Ice Red by Jael Wye

Author:Jael Wye
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Rescue

Cesare and Asif were arguing over a plan of action. Cesare had stopped at the outer tread line to pick up the young Earther, and then sped around to the tram lock where the others were trapped. Now they were stalled in the face of the black composite mountain before them.

Bianca dimly heard the taut, strained voices of the two men, but she locked them in the background of her mind. She worked in a strange calm, like the clear place in the eye of a dust storm. She was trying to coax the data from the fried remnants of the tower GenIe, but it was nearly hopeless. The entire structure had been royally fecked. The side and corner that housed the tram lock had wedged itself into the bedrock. The entire weight of the tower was resting on the lock, warping the structure badly enough to jam the doors shut.

Asif was saying, “Cutting’s too risky. If we try to jack it up we might be able to pry the lock open—”

“No time,” Cesare shot back. “The power supply, the ruptured lines, the strain on the supports—anything could blow any minute.” As if to punctuate his words, a low, rumbling groan sounded from deep within the shattered tower.

“Cesare is right,” Bianca said. They turned and looked at her with startled eyes, like they had forgotten she was there. Cesare’s face was grim, stony. Asif looked very young, almost fragile, his customary scowl replaced by an expression of desperate fear. But at least they were both listening. “We have to cut the lock open,” she said.

“Whatever you do, do it fast.” Bo’s voice over the crackling com was frighteningly soft. We’re...not feeling so good. Injuries...CO2 poisoning...”

“Iqbal and Milla, did you hear that?” said Cesare over the com. “We need the first aid trams in building C3. Bring everything.”

“Ay Cesare,” came Iqbal’s voice. “We’re on it. Be there shortly.”

“We’ll start cutting as soon as I bring the bots around—”

“I’ve already got them,” Bianca said. “Look,” she pointed out the front viewport. The shadowed figures of the massive construction bots hulked out of the roiling dust, the prongs of their cutters slowly extending. She turned toward Cesare with determination. “I’ll do the cutting,” she said.

Asif grunted, and Cesare frowned. She regarded them with as much calm as she could manage. “Cutting like this needs precision. It will also need welding and bracing. The whole tower is literally hanging by a few carbon threads. One wrong calculation, one bad cut, could bring it down on top of us. I’m a megastructure engineer. I’m trained for this.” She stole a glance at the bots, which were already maneuvering into position. “I’ll open the tower up,” she said. “You two go in there and get those blokes out.” She met Cesare’s eyes. Trust me, she willed. This is the only way.

Cesare considered for only a moment. Then he nodded. “We’ll get in position.” Asif looked like he might argue, but Cesare pushed him toward the lock.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.