On The Ice

Damn it was cold. He had been told just how cold it was, but hearing it will be -50 degrees and experiencing it are two different things. The copter glided over Queen Maud Land at two hundred feet, the wind leaking through Jack Valance’s parka even with the heat tubes running at full strength. The sun just peeked above Ulvetanna Peak, high noon for this time of year in Antarctica.

Jack had his FarSight All Light Binoculars affixed to his goggles, allowing him to scan the frigid landscape. There wasn’t much out here. Most of the bases were on the coast, along with the penguin colonies. There could be an EuroU military operation out here, but he probably wouldn’t be that lucky. There would be no climbers this time of year, thankfully. Even in the 24th Century, mountain climbing remained dangerous, and this time of year storms were frequent.

“You spotted it yet Captain?”

Sergeant Hal Kilmore looked perturbed, but he normally looked that way. He wanted to get back to the heat at McMurdo, they all did. But they needed to clean up this mess first. Jack needed to find the Granthold to start. The smuggling ship had gone down somewhere around here, and its cargo had gotten loose on the Antarctic ice.

“Not yet Sigma One. It will be soon enough.”

For almost any cargo that that ship could have carried, Antarctica itself would have dealt with it. And if it were left alone, it still might. The lagranth was a dangerous predator, and illegal in twelve systems, including Sol. Plucked from a frozen hellhole nearly two hundred light years away, it was often smuggled as a trophy for the greatest menageries. This one was shot down with the ship by system defense forces when illegal contraband was scanned aboard their ship. It was those scanners that detected the creature, and why Jack and his team were sent here with two hours of the ship crashing.

Jack saw in the distance the makings of a squall, the horizon blanked out by white. He scanned closer, and then spotted the wreckage of the ship, spread out over a mile on the glacier. He spotted the cargo hold and pulled himself back into to the center of the copter. “Over there pilot,” as Jack pointed, “Set us down right there, and take gunship position. My team will try to handle it, but if it starts to get away, take it down.”

He had faced a lagranth before. A vicious and deadly opponent, it could blend into the white easily, even without changing its color. Lagranths were ambush predators, often stalking its prey for hours before it pounced, killing with one blow when it attacked. Antarctica possessed no such fauna that could match it. Had the Granthold crashed in the Arctic, the lagranth would likely end up in the belly of a polar bear, or a pack of wolves. Here, it could feast on penguins if it found them, tourists or scientists.

The copter swung low over the downed ship, and landed with a crunch in the snow. Jack got off first, and then the four other members of his team. “Fan out, and keep your infrareds on. This thing is hot, I don’t need anyone dying today. Find it, and call in the team to take it down. Keep an eye on your batteries. They drain in the cold, and your suit’s heat systems will not last forever.” Aye Ayes answered back.

Jack headed right for the ship, swinging his Beretta MX-28 around as he searched the area. The rifle was a little obsolete, as it still used jacketed rounds instead of flechettes or lasers. It was reliable, and the cold had no effect on it. He wanted a weapon that would work when he needed it to. The snow cracked under his feet, his boots sinking in the powder up to his ankle as he approached the ship.

A body lay in the snow, outside of the ripped hole in the side of the ship. The man’s throat had been ripped out, his blood frozen. A small laser pistol lay next to his hand, already frozen stiff when Jack pushed on itwith his foot. The crash looked like it had created the hole, it was wide enough for a large lagranth to escape. Walking inside the ruined ship, there were two more bodies, both killed by teeth rather than the crash, and a metal cage ripped open.

“Its on the loose gentlemen. Keep your eyes up and scanning. It is likely still around here.”

Corporal Jenkins grunted, “Will do Captain. I definitely want to get back and have a few poppies.”

“Keep it tight men, this is no jolly. Captain, I have two corpses inside the cockpit, dead from the crash. There is a third outside, about fifty yards from the ship, large prints headed towards it. This one was attacked.” Sergeant Kilmore was all business. Of his team, Kilmore was the only one that had been on a lagranth hunt before.

“Team, check in every five minutes. Remember, you see it, call for backup,” He looked to the horizon, stepping outside the ship. That storm looked closer. “Gunship, how far are those clouds?”

“Maybe ten minutes, maybe fifteen. Do you want dustoff before?”

Jack thought for a second, “No, we need to find this thing and deal with it. If we leave it to the storm, it may get away and there could be more fatalities before it dies out here. Our gear should keep us safe.” He hoped that were true. Antarctica was the most hostile place on the surface of the Earth, and death was never far away.

He started to wall around the perimeter of the downed ship, looking for prints in the snow. The low level of light started to fade as they walked. The bare mountain tops and nunataks contrasted with the glistening white, their browns and blacks drawing the eye to them as the bit of contrast.

