Rogue Angel - False Horizon Part 9

Annja nodded. "All right, then. You go and see what you can locate. The bags in the back have some winter coats in them. You should take one along. And don't do anything silly. Mike's going to need help getting to wherever we hole up. Try to make it close. Otherwise, we'll risk worsening his wound."

"I understand."

Annja watched him get a coat out of one of the bags and zip it up. He brought them each a winter parka and then nodded to Annja. "I'll be back as soon as I can find someplace for us."

"Good luck," Annja said.

Tuk took a final glance at Mike and smiled. "Fast as I can."

He trudged off through the snow, but despite his small size, he seemed to make fast headway through the drifts. Mike's coughing brought Annja back to the moment.

"Is he gone?" Mike asked.

"Yeah."

Mike frowned. "Leg's killing me. Got any of that water from the cooler?"

Annja nodded and placed Mike's hand on the dressing. "Hold this here and press down on it. I'll get the water."

She scrambled back around to the cooler and winced as she did so. Her ribs were aching, but she fought off the desire to give in to the pain. Mike was the priority. He needed looking after and Annja's ribs were a secondary concern.

She dug a bottle of water out of the cooler and came back to Mike's side. "Here you go."

He tilted his head back and took several swigs. Annja eased the bottle back down. "Don't want you throwing up any of it. Just take it slow."

"What's the deal with our little friend there?"

Annja shrugged. "No idea. He was in the back of the plane. I pa.s.sed out right after I found him. He could certainly have done me harm if he wished, but he was actually helping me when I regained consciousness."

"You trust him?"

Annja smiled. "I'm not exactly in a position where trust can be withheld, am I? We all need one another if we're going to survive this."

Mike nodded and took another sip of the water. "What if he works for Tsing?"

"What if he does?"

"He could have overheard our conversations. He might tell Tsing what we intend to do."

Annja frowned. "Mike, all we said was that we could handle Tsing later after all of this was over and done with. We didn't necessarily plan the guy's a.s.sa.s.sination or anything."

Mike grinned. "Good point."

"More to the point, Tuk needs us just as much as we need him. We're all in this together, and if one of us doesn't help, we'll all buy it. So you ask if I trust him? I trust him to do what's right for everyone involved. Beyond that, well, we'll take it as it comes. Once we get down off of this mountain."

"Always the pragmatic Annja," Mike said. "I've missed that over the years."

"I was busy being pragmatic elsewhere," Annja said.

"Apparently."

A strong breeze blew in from the mountain and Annja s.h.i.+vered in spite of the winter parka. The sun was starting to dip beneath the horizon, streaking the sky with purples and oranges.

"Some sunset," she said.

Mike stared out of the shattered winds.h.i.+eld. "They're amazing up here. I just hope that our new friend finds us a place to spend the night."

"Me, too," Annja said. "Otherwise, that sunset could be our last."

11.

Tuk forged through the waist-deep snow like an icebreaker and headed right for the side of the mountain, trying to get out of the open snowfield as quickly as possible. There could be a chasm hundreds of feet deep under any part of the snow. The closer he was to the actual mountain itself, the better he felt.

As soon as he was beyond range of being seen from the plane, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone he'd spent twenty minutes digging to find under all the snow in the plane. Luckily, it still worked. He opened it and prayed that he could actually get a signal.

He pressed the number two and waited. A series of clicks worried him at first but then miraculously he heard it ringing on the other end.

"Tuk?"

"Yes!"

Hearing the man's voice on the other end of the line rein-vigorated him. Help would come for them!

"Did you all survive the crash?"

"Yes, but the man Mike is injured. He's got a bleeding wound in his thigh. We've stabilized him as much as possible, but we will need a medical team to come to us soon or he will not last the night."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "Tuk, I've got bad news. We can't get a rescue team out to you now."

"Why not?"

"There's a storm heading your way. A bad one."

Tuk looked at the sky. If he'd grown up with people who knew how to read the weather, he might have noticed the line of clouds forming and heading right for the peak he was on.

Already, he could feel the temperature falling.

"When?"

"Tomorrow if the storm breaks. But I'm not going to lie to you, Tuk. Not after everything you've done for me. The chances of a rescue early on are remote unless this storm breaks before dawn. The odds are long of that happening and you may be out there for a couple of days."

"We won't make it."

"Listen to me," the man said. "Remember how I told you to stay close to the plane?"

"Yes."

"Forget that advice. You need to find someplace else to take shelter while the storm rages. Get yourself into an overhang or some other piece of shelter close to the mountain itself, out of the wind. If you can do that, then you can survive this thing."

"The man may not survive."

"How is Annja?"

"She collapsed unconscious twice, but seems all right now. She apparently has two broken ribs but is mobile enough."

