Snowblind by Michael Abbadon Read Free Book Online

hours.
    "Chief Adashek!"
    He turned to the door. It was Dr. Katukan.
    "We've got them!"

14.
    The storm was blinding. Jake O’Donnell squinted down through his side window, searching for a glimpse of the landscape through the impenetrable curtain of snow. For a brief moment, he thought he saw the treeless peak of a mountain.
    "We're still over the Endicotts," he shouted into the radio mike. "Got ourselves a real blizzard goin' here!"
    "Only... worse..." Stanton's voice came through faintly, broken up with static. Donny had reattached the torn radio wires, but the unsoldered connections were barely making do.
    "My wings are freezin' up," Jake called into the mike.
    The plane was bouncing badly, buffeted by the winds. Donny looked questioningly at Jake and jabbed his thumb skyward.
    Jake nodded, shouted into the mike. "What's the ceiling on this storm?"
    Static, then a few words: "...rough... 'teen-thousand feet... ride it..."
    "How high?" Jake shouted.
    "...thousand... fifteen-thou..."
    "Fifteen-thousand feet," Jake said to Donny. "No way we're gonna make that. We gotta plow through."
    Now it was Adashek's voice that sputtered over the radio: "... dangerous... don't... chance..."
    The plane lurched jarringly. "Damn right it's dangerous," said Donny.
    The radio sputtered. "... you... sidearm?"
    "He's askin' if we got a gun," said Donny.
    Jake thumbed the talk button. "I gotta gun, Chief. But if we go down here, won’t be nobody left to use it."
    Now another voice came through the radio, a voice they didn't recognize. "... Doctor Ka... careful... sedative... shows any sign..."
    Jake glanced at Donny. Donny shrugged.
    "Repeat that, please," shouted Jake. "We do not copy. Please repeat."
    The Chief's voice choked through again. "...shows any... way... use the..."
    Jake slammed the radio with the bottom of his fist. "Please repeat. We do not copy."
    The voice was inaudible, buried in noise. Jake smashed the radio again. A burst of static, then: "... kill..."
    "Chief?" Jake banged on the radio. "Chief Adashek, do you copy?" He banged again. "Fairbanks!"
    He looked at his copilot. The voices were gone.
    *  *  *
    In the din and jostle of the cargo hold, amid tottering piles of hides, bulging canvas bags, and creaking pine crates, the spruce cage rocked its sleeping giant. The creature lay in a chained heap, bounded in layers of hide, his hirsute body damp with fetid heat. A weight like a mountain of snow pressed upon him, and the air felt as close as a coffin.
    Dreams grew like tubers in the dark. Specters of the rotting dead passed through his fevered brain like grub through his gut — limbs, fingers, tongue, bone — torn from life and ripe with blood.
    The dreams whet his hunger. A tiny flicker of light flared behind his lidless eyes.
    Frosty was awakening.

15.
    Josh's voice blared in Kris's ear. "Can you hear me okay?" Kris moved a dial on the plastic earpiece, and his next words came in softer: "You can adjust the volume—"
    "I got it, I can hear you fine," she shouted. She was standing at the top of the ski ramp; Josh was somewhere below. Along with producing "navigational" beeps and tones, the headpiece amplified ambient noise, including the sound of Josh's voice. In spite of the distance between them, he sounded appealingly intimate.
    "Okay, now," he said. "After you push off, just stay over your skis and let the sound of the low tones be your guide."
    Josh had adjusted the ski ramp to a flatter angle, which relieved her but also made her angry: Why hadn't Lorraine done the same? Because she enjoyed torturing people, thought Kris.
    She hesitated at the edge. "I don't know... I'm still..."
    "You won't get hurt," Josh said. "You're surrounded by safety padding and nets. And I'll stand right here and watch out for you."
    Her heart was racing. "You promise?"
    "I promise," he said.
    Kris took a deep breath. She pushed off.
    The skis swished beneath her, the air brushing past her face as she glided forward through the dark.