Page 14 of There's an Elf in My Cockpit

I no longer felt the pain in my head, now everything was just numb, and that included my hearing. As if everything Vi said came at me from underwater. Hey, technically we were underwater, weren’t we? With all that ice on top of us? I chuckled out loud and the world spun even faster.

Damn it, no! I couldn’t pass out, I couldn’t do that to Vi. I gritted my teeth hard and focused, pushing the rushing tide away, that was trying to pull me under. We were in front of some kind of blockage, a wall of white, a dead end. No, there was a seam down the middle. I couldn’t talk and focus, but Vi wasn’t trying to make me speak now.

I just had to figure this out, I had to hold on until we got to help somehow. I couldn’t abandon my spiky, brave girl a second time. I just didn’t know how.

Chapter 9

Vi

These were doors, I was certain of it. There were no door handles or a convenient sensor or doorbell to open them with. Oliver was swaying on his feet, clinging to my shoulders with far more weight than I was comfortable carrying but I knew that if he collapsed there was just no way I’d get him moving again. I held him up as best as I could while I frantically searched for a way through.

Doors were man-made, so that meant Oliver was right, there was a structure here. That meant help, even if it was just in the form of a base to camp out in with new supplies. Maybe there was an old com system I could boot to call Oliver’s ship or the teens for help.

Those thoughts gave me hope so I urged Oliver to walk with me, closer to the seam where I was sure this wall could split open. Now the strangely smoothed ceiling and the far more level floor the past mile made more sense, these sections of tunnel through the ice were not happenstance, they were created. I shivered, wondering if that meant the creatures trapped in the ice had been put there on purpose too. Like a macabre kind of museum.

“Please! If anyone is in there, let us in! We need help!” I begged out loud. I didn’t really think that would work, this was probably a place long ago abandoned but I had to try. Leave no stone unturned, because face it, without help, we were in a really bad place. Oliver was trying to act like he was just tired and sore but I knew his condition was far more serious than he was letting on.

I hadn’t missed the fact that the snow goggles had stopped helping him with his sight and that he was now stumbling along practically blind. It was making me sick with worry, he should be improving but he was getting worse again and all this walking was the last thing he needed. What if he had bleeding in his brain? What if he had so much swelling from the blow that it was disrupting his vision?

There was a protrusion above the door in the center that caught my eye when I searched for any means to open it. It looked at first like just a bit of rough ice, natural, but considering the black smoothness of the rest of the ice… it stood out. It was a camera, I was certain.

Locking my eyes onto the thing I made another plea, “If there’s anyone watching this. Please! We won’t be any bother but my friend needs medical attention, really badly.” I tried out a charming, friendly smile, but I wasn’t feeling my usual ability to chat with strangers and charm them to my side. I was far too worried for Oliver, he wasn’t even responding to what I was saying, his head drooping down against his chest and his breathing too rapid to mean anything good.

“We’ll leave as soon as we’re able,” I promised, “Just some medical aid and if at all possible a call to our ship so they can rescue us. Please…” I dropped my eyes from the camera, certain it was pointless and looked around the ice corridor to see if there was anything else of use.

We had only one ice ax left that I’d manage to locate after our fall, could I put Oliver down and pry those doors open with it? My muscles ached just thinking about it and I staggered, the heavy male depending on my support started to slide, and I fought to keep him upright. Was he getting even heavier? Was he about to pass out?

I was so focused on my struggle to keep Oliver standing that I almost missed it when the doors started to slide open. Woah, it worked? Did that mean there was someone there? Someone who had listened to my pleas? I shuddered with tension, with relief. I hadn’t actually expected there to be help beyond that door, and the prospect of it now was almost too good to be true.

There was just another tunnel beyond the door, which almost made me fill with despair again. That tunnel was so long that the lantern light couldn’t reach the end. I was never going to make it down that hallway with Oliver. With a deep groan, I pushed myself to start walking, half carrying Oliver’s heavy weight, half dragging him. He was still shuffling with me, which was the only reason we even made it forward.

