Hostage

by Chris Ryan

  'What if we come across another suck hole?' asked Amber fearfully. The terrifying experience of falling into the ice funnel was still fresh in her mind.

  'If you'd been travelling with dogs,' said Amaruk, 'you would never have fallen in. They would've taken you right around it. They can sense weak ice or open water.'

  Amber looked admiringly at Boomer. What she had just heard reinforced all her prejudices about using machines for transport. 'I could really get to like these guys,' she grinned.

  'Stay close on my tail and keep your eyes on this light,' said Amaruk, turning his headband round until the lamp sat on the back of his hood.

  'Don't you need to see where you're going?' asked Amber.

  'I have Boomer,' said Amaruk simply, slotting his mukluks into the rubber footprints on the back of his sled. 'Headlights on and stay in single file. Follow the sled tracks exactly. The dogs know the safe ice. And keep a check on one another to make sure no-one falls behind.' Alpha Force nodded, pulled their hood drawstrings tight and clambered on to their machines, with Amber and Li sharing the third one. Amaruk tightened his own fur-fringed hood until only his eyes were showing, then pulled the sled brake out of the snow and yelled to his dogs, 'Let's go!'

  They followed Amaruk's bobbing lamp through the whirling snow for twenty freezing minutes before the dogs began to yelp with excitement. Li peered through her snow-covered goggles and saw the faintest glimmer of lights. They had arrived in Amaruk's village. Boomer had guided them home.

  'It's a proper house,' said Amber a few minutes later, as she followed Amaruk up the steps and into a warm, wooden-floored hallway. Through an open doorway she could see a family living room with a sofa and chairs, prints and photographs on the walls and two children sitting in front of a television in the corner.

  'Yeah, well, we tried getting all our furniture into the igloo, but it wouldn't fit,' said a slim, pretty Inuit woman, emerging from the kitchen. She had dancing black eyes, high, flat cheekbones and thick, black hair done up in two plaits.

  'I'm sorry,' said Amber, squirming with embarrassment. 'I only meant—'

  'And I'm only teasing,' smiled the woman, turning to give Amaruk a kiss on the cheek.

  'This is Kikik, my wife,' said Amaruk.

  Li staggered up the steps and ripped off her goggles. Her left eye was closed and she had to use her fingers to prise it open. Her eyelashes had frozen and stuck together like glue. 'I've never known cold like it!' she stuttered through stiff lips.

  'It's the wind chill factor,' said Kikik.

  'It can get a lot worse than that,' boasted Amaruk. 'I've known it so cold you could spit and it would freeze in mid-air and bounce when it hit the ground.'

  'Mind your backs,' grunted Hex as he and Paulo staggered into the hallway, carrying Alex. He was sitting between them on their crossed and linked arms, still bundled up in his sleeping bag like a caterpillar.

  'This is Alex,' said Amaruk. 'He fell through the ice.'

  Kikik thumped Amaruk on the chest. 'Standing there chatting! Why didn't you tell me?'

  'I just did,' said Amaruk.

  Instantly Kikik was all seriousness, leading Hex and Paulo through into a bedroom at the end of the hallway, then shooing them out again once Alex was laid on the bed.

  'Don't worry,' said Amaruk, as they all stared anxiously at the closed bedroom door. 'Kikik is a nurse. Now, come and meet my boys, Pungar and Ohoto.'

  Two young Inuit boys, aged five and seven, immediately turned off the television and scrambled to their feet to greet their guests.

  'Would you like some akutug?' asked Ohoto politely.

  'Akutug?' repeated Amber.

  'It's Inuit ice cream,' explained Amaruk. 'A traditional delicacy.'

  'Oh. OK,' said Amber, and the two little boys ran giggling from the room and came back a few minutes later with four bowls of what looked like fluffy sorbet topped with red berries.

  'This looks good,' said Paulo, taking a bowl. Amber, Li and Hex all took a bowl too and, with the boys watching their every move, they popped a big spoonful of the sorbet into their mouths. The boys could barely contain themselves as they watched their four guests struggle not to show how bad the taste was. Paulo and Li swallowed their mouthfuls down in one gulp. This was an Inuit delicacy and they did not want to insult their hosts. Hex thought about swallowing his mouthful, but his stomach heaved at the idea. He looked from side to side like a hunted animal and spat his mouthful back into the bowl. Amber froze with her cheeks bulging and her eyes growing wide, then she opened her mouth and scraped the stuff off her tongue with the spoon.

