Clive Cussler - Fast Ice

The tires dug in and the vehicle surged forward. Kurt fell backward, grabbing the bar to keep himself from falling out. Collecting himself, he sprung forward and put the driver in a headlock.

The driver struggled and clawed at Kurt with one hand while jerking the steering wheel from side to side with the other. Stretching to get leverage, the man kept the accelerator pedal pinned to the floor.

The jeep raced off into the night, swerving and threatening to tip over. From the corner of his eye, Kurt saw one of the lions flash past them. He then saw a pair of hyenas scattering in opposite directions.

Needing to end the ride quickly, Kurt reached for the gearshift and jammed it down into low.

The jeep slowed instantly. Between Kurt’s weight and the sudden decrease in speed, the driver was thrown forward. Kurt slammed the man’s head against the steering wheel. It whiplashed back, the driver looking dazed and confused.

Kurt grabbed the wheel, turned hard to the right and pushed the man the opposite way. The jeep whipped into another turn and the driver went out the opening where the door should have been.

Straightening up, Kurt hopped into the front seat, put the jeep back into drive and got the ride under control. He swerved around a small tree and dodged a piano-sized boulder before turning back in the direction he’d come.

“Now,” he said to himself, “time to find out what happened to Joe.”

25

Joe had been left behind. He’d watched Kurt from the ledge and saw him hopscotch his way across the parked vehicles like they were stepping-stones. Joe figured if Kurt could do it, he could make it look easy.

He jumped from the ledge, landing deftly on the roof of the nearby Toyota. He leapt from there to the flatbed and raced forward, just as Kurt had, launching himself into a perfect jump, high and long, with a soft landing envisioned. But the jeep surged forward just as Joe took to the air. He fell short, managing to grasp only the tailgate as the vehicle sped off.

He held tight and tried to pull himself up, but as the jeep swerved and bounced over the uneven terrain he was thrown loose.

Ending up in the tall grass, in the dark, Joe held still.

The flatbed and the Toyotas were heading his way. One of them stopped to pick up the fallen gamekeeper while the others continued on. They passed Joe without pause, swerving off to the left and chasing after Kurt and the stolen jeep.

Joe emerged as the red taillights grew more distant and the dust cleared. Staying low, he looked around, painfully aware of the lions and hyenas circling and fighting a short distance away.

“All things considered, I’d rather be on a frozen, sinking ship,” he muttered.

His only hope now was to make a run for the fence. He moved cautiously at first, so as not to attract attention. Once he’d put some distance between himself and the animals, he chose a direction that would take him away from the lions, the hyenas and the vehicles chasing Kurt. Satisfied with his choice, he took off at a sprint once again.

Joe took his own advice and didn’t look back. He raced away from the commotion, heading toward a darker and quieter section of the park. He passed a row of scrub bushes, hopped over a small pipeline and continued on.

He saw the fence up ahead—it was no more than a hundred yards away—but the lights of another vehicle had come onto the scene. It was moving down a frontage road this side of the fence.

Forced to stop, Joe crouched in the bushes. “There’s an awful lot of car traffic in this so-called wildlife preserve.”

The approaching vehicle continued down the access road, passing him. He recognized it as Ryland’s six-wheeled Mercedes. It looked like the head man had come out to lead the hunt in person.

As Joe watched, the Mercedes slowed and began a wide turn back in his direction.

Not wanting to be spotted, Joe took a step. He froze at the sound of a hyena coming up behind him.

Turning slowly, Joe saw the animal was injured and favoring one leg. A second animal trotted along beside it. They stopped, having picked up Joe’s scent. A low growl issued from one of the animals.

Out on the frontage road, the Mercedes had finished its turn and was coming back his way. The swath of its headlights covered Joe and the hyenas.

“If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.”

With the animals squinting against the blinding light, Joe figured this was his chance. He took off, dashing toward the fence, without looking back.

The hyenas hesitated, bothered by the light, but the driver of the Mercedes didn’t wait. The engine roared and big machine surged toward Joe, attempting to cut him off at the access road.

With the lights no longer blinding them, the hyenas’ instincts took over. They broke into a chase, the healthy one closing the gap with astonishing speed.

Joe ran with every ounce of energy his body could muster. His feet were flying, the rest of his body trying to keep up. It was not enough.

The faster of the two animals caught him at the verge of the road. It leapt toward his back, taking him to the ground.

They separated as they tumbled, with the hyena ripping Joe’s tuxedo jacket from his shoulders and mauling it for several seconds before realizing Joe wasn’t inside.

Joe was already up and running. He raced across the access road, leapt onto the iron bars of the fence, making sure not to make contact with the ground at the same time.

He’d jumped high enough to escape the shock and pulled himself up. He was grasping the spiked barbs on the top of the twelve-footer when the hyena lunged, hitting him awkwardly and knocking him free.

Joe landed on the ground, rolling away from the snarling creature. He saw the animal get back to its feet. He knew he was about to get mauled and there was only one way he could think of stopping it. He jumped for the fence, wrapping both hands around it as the hyena lunged for his legs.

The animal got its mouth on Joe’s right calf with two claws on his other leg.

The circuit closed between Joe, the hyena and the ground. Electricity surged through his body and into the animal. Joe felt his muscles convulse and twist. He heard a howl of pain from the beast. And he felt himself tumbling.

Landing in the dirt, Joe rolled over defensively and covered his head. He looked up to see the hyena racing off, yelping and barking as it scampered back toward the trees.

Joe’s hands tingled, his ears buzzed and his nostrils were filled with the aroma of burnt fur. He put a hand to the ground, intending to get back on his feet, but it was too late. Freed from one foe, he was now at the mercy of another.

Lights had found him and the big Mercedes was pulling to a stop beside him.

Joe sat back down, waiting for the inevitable.

The door opened. A face appeared. An attractive face, with olive green eyes.

“Don’t just sit there,” a female called out. “Get in.”

“Leandra?”

“Are you disappointed?” she asked.

He peeled himself off the ground, suddenly gifted with new energy. “Not in the least.”

Lumbering over to the vehicle, Joe climbed inside and slammed the door. “Didn’t we tell you to get out of here if things went haywire?”

“You did,” she replied. “But you never specified how. If we must go, I figured we might as well travel in style.”

Joe grinned. “You’re going to fit in just fine around here,” he said. “Now all we have to do is find Kurt.”

“Where is he?”

Joe pointed into the distance, where several pairs of headlights and taillights were chasing one another around in a whirling cloud of dust. “Somewhere down there.”

26

After making three loops and trying to confuse his pursuers, Kurt had doubled back in a wide, sweeping turn. This took him away from the lions and hyenas and back toward the bluff. He had yet to see any sign of Joe.