Tundra 37 (26 page)

Eventually, her mind roamed back to last night’s kiss. Luna had been pushy her whole life, and Gemme had witnessed Luna’s capabilities first hand by the heel of Luna’s palm. An inkling of doubt festered as to her accusations toward Brentwood.

Maybe Luna had pushed herself on him. Gemme wouldn’t put it past her. But entertaining that idea just gave her heart hope, and it made her feel weak and vulnerable all over again. No, it was easier to make him the bad guy, not to trust her heart, but trust her head.

“Look!” Luna squeaked, pressing her finger against the sight panel. “Stop the landrover!”

“What is it?” Brentwood sounded suspicious, and after last night, Gemme would question anything that came out of that woman’s mouth. But the sheer excitement on Luna’s face made her change her mind. She pressed her face against the glass. “Vegetation. A whole field of it.”

Brentwood slowed to a stop and opened the hatch. Luna pushed by him and jumped out, jogging across the ice.

“Well, take me out to a black hole and drop me in.” Tech shook his head. “Guess she was interested in samples after all.”

Gemme wasn’t as easily convinced. Maybe since she couldn’t have Brentwood, she decided on the next best thing: her career. Trying to appear supportive, Gemme followed Brentwood and Tech to where Luna knelt on the ground. Thin grasses surrounded her, bending in the light wind. Gemme thought of the wheat field, but these grasses were white with a tinge of blue, so close to the hue of the snow she’d never notice them.

Luna pulled a wispy strand out of the snow crust. “This must be what the mammoths eat.”

“It’s not as cold here.” Tech unzipped his coat. “Must be a warm jet stream blowing up from the south.”

“Which would explain the melting snow and the presence of vegetation. Too bad I left my sample bags in the landrover.” Luna sniffed the strand and stuffed it into her pocket. “This means there may be other species of vegetation around. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to eat this as well.”

“Great. I just love salad.” Tech’s words dripped with sarcasm. “Test the mammoth meat first, and we’ll have barbecue.”

“I’m going to test it all.” Luna glanced at him with disdain.

Tech held up his hands. “I’m just saying you should have some priorities.”

Staying out of the argument, Gemme searched for Brentwood. He stood on top of the next snowdrift waving his hand.

“Hey, guys, I think we should see what the Lieutenant wants.”

Brentwood met them halfway down the snowdrift. Huffing, he pointed back to the landrover. “We’re almost there. It’s just over that next ridge.”

“We’ve come to our final stop, people.” Brentwood’s voice had a ring of finality that sent a shiver down Gemme’s back. This was it. They’d reached the end of the mission. Now her analytical skills would be tested. She wondered if she could calculate the exact dimensions and composition of the mineral deposit. Numbers and data she could do without question, but hyperthium and other minerals?

“The screen says the mineral deposit is two hundred meters away, just over this hill.” Brentwood turned the landrover to the right.

“What are all those dots on the screen?” Tech sat up in his seat trying to glimpse over the edge. They were still too far down the hill to see anything.

“Don’t know.” Brentwood’s voice was even as if he fought to stay calm. “Let’s find out.” The vehicle climbed slowly, tires working on overdrive to haul the mining equipment up the steep incline. Gemme’s hair fell back behind her neck as her seat went from horizontal to vertical. She gripped the armrests, feeling as though they’d topple over backward.

“Sir.” Tech’s voice caught in his throat. “The dots are moving.”

Luna spoke up. “With that alien orb, we don’t know what’s over there.”

Brentwood stopped short of the cliff top and put the vehicle in park. “That’s it. I’m going out to take a look before we reveal ourselves and the equipment over the top.”

“You can’t go alone!” Luna screeched.

“I’ll go with him.” Tech pulled out his laser and reinserted a charged energy cell.

“I’ll go too.” Gemme surprised herself with the determination in her voice. Waiting in the landrover would only make her anxious. She’d sat in that small compartment all day. The urge to get out and
do
something overwhelmed her.

“Well, you’re not leaving me alone in here.” Luna zipped up the front of her jacket, surprising Gemme. Was she finally coming around to do real work? “I’m coming too.”

“Everyone goes.” Brentwood brought out his own laser. “Follow me and don’t make any noise. Don’t shoot unless I give you a signal.”

“Yessir, chief.” Tech put up his hood so his face was a mass of beard and fuzzy cotton.

