Ice Hunt (2003) by Rollins James

Ice Hunt (2003) by Rollins James

Author:Rollins, James [James, Rollins,]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-01-09T01:16:09.843000+00:00


ICE STATION GRENDEL

Amanda fled alongside the tall stranger. The grendel still remained out of sight farther up the maze of passages, but the buzz of its echolocation filled the back of her head with a fuzzy, scratchy feeling.

It was tracking them, slowly, cautiously, driving them deeper into the ice island.

"What is it waiting for?" Matt asked.

"For our luck to run out," she answered, remembering Lacy Devlin's fate. "One of these times, we're going to turn into a dead end. A blocked passage, a cliff. Then we'll be trapped."

"Deadly and smart... a great combination."

Together they rounded a curve of smooth tunnel. The crampons on Amanda's boots gave her traction, but Matt slid, skidding around on the ice. She grabbed his arm to help him keep his footing.

Matt turned to her. "We can't keep this up. We're just heading deeper and deeper down, away from where we want to go."

"What else can we do?" She held up the small ice ax she had taken from Connor. "Face it with this?"

"Not a chance."

"Well, you're Fish and Game. I'm geophysical engineering. This is your department."

Matt bunched his brows. "We need something to lure this thing off our scent. Lay a false track for it to follow. If we could slip past it, get above it, then at least we'd be heading toward the exit as we ran."

Amanda struggled for an answer to this riddle, her mind shifting into objective mode. She reviewed what she knew about the beasts. Little to nothing was the answer, but that did not preclude her from extrapolating hypotheses. The grendels hunted by echolocation, but they were also sensitive to light and perhaps even heat. She remembered her experience in the beast's nest. It hadn't been aware of her hiding place until after it destroyed the flashlight and she had begun to sweat.

Light and heat. She sensed an answer here, but what?

They ran past another crisscrossing of tunnel then she had it!

"Wait!" she called out, and stopped.

Matt slowed, braking on his heels, one hand on the wall. He turned to her.

Amanda backed to the tunnel crossings. Light and heat. She tugged the chin strap to her helmet and pulled it off. She twisted on the lamp so it glowed brightly, then reached to her waist where her air-warming mask was belted in place next to its heater. She unhooked it and dialed the heating element to full burn. It quickly grew warm in her hands.

"What are you thinking?" Matt asked.

She hurried back to the crossroads, eyes scanning for any sign of the hunter. "These creatures hone in on light and heat signatures." She flipped over her mining helmet and crammed the air-warming mask and its heater now hot to the touch inside the helmet.

She lifted her creation higher.

Matt joined her and nodded. "A lure for a false trail."

"Let's hope this does the trick." She slipped past him, ducked low to the ice, and flung the helmet down the main tunnel. The yellow helmet skated and spun atop its crown, light twirling like an ambulance siren.



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