Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (30 page)

She flipped off the lights and diverted the
heat to the cargo hold, brushing bits of glass from her hair and
clothes. Erynn stared out the broken side window at the track. Dark
gained power and overruled the waning light. Deep shadows from the
trees made the extent of the damage uncertain. She would have to
wait until morning to determine if the track could be repaired.

Don’t try to kid yourself—it can’t be
fixed. The cable snapped. I saw the frayed end smash against the
side panel. Had it been only a sheared bolt, I could have repaired
it. But the cable
…

“I don’t know for sure.” Erynn pushed out of
her seat. Her shoulders slumped. “But I do know. Without the cable,
the transport is dead. I’m on foot the rest of the way—a very long
way.” She stepped to the cargo hold, securing the door between her
and the cab, keeping the cold night out and the warmth inside.

WIDE AWAKE MOST OF THE night, Erynn lay on
her back, watching pale gray light soften the inky dark inside the
transport’s cargo hold. Outside, the gentle sigh of wind through
the dense woods was the only sound, except for the intermittent
cycling of the heater.

She’d tried to force sleep to come. Her
attempts failed. The best she’d managed were short intervals of
light dozing, jerking alert to once again examine her situation and
the resolution. She put her hand over her eyes and pushed hair from
her face. The sunlight necessary to check the damage done to the
track was still some time away. She turned to the open hold. Shadow
shapes hulked against the inside walls. The unfamiliar silhouettes
were only strapped crates.

When I leave, I’ll need to carry a
shelter—the caitni down bag—water and food. Not the good stuff
Brock packed for me, either. Back to protein bars. For how many
days
?

Calculations began again. She huffed out a
breath and tossed to her other side to stare at the dark gray
bulkhead.

I need to sleep
.

She closed her eyes and remembered Jaer
holding her as they both slept. His warmth wrapped around her. His
slow, steady breaths washed over her. His heartbeat soothed
her.

She drifted away with this memory.

Erynn grimaced, squeezing her lids shut
against the brightness. Brilliant sunlight glared through the cargo
hold’s small windows and flickered across her face. Her eyes popped
open, and she bolted upright.

“What? Oh no. How long?” she groaned. Kicking
free of the caitni bag, she slid her feet to the floor. She had
slept deeply and dreamlessly.

Morning was gone.

Her stomach tightened and gurgled. “Well, I
may not be able to take much of the food with me, but I can eat
some now.” She dug into her supplies and settled in for an
indulgent feast.

Seated on the narrow cot, Erynn ate her fill
of warm phocia. She wiped the rich sauce from her chin and licked
her fingers. She ended the meal with the last of the fruit tart.
She stood up and brushed her hands down her pants, clearing away
crumbs. Erynn pulled on her coat and studied the area outside the
hatch. “All clear,” she whispered, tapping the controls. The ramp
slammed down, sinking into deep snow and sending icy crystals
swirling in the air.

Sunshine sparkled over the pristine white
landscape. Dark shadows rested, waiting under the deep-green boughs
of needle leaves. The scent in the cold air was spicy and
crisp.

Erynn trotted down the steep slope of the
ramp. She walked around to the front of the track in snow that had
a thin frozen crust. With each step, she broke through that upper
layer, sinking in to her knees. The effort jarred her joints.
Walking very far in this would test her endurance.

She crouched and studied the damage. Tracks
circled two drum rollers. The cable kept the tracks moving on the
rollers. She glanced back and sighed. A severed cable extended
several centimeters from under the back of the track. The tip was
stretched and frayed beyond repair. Her attention slipped forward
to the cab. The other tattered end bounced erratically in the icy
breeze where the braided wire had wrapped around the doorpost.

Erynn bent farther at the waist, peering
under the transport and into the track’s interior edge. Just
visible in the shadows was a second braided wire rope set deep
inside. She straightened and smiled. There was another cable on the
inner perimeter of the track—a backup. She wasn’t on foot yet. The
trip from here on out would be cold. Frigid with the windows
smashed from the cab. “I can handle a little cold. Just turn up the
heat.”