“Thank you, thank you so much!” I said to whoever was listening. I hoped this wasn’t a trap or something or just automated doors opening when a sensor finally noticed us. We had only made it a couple steps down the hallway, my entire body aching with how much I’d asked of it in the last two days. I was beyond my limits, so freaking far beyond them that I didn’t think I’d be able to move again for weeks after I could finally lay down.

A soft buzzing noise made me drag my head up from watching our feet. Out of the deep dark ahead of me, I saw a shape appear, gliding along the smooth ice floor at a rapid pace. I wasn’t quite sure what it was until it got closer and resolved into the shape of a hovering cart. It came to a graceful stop right in front of me and I didn’t hesitate to maneuver Oliver to it. He stumbled and his weight yanked on my entire body, nearly taking me down with him.

His landing on the rectangular cart was anything but graceful, possibly even causing a few more bruises he could ill afford. I did my best to straighten him out, worried like crazy when I noticed the sheen of sweat on his forehead and the tint of his lips. He was getting so pale.

The wagon was large enough to accommodate his big frame but his shoulders were pressed up against the edges of the low cart walls; it was almost more of a platform than a cart. I managed to shrug out of my backpack and placed that at his feet but I didn’t think I could crawl into it with him.

I squared my shoulders, filling myself with determination, I could do this. I could keep on walking. When the cart started to gently float back the way it had come I followed, struggling to keep up with even that slow pace. This might look like aid, but I wasn’t going to let Oliver out of my sight until I was absolutely certain we were safe.

Without the human male hanging from my shoulders or the heavy backpack I should feel much lighter, more able to keep up. I didn’t feel any different though, my body felt so very heavy by itself that lifting my feet felt like I had concrete blocks on instead of shoes. “Come on Vi,” I muttered out loud, “Just one foot in front of the other, keep walking.”

Oliver was moaning in pain, his body trembling and I tried to pick up my pace. This corridor seemed as endless as the other ones and looked no different to me either. No lights, no signs of technology except for the cart. The walls were all still the same ice, smooth black ceiling, cloudy white walls. When were we getting to help? How much further did we have to go?

The doors were just there so suddenly that they took me by surprise, how had I not seen them before? It was as if they’d appeared out of thin air… These opened immediately with a gentle hum and allowed us through and into a large round room beyond it. This was some kind of garage, several sleek, high-tech vehicles were parked in carefully marked spots. The floor here was completely smooth and a deep azure blue, transparent enough that I could see that it was still ice of some kind and in it floated leaves in so many colors that it was dazzling.

I groaned when I realized the cart had sped ahead while I stared in wonder at this place. Forcing my body into a jog so I could catch up was agonizing and I didn’t think it was my imagination that it was going faster than before and still speeding up. We traversed several hallways, the cart never hesitating at any intersections and I was so exhausted and winded from the rapid pace and my aching legs that I could no longer pay attention to my marvelous surroundings.

The cart spun into an open door along one wall so suddenly that I nearly overshot myself. I was a little more careful as I entered this room which was clearly our final destination. The place was brightly lit and the walls a glossy white with giant snowflakes covering every surface in a stunning but casual display of beauty.

The rest of the room was utilitarian, and clearly of a medical nature even if everything was sleek and white, and the technology didn’t look like anything I was familiar with. Oliver and his cart had stopped in the middle of the room and a clear glass panel was sliding out of the wall and right over him. Covering him like glass a lid, and locking him entirely inside. It made my heart race with panic, what was it doing to him? Was that good or bad?

A low droning noise filled the room; it sounded like a swarm of Hrassa that my brother kept on his property to pollinate the plentiful flowers his wife liked to grow. I glanced around uneasily, my hand sliding into my pocket to touch the laser pistol I still had.

When a light glowed green on a bed to my left I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden change. I stared at it for a long while but it didn’t do anything else, and no one had shown up yet. Was this all automated? Was there no one here?

The green light on the bed started blinking, the pace increasing the longer I just stayed rooted to the spot. I got it, it wanted me to get on there so I could get a check-up too. Was I going to trust this place? Do it on blind faith?

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