Ben Hammott: Salvage

Ice Rift – Salvage is the direct follow on book to Ice Rift , which needs to be read first to get the most enjoyment from this book. Available here or from your Amazon: ICE RIFT

First of all I would like to thank my readers for their continued support of my literary endeavors.

A big thank you goes to the men and women of the British and American coast guards who risk their lives to rescue others and advised me on helicopter performance limitations and capabilities in adverse weather conditions.

I express my thanks to Captain Aristarkh Ivanov for his information on the Russian Mi-26M helicopter (Halo), multi-purpose Russian salvage vessels and the MPSV07 deck plans he gratefully provided, and certain members of a certain special forces team for their information and advice on small team infiltration tactics, weaponry, the merits and limitations of using Night Vision Goggles (NVG) in confined spaces and within the imagined scenario depicted in this book, and the limitations of communications in many-roomed, multi-level metal structures.

As always, any errors or liberties taken with the information provided is entirely my own doing.

UNCONTROLLABLE FEAR GRABBED hold of Lucy when the monster outside the room slammed against the door with such force she expected it to burst open. Shaking as much from terror as from the cold due to her near-naked state, she backed away and tried to calm down. Panicking would do her no good. She told herself fear was a reaction and not a threat unless she allowed it to be, so if she could fight her fear, she might be able to fight the cause. The metal door was solid enough to hold the monster at bay, so for the moment she was safe. Her gaze followed the flashlight she swept around the room. Neither picked out the alternative exit she desperately sought. The room that trapped her would become her tomb if someone didn’t come and rescue her. She found it difficult to believe Jane or Jack would abandon her. Richard, yes―that she could understand. The man only worried about himself. But not her friends, not unless they were dead, slaughtered by the alien monsters that prowled the spaceship. It could be the only reason for their abandonment. She fought back the tears that threatened to flow and sunk to the floor.

The computer checked its sensors. Though many were not working, those that still functioned indicated a third of the specimens had survived their extended hibernation period and were now loose in the vessel. One species, so dangerous that not even in an emergency was it to be set free, remained firmly imprisoned in its chamber.

Aware the specimens’ only chance of survival now was to escape from the doomed vessel before it slipped beneath the sea, she opened every door it still controlled.

Startled by the door opening along the corridor and fearing another species had tracked it scent, the Hunter outside Lucy’s room shot a glance at the sound, but relaxed on seeing the doorway absent of any menace. It was surprised again when the doors set in the corridor walls opened one by one, gradually moving towards the door blocking it from its next meal. It had been about to give up and go in search of easier prey, but not now. While it waited for it to open, it screeched in anticipation of the feast it was about to enjoy and stared hungrily at the door as it scraped a claw down it.

Lucy hugged her knees to stop them from shaking when the Hunter outside shrieked and chalkboard screeches from the claws it scraped down the door set her frail nerves on edge. Hope replaced her dread when a different sound filtered into the room. She climbed to her feet and rushed for the door. The faint, but unmistakable rasp of doors opening grew nearer. Someone must be looking for her? They would see the monster, kill it, and set her free. She would be saved.

Confusion banished her hope when the door of the room next to hers opened and still the monster scratched at the door. She backed away. Something was wrong. No one was coming to rescue her. The door opened. The monster peered through the ever-widening gap and snarled at her. Lucy sobbed as she frantically glanced around the room for something she could use as a weapon. When her frightened gaze drifted over the bed chamber, she remembered Jane had opened the one in the dormitory room. She rushed over and pressed the buttons until the door slid open. The monster growled as it stepped through the doorway, but wary there might be more than one of the strange creatures inside, its cruel, hungry eyes searched the room to check. Lucy scrambled into the sleeping pod and stabbed buttons on the interior console. The monster lurched forward when the bed screen began to close, but it wasn’t fast enough and found its prey sealed in the bed chamber. Frustrated by its meal’s escape, the Hunter struck the transparent view panel and screeched.

Though she had escaped its clutches, Lucy was well aware their kind could open doors; it only had to jab at the buttons like she had until it struck lucky. Fearful the Hunter would be upon her at any moment, she turned away from the horrifying sight and examined the control panel. Perhaps there was a way of locking the door or disabling the outside control. A button she pressed brought a screen to life. Her eyes swept down the list of unintelligible alien words until she spied one in English. She assumed by this that when the spaceship’s main computer added the English translation to its database it had gone ship-wide. She silently thanked the computer and pressed the screen. A list of English options appeared and though there was no choice to lock the door, there was another option that might save her.

The pod shuddered and glass splintered when the Hunter struck it again. Lucy jerked her head around to see the cause; spider cracks crept across the window. The Hunter howled and struck it again. The cracks spread. One or two more blows and it would break and the monster would finally get its meal. Lucy re-focused her attention on the screen and selected the eject pod option. Another menu appeared asking her to confirm or cancel the action. Her finger jabbed at the confirmation option. A rasp of metal from the end of the pod outside announced the opening of the hatch she, Jane and Jack had seen previously in one of the ejected pod rooms. The bed chamber lurched and shot forward. Lucy tumbled back and glimpsed the side of the hatch portal passing the cracked window. When it was through, the pod pivoted to the side, giving Lucy an opportunity to glance back into the recently evacuated room. The Hunter’s vicious face stared at her until it disappeared when the pod shot forward.

Dim lights set in the sides of the escape chute sped by faster and faster as the pod increased in speed. It was then Lucy realized, in her attempt to escape the monster, she hadn’t thought her rash plan through. The spaceship was encased in ice and it would be this she would be ejected into and not open space the pod was designed for. She thought it doubtful, at the speed they were travelling, the escape pod or she would survive the impact. Maybe she could climb out? She pressed the open door button, but it failed to respond, probably because the pod was in motion.