Imperial Smuggler: Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire Book 2 by Andrew Moriarty

Author:Andrew Moriarty [Moriarty, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

***

“How about hiking up the river to meet them?” Scruggs said. “Now that the Nats are gone?”

“We don’t even know if they’re there,” Lee said. “We haven’t heard from them on the radio yet.”

“But you said that we couldn’t hear them because of the canyons.”

“Probably not,” Lee said. “All right, how about this. If you get higher up, they might be able to hear your radio. How about you climb up there next to that waterfall. If they’re coming from upriver, then they’ll be coming that way. Think you can make it up that hill over there?” Lee pointed to a scree of broken rocks next to the falls.

“I can do it,” Scruggs said. “I can climb up onto that hill on the right, and I’ll be above this lake and up above the river as well. Let me get a pack and a holster and some food and water, and I’ll go.”

“You’re that worried about them?”

“Centurion might need my help.”

“What about the rest of them? Pilot and the others.”

“Oh, them, too.”

“Even Dena?”

“She can freeze.”

“You’re just mad because she beat you up.”

“She didn’t. I beat her up.”

“Does your nose still hurt?”

Scruggs touched her nose.

“We need to stick together. That’s the only reason why we’re not all in jail or dead. Talk to Dena. She might teach you something.”

Scruggs crossed her arms and glared at Lee. “Fine.”

“Better get moving,” Lee said.

“Why?”

“Look over there.” Lee pointed. “Those clouds are nearly black. Storm coming in.”

“I’ll go now,” Scruggs said. “I can get up and there before the storm hits.”

An hour later, she had hiked across the lake, keeping close to the shore. The ice seemed firm enough to her, and she thought she was over shallow water. She walked as close to the waterfall as she dared, then went into the trees and climbed, which slowed her down. In places, the snow was deep, and she struggled through. In others, she could climb along bare patches of rock. After slipping off an ice-covered boulder for the second time, she stayed on the snow. Another hour saw her climb to the level of the waterfall. The upper river was hemmed in by five- to ten-meter cliffs. The slope eased as she edged away from the river, so she continued climbing diagonally away. She stopped for her breath. Snow whipped down the river and over the falls, blowing from atop the hill above her, decreasing her visibility.

“Not good, Scruggs. Be careful out here,” she said. “Just got the weather to worry about.”

She flopped down for a rest and was drinking water from her bottle when the howls started.

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