She unwound the ruined cable from the
doorpost and laid the length forward in front of the track. When
she got moving again, the heavy wire braid would slip under the
transport. After the cable was clear of the track, she could roll
up the stiff wire rope and throw it in the cargo hold. She would be
on her way again.

Inside the cab after stowing the broken
cable, Erynn wiped the instruments clear of ice. She shifted the
directional from neutral to reverse and eased the throttle forward.
The idling engine rumbled and growled. She backed out of the grove.
Erynn checked the NAV. Yellow grid lines glowed. A wide green
column shot to the right of her position up the mountain,
transecting the grid. She turned to align the transport with the
green marker, moving ahead slowly. Everything seemed to be working.
Staying clear of rock outcroppings, she increased her speed. The
tracks rattled and threw snow. Icy air whipped across her exposed
face. She angled the vents to blow heat over her.

Not bad. I can handle this
.

The shrieking clackity-clack of the tracks
was another thing. The harsh clanging hurt her ears. “Well, I sure
won’t fall asleep while driving!” she yelled, her voice lost in the
clamoring racket. She pulled a woven scarf tightly around her head,
blocking some of the ear-piercing screech. By tomorrow evening, or
maybe a bit later, she’d be home.

Jaer
.

Bright afternoon turned to early evening.
Long shadows stretched across her path from increasingly larger and
thicker stands of tall trees. The heater was having trouble keeping
the cold out. The squealing tracks gave her a headache. To avoid
wider groves and larger stone formations pushing through the soil
and snow, she found it necessary to change course, leaving the path
marked by the NAV. She had lost one cable and didn’t want to risk
losing another.

She traversed up a severe incline at a slight
angle across the mountain. The engine revved, working hard to climb
the steep, rocky soil. She kept moving steadily forward, watching
the way for any snaring obstruction. Her jaw clamped tight with
added tension.

The scenery ahead changed. Stands of trees in
the transport’s beams thinned and dropped in height. Scrawny
branches barely reached the top of the transport. Outcroppings of
rock expanded into massive granite boulders covered with a scant
blanket of frozen snow. Thirty meters ahead, in the sweeping beams
of the headlights, the tree line ended. Huge rock formations
conquered the landscape. There appeared to be a narrow passage cut
through the stone barrier. Erynn concentrated on the path,
searching for any obstacles that might grab at the transport and
stop her progress.

Her single-minded forward focus was drawn to
a pulsing glow in the gloomy cab. The NAV’s green line against the
yellow grid blinked in rapid brightening pulses, demanding a
drastic and immediate change in course.

Erynn jerked her hand away from the throttle.
The transport’s sudden stop threw her forward into the harness that
secured her to the seat. The screaming shriek of the tracks
quieted. Her head throbbed. Blowing warmth from the heater running
full force bathed her face.

The NAV’s lights now flashed a burning red,
ordering a sharp turn away from her present course. An alarm she
hadn’t heard over the caterwaul of the screeching tracks blared
through the cab. Erynn peered ahead into the garish brightness of
headlights reflected from the surrounding tower of dark rock. “I
don’t see anything.” She glanced to her right and then left. A
vertical rise of stone three meters high ran from ten meters behind
her to beyond the range of white light on both sides in front of
her. “Can’t turn here. I’ll have to back up and retrace my route
until I can follow the NAV.”

Erynn pulled the direction control to reverse
and gently slid the throttle forward. A reverberation unlike the
familiar rumble of the transport thrummed beneath her. The tracks
rattled and screeched. They caught with a lurch in the mix of mud
and snow to start a slow backward motion. The vibration under the
vehicle increased. The nose of the transport dipped. Erynn’s
attention snapped to the forward view washed in white light. A jolt
of fear surged through her, tensing every muscle. Her jaw clamped
even tighter.

The ground before her disappeared into a thin
line of black nothing. Soil cascaded into a narrow chasm rushing
toward her. Dirt and small rocks slipped from the sides of the
widening gap, swallowed into darkness.

