Ice Baron (Ice Chronicles, Book One (science fiction romance))

by Green, Jennette

  Anya pushed the door release button and jumped down a meter to the soft snow pack. She’d brought snow wear for Damon, including socks, and had packed them in Michael’s bird. But she hadn’t thought to bring boots. That’s because she hadn’t known Onred was such a fiend that he’d make a child freeze to death in his bare feet.

  Michael’s bird hovered twenty meters distant. Even if his technological wonder worked, the next five seconds would prove her most dangerous. Anya darted toward its protective shadow.

  Three…two…one.

  No laser fire. She had made it.

  Onred’s men watched her. Although each man wore his hair in a buzz cut and sported a goatee like his foul leader, Onred was not present. That wasn’t a surprise. The center man was Yegor—Onred’s first-in-command—the one who had held a machete to Damon’s neck. So, Joshua had been right. Yegor was here. That would please the men fingering their weapons behind her.

  Slowly, she walked forward. Michael’s bird kept pace, but Falcon’s warship remained stationary.

  Yegor raised a hand. “Far enough,” he said in a thick accent.

  “Release him,” Anya ordered.

  “Leave the bird. Come closer.”

  “Not until you release him.”

  One of the henchmen shoved Damon hard, so he fell face forward into the snow. His wrists were bound, so he could not save himself. Fury knotted in Anya’s belly. Slowly, painfully, Damon managed to roll to his knees, and then staggered to his feet. His knees remained partially bent, as if frozen in place. Purple marks underscored his eyes, and blood had frozen in a river from his lip to his throat.

  Anya struggled to control her grief and her anger. “Come on, Damon,” she called in a firm, encouraging voice. “Come closer, as fast as you can.”

  Her brother stumbled forward. His feet jarred into the snow, as if walking on deadened stubs. When he had made it halfway to Anya, Yegor shouted, “Stop!”

  Damon swayed. His body, except for his battered face, looked the color of a pale, blue ghost.

  He was about twelve meters distant from Anya—not close enough to be protected by Michael’s ingenious shield. Its range was five meters.

  Anya strode fast for Damon. Michael’s bird kept pace beside her.

  “Stop!” Yegor trained a laser on her.

  She dared another small step. Now, seven meters separated Damon from Michael’s shield. “Let me help him,” she snapped. “He’s freezing.”

  “The bird stays.” Yegor shouted. All three men trained lasers upon Anya. “You, come forward alone.”

  She raised a hand to Michael and walked forward four meters. Now three meters separated her from her brother. “Now he comes forward,” she stated.

  The men conferred in low rumbles. Disagreement was clear. In the end, Yegor waved his hand. “Boy. A few more steps.”

  When Damon was close enough, Anya dared another half step and pulled him into her arms. His cheek against hers felt like ice. Snow wear wouldn’t help him now. He needed immediate medical attention. Good thing a doctor flew in Michael’s bird.

  “Go to the airbird,” she murmured in his ear. “No matter what they say, don’t stop. Understand?”

  “Yeah.” It was barely a breath, but it encouraged her.

  She directed him behind her. Now, for the tricky part. Falcon wouldn’t shoot Yegor until she was safely inside Michael’s bird, for no one knew whether Michael’s wonder shield would work correctly or not. And yet Anya did not want Yegor dead. His death would mean the deaths of her siblings. Of this, she had no doubt. So she had to save the Altai commander. She needed to get between Yegor and the Donetski air ships’ lasers. She had to become a human shield for one of Onred’s most despicable men, and she had to surrender now. It was the only way to keep her other siblings alive.

  “Stop, boy!” Yegor ordered.

  Damon continued to painfully shuffle toward the bird, and Anya remained stationary, waiting for him to get closer. To be fully safe.

  “Stop. Or we shoot!” Yegor shouted.

  Static hissed from the transmitter at Anya’s collar. Joshua said, “Get in the bird, Anya.”

  She didn’t answer.

  Yegor’s enraged gaze latched upon her. “Dubrovnyk! Come here. Now. Or we shoot.”

  “Get into the bird, Anya.”

  It was now or never. Anya drew a fortifying breath, but just as she stepped forward, fire blazed from Falcon’s ship. The enemy warship exploded into a giant fireball.

