“Would you prefer we just sit here and freeze to death without trying? Is that it, Brian? Are you giving up?”
Norwood glared at her.
“That’s just like you, quitting when we’re so close.”
Norwood’s eyebrows sunk on his forehead. “What did you just say?”
“You’re quitting… You’re always the first to give up.” Eve threw her hands in the air. “If it wasn’t for Eddy’s persistence, we’d never get anything done. Thank God we brought him, or you’d have us all dead by now.”
“That’s it!” Norwood lunged at Eve, reaching fo
r her throat.
“Whoa!” Steve shouted, as he jumped in between the two. “Calm down, Bri. No reason to go Lord of the Flies on us. All right?”
Norwood huffed with every breath. “Don’t call me a quitter! Don’t you ever do it again.”
“I’m only saying what I see,” Eve said, as she crossed her arms.
“You’re just like my father,” Norwood said, his face twisted with anger.
“Sounds like your father was a smart man,” Eve said, knowing she was goading him on, but with Steve between them and Kevin coming up behind, she didn’t have much to worry about.
“My father is…was… I hate my father, and you’re just like him!” Norwood ran forward, attempting to round Steve, but Steve had him by the waist and they rolled to the ice.
Norwood landed on top of Steve and raised his fist back to punch him. But Kevin was quick and caught Norwood’s fist, holding it back. Norwood raised his other fist to swing at Steve, and Kevin caught that one, too.
“Let me go!” He roared. “You’re all just like my father! Let me go!”
Steve was white with fear. “Calm down, man! We’re not your father!”
“You’re just like him! Always judging me! Making me small! I hate you! I hate—” Norwood’s eyes locked on an area just to the right of Steve’s left ear.
Steve moved his eyes to the side, but didn’t move his head. “What?”
“What’s that?” Norwood asked, his voice shaky but calm.
Steve turned his head and saw what Norwood was looking at; a loop of rope had fallen out of Steve’s backpack when they toppled to the ice. “Oh, a rope.”
“What do you mean, ‘Oh, a rope’?” Kevin asked, as he let go of Norwood’s wrists.
“I kept it from the Cat. It’s the rope you used to pull me out of the water with. Why?”
Eve stood over Steve and thrust both hands out toward the gorge.
Steve looked at the gorge then back to the rope. “Oh… Hey, I’ve been hit on the head a few times today and I nearly died, like, twice, so cut me some slack. At least I thought of bringing it in the first place. Now get off me, you big oaf.”
Norwood climbed to his feet and Steve sat up. Eve reached into the backpack on Steve’s back and pulled out the length of rope, which was thin, strong and very long. She smiled as she began to tie a loop around one end. “Now if you boys are done rolling around in the snow and throwing temper tantrums, I’d like to find Eddy and be done with this mess. Any problems with that?”
They all just stared at her.
“Good,” she said.
Norwood inched towards Eve. She watched him with a wary eye. “Sorry about that. I’ve been seeing a shrink since my dad died… He thought something like that might happen some day. Can you believe he wanted me to make paintings to express my rage?” Norwood laughed. “Look, anyway, it wasn’t really me, so I’m sorry.”
“You’re trying to deny responsibility for it?”
“What?”
“If it wasn’t really you, who was it?”
Norwood stood still.
“You, or not you, next time you threaten me or anyone else on this crew, that makes you as bad as these Ferox jerks. Got it?”
He looked at the ice. “Right. Sorry.”
Norwood hated his father more than the idea of evil aliens. He decided that Eve was right. He had attacked his crew, people he respected. From then on, the Ferox would become the living embodiment of his father. He was sure that if his psychologist knew what his situation was that he would agree; transplanting his hatred for his father onto world-corrupting beasts from another planet would be a very healthy choice.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
It took Eve several tries before she was able to lasso a tall spire of ice on the other side of the gaping chasm. She tied off the rope on a solid chunk of ice she felt sure would hold them, as long as they went one at a time. Still, she couldn’t make any promises. Steve argued that the ice might not hold their weight, and Eve volunteered to cross the expanse first. The rope was hard to grip, but having her feet wrapped around it took some of the weight off her fingers. She managed to shimmy across the rope in a minute and a half. The hardest and most precarious portion of the journey was getting off the rope. She had to spin around and grasp the slippery edge of the gorge and pull herself over the edge. Her fingers dug in deep and she was able to slide onto the ice, like an Arctic snake. She stood on the far side and waved back. “Piece of cake, boys. Who’s next?”
Steve threw himself onto the rope and pulled himself across like a well-trained marine. He was exhausted by the time he reached her and she had to drag him onto the ice, but he kept his manhood intact.
Steve lay on the ice and looked up at Eve with a smile. “Ever see a ‘boy’ do that?”
So predictable.