  'OK. Joke over,' smiled Amaruk. 'Time for bed. It's a school day tomorrow.'

  The boys ran from the room, shrieking with laughter.

  'We are sorry,' began Paulo.

  'Don't be. It's fine not to like it,' said Amaruk. 'Inuit ice cream is a bit of an acquired taste.'

  'What's in it?' shuddered Amber, pushing her bowl as far away from her as she could manage.

  'A mixture of seal oil, caribou fat, sugar and water,' grinned Amaruk.

  'Yummy,' muttered Hex.

  'Do your boys like it?' asked Li.

  'Hell, no! Ben and Jerry's is their favourite. They just like to torment our guests from the south. I run a tour business, you see. Arctos Tours. We fly the people in here, then take them out on the sleds for a couple of weeks. They learn how to drive the teams, fish in the frozen lakes, camp out in the wilderness and breathe a bit of clean air for a change. Most people love it. Apart from the Inuit ice cream, that is. Years ago, they used to call it Eskimo ice cream, but that's kinda frowned upon now.'

  'Why?' asked Hex.

  'Well, Eskimo is a Cree Indian name for us. It means, "eaters of raw flesh". It used to be a pretty accurate description, I suppose. My people used to eat all their meat raw because it saved on fuel and it was a valuable source of vitamins. That was important when the only other sources used to be a few berries and roots in the summer. Nowadays, we get our vegetables flown in and we all have generators in our houses. We still eat raw meat dishes sometimes, on special occasions, but we prefer to be called Inuit now. It's our own word. It means "the people".'

  Kikik came into the room and smiled around at the four members of Alpha Force. 'Alex is going to be just fine,' she said. 'His temperature's nearly back up to normal already and there's no sign of frostbite. As for the shoulder, the swelling isn't too bad at all. No lasting damage. I've strapped it up and given him some anti-inflammatories and painkillers. He's sleeping now.'

  'Was it good?' asked Paulo hesitantly. 'What I did for his arm?'

  'You did a great job, Paulo,' smiled Kikik. 'Now, would somebody like to tell me what's going on?'

  Amaruk took his wife by the hand and looked up into her face. 'Papaluk has walked upon the land,' he said softly. He was referring to the old Inuit tradition of walking out into the snow when you were too old or sick to live usefully any more. It was his way of breaking the news of Papaluk's death gently.

  Kikik's eyes filled with tears and she cried for her friend. Amber cried too, but Li sat stony-faced, waiting for the right moment to ask her question. As soon as Amaruk had finished explaining what had happened to Papaluk, Li jumped in.

  'Amaruk, you said the mine wasn't far from here.'

  'You can reach it in a morning's travel.'

  'Why do you want to go there?' asked Kikik.

  'Papaluk had proof that the mine was dumping cyanide into the river. That's why Daniel Usher had her killed. He doesn't know we're on his trail. If we can get into the mine while he's feeling safe, the chances are we're going to find enough evidence to put him away for a good long time.'

  'Our water is piped up from the river,' said Kikik. 'It used to be the purest water you could wish for. Since Usher Mining Corporation took over the mine, we have had sickness here. There is a pattern to it. For a week, maybe two, everything is fine. Then within one day, people come into the surgery reporting all sorts of symptoms. Headaches, ve
rtigo, nausea and vomiting. The little children are brought in with dilated pupils and clammy skin. Some even have convulsions.'

  'They must be the dumping days,' said Hex.

  Kikik nodded. 'Mostly the people recover and then everyone is fine again until the next time. But now – now a young woman in the village has given birth to a baby with bad problems. Everyone is scared. We are all melting snow for our cooking and having bottled water flown in to drink. I looked up our symptoms on the Net and they all fit the cyanide poisoning profile.'

  'That's why we have to nail this guy,' said Amber.

  'But why you? Why must you go to the mine?' asked Amaruk. 'It will be risky.'

  'Because it's personal. Papaluk was my friend,' said Li.

  'And Daniel Usher had my parents killed,' said Amber quietly.