  Yegor shouted. Men scrambled and lasers shot from the black beasts. One yellow tongue of flame shot straight for her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Anya dove for the ground. Centimeters before her nose, a blue wall of pure energy sizzled skyward, arching into a bubble around Michael’s ship. The protective shield darkened and thickened to the consistency of sky blue. She couldn’t see through it. Then, slowly, the blue, pulsing field shimmered to nothing. The enemy’s laser fire had ceased.

  Altai lasers blasted again. Once more, the blue field sparkled into a silent dome over Michael’s craft. On her knees now in the cold snow, Anya’s mouth opened in silent wonder. Michael’s shield seemed to feed off of the energy from the enemy laser. Instead of weakening the shield, it appeared to make it stronger. She had never seen such a thing in her life. Of course, shields weren’t a new concept, but few could survive repeated laser blasts. And none became stronger.

  It was a miracle technology. Michael had installed it in his bird, but who had invented it?

  The field faded again.

  Joshua ground out, “Get in the bird, Anya.” His voice sounded remarkably clear, as if he was right behind her, instead of speaking from the device in her collar. Had the energy field amplified its power?

  Anya’s gaze remained on the enemy, trying to assess the damage. Onred’s men had scattered. One lay dead. Two birds had exploded. But in the sky, black birds advanced, like bees in a swarm. She scrambled to her feet.

  Too late to surrender to Yegor. The damage had been done.

  “I said,” Joshua gritted, gripping her arm hard, “get in the bird.”

  Anya gasped in shock and whirled. Joshua’s face looked murderous. Never had she seen him more angry.

  He dragged her to Michael’s airbird before she could speak. His bird hovered meters behind Michael’s. Clearly, Joshua had put himself in danger in order to haul her to safety.

  At his forcible shove, she quickly climbed inside the warm bird. Michael greeted her with a frown. The seats had been stripped from the back of his bird, and the floor had been converted into a makeshift bed. The doctor knelt beside Damon, who was already enclosed in a temperature controlled body bag.

  Joshua stuck his head inside and addressed his brother. “Does the shield work in the air?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then I’m coming with you. My bird will be toast.” Joshua swung inside, and the bird rose at dizzying speed and shot west. Falcon’s warship followed.

  “Who’s dead?” Anya wanted to know.

  “Does it matter?” Joshua’s opaque, quelling gaze bore right through her.

  “Of course it matters! If it’s Yegor, Onred will—” her gaze slid to Damon’s still form, and her voice lowered, “—kill my brother and sisters!”

  Joshua moved so fast that he loomed over her within a heartbeat. Face dark with emotion, he gripped her shoulder, hard enough that it hurt. She gasped, frightened by the violence twitching his fingers. Through his teeth, he said, “Don’t you understand? He’ll kill them anyway.”

  “No, he wouldn’t. Not if I went with them.”

  “Was that your plan?” Fury darkened his eyes to onyx. Like a black hole, no light escaped. “I thought so.”

  “They didn’t shoot me,” she cried out. “Don’t you see? If they had wanted me dead, they’d have shot both Damon and me. But they didn’t. That proves Onred wants me alive.”

  “And once he has you,” he snarled, “he’ll kill your family. Then you would be
his slave. Forever. Do you understand what that means?”

  The bird swerved right, nearly knocking her sideways. “I…”

  Abruptly, he released her. His hands were shaking. “Damn it. You’re a fool. You can’t follow a simple order…”

  “You don’t care about my family!” she cried out, overcome by rage. “They’re expendable to you. They’re chess pieces, aren’t they? You used Damon to assassinate Yegor. Isn’t that right? Tell me. Is Yegor dead?”

  “Yes.”

  Anya put her hands to her face. She was so angry that she wanted to burst into tears, but she did not. Instead, her jaw tightened, and she glared at Joshua. “You’re the ruler. You got your way. Don’t attack me for wanting to save my family!”

  The bird swerved left.

  “Uh, kids?” Michael said. “We’re in trouble. I need help up here.”

  Joshua swiftly joined his brother in the cockpit.

  Shaking with grief, Anya crawled back to her brother. His eyes were shut, and his skin blue. “How is he?” she whispered to the small, balding doctor.