“Sigma Team, sit rep.”

“Sigma One, all clear.”

“Sigma Two, all clear.”

“Sigma Three, all clear.”

Jack waited for a few moments. “Sigma Four, check in. Sigma Four, check in.” Static answered. “Gunship, do you have eyes on Four?”

The wind blew a bit harder, and Jack could feel the suit matching it. “Sigma Four down, near the cockpit.”

“Team, converge on Sigma Four’s location. Gunship, do we have any infrared readings at all?”

“None besides the team, Captain. I’ll even be able to track you once the storm gets here.”

Jack reached the cockpit after Sigma Two and Three had. Corporals Benedict and Lovren, respectively stood over the body, checking vitals and scanning the area. Sergeant Kilmore arrived last, breathless. “Captain, I believe I spotted it, but there was nothing in the infrared. It vanished behind a bit of wreckage, and when I pursued, all trace had gone.”

If Kilmore was correct, then the situation had just gotten a lot worse. While all lagranths could change this color like a chameleon, only the oldest males could change other things, suppressing smell, body heat, and even becoming nearly invisible. The upside was that they couldn’t do these things for very long, as it took an enormous amount of energy. So, either it did this in short bursts being invisible to the team, or it ate more of the crew to fuel this.

“Team, this one has the ability to suppress infrared, and it likely has encountered humans before, knowing how we hunt. Orders are if you get a shot, take it, don’t wait for backup. We will go in pairs, Sigma One with me, Two and Three together. Gunship, collect Sigma Four’s body before the storm gets here, then resume station. Let’s search in pattern foxtrot.”

Foxtrot meant that the teams would go in ever widening circles, slowly growing the cleared area with each revolution. More so than finding the creature, Jack hoped that it would flush it out, allowing the team to strike. He kept on eye on the horizon, watching the white line get closer and closer.

His suit chimed at him, Temperature warning. Antarctica was playing its hand, the temperature rapidly dropping ahead of the weather. The EnviroSuit was rated to -65 F degrees before failure, and the temperature on his watch stated -59 F degrees. Past the limit, the cold would rapidly degrade their abilities, but the suits material should prevent them from freezing to death, at least for a while.

The light started the fade, the sun disappearing behind the mountains. Such a short daylight period, but if there was one thing that gave the advantage to his team, it would be the lack of light. Night vision was nearly as good as daylight, and the lagranth had no technology.

Jack and Sigma One continued to move, and he saw both Two and Three in their pattern. Only the sound of snow crunching under his boots broke the silence. The wind for a moment quieted down, a calm before the brutal assault that bared down on them.

It tempted Jack to marvel at the beautiful place they were in, but then three shots rang out. “Report!’ Jack yelled. “False alarm, captain.”

The wind immediately picked up, and Jack watched the white line rapidly approach them. The air howled, and he felt ice creep into his suit at his feet, and his face. And then it engulfed them.

He had to shout to even hear himself think. The whiteout both blinded and deafened him. Jack strained his ears, and he could hear the muffled sounds of laser blasts. “Team, the blizzard is going to scatter your range. This is a knife fight now.” Their largest advantage, range, was now gone.

He called up on his HUD the infrared view from the gunship, showing the locations of his team members. The temperature alarm beeped faster, and then a continual tone as the temperature passed the limit. He shut it off, and resumed his search.

The chronometer showed an additional fifteen minutes passed when he discovered his first foot print from the lagranth. Its splayed out six toes clearly showed which direction it traveled, a sign that it was getting sloppy. Lagranth’s tails swept the ground behind them, dispersing most footprints and smells with a gland in it.

“Team, prints found. Narrow hex grid search to 3,4,2 and 3,5,2. Radiate out from that. Gunship, circle that area.”

A burst of wind cut through the arctic ski mask, burning his cheeks.

“Captain, Sigma Two and Three have not left their positions.”

“Gunship, are their comms working?”

“Yes.”

“Sigma One, maintain search, I will move towards them.”

Both corporals were dead, their throats ripped open, and steaming blood poured into the snow. Jack heard a sickening scream behind him, and he turned, leveling his rifle towards where it came from. “Captain, I can’t see Sigma One anymore.” “Understood gunship. Two and three are down. Await confirmation that lagranth is neutralized before retrieval.”

He wanted to leave in that moment, a feeling he never would admit to anyone. He couldn’t abandon his team here, dead or alive. And somehow this thing could find them in this weather. It would stalk him first, and then strike him before too long. “God, I need an assist on this one.”

God answered with the mercury dropping even more, and the wind roaring even louder. Numbness began creeping into his fingers, and he felt the chill throughout his body. Powerful help indeed, as the lagranth was definitely beyond its ability to survive in the open. Antarctica itself was trying to kill it.

