by Anna Hackett
She slowed the marlin. “The ship’s computer will pick the safest spot to land. Wouldn’t want to land right on top of the entrance to an ice tunnel.”
The ship slowly started to descend. They touched down on the snow.
“Ready for a stroll?” she asked.
Colm grabbed his long winter coat. “As good a time as any.”
Honor pressed a button on her suit and a visor slid into place over her face. He didn’t like that he couldn’t see her eyes. He saw the glimmer of lights at the bottom of her visor.
She noticed him looking. “I have a small heads-up display. My suit can monitor the environmental factors as well as my body’s vitals.”
Colm grunted and pulled his coat around his shoulders.
She touched a control and the canopy slid back. The blast of cold and snow rattled his teeth. Clenching his jaw tight, Colm climbed out. The wind was brisk and tossing snow around. His coat settled around him, and he flicked the hood up.
Now it was time to find what they’d come searching for…and at the same time, protect Honor from Ansar’s unwelcoming environment.
***
Trudging through the snow, Honor wondered how the stars Colm was going to cope in this without an enviro suit on.
She looked over at him and blinked. He had the hood of his fur coat over his head, casting his face in shadow. Snowflakes were already clinging to the fur.
He looked like a snow monster.
Derek and Dr. Behati appeared out of the wall of white. Derek held up his scanner.
Honor nodded. “Let’s get looking.” They fought their way through the deep snow, her boots sinking knee-deep. This could take far longer than she’d guessed. Even walking was hard.
Except for Colm. The damned warrior looked like he was out for a gentle stroll. He paused every now and then to kick snow away with his boot, studying the ground.
Derek’s scanner made a beep. They all stopped, and the agent crouched and brushed at the snow with his gloved hand.
Only to find hunks of rock.
Derek shook his head. “The rock has a high iron content. It seems to be setting the scanner off.”
Dammit. Could all the readings be false positives? “You think that’s what Agent Abora picked up?”
Derek shook his head. “Don’t think so. The Drake’s scanners are more powerful.”
“Keep looking.”
The wind picked up. The snow was now small flecks of ice that pinged against her visor. She checked on Colm. He’d pulled his cloak tighter around himself, but seemed fine. Every now and then, he’d bend on one knee to scrape away snow.
Derek turned. “Nothing here, Agent Brandall. If there is, it’s too small to pick up. Maybe the rocks did ping the Drake’s scanners. I’ll need Agent Abora to adjust for that.”
Honor pressed her lips together. “Okay. Let’s move onto the next location.” And get out of these frigid conditions and warm up. Even with her suit and gloves, her fingers felt numb. She spotted Colm, staring off into the falling snow.
“Colm?”
With no response, she trudged over to join him. “Colm? We’re heading back to the marlins. There’s nothing here.”
He kept staring. “There’s something moving out there in the snow.”
What? She turned, scanning around them. All she saw was fluttering white. “Easy to imagine stuff in these conditions.”
He glanced down at her, his face serious. “Stay close to me.” His voice was a deep rumble. “I didn’t imagine anything. There is something out there.”
Honor swallowed, her nerves itching. She looked again, trying to see what Colm was seeing. “I don’t see anything.”
“I wouldn’t either, without my nanami.”
She touched the side of her visor. “Drake, Brandall here. Are you picking anything up near us? Heat signatures?”
“Nothing,” Agent Abora answered. “But the snow is interfering with our scans.”
So essentially they were blind down here in this snow. “Let’s get out of here.” Honor turned and took one step.
The ground disappeared beneath her boot. Her body dropped, snow rushing past her.
Something grabbed her hand.
Her heart in her throat, her pulse racing, she looked up and saw Colm had grabbed her. She was buried in the snow, just her hand still above the surface.
Stars. She fought for some calm. Colm had her. She was okay.
Then she felt her glove start to slide through his grip.
“Honor!”
She reached up with her other hand, grabbing his wrist tight.
