“Go!” Zahra shouted, pushing Yana forward. They needed to get back into cover before the other man discovered their location.
He stepped out of cover above them, lined up the running, stumbling women, and was shot in the side of the head from somewhere out of sight.
Zahra and Yana skidded to a halt as an injured Kyle Ford stepped into view. He waved them forward. They didn’t need to be told twice. They hauled ass back to the ramp and rolled atop it while Kyle sent cover fire back toward the men guarding the snowmobiles.
Hammet appeared around the front of the second Sno-Cat and laid down additional cover fire. Hammet and an unarmed Ethan hustled up the ramp and collapsed to the floor once inside. Zahra knelt beside them and looked over the pair. Both men were unharmed.
Twin engines started up. Zahra clambered to her feet and peeked outside in time to watch two of the four snowmobiles take off to the south.
“They’re running.”
“Thank God,” Ethan said, panting like a dog.
“We need to pursue them,” Hammet said. “We need to see where they came from.”
Kyle knelt next to Ethan. “Get ahold of Palmer. Tell them what happened. Look for survivors, too.”
Ethan nodded, stood, and hurried away. He disappeared around the parked Sno-Cat and headed for the forward section of the LC-130. Zahra, Yana, and Hammet searched the dead mercs and geared up. They unbuckled war belts and holsters and even donned body armor beneath their coats. The latter step was done away from the cold inside the cab of the hulking Sno-Cat.
The three operatives each now sported AK variants, pistols, and extra magazines.
Yana eyed Kyle. “Antarctic Treaty be damned, yes?”
Kyle looked outside. “Yep. Antarctic Treaty be damned.”
Ethan sauntered back to them. “We got nothing. Bastards shot up the control console. We’re grounded and quiet.”
“Shit,” Kyle hissed. “Any survivors?”
“Two, but they’re in pretty bad shape.”
Kyle stepped away to collect himself, then turned to Ethan. “Get the second Sno-Cat fueled up — the reserve tank too.” He switched his focus to Zahra. “Take your team out there and get us some answers. We’ll stay behind and tend to the wounded and try to hail Palmer with our sat phones.”
“You sure?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s my plane. These…” He met eyes with Ethan. “These were our people.”
In total, five individuals had been murdered. The two wounded members of the science team were barely hanging on. Even if Kyle connected with Palmer Station, Zahra doubted they’d get here in time to do much of anything besides transport the dead.
Hammet placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find them.”
“Damn straight we will,” Yana added.
“We need one alive,” Kyle quickly added. “We can’t question a corpse. Take no unnecessary risks. This place will kill you in a heartbeat.”
Yana sneered and pointed at the nearest mercenary. “So will they.”
“Yana, he’s right,” Zahra said. “We need answers.” She held out her hand to Kyle. “Stay safe.”
Kyle shook it. “With any luck, we’ll be along shortly to lend a hand.”
“You’re going to join us out there?” Hammet asked.
Kyle stood tall. “I want these people to pay. And once the men back at Palmer hear about this, so will they. You form a deep bond with people stationed in isolated places like this.”
“Quite right,” Hammet said.
He had a faraway look on his face. Zahra wondered what was going through his mind. She recalled that Hammet had been trained for cold weather encounters.
Kyle tipped his chin toward the open ramp. “Happy hunting, you three.”
“Finally, some fun.” Yana’s words came out a little too excitedly.
Zahra stared at her. “You need help, you know that, right?”
It took them fifteen minutes to finish gathering supplies and refuel the Sno-Cat. Everyone did their part to move things along quickly. The freezing temperature gave each person involved extra incentive to do the job as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, no one had gas masks. If they found the Underworld, they’d need them to safely access it if there was even anything to access. Krause had been adamant that the facility had been destroyed and infected.
Hammet offered to drive, which was fine by Zahra. She had mentioned her lack of experience navigating terrain like this, especially in a vehicle such as a Sno-Cat. Yana sat in the middle of the back bench, double-checking their weapons and cleaning them as she saw fit. She topped off mags and mumbled to herself as she worked, though, to Yana, this was probably more playtime than work.
“Which way?” Hammet asked, starting up the Sno-Cat.
“They headed south,” Yana said, not looking up from her task.
Hammet leaned forward and looked out over the sweeping landscape. “Perhaps we can try to narrow that down?” He glanced at Zahra. “There is