Jack started to move towards the ruins of the cargo hold. The lagranth would have to find some shelter, and the only shelter it knew was that hold. Hopefully, he would get to it first, and prepare for its arrival. He saw the outline of the hold when he got within twenty feet of it. Jack crouched down, and entered the jagged hole.

The illumination continued to flicker and the wind was just a dull roar when Jack planted himself as far from the hole as he could. He lay prone, and waited. “Captain, we have a faint infrared signal approaching your position.” Jack thought for a moment, “Do you have a visual on it?”

“No, Captain, there is zero visibility here. We are having difficulty maintaining position with these conditions, burning fuel. We have fifteen minutes left on station before we need to head back and refuel.”

“If this isn’t over in ten, head back.”

Jack sucked in his breath, and blinked, clearing his eyes. The wind whistled into the opening, and suddenly the noise stopped. It was outside, blocking the wind.

He slowly blew it out, and he saw a massive white paw step into the hole. The creature slunk low, all white, except for its muzzle red with blood, and piercing gray eyes. It was the size of a large tiger, the fur rippling through its body as it moved. Its ears lay pinned back, snow dripping off its white nose as it crept into the hold.

Jack steadied his aim, he would only get one shot before it struck. It didn’t react to him, probably as it didn’t see him. He lined his eye up with the iron sights, and his HUD automatically showed him wear he would hit it. He breathed in.

The lagranth opened its jaw, exposing rows of sharp teeth and a forked tongue. Steam rolled out of its maw, and it sniffed the air. Jack’s finger tightened around the trigger, the moment of truth creeping closer.

The creature took one more step into the cargo hold, and then a shot rang out from outside. The creature roared, and spun around. The green spot on its hindquarters showed that it was hit. Jack fired his shot, striking it in the belly. The lagranth roared, and turned back around to face Jack. He fired again, hitting it in the shoulder, and then it was on top of him.

It batted him with his paws, rolling Jack over onto his back. The lagranth tried to bite him, and Jack forced his Beretta lengthway into its jaws, trying to hold the creatures mouth off of him. Its hot breath stunk of rotting flesh, and bile. Its tongue wrapped around his right hand, its saliva wetting his gloves.

It took both hands to hold the rifle up, a battle he was slowly losing. Jack kicked as hard as he could in its belly. At the second kick, its growl grew, and it placed a paw on his shoulder, digging its claws into his suit, tearing the fabric easily. He stifled his scream, his vision reddening. He pushed the pain away in his mind, and focused on his feet, trying to kick the belly wound of the creature.

Green ichor sprayed out over his boot, staining the ground as well. Jack was losing this battle, kicking the wound had to hurt the lagranth, but it wouldn’t kill it before it overpowered him and finished him off. He couldn’t reach for his sidearm, as he needed both hands to hold his rifle keeping the creature off of him. There was only one thing he could do. “God, forgive me my sins, and those of my men.”

He worked out in his head what would happen next. There was a small amount of time when he let go of the rifle, where he could grab his pistol, and then try to fatally wound the creature, before he was mauled to death. Jack breathed once. Twice. And before he could breathe a third, a shot rang out. The creature roared, and released the rifle, crooning its head up in pain.

Jack didn’t hesitate. He swung the rifle around, and pulled the trigger. He pulled and pulled it as he was covered in emerald blood. He kept pulling as the clip ran dry. The corpse rolled to the side, and Jack spit, clearing his mouth.

“Captain, figured you could use a hand,” Kilmore stood in the opening of the hold.

Jack sat up and smiled. “I needed all the help I could get. How?”

Kilmore set his weapon down. “I figured I would use the weather to help me. I buried in the snow as soon as I knew the team was down. I screamed to draw it towards me. I think it might have, except that Antarctica decided that it was going to force the fight indoors. Then it was just waiting until it got there, which your shot gave it away.”

“So the first shot was the gunship. Pilot, are you still overhead?”

“Yes, sir. Target neutralized?”

“Yes, we are ready for pickup. Retrieve Sigma Two and Three first.”

“Aye aye.”

Kilmore offered his hand to pull Jack up. “Sergeant, I can’t thank you enough. It sounds like the wind is dying down.”

They moved to the opening, and the wind was dying down, the storm passing their location. “Yes Captain, it seems The Ice itself joined our fight.”

“Maybe so Sergeant. Maybe so. Can’t say I would turn it down in the future.” The clear night sky spread over Jack, looking up at the stars. There was enough light to see across Queen Maud’s Land, and the frozen majesty of Antarctica. He wouldn’t look at it the same again.