He pulled, yanking her up. Snow rushed against her visor, then she fell into his arms.
“Honor? Are you okay?”
“Fine, fine. Must be a hole, or entrance to one of those ice tunnels under here.” She gave a shaky laugh. “Thanks for grabbing me.”
He reached out and touched her visor.
“Let’s get out of here.” She turned, her gaze landing on the other two not far away. “Derek, last chance. Anything?”
“Nothing,” the man called out. “No wreckage here.”
“Let’s move to the second location,” Honor said.
They hurried back toward the marlins. The wind was harder now, slowing their progress, and the small lumps of falling snow were verging on hail.
Honor happily climbed back into the marlin, and once Colm was seated, she closed the canopy, abruptly cutting off the howl of the wind.
Honor retracted her visor. She saw Colm staring out through the canopy, an intense look on his face. She mustered a smile. “It must have been the snow’s movements you saw.”
“No.”
She sighed, touching the controls. “I was worried you’d say that.”
“I can sense we are being watched.” His brown eyes turned her way and she saw the glimmer of gold in them. “We were being hunted, Honor.”
“Okay. But now we’re leaving.”
He nodded and settled back in his chair. Honor took off, and she wasn’t afraid to admit she was damned glad to be back in the ship.
“Your eyes…I see them glimmer gold sometimes,” she said.
“The nanami cause the change. We can’t control it. It means our emotions are running high.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“But inconvenient in a fight.” He looked her way. “It gives too much away to your enemy. Warriors spend as much time learning control as we do sword-fighting skills.”
When they landed at the next spot, it wasn’t snowing, although a blanket of ice and snow covered the ground.
They climbed out. She watched Colm look around. “Anything?”
“I don’t sense anything.” Another flicker of gold through his eyes. “Even with the aid of my nanami, I don’t detect anything.”
“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
They moved in organized search circles, Derek’s scanner making a steady beeping noise. Colm and Honor kicked at the snow in places. Dr. Behati scribbled notations on his Sync.
“It’s like looking for space pirates in an asteroid field,” Derek muttered.
“Or danari beasts in the Forest of Kern,” Colm added.
Derek blinked. “Ah, I’ll take your word for it.”
After some time, disappointment began to settle in. Thus far, they’d only found rocks and lumps of deep-blue ice below the snow.
Soon, Honor realized she couldn’t see as well as she had been. A dense white fog had drifted in.
“Colm—”
“I see it.”
The scanner made a loud squeal that made Honor wince. They converged on Derek, who was crouched by a mound of snow.
“It’s a good, solid reading—”
They all scraped around the snow…and discovered another rock.
The young agent’s shoulders slumped. “Damn.”
“Keep looking.” Honor looked around. “But don’t wander too far off in this soup. I don’t want to lose anybody.”
As Derek and the doctor moved off to continue the search, Colm knelt by the rock.
Honor frowned. The rock did look…odd. More regular than the other ones they’d found.
Colm touched it. Then gave it a solid hit with his fist.
It crumpled.
Honor sucked in a breath.
“My God,” she breathed, kneeling beside him.
It was no rock. It was a metal lockbox.
Chapter Eight
Honor stared at the lockbox. It was made of a shiny silver metal and completely covered in a cracked web of ice.
She knelt and scraped the ice off with her gloved hand.
“There’s something written here.” She scraped more ice away, revealing faint letters that were engraved into the metal.
Property of the Valhalla.
“It’s from the ship.” Excitement zinged through her bloodstream. She looked up and Colm pressed a hand to her shoulder. Damn, it felt pretty darn good to have him with her, sharing this moment.
“Colm, it’s from your ancestors and we just proved the wreck of their ship is here on Ansar.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “I wasn’t sure treasure hunting would be this interesting.” He smiled from under his fur hood. “I was wrong.”