Brentwood cast a glance at Gemme and she nodded, tying her own hood tight around her neck. “Got it.”

He turned to Luna last, his face wary as if he avoided all contact with her. “Ms. Legacy, you all set?”

“Sure thing.” Luna’s voice sounded less confident than usual and Gemme wondered if the threat behind the hill caused the tremor, or if their kiss had strained their relationship. She didn’t have time to think further because Brentwood pressed the panel and the hatch buzzed open, stray snow flinging in to melt on the plastic seats.

Luna whispered as they stepped out. “Tech, how much mass did each dot represent on the screen. Just how big are they?”

Tech narrowed his eyes as he stared up the incline. “Big.”

“Shhh! No more talking.” Brentwood gestured over his shoulder and they climbed the last meter of the drift. Gemme’s heart beat so fast, she thought the muscle would convulse and she’d drop dead before they reached the top. The snow sucked at her boots as if it refused to give her up.

When they got close enough, Brentwood crouched down and crawled up the edge of the ridge, peeking over the top. He waved for them to join him. Gemme followed with Tech beside her. As her eyes crested the ridge, all she saw was a dark center to a snowy valley. She squinted against the glare of the distant sun. The ground moved, a writhing mass of hair.

“Oh no.” Her eyes widened despite the biting wind.

“It’s a mammoth horde.” Tech whispered under his breath as if he’d draw their attention from meters away.

“Why can’t we go around it?” Luna asked, joining them.

“Because the minerals are located at the valley’s center.” Brentwood whispered beside Gemme, clutching the edge of snow with his gloves. “They’re standing right on top of it.”

“Why in all of Tundra 37 did they pick the one spot we needed for a home?” Luna’s question came out as a whine.

“Probably warmer than lying on the ice.” Tech quirked an eyebrow. “Rock is a better conductor of heat. And you saw that grass supply nearby.”

“That means they won’t give it up easily.” Brentwood stretched his neck to see further.

“That’s it.” Luna slid down. “We’ll have to go back and get reinforcements.”

Tech shook his head violently. “We don’t have that much time. The
Expedition
needs an alternative energy source, and mining and processing the hyperthium will take time. It’s already taken us twice as long to get here, and we have the only landrover. Imagine how long it would take on foot if we garnered an army. Besides, I’m not leaving the equipment out here alone.”

“Then you can stay here with it.” Luna huffed. “I’m not going down there.”

“I’ll do it.” Brentwood interrupted. “If I take three energy poles with me, I can set up an electrical perimeter fence while you create a diversion. It’s the only way.”

Luna’s mouth dropped open. “That’s suicide. You saw what one of them did to the landrover.” She pushed past Gemme and grabbed his arm in a melodramatic gesture that made Gemme want to roll her eyes. “You’re not going to risk your life.”

Gemme worried about Brentwood as well, but she didn’t reach out and grab him like in some Old Earth romance movie. As much as she didn’t want him to go, he could make decisions for himself. He was a lieutenant, after all and they should all be following his command.

Brentwood pulled his arm away, ignoring Luna. “You three start a commotion, scare away as many as you can with laser fire. I’ll sneak down and put up the energy poles. All I need is three to make a triangular defense. Once the perimeter is in place, Tech, you drive the mining equipment down.”

Tech shook his head. “I don’t like it, sir. I’m not even sure the electromagnetic pulse will hold them back. Won’t they be able to run right through?”

“We’ll set the conductors to maximum. If they cross the beams, they’ll get an electric shock strong enough to stop the heart of a whale.”

“Yeah, but is it strong enough to stop an alien mammoth?” Gemme wondered out loud, wanting to stop him before it was too late. “What if they have more than one heart?”

“Then they’ll all stop.” Brentwood winked at her and stood up. His bravery impressed her.

Brentwood walked back to the landrover and pulled out three energy poles. “Prepare your lasers. I’m going down.”

Gemme’s throat tightened as Tech and Luna took positions beside her on the cliff. There was so much she hadn’t said to Brentwood, so much she still wanted to ask him. Her stomach flipped as she realized this might be her last chance. She’d thrown away so many chances to speak up on this mission; during the Aurora Borealis, when Luna handed her the sample trays, and so many times while driving. She wasn’t about to do it again. “Wait.”

Brentwood’s face flashed in surprise and he gave her a questioning look.

“I’m sorry I doubted you last night.”

