Page 93 of Smoky Lake

“Five adults,” Thomson said slowly. “But I can’t tell anything else with this thing.” She put her binoculars back to her face. “Oh shit! Bank left!” she yelled at the pilot. “Hold on,” she said to Ani.

The helicopter dipped to the left in a vertiginous arc. The entire body shuddered as something clipped one of the blades.

“We’re under fire!” Thomson shouted.

Under fire. Gunfire? Ani held onto her seat and fought to keep control of her stomach. Bad time to get airsick. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the first image that formed in her mind.

Gil.

Strong, wonderful, protective, caring Gil. She loved him. That was the important thing. Why hadn’t she just told him everything, told him how she felt, told him her situation? She’d let fear stand in the way of love.

She wouldn’t make that mistake again. Please let me have another chance, she prayed.

“Any damage?” Thomson asked tensely when they’d ascended high enough to be out of the reach of bullets.

“Minor,” said the pilot, checking gauges. “We gotta stay out of bullet range though.”

“At least we know we’re close,” said Thomson. “They wouldn’t be firing at us if we weren’t. How come we can’t see any other people?” She moved her mic aside so she was speaking only to Ani. “You think maybe the kids are somewhere else?”

Ani bit her lip. She didn’t really know anything. She gazed down at the rough and tumble surface of the glacier, the melting edge, the icebergs floating in the lake. She thought about Victor studying the permafrost, the miners drilling into the ice-bound ground.

“Does that camera work through ice?” she asked Thomson.

“Through ice? What do you mean?”

“Maybe they’re under the ice somehow.”

Thomson pulled a “worth a try” face and tapped the pilot’s shoulder. “Go toward the glacier. Stay high. I don’t want to run into any more fucking bullets.”

As they approached the ice, something caught Ani’s eye. Five people were clustered on the glacier. Were they the ones doing the shooting? “I think I see the people you spotted,” she cried. She leaned forward, peering through drifting fog rising off the ice. “That plane looks familiar, too.”

“It’s either local or it belongs to the bad guys.”

Ani put the binoculars to her eyes and adjusted the focus until she could make out one dark bobbing head. “It’s Gil! Gil and…that looks like Nyx, he’s Victor’s assistant. There’s Sam. And a soldier. And…” The fifth man didn’t look much like Gil, at least at this distance, but something about his posture and the way he was walking so closely to Gil gave him away. “That must be his brother Lachlan. Sergeant Thomson, we have to do something. I don’t think they heard that gunfire. They’re completely exposed out there! They’re going to get shot!”

Ani was nearly hysterical as she watched the five men trek across the glacier toward the eastern edge, where blocks of ice tumbled against each other, as if a giant had flung them in a fit of rage. “We have to help. We have to land. We have to do something.”

“They’re focused on us right now,” Thomson told her. She leaned forward to talk to the pilot. After a muttered conversation of which Ani barely caught a word, she sat back. “We’re going to draw their fire. We won’t be in bullet range, but it’s going to be bumpy, so hang on. If you need to vomit, aim it that way.”

Ani set her jaw and straightened her spine. Clearly, Thomson had no idea what a strong stomach a doctor had to have just to survive medical school. “I’ll be fine. Just do what you can.”

The pilot swooped back in the direction where the gunshots had come from. The world spun and all Ani could see was the glacier. She scanned the air for incoming bullets, though of course it would be impossible to see if any were coming their way. Then she remembered that hissing missile that had taken out the Institute. These were the same people!

She spotted Gil and the others, closer now. Gil was pointing up at their helicopter, which buzzed away again, like a flirty partner on a dance floor. At the next change in direction, she lost sight of Gil.

Nearly frantic, she kept her eyes glued on the window, but the next time they flew over that section of the glacier, the men were nowhere to be seen.

No….no…NO.

As soon as Gil and Lachlan were done hugging, the soldier introduced himself as Corporal Walters and handed Gil a firearm, a Glock 9.

“Orders from military command, based on your status as a security officer on leave. Your brother here filled us in on the situation. I’m here to help, and we have backup on standby. Our orders are not to engage until we call in reinforcements.”

He accepted it gladly. “Thanks.”

“There’s also a helo with us. Sergeant Thomson and Ani Devi are doing some reconnaissance.”

Gil shook his head, not sure he’d heard right. “Did you say Ani Devi is in the helo?”

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