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buildup of snow. Just enough to avalanche down and cover her, if she was very
careful not to set it off prematurely.
She eased her way into place with the walls of the valley less than a
hand-span away from her skin; a brief look at Alex showed him clenching teeth
and holding armrests with hands that were white-knuckled. He could read the
instruments as well as she could. Well, she'd never set down into a place that
was quite this narrow before. And certainly she had never set down under
conditions that might change in the next moment.
If that blizzard behind them came howling up this valley, it could catch her
and send her right into the valley wall. There. She tucked herself into the
bottom of the valley and felt her 'feet' sink through the snow to the rock
beneath. Nice, solid rock. Snow-covered rocks on either side. And above, the
snowcrest. Waiting. Here goes.
She activated an external speaker and blasted the landscape with shatter-rock,
bass turned to max, And the world fell in.
"Are you going to be able to blast free of this?" Alex asked for the tenth
time, as another servo came in from the airlock to recharge.
"It's not that bad," she said confidently. She was much happier with four
meters of snow between her and the naked sky. Avalanches happened all the
time; there was nothing about this valley to signal to the looters that they'd
been discovered, and that a ship was hiding here. Not only that, but the
looters could prance around on top of her and never guess she was there unless
they found the tunnel her servos were cutting to the surface. And she didn't
think any of them would have the temerity to crawl down what might be the den
tunnel of a large predator.
"If it's not that bad," Alex said fretfully, "then why is it taking forever to
melt a tunnel up and out?"
"Because no one ever intended these little servos to have to do something like
that," she replied, as patiently as she could. "They're welders, not snow
clearers. And they have to reinforce the tunnel with plastic shoring-posts so
it doesn't fall in and trap you." He shook his head; she gave up trying to
explain it. "They're almost through, anyway," she told him. "It's about time
to get into your suit." That would keep him occupied.
"This thing is getting depressingly familiar," he complained. "I see more of
the inside of this suit than I do my cabin."
"No one promised you first-class accommodations on this ride," she teased,
trying to keep from showing her own nervousness. "I'll tell you what;
how about if I have one of the servos make a nice set of curtains for your
helmet?"
"Thanks. I think." He made a face at her. "Well, I'll tell you this much; if I
have to keep spending this much time in the blasted thing, I'm going to have
some comforts built into it, or demand they get me a better model." He twisted
and turned, making sure he still had full mobility. "The sanitary facilities
leave a lot to be desired."
"I'll report your complaints to the ship's steward," she told him.
"Meanwhile, we have breakout."
"Sounds like my cue." Alex sighed. "I hope this isn't going to be as cold as
it looks."
Alex crawled up the long, slanting tunnel to the surface, lighting his way
with the work-lamp on the front of his helmet. Not that there was much to see,
just a white, shiny tunnel that seemed to go on forever, reaching into the
cold darkness ... as if, with no warning, he would find himself entombed in
ice forever. The plastic reinforcements were as white as the snow;
invisible unless you were looking for them. Which was the point, he supposed.
But he was glad they were there. Without them, tons of snow and ice could come
crashing down on him at any moment ... Stop that, he told himself sharply. Now
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is not the time to get claustrophobia.
Still, there didn't seem to be any end to the tunnel, and he was cold, chilled
right down to the soul. Not physically cold, or so his readouts claimed. Just
chilled by the emptiness, the sterility. The loneliness ...
You're doing it again. Stop it.
Was the surrounding snow getting lighter? He turned off his helmet light, and
it was true, there was a kind of cool, blue light filtering down through the
ice and snow! And up ahead, yes, there was the mouth of the tunnel, as
promised, a round, white 'eye' staring down at him!
He picked up his pace, eager to get out of there. The return trip would be
nothing compared to this long, tedious crawl, just sit down and push away, and
he would be able to slide all the way down to the airlock!
He emerged into thickly falling snow and saw that the servos had wrought
better than he and Tia had guessed, for the mouth of the tunnel was outside
the area of avalanche, just under an overhanging ridge of stone. That must
have been what the snow had built up upon; small wonder it buried Tia four
meters under when she triggered it! Fortunately, snow could be melted; when
they needed to leave, she could fire up her thrusters and increase the surface
temperature of her skin, and turn it all to water and steam. Well, that was
the theory, anyway.
That was assuming it didn't rain and melt away her cover before then.
By Tia's best guess, it was late afternoon, and he should be able to get to
the site and look around a little before dark fell. At that point, the best
thing he could do would be to get under cover somewhere and curl up for the
night. This time he had padded all the uncomfortable spots in the suit, and
he'd worn soft, old, exercise clothing. It shouldn't be any less comfortable
than some of his bunks as a cadet. He took a bearing from the heads-up display
inside his helmet and headed for the site.
"Tia," he called. "Tia, come in."
"Reading you loud and dear, Alex," she responded immediately. Funny how easy
it was to think of her as a person sitting back in that ship, eyes glued to
the screens that showed his location, hands steady on the com controls.
Stop that. Maybe it's a nice picture, but it's one that can get you in more
trouble than you already have. "Tia, we have the right place, all right." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]