“Let’s get it back to the marlin. We’ll have to find a way to open it back on the Drake.” She tried to move the box but it was heavy and the base of it was stuck into the ice. She sat back with a huff. “Looks like I’m going to need a dynolifter, and probably a laser cutter—”
Colm reached down, gripped the box on either side, then heaved. Ice cracked with a loud snap, and the box was free.
“You’re handy to have around, warrior.”
“Of course.”
She rolled her eyes at the unabashed arrogance, and stood. They made their way back through the snow to load the box in the back of the marlin.
While Colm maneuvered the lockbox into the storage compartment, Honor touched her visor. “Derek, we found an artifact. We have it loaded. Did you find anything else?” She waited for the agent to respond.
“Copy that, Agent Brandall. We have nothing else to report.”
“All right, let’s head back to the Drake. If we’re lucky, there might be something in this artifact we found that might narrow down where the rest of the ship is.”
“Acknowledged.”
Moments later, Derek’s form appeared out of the fog. He tipped up his visor, his face creased in concern. “Is Dr. Behati with you?”
Honor froze. “No, I thought he was with you.” She looked around. The fog had an eerie feel to it now and it was getting thicker by the second. “Dr. Behati, do you copy?”
Nothing.
“Dr. Behati, please respond.”
Having finished stowing the box, Colm appeared. “What’s wrong?”
“Dr. Behati is missing and not answering his comms.”
Colm’s face turned grim. “Let’s find him.”
“Alpha, this is the Drake.”
At the new voice in her ear, she held up her hand for the others to wait. “I’m here, Drake.”
“We’ve picked up a snowstorm moving in on your location.” Ning sounded out of breath. “Honor, it’s huge and it’s coming in fast.”
Honor cursed. “Behati is missing.”
“You have ten minutes until the storm hits…no, wait a second… Stars, make that four minutes. It’s speeding up!”
Honor looked at Colm and Derek. “We’re about to get hit by a huge snowstorm. We have four minutes to find Behati and get out of here. Let’s move. Now.”
Colm nodded and swiftly moved to look around the area. Derek moved to the left and Honor went right. Together, they moved in larger and larger circles around the marlins. Honor called out and kept trying the comms. Where the hell was the archeologist?
Ahead she saw Colm crouch and touch something in the snow.
She hurried over. “What is it?”
Colm looked up, and his face was as hard as she’d ever seen it. He moved his body slightly…and she saw what he was looking at.
The snow was stained with a splatter of bright-red blood.
Honor felt her stomach turn over.
Colm shot to his feet, his eyes flashing gold. “Something’s here.”
The fog had thickened more and the wind was picking up. With her heart pounding, Honor turned around, trying to see anything through the thick, white mist.
“Agent Brandall!” Derek yelled across the comm. “I saw something in the fog. Something big.”
“We need to leave,” Colm said.
“I can’t abandon Behati. He’s an archeologist, Colm, not a soldier.” To leave the man here would be a death sentence.
“Then we’ll all die.” Colm reached under his furs and drew his sword.
Feeling desperate, Honor contacted the Drake. “Drake, any life signs? Can you pick up Dr. Behati anywhere?”
“I can’t detect Dr. Behati’s signature, Honor,” Ning said. “I see your three signatures…wait—” A sharp intake of breath. “Oh, my God. There are faint signatures appearing around you! Three, no, four, no…ten. I can’t tell what they are, but they have you surrounded!”
It set Honor’s nerves alive and she pulled out her laser pistols. “We’re surrounded. Ten intruders. Get to the ships…now!”
“Go!” Colm jerked Honor toward the marlin.
They started running. Honor stumbled through the thick snow. A lone growl echoed in the fog and it sent a shiver down Honor’s spine. She gritted her teeth.
“Keep moving,” Colm growled.
It couldn’t be much farther to the marlins. Honor saw a shadow move in the fog and she tensed. Then the black shadow was gone.
She tripped over something and landed on her knees in the snow. What the hell? She looked down.
