Rogue Angel - Polar Quest Part 41

"That'd be nice."

Hawk gunned the Sno-Cat.

And Annja closed her eyes and visualized her sword.

"I SEE SOMEONE SEE SOMEONE over there!" over there!"

Zach looked to where Chuck was pointing. He caught a glimpse of something moving in the dim light.

"Shoot it," Mitch said.

"I can't. He's out of range," Chuck said.

Zach looked at Mitch. "What are they trying to do?"

"Outflank us, you idiot. They know we won't give up this position because we've got the benefit of cover with the Sno-Cats. So all they can do is try to come at us from the sides where we're exposed."

"What about the generator?" Zach asked.

Mitch glanced at him. "Is it bulletproof?"

"How should I know?" Zach said.

"Well, I guess we'd all better hope that it is or else we might just start glowing in the dark."

Zach looked at his watch. There wasn't much time left before the rendezvous. "If we can hold them off, our connection will be here soon!"

Mitch nodded. "Then that's what we'll have to do."

"YOU READY?" Hawk asked.

Annja nodded. "Yes," she said as she placed a jerrican on the gas pedal of the Sno-Cat.

Hawk lifted his foot and the Sno-Cat kept going. "Foot's clear," he said.

Annja gripped her door handle. "You sure you've got it aimed properly?"

Hawk nodded. "It shouldn't hit the tow hitch carrying the generator."

"Okay."

Hawk gripped his pistol and his door handle. "Remember to exhale when you land and roll," he advised.

"Got it."

"See you out there," he said. "Go!"

Annja pushed the door open and leaped out into the frozen air, her sword already held in hand.

ZACH HEARD THE GUNSHOTS. Chuck was firing at someone moving off to the left. Someone rose to a crouch and then fell forward. It all seemed to happen in slow motion.

The Sno-Cat continued rumbling toward them. Mitch was shouting something at Zach. Then he turned back and fired two rounds at the cat's winds.h.i.+eld, spidering the gla.s.s.

The Sno-Cat kept coming.

"It's gonna hit!" Mitch shouted.

Zach turned and ran as the approaching cat crashed into the cat Mitch was using for cover. There was a violent sound of metal twisting and gears grinding as the tracks literally tried to crawl up the side of the stationary cat it had just impacted. Parts of the cab compressed as the weight of the cat settled on it. He wondered if it would explode, but then the cat stopped moving, its gears burned out.

Chuck kept firing at someone.

Zach heard a bullet fly past his ear and ricochet off the other Sno-Cat.

He heard something else, too. Somewhere off in the distance.

Rescue.

ANNJA ROLLED when she landed, exhaling hard as her body made contact with the frozen ground. It wasn't nearly as powdery as she'd thought and the blow to her body rattled her somewhat. when she landed, exhaling hard as her body made contact with the frozen ground. It wasn't nearly as powdery as she'd thought and the blow to her body rattled her somewhat.

She came up to her feet and charged into the opening. She saw the smaller of the two men from Gallagher's. What had Zach called him? Chuck.

He saw Annja coming and tried to turn to point his pistol at her.

But Annja swung up diagonally from her right side, slicing into Chuck's arm. Blood sprayed and he dropped to the ground clutching at his limb as it pumped blood into the icy ground where it froze almost instantly.

Chuck fell back, already entering severe shock.

Annja spun and looked for Zach.

But her ears picked up a noise.

Reinforcements were arriving.

ZACH AIMED HIS PISTOL at the man who had suddenly appeared right out of the very snow they stood on. The gun bucked in his hand as Zach jerked the trigger back. He used too much pressure and the gun jumped, its bullet flying off at an angle. at the man who had suddenly appeared right out of the very snow they stood on. The gun bucked in his hand as Zach jerked the trigger back. He used too much pressure and the gun jumped, its bullet flying off at an angle.

The man in front of him smiled and leveled his gun at Zach.

Zach's stomach twisted.

He was a dead man.

When the gunshot came, Zach felt nothing.

He looked down but saw no blood. Then he looked back and saw the man in front of him fall. Behind him Mitch stood, his gun's barrel still smoking.

"Is that our rescue I hear?" Mitch asked.

"Just in time," Zach replied.

Mitch sounded angry. "Hold your own here, Zach. In a few minutes this'll all be over."

ANNJA SAW Hawk fall and two men standing together looking at him. She ran full speed toward them. Hawk fall and two men standing together looking at him. She ran full speed toward them.

Mitch wheeled and brought up his gun.

She batted his hands away with the pommel of the sword. And then cracked him hard with the flat of the blade.

Mitch staggered back, clutching at his face. Blood streamed out of his nose, steaming in the frigid air.

Annja drove him back, swiping at him. But Mitch managed to evade the cuts somehow.

Annja caught some movement out of the corner of her eye.

Zach.

Annja dropped. Spun. She threw the sword.

Zach fired his pistol.

The sword pierced the center of Zach's chest, puncturing the thick parka, driving through bone, muscle and arteries.

Annja heard Zach gasp.

He looked down in shock and then slumped to his knees.

His body fell over in the snow.

Annja stared at him in sorrow.

"Don't move, Annja," she heard Mitch growl.

She heard the sound of the trigger and froze. With a sidelong glance she could see Mitch was holding the pistol on her. His face mask was a b.l.o.o.d.y mess.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," he said.

"Well, get on with it, then," Annja said angrily.

She heard a series of gunshots.

Mitch fell over dead.

Annja turned. Don stood, still aiming his gun at Mitch's back. He called out to her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, shaking.

He nodded and moved away from Mitch. "Check on Hawk. I'll tend to Tony."

Annja scrambled over to Hawk's body. His eyes fluttered vaguely, but his pupils were wide, darkness already settling in them. The cold was too much.

Annja looked at the front of his parka and knew it wasn't good. "Hang on, Hawk," she said futilely.

He coughed a little. "h.e.l.l, you mean this isn't the afterlife?" he whispered.

Annja smiled. "Not yet."

"Thanks," he said to her. "Thanks for helping make things right." A little bit of pinkish foam sputtered out of his lips. Annja could see darker blood inside his mouth.

"Don't thank me," she said.

"Someone should," Hawk said, before falling quiet.

Annja picked up Hawk's pistol and stood in the snow as Don came back. "Tony's gone."

"Hawk, too," she said.

"s.h.i.+t."

Annja nodded. "I don't think that's the end, either."

Don looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You hear that?"

Don stared off in the distance. "Is that what I think it is?"