Eve smiled. “Boys and girls, actually, but when they were done, they weren’t panting for air like my father’s overweight basset hound. You’d think that for a dairy farm, the man would have invested in a sheep dog or something. Old Walter didn’t do much more than eat and pass gas. You two would have got along fantastically.”
Steve fell back down on the ice and continued panting. “Harsh, man.”
Kevin was next on the rope. He moved slowly but steadily. It was apparent his weight was taxing his muscles. Kevin’s pudge was catching up with him.
“C’mon, Buck,” Steve yelled. “Get a move on!”
Kevin stopped moving about three quarters of the way across. “Give me, ugh, a break,” he said, upside down. “It’s not like…I hang…from a rope…like a damn monkey on a daily basis!”
As Kevin spoke his last word, his boots slipped off the rope and his lower body began to descend into the pit. Kevin cried out like a frightened animal, but his fingers held tight. He swung by his hands, hanging above certain death. “I can’t make it,” he said.
“Put your legs back on the rope!” Eve shouted.
Norwood was biting his fingers from the other side, watching with rapt attention.
“Kevin, listen to me,” Eve said. “Swing your legs up one at a time and wrap them around the rope. Your legs can hold the weight and your hands can pull you across.”
Kevin swung a leg up and missed the rope by a foot. “Ugh, I can’t!”
Eve saw that Kevin’s backpack was weighing him down. “Lose the backpack,” Eve said.
“I—I can’t!” Kevin shouted. “Ugh, we need it!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Kevin,” Eve said. “Whatever’s in there isn’t worth your life.”
Kevin made no move to lose his backpack. His arms were shaking, wiggling the rope like a freshly twanged guitar string. Sweat poured down his forehead, stung his eyes and froze to his cheeks, cracking his skin.
Eve was about to shout again when Steve put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll handle this,” he said with a smile.
“Hey, Buck. You know you suck as a gamer,” Steve said with a biting tone.
Kevin did his best to look at Steve. “Ugh. What?”
“You suck. At every game you’ve ever played. Even I could wipe the floor with you. I never wanted to say it before, but you’re a lamer, a camper and a spawn killer.”
Eve gripped Steve’s shoulder and gave him an incredulous stare.
Steve whispered into her ear, “Don’t sweat it. It’s gamer lingo. Very insulting.” Steve stood at the edge of the chasm and shouted again. “Admit it, Buck. You could never beat me in an RTS…an FPS or an RPQ.”
“RPG,” Kevin shot back.
“Whatever. You suck at them all.”
“Please,” Kevin said, forgetting his situation. “You’re, ugh… You’re a newbie.”
“Prove it,” Steve said. “You check out now, and I’ll tell everyone that I smoked you in a mano-e-mano death match using only the handguns.”
Kevin’s response was instant. He swung both legs up onto the rope with a burst of energy and began to pull himself across, grunting with exertion the entire way. Wh
en he reached the edge, Eve and Steve pulled him onto the ice. Their grip loosened and both fell back, landing on the ice. But Kevin was safe on the frozen surface. He rolled over onto his stomach, catching his breath, but still managed to speak between gulps of air. “You are…a…dead man…when we…get back…to civilization!”
Steve smiled. “How about, ‘Thanks for inspiring my pudgy ass, Steve. I am forever in your debt and will let you win the next game, pro gratis.’”
Kevin smiled. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Eve sat up and looked across the ice. To her amazement, Norwood was already half way across. She smacked Steve on the arm. “Get ready to pull Brian up. He’s on his way.”
Steve’s eyebrows furrowed and he sat up, looking at Norwood on the rope. “I’ll be damned.”
Kevin sat up. “He’s making us look like Girl Scouts.”
“Speak for yourself,” Steve said.
As Norwood reached the halfway point, the loop of rope slipped up on the chunk of ice, pulled by Norwood’s weight. He paused. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” Eve said. “Just keep moving.”
Norwood pulled himself twice more and the rope slipped again, hanging on near the top. He dropped a few more inches. “What’s going on?”
“The rope’s slipping off,” Kevin said.
Eve saw that the rope was sliding at a steady pace. In seconds it would fall from the top of the ice and Norwood would fall into the chasm. “Hold on tight, Brian. It’s going to—”
The rope snapped from the ice, flinging small chunks into the air. Norwood shouted out as he began falling straight down. As the rope slackened and became loose in his hands, he swung the rope around his wrist and tightened the loop just as the rope became taut again and his descent was transformed into a speedy arc, swinging toward the frozen wall.
Norwood cried out in pain as he slammed into the frozen wall, which was as hard and unforgiving as concrete. His thigh throbbed with pain but the rope remained secure and his hands held tight, aided by the loop that was tight around his wrist. He dangled over the expanse kicking his feet, trying to spin and place his boots on the ice surface.
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