“Oh, God, Dr. Behati.” The archeologist was lying face-up in the snow. His face and chest were covered in splatters of blood. He’d been…mauled by something.
Then Colm was there. He saw the archeologist, cursed, and then leaned down and lifted Behati. He tossed the man’s body over his shoulder. “Keep moving, Honor.”
Honor pushed off, and tried to keep pace with Colm’s long strides. They reached the first marlin, where Derek was scrambling into the pilot seat. The man’s chest was heaving.
Colm dumped Behati’s body in the other seat.
“Jesus.” Derek blanched white. “Is he alive?”
“Barely,” Colm answered. “Now go.”
Honor kept up her stumbling run towards the second marlin. She cursed. The snow was too damned deep. Suddenly, she was jerked off her feet and pressed against a fur-covered chest.
Colm charged ahead, and she heard Derek’s marlin take off. Its lights shone across the snow in front of them…
Illuminating the huge creature emerging from the fog.
Every muscle in her body froze, and her breath lodged in her throat. “Colm.”
Colm set her down and pushed her behind him. He raised his sword.
The beast was larger than Colm, with shaggy, white fur covering its muscular body. It had huge jaws.
“It looks like a winter wolf,” Colm said. “But larger.”
Honor pulled her laser pistols and aimed them at the beast. “Best way to kill them?”
“Before they kill you.”
The wolf leaped.
Colm moved fast. He swung his sword into the air, his fur coat spreading out around his large body.
But the wolf was wily, leaping out of the way.
“Honor, back to the marlin. Now.”
“I’m not leaving you.” She clutched her pistols harder, when something made her look behind her.
Another wolf was slinking toward them.
“Now,” he roared.
God. Honor ignored Colm and aimed at the wolf. She pulled the trigger. Her lasers hit the beast in the side and only made the thing shake its hideous head. She shot again, aiming at different part
s of the creature’s body. Legs, side, back. Behind her, she could hear Colm battling with the first wolf.
She shot her wolf again, but she realized the fur was too thick. She jammed her laser pistols back in their holsters and grabbed her staff instead. She shook it, and it extended.
Honor backed up until she was back-to-back with Colm. As her wolf watched her with burning blue eyes, she was horribly aware that there were eight more of these creatures out there in the fog. She could see dark shadows shifting and moving in the whiteness.
Focus, Honor. She breathed in, she searched for her battle calm. All her life, the middle of combat—whether in real life or in training—had been the one place where she felt calm. Where she could just be herself and nothing else mattered. She took another deep breath, then she ran at the wolf.
It leaped forward and snapped out at her with those jaws full of teeth. She ducked and swung her staff. She hit the creature’s side with a solid thwack.
It was like the animal was made of steel. Honor moved backward, assessing her options. Debilitate. She couldn’t see a way to kill the beast, but if she could break a leg and slow it down, it wouldn’t be able to move as easily.
It would make it harder for the creature to kill them.
The creature came forward, its belly low to the ground. She twirled and swung her staff, aiming this time for its hind leg. Her staff connected.
There was a sharp snap of breaking bone. The wolf yelped and pulled back. Honor’s chest heaved as she gulped in frigid air. Then, behind her, she heard a horrible sound. She spun.
Colm’s animal was dead. It was lying in the snow, bleeding out.
“Honor, run!” Colm charged at her. His face was twisted, almost enraged.
It was then she saw two more wolves appear from the fog.
Colm grabbed her arm, hauling her toward the marlin. The snow was deep here and she stumbled, unable to find her balance.
He swung her up into his arms and he pounded through the snow toward the ship. When they reached it, he dropped her into the pilot seat. As Honor palmed the controls, she saw Colm standing beside the marlin with his sword up.
“Colm, get in. Now!” The engines flared to life.
Honor stared at the screen in front of her, dread filling her. She could see more wolf signatures on the screen. “Colm, get in.”