  “Too soon to tell. We need to get him to a medical bay, and now.”

  “No chance of that,” Joshua clipped out. “Falcon went down.”

  “What happened?”

  His jaw clenched.

  Michael answered. “Warship shot him down.”

  Anya glanced outside and gasped. Blue and black airbirds tangled, swooping up and down the mountain faces. Lasers spat like snake’s tongues. Donetsk’s backup birds, waiting behind the mountain range, must have jetted to meet Onred’s forces. Now a hot, savage battle waged.

  Joshua muttered to Michael, “Head for Gorno. Can you shake them?”

  Anya swiveled her head to listen, spirits rising in hope. Onred held Marli and the others hostage in Gorno.

  “We’ll give it a go,” The big man’s fingers sped across the navigation pad. The craft cut downward at a steep angle and only Anya’s boots, wedged against the pilot’s chair, prevented her from sliding forward. A second later, the craft leveled out and shot forward at dizzying speed. G forces hit like a physical weight against Anya’s chest and she fell backward, onto her spine. Swiftly, she pushed up onto her elbows again. They shot for a dark, narrow canyon. Bristly pines bordered the narrow space, and far below, a ribbon of water shimmered.

  “We’ve got a tail.” Sliding to his knees, Joshua took over the weapons panel. Video feed revealed two airbirds on their tail, growing larger every minute. The back window afforded Anya the same view—only the black birds looked scarier at full size.

  Yellow lasers licked from the lead Altai craft, and Michael’s blue shield shimmered into place. “Found a problem,” that man muttered. “I can’t see when they shoot at max power. The shield gets too thick. I’m flying by instruments, bro. Get them off my tail.”

  “Mark when you turn off the shield, and I’ll fire.”

  The blue shield shimmered and faded, looking like dancing, sparkling sunrays.

  “Three, two, one…Now!” Michael said.

  White lasers shot from the rear of Michael’s airbird. A black bird exploded in midair.

  “Gotcha,” Joshua muttered.

  One strike! Anya could not believe that one blast had destroyed the enemy bird. All aircraft, from her father’s old lectures, could withstand at least two laser hits before shields failed.

  “Shield up,” Michael said.

  Fire spit from the remaining bird. Tense moments later, that enemy craft combusted into a black, smoking ball of scrap, too, and hurtled down toward the water, far below.

  “Bogey above us.” Joshua switched controls to fire overhead lasers. He swore. “They’re all over the place.”

  Suddenly, an enemy swooped ahead of them and jetted straight for Michael’s ship, firing all lasers. The blue shield darkened to midnight blue. Michael shot skyward. The shield faded, then darkened again.

  Michael swore.

  Concentration hardened Joshua’s features. “On my mark, lower the shield. Three, two…one.” White lasers spit at the same time they took a hit. The whole ship shuddered.

  “Another one down.”

  “The shield’s damaged,” Michael reported. “Here comes another one.”

  Anya clung to a safety handle as the craft jerked and swerved. Her stomach lurched with each violent movement. Their shield held, but appeared to be a lighter blue than before. Three black birds pursued them.

  “We’ve got to lose... What the…”

  Another bird appeared.

  Now Joshua swore. “The canyon’s skin tight ahead. They want to box us in.”

  “Why? And how?” Anya dared to ask. She felt sick to her stomach from the violent motions.

  “They’ll fire everything they’ve got. Michael, will the shield hold?”

  “It’ll short.”

  “On my mark, go vertical at Mach one. Then lower the shield.”

  “Okaaay, big brother. You’re the boss.”

  Did Joshua want Michael to lower the shields while all four birds fired on them? “Joshua, that’s crazy,” Anya gasped.

  Tight lipped, he said, “You haven’t cornered the market on chaos.”

  Was that a compliment? If so, it frightened her. On second thought, the birds swooping into position—one behind, one ahead, one below and one above them—scared her much more. The black beasts jetted in with blinding swiftness. Lasers spit, and all went blue.

  The ship hummed and crackled. Random numbers and shorting images flickered across the console.

  “Now!”

  The ship shot skyward. A jolt hit, and the ship spun like a drunken man. Joshua hunched over the weapons console. Simultaneous explosions sounded both above and below them.

