Nikolay closed his eyes.
CHAPTER 28
Luck of the Devil
WHEN CONSCIOUSNESS RETURNED to Richard’s battered body, his eyes opened to darkness and pain. A hand went to the main source of his discomfort, causing him to grimace from the touch of fingers probing the lump formed on the side of his head for cut skin and blood. They found neither. Satisfied his condition wasn’t life-threatening, he sat up and listened. The usual groans, metallic squeals and loud rumbles of the ship welcomed him back. He wondered how long he had been unconscious―not long he thought, or some monster would have found and feasted on him. His hands searched the floor around him for the weapon. Panic threatened to overwhelm him when they failed to find it. He rolled onto his knees and ran his hands over the floor as he moved through the room. A thankful sigh escaped his lips when a hand touched the cold metal of the familiar weapon. He fumbled for the flashlight’s switch and, hoping it still worked, flicked it back and forth. Darkness remained. Richard’s breathing increased with the sweat of fear that formed on his brow. Darkness meant death. He calmed his breathing and ran his fingers over the flashlight until he found the possible cause for the light’s dysfunction. He tightened the loose battery screw cap and blinked from the bright light that invaded the dark room. When his eyes had adjusted, he roamed the light around the crew member’s room he had stumbled into.
Richard climbed to his feet and walked over to the bed sealed behind a curved door with a window set in the side. It must be one of the escape pods Jane, Lucy and Jack had come across. He pressed the largest button on the small control panel and the door slid open, activating an automatic light. He looked longingly at the comfortable, ready-made bed inside. A few hours rest seemed like a trip to paradise at the moment, but he turned away. There would be plenty of time to rest when he was off this doomed floating sarcophagus. He crossed to the exit and listened for a few moments before risking lighting up the corridor with the flashlight. Satisfied it was free of anything furnished with teeth and claws, he headed in the same direction he had been going before he was knocked unconscious. He hadn’t gone far when what sounded like an explosion reverberated through the ship. Richard sighed. What now?
The gentle roll of the ship that caused him to stagger from side to side quickly increased and slammed him against the wall. He crashed to the floor and rolled when the ship tipped him in the opposite direction. Richard grabbed at the edge of a door frame to halt his next roll when the ship tilted back. Something bad was happening.
Jack had regained consciousness shortly after the helicopter landed safely on the container vessel and was being carried to sickbay. When his gaze had failed to alight upon Jane and he was informed of what had happened, he had struggled free from the men trying to calm him and rushed through the ship’s corridors. As soon as he had discovered the commander’s whereabouts, he went to seek him out.
Jack strode angrily into the pilothouse and confronted Thomson, “What in the hell are you playing at? Jane’s still aboard the spaceship.”
Thomson glared at Jack, briefly considering having him slapped in irons and regretted those days had long passed. “I’m sorry Jack,” he said, his voice unemotional, “but I’m not going to risk anymore men or equipment on a foolhardy rescue mission. The iceberg’s about to roll and the storm’s increasing by the minute. We need to get moving or we could lose everything.”
Jack held back the fist that wanted to smack the overbearing bastard in the face. “Jane’s life might be expendable to you, but I’d sacrifice all the alien technology aboard this ship to save her.”
“Of that I have no doubt, but that decision is not yours to make.” Thomson glanced at the vessel’s captain. “Get us out of here.”
Captain Ramos shot an apologetic look at Jack before nodding to his first mate.
The man increased the speed of the large vessel and pointed the bow in the direction of the open sea.
Jack glanced out through the window at the two crewmen securing the small helicopter they had recently arrived on. He wouldn’t leave without Jane. He rushed from the pilothouse, down the staircase and across the swaying deck.
The two men lashing the helicopter to the deck clamps, let out surprised yelps when they found themselves pushed aside and knocked to the ground.
Jack released the straps, jumped aboard the helicopter and started the engine.
Admiral Thomson and the captain stared at the helicopter as the rotors spun.
“What’s that damn fool doing?” yelled Thomson.
Ramos hid his smile from the angry commander. “I thought that was obvious, sir. He’s stealing the helicopter and going to rescue his girlfriend.”
“If he thinks I’m waiting for him to return, then he’s very much mistaken. I’m willing to lose a helicopter and a stupid hothead. It’s the alien spaceship and artifacts that are important. Take us home, Captain.”
Ramos had little choice but to obey, but he would take his time. If Jack didn’t get himself killed, he’d make sure the ship was close enough for him to reach. Good luck, Jack.
As one of the deckhands climbed to his feet and dived for the helicopter door, Jack lifted it off the deck. When he rose above the containers shelter, the wind shunted him to the side. Jack quickly compensated and turned the helicopter towards the iceberg. The snow and ice particles beating incessantly against the screen hampered his vision. He glanced down at the angry sea, its tall waves distinguishable by their whitecaps in the gloom of early evening. He was well aware his chances of survival were slim, but he could never forgive himself if he didn’t try. Death would be preferable to a lifetime of guilt. Fighting the gusts battering the helicopter, Jack headed for the iceberg.
Pieces of ice rolled down the sides of the pile when it moved. A clawed hand appeared, pressed talons into the ice and dragged the Hunter free. It climbed to its feet, winced from the pain in its back, and headed for the exit.
When Jane awoke, wincing from the pain in her head and noticed no sign of the helicopter, she realized she had been abandoned. Pieces of ice breaking from the ice wall exploded around her and forced her groggily to her feet. Her eyes flicked to the tunnel and stared at the shape she recognized passing through the halogen lights. Doesn’t it ever give up? She moved over to the shipping container and hid behind it as the one-eyed Hunter padded out of the opening.
The Hunter gazed out to sea. It had missed its chance to escape and now it was trapped. It glanced at the metal container when it slid across the ice and then turned its gaze back to the distant lights of the human ship.
Jane moved along the back of the container as it skewed nearer the ice tunnel and peered out at the Hunter. As her hiding place slid towards the edge of the ice ledge, she had no option than to sprint for the tunnel while the Hunter looked the other way.
The Hunter turned lazily and watched the human flee along the tunnel. It wasn’t alone as it thought. It headed back through the tunnel to seek her out.
As Jack neared the iceberg, he peered through the hampering weather, but saw no sign of Jane on the ice ledge. The sea’s turbulent, angry swells rocked and pitched the huge expanse of ice and broke away lumps of ice, both large and small, from its towering walls. The shipping container hanging over the ledge slid forward, tipped and sunk beneath the waves. Just as he feared the same thing might have happened to Jane, he glimpsed movement in the tunnel. Though nothing more than a fleeting shadow, it might have been Jane seeking refuge from the storm and falling ice. He lined the helicopter up with the entrance and looked along the tunnel bathed in the bright halogen lights, some of which had fallen over, but the tunnel was empty any movement. Jack coaxed the battered craft nearer. Knowing he had to be certain if Jane was inside or not and the helicopter wouldn’t be safe on the ice ledge, he flew into the tunnel.