Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

The road out of Nome was little better than a rutted concrete path, but Tina quickly proved herself competent. Using a large SUV and a trailer with two ATVs, she guided their vehicle around the worst of the potholes and hazards, while simultaneously pointing out sites of interest along the way. She was a good guide, Jason realized, knowledgeable about the area, its history, people and animals. She didn't talk too much, but kept the conversation light and interesting. And completely impersonal.

The landscape itself was one of harsh beauty. Dark-brown-and-green tundra grasses dominated the view, with distant snowcapped mountains. Birds and rabbits were plentiful, and when he rolled down the window, the wind from the ocean was crisp and cold and hinted of the coming winter. This was not a place for the weak, and those who survived here — in the city or in the surrounding areas — had a good reason to be proud.

Several hours after leaving the small town, the road wasn't even a pretense anymore, but simply a wide gravel trail. Not long after, Tina pulled the SUV off to the side and said, "This is where the going gets rough. We'll leave the truck here and take the ATVs the rest of the way."

"You just leave your truck?" he asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "Why not? It's not like anyone is likely to steal it. Where would they go?" She gestured at the empty scene around them. "Even if they went into Nome, someone would recognize it. Theft isn't very common up here. Everyone knows everyone else."

"Makes sense," he said. He opened his door and climbed out of the truck, stretching his legs. "Can I help you unload everything?"

"Sure," she said. "Do you know how to drive an ATV?"

He nodded. "I've used them many times."

"Good," she said. "Then we can skip the lesson. I've already loaded all our gear onto the cargo racks, so all we have to do is back them down and we're good to go."

Jason climbed up on the trailer, while Tina lowered the gate. "One word of caution," she said. "If you haven't driven one of these with a trailer attached, they don't corner as tightly. Also, there's plenty of icy patches, even some snow in places, so keep your speed down. If you hit an ice patch going too fast, we'll have to bring in bulldozers to find your body."

He grinned and started the ATV's engine. "Got it," he said, putting the machine in gear and guiding it down the ramp. He noticed how she watched him, making sure that he wasn't all talk and actually knew what he was doing. He pulled his ATV over to one side, and watched as she drove the second ATV off the trailer. When it was clear, he lifted the gate and shut it firmly, latching it into place.

He crossed back over to his own machine. "Are we ready?" he asked.

"As ready as we can be," she said. "I'll take the lead. Just follow my trail and we should hit the coast in about an hour. From there, we'll go north. If you want to stop for anything, just honk the horn."

"You're the boss," he said. He slipped a pair of goggles over his eyes and pulled up his hood, fastening it with Velcro. There was no point in starting out cold.

She set off toward the coast, keeping a steady pace, but not going too fast. Even if he'd lost sight of her, the tracks made by her ATV in the heavy tundra grass would be easy enough to follow. Aside from startling the occasional bird or rabbit, there was little to see. Once, in the far distance, he thought he saw a moose, but with the cloud cover and shadowy light, he wasn't certain.

According to the compass, Tina had begun bearing slightly to the north. If she was following a frail, he certainly couldn't see it, but it was entirely possible she didn't need one. Some people had a compass in their head, and were never truly lost. Off to his left and at quite a distance, Jason spotted what looked like some old, ruined buildings. He slowed to a stop and honked the horn.

Ahead of him, Tina slowly circled back, then pulled alongside him. "What's up?" she asked.

He pointed at the ruins. "I'd like to take a look at those," he said. "I find such places interesting."

"There's not much to see there," she said. "It's an abandoned Inuit summer village from a long time ago. They left when the waters near here were fished out by nonnatives."

"Still," he said. "I'd like to see it, if you don't mind stopping."

She shrugged. "You're the client." Turning her ATV in that direction, she set a somewhat slower pace toward the abandoned village. Jason followed in her wake, thinking about what it must be like for people to have to move their homes because others had destroyed their way of life.

Just as they reached the copse of frees that sheltered the buildings, Tina jammed on her brakes and abruptly turned around. Her eyes were wide. "No questions," she snapped. "We've got to get out of here right now!"

Startled, Jason stopped his ATV completely. "Wha…" he began to ask, even as she motored by him, going as fast as she could, the frailer bouncing wildly behind her.

He turned to look at the buildings, wondering what could have possibly set her off like that, when he realized that there were several men coming out of the frees. Dressed in winter camouflage, they were heavily armed and already moving into position to open fire. "Not the friendliest natives," he said, diving off the ATV to use it for cover as the first shots rang out.

Bullets dug up the turf near his ATV. Jason slipped off his goggles and put on the shooting glasses. Now was as good a time as any for a field test. He drew his Glock from beneath his coat, checked the load, then popped up over the seat of his vehicle, sighting on the closest man, who was running toward him.

Jason exhaled and fired. The lenses of his glasses simultaneously tracked the round and his visual response. The bullet took the man just below the collarbone and punched through the other side, shattering his shoulder blade. He screamed and fell to the ground, his blood staining the grass and the patchy snow a bright crimson.

"Four and a half inches high at twenty-nine feet," he estimated, gauging the feedback that ran in a tiny font along the bottom of his lenses. "And slightly to the right."

The other two men dived for cover of their own, one behind a log and another behind a small cluster of stones. Neither one seemed too interested in retrieving their bleeding friend, whose moans could be heard between the shots they were firing for cover.

They weren't using military-grade weapons, he realized, but heavy-duty bolt-action hunting rifles. When they paused to reload, he risked another glance over the top of the ATV. One man had moved closer, crawling through the scrub grass. He'd drawn a revolver. He popped his head up every few feet to take another look. There wasn't anything special about him that Jason could see. He looked quite a bit like a hunter who'd been caught poaching, but either way, he and his friends seemed serious about doing harm.

As the man low-crawled past his wounded comrade, he muttered, "Shut up, will you?"

The momentary distraction was all Jason needed. He slipped around the front tires, sighted and fired. This time, his aim was perfect — the round entered the man's forehead one inch above his eyebrows and dead center. The force shoved him upright, his features straining with shock, and Jason fired again, aiming center mass and driving him backward into the ground, dead before he landed.

"That's two for me and none for you," he called out to the last man. "I advise you to throw down your weapons and come out where I can see you."

There was a long pause, then, "You won't shoot?"

Grinning to himself, Jason called, "No, I won't shoot. Come on out."

He watched as the man tossed a rifle to the ground, then stepped out from behind the cluster of rocks, his hands raised. His features were unremarkable — fair skin, blue eyes, a mop of sweaty brown hair.