Kris didn't wait for them to disappear into the mist overhead but turned back to her own work. ''There any bales of hay left?'' she asked Sam.
''Not many. We were only a few weeks away from giving up on the last of the herd and eating them. Then the water rose.''
''Think we could use it to build a dike around here?'' They turned back to the cliff, watched as the leader and his light disappeared into the gloom above their heads. ''I just don't know where they'll set up the hoists,'' Kris concluded. That was their problem; much to do and too many unknowns. The two plodded back down the trail for what Kris would quickly learn was a whole new vestibule of hell. At least that was what Tommy would call it.
Kris had spent four days preparing for the drop mission on Sequim. For that, she'd had data, plenty of data, data overload, except, as it turned out, not the right data. Here she had nothing. There, she'd had gong ho marines. Now her command consisted of everything, from a three-month-old to a ninety-seven-year-old. She had the sick, the depressed, and most of all, the tired and hungry. The tired she let sleep.
At least with the supplies they'd boated in, the hungry got their first decent meal in a year. Enough to give strength for the climb without overfilling half-starved stomachs. As the sleepers awoke, they were fed. Some, the very young or elderly, managed to go back to sleep. Others, feeling almost good for the first time in months, hung around, ready to do something but unsure what. Kris started a list of folks she was about ready to send up the hill on their own. Brandon, who'd somehow missed joining the first string, was at the top of her short list.
''Aren't you going to do something?'' he insisted for about the forty-eleventh time.
''Nope.'' Kris answered while helping feed a three-year-old. ''We've moved the rope and the hoists to the trailhead. Some guys are moving what hay bales we have up there. You want to help them?'' She'd offered that job before, but it didn't suit Brandon's fancy then. It didn't now. The picks and shovels were already there. What Kris wanted was to know how high the water was, but that was one job she'd never give Brandon. The child fed, her mom took her and began singing a lullaby. Kris glanced at her wrist; three hours until sunrise. Probably three and a half before they got any light down here. Waiting.
Waiting was supposed to be what ancient women did while the men were away at the war or earning a living. Kris concluded that men were wimps. Turning her back on Brandon, she headed for the door. Outside, she ran into Sam headed in.
''What's the river like?'' she asked as he backed up.
''Rising. There's almost a foot of water at that dip in the ground between here and the trail head. We're pulling a barbed wire fence down, gonna use it to mark the trail.''
''Sounds good.''
''Could you call that other navy fellow, ask him how things are going?''
''I could, but would you want to answer a phone when you were halfway up that cliff?''
''No, but it's just not knowing that's making everyone edgy.''
''Sam, they could get two hundred and fifty meters up that hill and be stuck at the last fifty.'' Kris didn't like to think about that, but it was the truth. The sun could well be up, and they still might not know for sure.
''Sam, Sam, you better come quick,'' a runner shouted as he slid up to them.
''What's wrong?''
''Benny just fell off Lover's Leap.''
Kris didn't ask for more explanation; she started running. The runner did a quick reverse and led the way; Sam stayed on her heels. As reported, the water was up to mid-calf for a stretch, but a line of fence posts was being hammered in place. The barbs on the wire between posts didn't look too nasty. Close to the cliff, Kris spotted a light and cut toward it.
A half dozen men stood around one. A glance at the body showed Kris all she needed to know. The arms, back, and legs went in far too many directions. Gashes on the man's face showed where he'd bounced off rocks on the way down. A gnarled pine lay across him. But that wasn't what held Kris's attention. The team was alternating lead climber. That climber would cover the next stretch, then pull the rest up by a rope secured to the rock face, trees, whatever was locally handy. What had gone wrong here?' Had the rope broken? Were there more fallen climbers out in the dark? Kris ground her teeth as she eyed her commlink. But before she'd bother Tom, she'd make this dead man tell her everything he could. She stooped by the body, found a loop of rope and followed it. That required moving the body. She rolled it over with a firm shove.
''God, lady, that's Benny.''
''She knows what she's doing,'' Sam cut in as Kris followed more rope. There was blood on it, and blood on her hands, but she followed the rope until she found the end under Benny's lopsided skull.
''The rope's been cut,'' she said. ''Did Benny have a knife?''
''Of course he does.''
''You see it?'' The body was again moved, this time gingerly by men who knew and loved the man. Benny's knife was missing.
Kris stood, holding the end of the rope, and swallowed hard at the message she read in it. ''He cut himself loose when the pine came out.'' Kris had tasted the courage it took to lead a drop mission, and she'd drunk deep of the courage that let you charge into battle, gun blazing, but she had to wonder if she could have eaten the plate that fate set before Benny. Could she cut herself loose, give herself the long fall, to make sure her fall didn't take her buddies down?
''Kris, you there?'' Tom spoke from the commlink.
''Yes, Tom. How is it?''
''Pretty bad there for a while.''
''I'm here with Benny.''
''Was that his name? God…'' The link choked to silence.
''Have mercy on him,'' someone finished beside Kris and knelt to close the dead man's eyes.
''Anyway, we were in a bad place, but we're all through it now. The next hundred meters looks pretty doable, but I still can't see the top. We're all tied back together. I'll call you later. Out.''
''Kris, out.''
They left Benny where he fell; the body should go up the hill if they had time. Like all the climbers, Benny had been vaccinated, but Kris had no way of knowing if he was coming down with Grearson. If he was, Kris doubted the vaccine could have done much good in the few hours since he got the shot.
The water was already up to Kris's knees as she waded across the low spot back to the cabin. That settled it for her; with two hours until dawn, she'd get everyone bundled up in whatever might keep them warm and start them for the trail head. ''How are the sick doing?'' Kris asked the medic as she came in the cottage.
He shook his head. ''Give me one medevac flight, and I'd bet my last dollar they'd all live. But taking them out into that rain … I just don't know.''
''I need to move them out there now. If we stay here much longer, I can't be sure they'll get to the trailhead at all.''
The medic closed his eyes and breathed out a long, hurting sigh. ''And we've got to get them or their bodies up that damn cliff. Yes, Ensign, I know my duty to public health outweighs my obligation to my patients. Damn. I know it. That doesn't mean I like it much.''
''Not much to like today, is there?'' she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. ''I'll get tarps to the trailhead. The wind's kicking up, but we'll do what we can.''
Kris sent them out into the rain in groups of five or so. She wasn't surprised an hour later to discover that she and Karen were nearly alone. An elderly woman remained; she'd been fussing about with children and somehow missed each group going out. The woman with the baby had also held back. ''She's got a bad cough,'' she offered by way of explanation.
Kris took a last glance around the one-room house. It was strewn with empty food cartons, vaccine bottles, the general refuse of a hasty exit. The bed was stripped of blankets and sheets, used when the sick were carried out. If it stank, Kris's nose was long past noticing. Collecting the lantern from its place on the dining table, Kris turned to follow the mother and child. The water was ankle deep as they stepped off the porch. Kris followed Karen and the old woman; they seemed to know the way. By the time they got to the start of the barbed wire fence, the water was up to Kris's knees and had a current to it. Kris put one arm around the mother's shoulders, the other to the wire. The mom hugged her baby close with both arms.