  'And we are —' Hex hesitated – 'experienced – in this sort of stuff.'

  There was a long silence. Amaruk and Kikik looked at the four fit and muscular young people sitting in their living room. Amaruk opened his mouth to ask what Hex meant, but Hex was watching him with a cool stare and a neutral, closed expression on his face and Amaruk decided against the question.

  Amaruk and Kikik shared a look, then Amaruk seemed to make a decision. 'Papaluk was our friend too,' he said. 'I'll guide you to the mine. But you'd better leave the snowmobiles here. The mine's very well guarded and they might investigate if they hear you coming. We'll use the dog teams.'

  Li looked around at the others and they all nodded their agreement. 'Good,' she said. 'We leave tomorrow.'

  TWELVE

  'There they are,' said Amaruk the next morning. 'Sixteen dogs. Two teams.'

  Amber, Hex, Li and Paulo looked out over the crisp, new snow. The blizzard had subsided during the night and the day was bright and clear, but they could see no sign of the dogs.

  'Where?' demanded Amber.

  Amaruk gave a high, clear whistle and suddenly sixteen dogs exploded out of the ground. They had all been curled up under a blanket of snow, with their paws and noses tucked neatly under their tails, but now they were ready for action, running in circles on the end of their tether ropes and yipping excitedly.

  'First team here,' said Amaruk, pointing to the first row of dogs. 'Second team behind them. You'll be driving the first team, Amber. The second team's still learning how to do it right so I'll take them. We'll give them a quick run before they have breakfast. Give you a chance to get used to mushing before we set off for the mine.'

  Amber hurried along beside Amaruk with a broad grin on her face. She was looking forward to this. When Amaruk had explained that they would have to take two sleds as each one carried a maximum of three people, including the driver, she had instantly volunteered to be the second driver.

  Amaruk pulled the covering from his two sleds and began yanking one of them back and forth to break the runners out of the ice.

  'I can see why we need two sleds,' said Paulo, grabbing the other sled and copying Amaruk's technique. 'They are not very big.'

  The sleds were lightweight baskets made out of lashed hickory. They were attached to long runners made of tough polyethylene plastic which had been polished until it was as smooth as glass. At the rear of the sled, the frame rose up into a curved handlebar. Behind the handlebar, a pair of rubber footprints were set into a plate where the driver, known as the musher, stood.

  The dogs grew even more frenzied as Amaruk and Paulo pushed the sleds across the snow towards them.

  'Are they friendly?' asked Hex, watching the dogs warily.

  'Most of them,' said Amaruk, picking a tangle of harnesses from the sled. 'Come on, I'll introduce you as we harness them up.'

  Amaruk selected a long length of nylon rope just over a centimetre in diameter. 'This is called the gangline,' he said as he attached the rope to the front of the sled, then laid the length of it out along the snow. 'It's the main line. You attach all your dogs to the gangline in staggered pairs, using these.'

  He held up eight short lengths of rope, each half a centimetre in diameter. 'These are the tuglines and they clip on to the dog's harness. See?' Amaruk picked up a harness and showed them the metal ring on the padded straps. 'The dog's front legs go through these side loops here and the straps transfer the strain of pulling to the dog's chest and shoulders. That's partly why a team of eight can pull a weight of three hundred kilos without even breaking into a sweat.'

  'And those? What are they?' asked Paulo, pointing to a pile of even shorter, thinner ropes.

  'They're the necklines. They don't do anything except keep your dogs in line once they're on the move. Right, let's go harness them up.' Amaruk handed the tuglines to Amber and picked up the harnesses.

  'You've met Boomer already,' he said, stopping by the first dog in the line and bending to slip on the harness. Boomer licked Amaruk on the cheek and he ruffled the dog's fur in return. 'He's my lead dog. I've had him since he was a pup and sometimes I think he can read my mind.'

  Amaruk led Boomer over to the front of the gangline and clipped his tugline into place. 'Come and meet the others,' he said.

  The next dog was a friendly little female with fluffy, white fur. 'This here is Pie,' said Amaruk.

  'Why did you call her Pie?' asked Li, watching as Amber harnessed the dog with surprising skill and speed considering that she had never done it before.

