September stood on Ta-hoding’s right, shielding his visor with one hand while peering into the rising sun. “Let’s turn east for a bit, Captain.”
“East? But Poyolavomaar lies north by northwest.” The wind ruffled his dense fur. Like Hunnar and Grurwelk he appeared oblivious to the cold.
“That’s the way they’ll expect us to go. Better we waste a few days by sailing east before turning north. Once we’re sure we’re in the clear we can make a gradual swing back toward Poyo. Keep in mind that those sky boats’ range is limited by the amount of fuel they can carry. The more they waste searching for us where we ain’t, the less likely they are to find us. We sure as hell ain’t going to outrun them. Not in this stuff.” He gestured over the side.
It seemed to Ethan that the layer of water atop the ice sheet had deepened by half a centimeter just while they’d been imprisoned. That was impossible, of course. Such an increase would require months of heating. But it was hard to escape the feeling that at any moment their little craft might become a boat instead of an ice ship.
By midday the familiar cliffs which marked the limits of the continental plateau had replaced the unusual gentler slopes which embraced the harbor they’d left behind. The sun was bright and piercing, the air still warm to the three Tran, though not warm enough for the trio of humans to consider doffing their survival suits. At least they were able to flip back their hoods and visors. It was worth a little cold to be able to breathe Tran-ky-ky’s pure, unpolluted air directly.
“With your hood back you could also hear better, so everyone heard the low, buzzing whine at about the same time. It was loud enough to rise above the whistle the wind made as it passed through the little craft’s rigging. September hurried to the stern where he raged at ice and a mocking fate.
“How did they find us? How?” He clutched the stolen beamer in one huge fist even though he knew it wouldn’t be of much use against a heavily armed skimmer. Ethan gripped the other pistol.
“I’m not sure this time they’ll give us the chance to ask questions.” He gestured with the weapon. “Maybe they’ll move in close to check on us and we can pick them off.”
“Maybe.” September’s tone clearly indicated what he thought of their chances. “Depends who’s on board; humans, Tran, or a mix.”
Grurwelk had moved to stand alongside them. Now she pointed. “There it is.”
Several minutes passed before the air-repulsion vehicle had come close enough for the less farsighted humans to pick out the silvery silhouette. It flew swiftly over the flat surface, keeping three meters above the ice.
“Good tracking equipment.” September was muttering unhappily. “I was counting on them not having any portable stuff. Obviously I was wrong. Or maybe they just guessed lucky.”
“Maybe it’s our turn.” Ethan slipped his beamer out of sight. “They probably know we took these but they don’t know for sure that we have them here. It’s possible they think they’re back on board the Slanderscree.”
September hesitated, then shoved his own weapon into a pocket in the pants of his survival suit. “Possible. Not likely, but possible. We’ll find out soon enough.” His eyes watered as he stared into the wind. “What about the heavy artillery?”
“I fear the weapon you refer to is indeed mounted on this sky boat.” Hunnar’s query was more hopeful than sanguine as he nodded toward the now concealed pistols. “Can you reach them with those smaller light weapons?”
“Not if they chose to stay out of range,” September told him. “Better be ready to abandon ship if they start shooting. A heavy energy weapon’ll make splinters of this boat. The air in the wood will explode and the rest’ll burn.”
“Abandon ship?” Ta-hoding clung to the steering mechanism and uneasily peered over the side at the layer of cold water their stone runners were cutting through. “What if we fall through the ice to the center of the world?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Ethan told him grimly. “You’d freeze before you could drown.” The notion of swimming was as alien to the Tran as the idea of traveling through the vacuum of space. Not that anyone could stay alive for long in the frigid liquid. It was only six centimeters deep here. Be hard to drown in that. The captain’s fears set him to wondering just how thick the ice sheet was this close to the continent. He knew it was thinner than elsewhere.
“Slowing up.” September blinked tears from his eyes. “Damn. They must suspect we’ve got the pistols.”
“Can you make out how many there are?”
“Two Tran for certain,” said Hunnar evenly. “At least two of your kind. One steering and another seated behind the big light weapon.”
“Taking no chances,” September rumbled. “So what are they waiting for? Why don’t they finish us?”
“Maybe they’re having trouble with the gun,” Ethan said hopefully. “Plenty of battles have been decided by weapons that didn’t work properly at the critical moment.”
“Taking a head count, more likely.”
The delay did not last long, nor was there anything wrong with the laser cannon. An intense burst of amplified energy momentarily flared brighter than the sun as the weapon fired. It struck not the lifeboat but the ice in front and around.
Runners slid over nothing and the craft slewed sideways, the mast collapsing on top of them, as the ice gave way under the intense heat. They lurched wildly to port. Hunnar inhaled sharply and clutched at the steering column. Grurwelk cursed as she rolled over Ethan while Ta-hoding intoned a hurried prayer.
They did not sink. The ice sheet had been shattered all around them but it didn’t melt completely. The lifeboat was partially supported by a large floe that remained beneath the starboard runner. As they listed to port water began to trickle in through the closely set decking. It pooled up around Ethan’s feet as he struggled erect. The survival suit kept it from his skin.
“What the hell are they doing?” Even as he finished asking the question another bolt from the cannon blasted the ice off to their right. September had ducked below the railing. Now he raised his head to peer back at their assailants.
“Game time,” he muttered tightly. Another flare melted more ice in front of them. “They’re going to pin us in open water and wait till we sink.”
“What happens if we don’t?”
“I’m sure they’ll find a way to accelerate the process. Blow away the stern or something.”
Ethan pulled out his beamer. “We’ve got to take a shot at them. We can’t just sit here!”
September put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Maybe that’s what they’re trying to do, find out if we’ve got the pistols or if they’re back on the good old Slanderscree. Save the charge. They’re still out of range. If we don’t fire, maybe they’ll figure we don’t have them and move a little nearer.” He licked his lips. “They’re pretty close now. Come on, boys, we’re just as helpless as can be down here. Come on in and have a nice close look.”
By this time they were drifting in the middle of a patch of open water the size of a small lake. Wavelets rocked the lifeboat, which refused to sink. Williams found a couple of pots in the central cabin and soon he and Ta-hoding were bailing like mad. No doubt those on the skimmer found this essentially futile activity very amusing.
Then all of them were thrown backward as the water heaved beneath them.
It must have been a fish. Ethan didn’t know what else to call it because he didn’t get a very good look at it. Williams had a better view and thought it surely the biggest Holothuroidea in existence. It had a mottled, leathery skin from which tentaclelike purple and red eruptions projected and it slurped down the hovering skimmer as easily as a trout would take a fly. It hung frozen against the sky, a streak of color shattering the pure blue, the aft section of the skimmer dangling from horny lips. As it slid back beneath the surface the two Tran seated in the rear of the craft jumped clear.