Trial by Ice by Casey Calouette Read Free Book Online Page A

piled nearby and the rocks were studded like a porcupine with the wedged sleds. The only concern was deflating the shelters and stowing them away.
    A dim black line appeared on the horizon. At first it looked like a shadow crawling until a dark wall of storm clouds began to loom. The boiling and reeling front edge crashed in and over itself like a shattered wave on a stony shore. In a few short minutes it was upon them with a howling roar. Outside of the tents was only a wall of white. Travel between tents was impossible.
    The men tried to move but all were driven back with mouths, eyes, and nostrils packed with silty white crystals. The snow itself didn’t even have time to form proper flakes and instead was like chips of ice slammed against everything. It slowly seeped through the seals and against the flaps of the doors.
    The men sat and watched in wonder and awe as the violence only increased. The blasts they had felt days before ended in an hour or two. This storm just seemed to be getting started.
    “Spread out!” William shouted as the walls of the tent seemed to rise and buckle.
    The men scurried around the tent and slid near the walls. The fabric, a weave of materials without a definable grain, strained and popped as the loads shifted. The floor lifted in the center before setting back down in a quivering flutter. The domed shape generated enough lift to momentarily levitate the shelter.
    William huddled in his sleeping bag and watched the men around him. Most sat with eyes closed, though some huddled tight to those around them and watched the walls. Eduardo sat close to the reactor and watched it with an idle eye. The walls slapped against his back like an angry fish.
    “Do you think the sleds are still outside?” William asked Sebastien.
    “Maybe, we’ll see.”
    William watched him a moment and tried to see any enhancements. He’d heard of the Core Marines, but had never seen one up close.
    A sudden crack boomed over the wind. The men sat upright, looking around fearfully. Eduardo leaped out of his sleeping bag and tapped on the control panel of the strider reactor.
    “One coil is out!”
    William slid along the floor over to the reactor. The floor shuddered under him.
    “The medical tent?”
    “No, no, the other,” Eduardo replied as he slammed his fingers down on the console.
    William rushed to the door flap and felt the wind pushing against the overlapping panels. Each blast strained the doors. Could he open it? If he did would the interior billow and pop?
    Crow came to his side and held the cable in his hands. “We can follow it out.”
    William nodded and grasped the slick black conductor. Tero came alongside and shed his sleeping bag. Kwesi ran up and tied a piece of electrical cord around his waist.
    “Like Kwesi!” William called. “Pass us some more cable!”
    Men scrambled and patted and odd handfuls of electrical conductor came up front. William collected it all and the group tied off. Spare jackets came up and the crew prepared as best they could. In the back of the room Grue and Berry were arguing, Sebastien stood near with a cocked head.
    “They’re already dead! Open that door and our tent goes, too. You’ll kill us all!” Grue yelled as he climbed over people to get to the door. His eyes were wide, filled with white. The corners of his mouth were flecked with spittle along his gray chapped lips.
    “We’ve got to look!” William shouted back.
    Kwesi grasped Grue by the hand and looked him in the eyes. “Man, if you were out there, you’d want someone to be looking, too!”
    Grue pulled his hand back as if stung and stared back before retreating to Berry’s side. Anger seeped out of the pair.
    William turned to the door. Beyond it was a seething angry mass of wind and ice. He turned to the men behind him. “We follow the rope, go out, find the end and sweep while it’s taut. If you find something, stop and slap the man’s shoulder in front of you.” He looked at the