Erynn sucked in a breath and thrust the
throttle forward, jamming the stick as far as it would go. The
engine screamed. Tracks spun in the churning snow and mud at her
insistent demand. “Come on. Come on!” Her voice was a harsh,
pleading whisper. Icy air whipped at her through the broken
window.

A lengthening split raced toward her. An
avalanche of snow, dirt, and stones flowed like water into the
dissecting ground. The gap yawned, growing wider.

Finally the tracks caught, hurling the
transport back. She steered what she thought was a straight path
backward and hit the wall of rock. She overcorrected, skidded
sideways, and struck the opposite rise of stone. Getting the
transport on track, Erynn sped in reverse between the boulders to
solid ground. She continued to back the vehicle far from the
expanding gap that threatened to swallow her. A small tree slapped
the side of the transport. Branches reached into the cab from the
shattered side window, clutching at Erynn’s hood and scarf.

The pursuing chasm at the far edge of the
transport’s twin beams of light slowed, narrowed, and stopped. The
vibration ceased. Small rivulets of dirt, ice, and pebbles
continued to cascade into the gapping maw where the transport had
been a moment before. Several meters’ length of solid land lay
between her and the open abyss.

She eased her grip on the throttle, slowing,
and then stopping the transport’s backward dash. Her breathing
shuddered in and out with quick succession. “That was close. Too
close.”

Without any warning, the ground collapsed
beneath her.

The transport crashed, nose angled nearly
straight down. The outer shell scraped against stone with a shriek
of tearing metal. She tipped right, bouncing off solid rock. The
plummeting vehicle tilted left and slammed another wall with a
resounding thud. The engine shuddered under the stress.

Erynn jammed the throttle forward, the gears
still in reverse. Tracks screamed and chattered against smooth
stone. Sparks danced in the dark from the metal treads sliding
across the rock surface. The vehicle settled with a jolt that made
her teeth clack together. She tasted blood, probably from biting
her tongue or the inside of her cheek. But she felt no pain.

The transport was angled on a steep incline
of a short narrow ledge of granite six meters below the surface.
The headlights dimmed and went out with a loud pop. She had seen
enough of what lay below before being thrust into darkness.

Beyond the ledge, blackness filled a vast,
yawning
nothing
.

Erynn’s hand shook as she unbuckled her
restraints. “Get out—gotta get out and back on top.” Her heart
pounded in her throat and her stomach clenched with fitful
spasms.

The transport bucked and lurched forward. The
tracks weren’t going to hold her much longer.

She scrambled from the seat, climbed over the
control panel, went out the broken window and onto the engine hood.
She braced her boots against the uneven bumper.

The tracks slipped, jerking the transport
down precious centimeters.

Erynn lost her balance. She grabbed at the
center post, slicing her glove on a shard of glass still clinging
to the frame. Her legs trembled, muscles twitching with effort. The
severe incline and the jumping sparks in the dark made her dizzy.
Facing away from the nothingness below her, her gaze retraced her
path. A purpling sky sparsely dotted with faint stars shimmered
above the gap ripped through the soil. Thick clouds moved across
the stars, extinguishing their comforting glow. She pulled herself
up and over the cab. Her boots slipped on the slick, smooth roof.
Continuing to struggle forward, Erynn reached the back and climbed
onto the almost level rear panel of the transport. It would be
necessary to release her handholds and stand up straight. She
needed to grasp and pull herself onto another small ledge
protruding on the right. From there, the grade of the gap eased.
She would be able to crawl to the surface.

Erynn pushed upright on teetering legs.

The transport rocked and edged farther down
the slope. Another few centimeters, and her chance at escape would
be gone.

The tracks screeched and smoked. Sparks
waned.

Erynn jumped. She hooked her arms over the
rocky ledge and pulled. She swung her legs and caught the crumbling
edge with a booted toe. Erynn scrambled up and over the narrow
shelf, staying flat on her stomach and feeling the rapid pulse
leaping in her core. Air rasped from her lungs. Erynn turned her
head to stare at the empty ledge of stone where the transport had
been a breath before.

A long moment passed. From the darkness far
below, a bright orange light flared, followed by a muffled
explosion. The ground shook.