  A grim smile twitched Joshua’s lips. “Got all the bastards.”

  Michael’s tight lips told another story. “We’re going down. Brace for impact.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Michael’s airbird stuttered and fell.

  Anya closed her eyes and incoherently prayed.

  Long seconds later the craft jerked up, as if punched by a giant fist, lurched forward, and then dropped more dizzying meters. Anya longed for a seatbelt—although what good that would do when they shattered into a thousand pieces, she wasn’t certain. She hung on tight to the safety handle, trying to stay in one place.

  “Take the helm,” Michael told Joshua. “I’m going into the engine.”

  Joshua’s brother ducked down and ripped off the front control panel. He muttered, “Reroute…energy from shield reservoir to main steering…”

  Anya hoped Michael knew what he was doing. He was a fine pilot, and obviously an equally fine commander of ZCA…but was he an aircraft mechanic, too? Then she remembered that he had installed the new shield in the airbird. And what about the electronics scraps she had seen in his spare room in Tash?

  It was difficult, however, to think long about the mysteries of Joshua’s brother when they’d soon be smashed to smithereens.

  The ship’s lurches deteriorated into long, sickening plunges. Joshua’s firm, steady hand on the controls kept them clear of the cliff faces, but gravity was a master no control could deny.

  “Sweet mother of God,” muttered Dr. Spalding. Sweat shone on his bald crown.

  Damon mercifully appeared unconscious.

  “We’ve got ten seconds, Michael,” Joshua warned.

  The swiftly rushing river grew larger and larger. White capped rivulets foamed, devouring boulders like rabid dogs. It couldn’t be a nice, soft pond upon which they were about to land. Oh, no. Instead, white river rapids with boulders the size of warships.

  “Five, four…”

  Anya’s life flashed before her eyes. Her family, her parents…and Joshua. Always Joshua. Even when he made her mad enough to spit, she loved him. She would always love him. Now, as he wrestled with the ship, his hair glowed tawny in the sunlight streaming through the windshield, his face drawn into grim lines of pure determination. If sh
e had to die, it would be looking at the man she loved.

  God, please forgive me for my sins. Take us to be with you…

  “Got it!” Michael said in triumph. Power surged through the bird and Joshua pulled up the bird’s nose as it shot forward. Its belly skated the swift flowing skin of the river. Boulders, like an obstacle course, hurtled toward them.

  The ship rose, but not nearly fast enough. How could they ever…

  With swift dexterity, Joshua steered the ship through the maze of boulders. All the while, the bird climbed, bit by bit, until suddenly, just as they faced the largest boulder of all, they skimmed clear and soared skyward.

  “Thank God,” said the doctor.

  “Amen,” Joshua agreed.

  Michael went back on his heels. “We’re good for another ten kilometers. I need to give this ship an overhaul before we head back.”

  “We’re not heading back,” Joshua said. “We’ll milk this flight to a hundred kilometers, if we can. Then you’ll fix the bird while I go to Gorno.”

  Michael’s sable brows rose. “Whatever you say.”

  Anya cleared her throat, still amazed and grateful that they were alive. “Just so it’s clear,” she said. “I’m going with you, Joshua.”

  Dark eyes met hers. “Yes, you are. Because I can’t trust you to stay where you belong.”

  His words evaporated her relief at being alive as effectively as cold water slapped in her face. “We need to have a discussion,” she returned coolly. “Before we go to Gorno.”

  Michael made an “Uh oh” sound under his breath.

  Joshua’s gaze lingered on her for another moment, and then returned to the controls. “Ten minutes to Gorno.”

  Anya spent those ten minutes rehearsing exactly what she would say to her dictatorial protector.

  * * * * *

  When they were twenty-five kilometers shy of Gorno, Joshua drove the airbird down below the tree line in order to try to camouflage their position from the satellites. As he whipped between pine trees, Anya remembered how difficult it had been for her to navigate through a forest. Of course, she had utterly failed. Success required fierce concentration and flawless reflexes. Michael seemed content to let Joshua steer his ship, and she now understood why Joshua had been given top honors as a pilot. He possessed nerves of steel and faultless technical skill. He also appeared to possess the fearless edge of a daredevil.