The man paused again. "I understand what you've told me, Tuk. I wish I had better news. As long as Annja lives, that is the priority. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Then you don't have any time to waste. Find a shelter and get as many of the supplies into it as you can. Wait this thing out. Keep the phone with you."

"I'm amazed I got any reception at all."

"It's not a cell phone, Tuk. Merely designed to look like one. You can reach me from anywhere on earth with that little thing. It's tremendously powerful despite its size. Just like you."

Tuk looked up into the sky. The wind was increasing. "I've got to go or I'll lose precious time."

"Understood. Call me tomorrow if you can."

"The woman doesn't know about you yet. I've kept it from them both. But I may not be able to much longer."

"Do your best, Tuk. That's all I can ever ask."

Tuk disconnected and frowned. The news that there would be no rescue irked him, but life had dealt him bad cards before and somehow he'd always managed to come out ahead.

The most important thing just then was finding them an adequate shelter. And fast. It would still take the time to reach it from the wreckage once Tuk found something.

The wind felt stronger on this side of the mountain. The storm appeared to be blowing in from the northeast so Tuk went around toward the other side. As soon as he cleared a large outcropping, the wind died down.

There'd be no guarantee that it would stay blowing in only one direction, but if they could minimize their exposure, then it would be better on this side of the mountain.

His legs kept churning beneath him and he glanced back at his own trail in the snow. If it started to snow, he would be in serious trouble. A rapid snowfall would erase his lifeline back to the plane. And then he would truly be alone.

He pushed ahead for another two hundred yards when he caught a glimpse of dark color in the field of grayish white twilight. He hurried over and felt a small depression in the side of a large rock face.

Tuk pushed his hand into the s.p.a.ce and felt a rush of excitement as it seemed to open up into a larger area. The opening itself was barely twenty-four inches across and hardly a cave mouth.

But it would do. Tuk ducked inside and couldn't make out much in terms of detail. But it had a roof and it would offer them protection during the storm.

He had to get back to Annja and Mike.

Back outside, the first snowflakes swirled through the air. It would only be a matter of time before the storm would embrace the mountain in earnest. Tuk revved himself up and, with lungs already burning, trudged back hard through the snow toward the airplane.

As he came around the side of the mountain, the wind returned and slammed him so hard he fell on his back. He bent forward and made himself as low as possible, then kept fighting to make his way to the plane.

Finally, after another thirty minutes, he saw the tail of the plane ahead.

"Annja!" he called out.

His voice was barely audible over the encroaching storm, but after shouting two more times, the woman's head appeared and waved him on.

Back at the plane, she had a bottle of water ready for him. Tuk sucked it down, amazed at how hot and sweaty he was.

Annja eyed him. "Any luck?"

Tuk nodded and put the top back on the bottle. "It's a fair hike on the other side of the mountain, but there's a place we can use."

"Is it big enough for all of us?"

Tuk nodded. "I think so, but I couldn't be sure. I was just concerned with getting back. There's no time to waste. We've got to get going." He looked at Mike, who actually seemed better now. "Can you make it?"

Mike tried moving and gritted his teeth. "I'll make it."

Tuk glanced at Annja. "We don't have any time. We'll all die if we stay here. That storm is going to be ma.s.sive."

Annja looked at Mike. "I'll carry you," she said.

Mike laughed. "Give me a break, Annja. I'll be fine. The bleeding's stopped and I'll make it on my own."

Tuk reached into the back of the plane and started gathering supplies. "I can carry two bags."

Annja took another and the first aid kit. "I arranged the contents so we've got blankets, food and the water," she said.

Tuk hefted the bags and found that, while they didn't weigh a whole lot, they made his walking c.u.mbersome. "You'll need to help Mike. If the bleeding begins again, he might die," he said to Annja.

She nodded. "Start leading the way, Tuk. We're getting critical on time."

Tuk led them around the front of the plane and then started walking back through his own tracks. The snow increased and more flakes fell. Walking with the two bags strapped to his back made things even tougher, but he couldn't complain. The choice was clear-march or die.

They gradually managed to limp their way around the bend in the mountain and got out of the direct wind blasts that had a.s.sailed them since leaving the plane. Tuk called a halt and checked on Annja and Mike.

Annja looked cold and tired, but still in fairly decent shape. Mike looked pale and winded. He was limping along with Annja as a support for him.

Tuk cupped his hand over Annja's ear. "How is he?"

"He can make it. I think the bleeding started again, though. How much farther is it?"

"A few hundred yards," Tuk said. "You'll see the outcropping and that's it."

Snow continued to fall on them as they clawed their way those final few hundred yards. At last, Tuk spotted the outcropping, relieved that it hadn't been covered over with snow yet. His tracks made just thirty minutes earlier were already mere depressions in the snow.