Forlorn Hope

Chapter Fourteen

A candle sputters, breath exhaled across the flame. There is plenty of ambient light; the candle is not there to hold darkness at bay. Rather, it is an object to focus one's thoughts on. The simple flame flickers, casting a glow across the face of the one holding it. Gripped tightly with both hands, Willow's eyes are closed as she concentrates on the flame. Dark thoughts consume her – she whispers a silent prayer.

Willow slowly opens her eyes. She hasn't moved since arriving and barely resisted the urge to run onto the snowfield when Bear and his companions disappeared. For as long as she can remember the field south of the village has been unblemished - an unending field of white. Now the field is angled and broken. The greasy tree-cloud is starting to fade, but the image is burned into her mind.

Her entire life had been a straight path. No variation, the status quo. Choosing Bear to be her mate made her happy. He was arrogant, but so caring. His status as the eldest child of The People granted him scant privilege over others. Privilege mattered for nothing when he defied the elder council. Now he had no privilege – it had been only days since his departure. The thought of her Bear branded a traitor brought a sadness and darkness to her thoughts.

Never before had she desired to leave the village.

I need Bear.

She resolved to be with him no matter the consequences. Summoning her courage, she silently raised a leg to step out of the village.

"Willow!"

The interruption could only be seen as divine intervention. What were the odds someone wanted to speak to her the exact moment she vowed to leave the village? She exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding. She took a step back and turned to see who was calling her.

* * *

Moving through the structure, Colonel Mathers took note of the walls and deck. Steel could be manufactured by anyone with access to iron, a smelter and a lot of patience. He had seen many variations of steel in his life, but this steel looked different. The crossbeams and ribbing he passed were peculiar. They had a slight blue tint to them and the texture was uniform. There were no bulky bolts or iron plates holding pieces together; they seemed to join seamlessly, perfectly.

Since hearing that latch sound earlier, overhead illumination had powered on. He didn't think of it as 'overhead lighting' - there were no light bulbs or any obvious light sources. The corners below and overhead simply started emitting light. There was no telltale hum of fluorescents or the limited horizon of light emitting diodes - the light simply was.

His clinical examination was put on hold when he arrived at a hatch. He assumed it was a hatch - there were no obvious handles. The corridor was eight feet wide – easily wide enough for three or four men to walk shoulder to shoulder. The hatch was only about four feet wide. The coaming curved beautifully into the bulkhead and deck. He was used to seeing the angular coaming on naval vessels, but this coaming was artful – an even, unbroken curve.

Stopping to examine the hatch itself, he noticed a flat trapezoidal plate partially recessed into the frame. It had a concave spherical indentation on both sides. He ran his fingers along the side of the hatch and cut his finger. Swearing silently, he removed his glove and sucked the blood from his finger.

Stepping through the hatch, he continued down the corridor. A single drop of blood on the hatch glistened in the ambient light.

* * *

"This hatch leads to the power core."

Anna grabbed his hand. She willed herself to not react to his four-fingered grip. She replied, "Thanks for helping us, Bear."

"I'm trusting you to study it, not disable it."

Garret held his hand over his heart. Solemnly, he vowed, "I swear we will find a way to stop this ice age and save your village."

Bear nodded and replied, "Let me have the influence sphere."

Anna didn't relish the thought of surrendering the sphere, but she needed Bear's help finding the power core. Reluctantly, she handed the sphere to Bear who placed it into the same spherical receptacle on the last hatch. The hatch recessed into the frame as before. Bear retrieved the sphere as the trio stepped through the hatch into a 'T' intersection.

"Stop right there!"

The trio turned to see a man in winter camouflage running toward them. Bear and Garret took a step away from the hatch; Anna reacted faster than either of them appeared to be able to. She grabbed the sphere from Bear's hand and thrust it into the opposite receptacle on the hatch opening, triggering the mechanism to close the hatch.

* * *

Oh, hell no!

Mathers would not let the fugitives escape yet again. The space between the closing hatch and Colonel Mathers was rapidly dwindling. He summoned a burst of strength to cover the distance.

He struck the closed hatch hard, bouncing helplessly off it as he felt his nose snap to the side. He bled from his nose, mouth and forehead and collapsed onto the deck. Dazed, he stared at the closed hatch as blood from his nose dribbled down the front of his jacket. Scrambling to a sitting position, he grasped his blood-covered nose with both hands and righted it with an audible snap! Running his tongue along his teeth, he verified they were all there. The closed, bloodied hatch mocked him - taunted him. It was at that moment Colonel Mathers realized his mission had ended. It galled him to have it end in failure.

* * *

Anna reached up and wiped a smattering of blood from her face.

We're safe now.

She recalled thinking this before, but now she knew it to be so. Emotionlessly she swiped the sphere from its receptacle and wiped the blood from it onto her jacket. Shoving it into her pocket, she turned to her companions. Her eyes were cold now – dispassionate.

"Which way?"

They stared at her in disbelief. Anna rolled her eyes and demanded, "Which way, damn it!"

Bear pointed down one of the corridors. Anna peered down the illuminated corridor and asked, "How soon?"

"We're almost there, about thirty or forty meters."

She strutted in the direction Bear pointed. "Let's go, we have a job to do."