“Lieutenant Northwood, I repeat. Report your situation.”
Jack knelt beside the body and searched through the man’s pockets. He found the radio and ignoring the blood that covered it, pressed the talk button. “This is Jack, can you hear me? Over.”
“Jack, where is Lieutenant Northwood?”
“He’s dead and so is the pilot. The helicopter crashed…”
Back in the control room aboard the container ship, Admiral Thomson snatched the radio from Norton. “Crashed! How? Was it the Russians?” It sounded like he half-hoped it was.
“No. A Hunter monster boarded the helicopter when it took off and killed the pilot,” was Jack’s crackled reply.
Thomson glanced at Norton in disbelief. “The aliens are on the iceberg?”
“Yes. They dug a tunnel through the ice to escape from the spaceship. Jane has fallen into their tunnel. I have some rope and will try to rescue her, but I could do with some help. The hole is about two-hundred yards from the crash site, direction northeast.” Jack stared at the radio.
There was a slight delay before Thomson spoke again. “Help is on its way, Jack. Over.”
“One other thing, Admiral, the crack in the ice is serious so you might need to think about getting everyone off the spaceship as it could break apart at any moment and might cause the iceberg to roll over.”
“Okay, Jack, thanks for the heads up. Help will be with you shortly.”
Jack slipped the radio into his pocket and gazed around the wreckage. He needed an anchor for the rope. He picked up a piece of metal that should do the job and hurried off to rescue Jane.
Norton took the radio from Thomson. “Shall I notify the team on the ice to start the evacuation, Admiral?”
“What for? The iceberg is still stable. No, they stay there until I’m certain we’ve salvaged as much of the alien technology as possible.”
“Yes Admiral.” Norton placed the radio back on the console.
Jane glanced over at the small pieces of ice rolling from the end of the tunnel a few moments after Jack had gone to fetch a rope. The scraping sounds indicated someone was climbing down. She wondered where Jack had found a rope so quickly.
“Jack, there’s no need to come down. Throw down a rope end and I’ll climb out.”
When Jack failed to reply, anxiety washed over her. She moved position slightly and aimed the flashlight up the tunnel.
“Jack, is that you?”
The Hunter entered the beam and snarled at her.
Though panic threatened to overwhelm her, Jane forced it to keep its distance and directed the light over the ceiling. The large domed roof was her only hope. The buckled frame wobbled precariously as she climbed over to the lump of ice protruding through the dome. If she could get behind it and hide, the Hunter might think she had fallen and go look for her. She stretched her right arm around the ice and grabbed a twisted part of the frame that stuck out. She picked out her next handhold, let the torch dangle from her wrist, unlatched her legs so she hung and released her left hand. When she swung, her left hand reached for the handhold she visualized in the darkness and her fingers wrapped around it. The sound of the Hunter’s movements, louder now, indicated it would soon reach the end of the shaft. Hand over hand, Jane moved behind the ice and swung her legs over the frame. With her right arm hooked over the metal, she switched off the flashlight and waited.
The Hunter paused at the end of the ice tunnel and stared in the direction the human had gone. When it didn’t see her, it looked down and explored the foliage with its eyes for signs the human had fallen. When it detected none, it stared at the ice that jutted through the ceiling, but focused on the metal that moved slightly. Its lips curled into an evil smile and as it climbed onto the frame a lump of ice at the edge of the opening broke free and dropped below.
An almost silent sigh of relief escaped Jane’s lips on hearing something crash though the foliage. Her ploy had worked; the Hunter had gone. Now all she had to do was wait for Jack to return and rescue her, as she was confident he would.
When the frame Jane clung to swayed, she knew there could be only one cause. She switched on the flashlight, poked her head around the ice and lit up the menace. The Hunter, a creature of claws, fangs and unending malice, hung upside-down from the frame and climbed towards her.
Jane had nowhere to go.
When Jack arrived at the hole without catching a glimpse of the Hunter, its absence brought him some comfort. Perhaps the worsening weather conditions had driven it to seek shelter, or the best scenario, it had fallen off the iceberg into the freezing ocean.
As Jack hammered the two-foot long piece of metal into the ice with the butt of the rifle, the iceberg trembled again. He paused and glanced around until the ice grew still. He ignored the bad omen; he wasn’t leaving without Jane. Once he was satisfied the anchor was secure, he attached the rope and crossed to the hole. He gazed down the shaft and called out, “Jane! The rope’s coming down.”
The coil of rope unfurled as it slid down the steep chute.
Concerned that Jane hadn’t answered, he called out again, “Jane, are you okay? Can you see the rope?”
His brow remained creased when he again received no reply. Something was wrong. He snatched up the rope and backed down the tunnel.
Jack glanced up at the entrance now far above, an eye gazing out at the dark clouds skidding across the sky through gaps in the windborne snow and ice. The storm had arrived. He switched on the light attached to the weapon slung across his back and continued his descent.
The Hunter ignored the voice from the tunnel and continued its hunt for the much closer prey.
Jane also ignored Jack’s voice, but for a different reason. If she told him she was in danger, she knew that―damn hero that he was―would make him rush down without thinking in an attempt to try and save her. If he fell to the ground they’d likely both end up dead. She climbed across the frame away from the ice until the frosted transparent panels still attached to the frame halted her. She aimed the flashlight behind her. The Hunter’s arm that groped around the ice and grabbed at the frame was followed by its vicious, evil head.
The frame that shook and swayed with its movements made the Hunter’s progress slow and cautious, but it had no need to hurry; its prey couldn’t go anywhere.
Adamant she wasn’t going to give up without a fight, Jane turned away from the approaching threat and kicked at a cracked window. If she could break it she could move a little farther and prolong the onslaught of pain and her death and perhaps buy her enough time until Jack arrived. If he still had the weapon and had managed to get it working, he could shoot the Hunter and they could climb out. Each forceful kick shook the frame violently. The loud crack that rang out was a harbinger of danger. The frame dropped with a screech of tortured metal. Jane clung on tightly, the monster likewise. Glass cracked and splintered, showering the jungle below with sharp, transparent shards. One edge of the frame, its only remaining support, bent but refused to snap, pivoting its unwelcome passengers through the air.
Worried she would be cast to the ground, Jane gripped the metal tighter with her legs and hands. The squeal of metal faded as the swinging frame settled to a gentle sway. Upside down now, she looked up the length of her body at the Hunter moving nearer. Jane righted herself and glanced below. The ground was still too far away to risk jumping, but a thick tree limb, though not directly below her, was much nearer. She climbed to the edge of the frame and maneuvered around to its other side. The sway of her body swung the frame back and forth and metal squealed with each swing.