His face softened, as if she’d touched upon the one issue he had yet to resolve in his own heart. “There’s something I have to tell you too.”

The tension in the air heightened as Gemme froze, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Brentwood took a long, deep breath and stared at her as if no one else existed on that snowdrift. “Gemme, ever since I found you in the emergency shafts, I knew you were special. I’ve been drawn to you every minute of this mission since then, and I want you to know I love you before I go down there.”

Gemme’s cheeks burned so hot, she’d thought she’d melt the snow around her. Her world turned upside down. It was like playing that silly child’s game when they plucked petals off a synthetic flower and stuck them back on again:
Lovesme, lovesmenot, lovesme, lovesmenot
.

Beside her Luna’s voice hitched in her throat, coming out as a weak cry. Tech grunted. “’Bout time.”

Before Gemme could respond, Brentwood leaped over the edge.

They followed him, turning their heads to the valley below. The lieutenant skidded down the cliff using the sides of his boots. Once he reached the bottom, he held up an arm.

“Come on, gals, let’s do him proud,” Tech muttered under his breath. They propped their lasers up in the snow with their fingers hovering over the triggers, waiting for his signal to fire.

Brentwood crouched down, ten meters from the horde. He was an entire head taller than Gemme, but compared to those beasts, he looked like an ant and it made her heart creep up to her throat. Gemme leaned forward, resisting the urge to follow him down the incline. She could keep him safer if she covered him from above. Her finger shook against the trigger.

Brentwood’s arm came down in a definite move, and Tech nodded. “That’s the sign.”

Tech opened fire, his shots aiming for the edge of the horde where Brentwood hid. “Aim down here. Drive them away,” he shouted, and Gemme instinctively pulled her own trigger, aiming at the mass below them.

The mammoths bellowed a warning cry and the herd scattered in panic. The dark center to the valley spread thin and Gemme caught a glimpse of the gray rock surface underneath.

“Keep them away from Brentwood,” Gemme shouted, pulling the trigger so hard her finger numbed. The white light didn’t come out fast enough. There were too many beasts to keep at bay.

Brentwood zigzagged through the horde as if they didn’t even see him. He stuck the first pole in the ground and ducked around to the other side of the valley. Gemme watched him until his blue thermal hood disappeared between two mammoths and didn’t resurface. A current of fear sprang up inside her. “I don’t see him.”

“Brentwood can take care of himself. We’ve got other problems to worry about.” Tech redirected his fire to a head of tusks pointed in their direction. The mammoth’s coat was a shade lighter than most of the others, its hair the same color as Gemme’s. It would have been beautiful and majestic if it wasn’t so hell bent on killing them.

“It sees us.” Luna’s voice rose in panic. “It knows we’re the source of the commotion.”

“It can’t be that smart, can it?” Gemme’s fingers shook so hard she fought to hold her laser straight. Luna was the biologist. She’d know the difference between intelligence and chance.

Steam poured out the mammoth’s tusked mouth as it bellowed, the sound ripping through Gemme’s ears and reverberating in the pit of her stomach. The hairy hide charged toward them, barreling up the incline. It was too late to run.

“Fire!” Tech shouted. Gemme squeezed down the trigger, aiming for its head. The white shafts of light disappeared into the mass of hair. The mammoth picked up speed as if their fire fueled its anger.

“Brace yourselves!” Tech covered his head with both arms.

Before Gemme could react, the snow underneath her exploded as the mammoth pushed its head through their snow bank, throwing her through the air. She rolled down the incline, an avalanche sliding on top of her. Gemme fought to keep her head above the snow, digging her way up as the force pushed her down. Snow stung her eyes and choked her, lodging in her throat. The weight squeezed her chest and she fought for breath, gagging.

Darkness sent fear rippling through her body. Would she ever see the light again? Tossed about so many times, she couldn’t tell up from down. She moved her arms through the loose snow until her hand broke through the surface to her right side, feeling clear air. Lungs about to burst, she forced her head up and sucked in breath.

The mammoth stood above her, the dank scent of wet, moldy fur clogging her nose. Her head had poked out inches from its massive paw. The blue claws curled into the snow like gnarly tree roots in the biodome by her cheek. Every hair on the mammoth’s body probed the loose snow. A few ends from the paw squiggled toward her and she jerked her face away, watching the tiny muscles constrict and stretch as the hairs thrust into the snow and wiggled back out again.