  'Because she's as nice as pie,' said Amaruk. 'Not a leader, though. She has to have someone to follow and she'd follow Boomer anywhere. She's a second lead. A stringer. Moving on, this is Donald.'

  'Why Donald?' asked Paulo, as the third dog was harnessed up. At that moment, Donald gave a strangled yelp of excitement as his tether rope was unclipped. It sounded exactly like the quack of a duck. 'Never mind,' grinned Paulo.

  'This is Frodo,' said Amaruk, petting a small male with big eyes, pointed ears and a lot of curly, dark hair. 'Because he's little but courageous. He shares swing position with Donald. Next we have Drum. He loves to roll in the snow. Drum roll. Get it? And this is Beauty, for obvious reasons. They take third pair position.'

  Drum and Beauty were clipped into their places on the gangline. Now only two dogs were left still tethered to their sleeping posts. They were both big males with powerful shoulders and well-developed muscles in their back legs.

  'These two are my wheel dogs,' explained Amaruk. 'Wheel dogs have to be big, tough brutes. They're the dogs closest to the sled, and when the musher makes a turn, most of the weight of the sled falls on their tuglines. This one is Stinker,' he said, harnessing a big, rangy dog with oatmeal-coloured fur and a laughing face. 'If you want to know why we call him Stinker, just sit next to him while he digests his dinner and you'll soon find out.' Amaruk handed Stinker's tugline to Paulo. 'And finally, we have Ice. He's my only Siberian husky. Cost me a fortune. I thought he would make a good leader but it didn't work out. We call him Ice, because he's very cool. He never really took to me, or anybody else, and you can't have a lead dog who doesn't care whether his musher lives or dies. He's a bit of a handful to harness up—'

  Amaruk turned towards Ice, then stopped talking and stared in astonishment. Amber had already harnessed the big dog and was now sitting in the snow next to him, stroking his thick coat. Ice was leaning up against her, with one paw on her knee and an uncharacteristically soft look in his pale blue eyes.

  'Well, I'll be . . . !' exclaimed Amaruk. 'I'd better qualify that last statement. Ice doesn't like people, unless their name happens to be Amber. He's taken a real shine to you, Amber. I've never seen him snuggle up to anyone like that before. I've heard mushers talk about dogs who only ever take to one person and when they do, they take to them within seconds. Looks like Ice here is a one-person dog – and he's just found his person.'

  Amber grinned up at Amaruk and buried her fingers in the thick ruff of fur around Ice's neck.

  'Come on then,' said Amaruk. 'Clip him in line. Then you can take them for a spin.'

  Amber put Ice into his place then clambered u
p on to the back of the sled.

  'Memorized the commands?' asked Amaruk.

  Amber nodded. '"Let's go" to get them started. "Hike" to make them go faster. "Haw" for turn left, "gee" for turn right and "on by" to go straight on. "Easy" to slow them down and "whoa" for stop.'

  'Good. Remember, you steer the sled by leaning one way or the other. The sharper the turn, the further you lean.'

  Amber nodded again and released the claw brake. Taking a deep breath, she yelled out the musher's command, 'Let's go!'

  The team shot off like a cork from a champagne bottle. Amber flew through the air and landed flat on her back as the sled was yanked from under her.

  'Oww,' she said quietly, from the ground.

  'Haw!' yelled Amaruk. 'Haw!'

  Boomer heard him and turned the team to the left in a long curve until they were heading back towards Amaruk. 'On by!' called Amaruk, and Boomer obediently came out of the turn and headed straight on. 'Easy!' called Amaruk as the sled drew closer. Then, 'Whoa!'

  The sled came to a gentle halt at his feet. He held his hand out to Amber and pulled her up. 'Try again,' he said. 'And hold on tighter this time.'

  'I'm not sure I can do it,' whispered Amber, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

  'Course you can. The dogs like you. That's the most important thing. They're keen to do as you want. You just have to learn how to tell them what you want.'

  Amber sighed and climbed back on. Over the next hour she tipped the sled over twice and fell off three times. The fourth time she fell, she flung out her hand and grabbed the sled, determined to hang on. She bounced along on her front for a good two minutes, with the dogs heading for the far horizon, before she remembered to shout, 'Whoa!'

  When she returned, Hex, Li and Paulo were so weak with laughter, they could hardly stand.