Clive Cussler - Fast Ice

For her part, Yvonne hadn’t expected the sudden attack, yet her reflexes were quick enough that she was able to dive out of the way. She got up and waved her people on, sending her own snowmobiles after the NUMA instigators.

As they sped by, she jumped into the snowcat and shouted at the driver. “Go.”

The man put the big rig in gear and stepped on the accelerator. The machine surged forward, turning and driving over her former sharpshooter before swinging back in the direction of the NUMA team.

48

Kurt kept the speed up, much faster than was safe or reasonable.

“Their camp is a mile ahead,” Joe said from behind him. “But the pumping station is out on the glacier.”

“Glad you held on this time,” Kurt said.

“Learned my lesson at the game park,” Joe replied.

Kurt nodded, glancing in the mirror as Paul and Gamay caught up to them.

Riding side by side, Paul shouted to Kurt. “How’d you know their guns were going to jam like that?”

“Snow was sticking to everything they had,” Kurt said. “I figured they’d gone from warm to cold. And that they hadn’t left their guns outside to keep them cold.”

“Great call,” Paul shouted, “but they won’t make that mistake again.”

Gamay shouted next. “Hate to break up the chitchat, boys, but they’re coming after us.”

Kurt looked in the mirror again. He saw the intense white lights from the snowmobiles closing in on them and the warmer-colored lights of the snowcat farther back.

“Time to split up,” Kurt said. “Go dark and head down into the valley. Joe and I will keep our lights blazing and try to lead them astray. Swing wide and make your way to the pumping station from the back side. That’s your best chance. If we can shake them, we’ll meet you down there. If not, we’ll keep them busy.”

“All right,” Paul said. “Good luck.”

Paul and Gamay left the trail and headed downslope while Kurt and Joe continued straight ahead. With nothing left to lose, Kurt switched on the high beams, hoping to make themselves a more obvious target.

The bright lights cut a hole through the darkness. The sensation the white ground and blowing snow created was like driving through a tunnel.

A soft pop-pop-pop of suppressed gunshots sounded, barely audible over the wind. Kurt heard a metallic clink as a shell hit the frame of the machine somewhere and watched as one of the mirrors shattered from the impact of another bullet.

“This trail is too straight,” he said. “Going to go off road.” He cut to the right and sped up the slope, climbing at an easy angle. “How many are following us?”

Joe turned around and looked back over his shoulder. “All of them.”

“That’s good,” Kurt said.

“They’re gaining.”

“Not so good. Aren’t these sleds supposed to be fast?”

“They’re carrying less weight and using gas-powered machines,” Joe said. “The longer we run, the nearer they’re going to get.”

Needing more speed, Kurt turned parallel to the ridge once again and ran straight for a moment. Coming upon a slope with an easier grade, he cut all the way back, reversing direction and heading higher like he was taking a switchback road up into the mountains.

Yvonne’s men skidded around the turn, three sleds trying to navigate a hairpin at the same time. Two of them crashed together, the third swung wide and raced forward like a rock hurled from a slingshot. The others quickly regained their composure and rejoined the chase.

“They’re still gaining,” Joe said. “And it looks like the snowcat has taken the more direct approach.”

The heavy machine, with its low center of gravity and giant caterpillar tracks, had turned straight up the hill, climbing it with ease.

“I forgot they could do that. Any thoughts?”

“Only the one,” Joe said.

Kurt could guess what he had in mind. “This ridge is wind-loaded with tons of snow.”

“And the higher we go, the deeper it gets,” Joe added.

Kurt straightened up once again, picking up some speed. “I’ll try to get above them, you get the charges ready.”

As Kurt turned up the slope again, Joe gripped the frame of his seat with his knees and twisted around to reach one of the backpacks filled with explosive charges. He pulled the first charge out. It was the size and shape of a coffee can and contained twelve pounds of a dense explosive more powerful than C-4. Arming the device, Joe tossed it as far as he could in the snow above them. Grabbing a second charge, he did the same.

The third charge slipped out of his hand, bounced off the back side of the snowmobile and flew off into the darkness on the low side of the machine. “Don’t worry, it’s armed,” he said, gripping the fourth charge more firmly. “Take us up, if you can.”

Kurt turned slightly downhill, to pick up some speed, and then swung wide and turned uphill. He went up as steeply as he could, climbing and leaning forward, until the snowmobile’s treads began to slip.

Releasing and adding power in an on/off fashion, he kept going for another twenty feet. But the snow was too soft and too deep. The snowmobile lost speed and sank in, burrowing forward until its tracks began spinning uselessly.

“It’s no good,” Kurt said. “This is as far as we go.”

Joe tumbled off the back of the machine and into the snow. Kurt turned to see what awaited them.

The snowmobiles were cautiously following Kurt and Joe’s tracks, coming higher and getting closer. The snowcat was grinding up toward them from below.

Joe emerged from the snow, stood tall and hurled the last charge. It landed no more than fifty feet away.

“We need to work on your arm strength,” Kurt said.

Joe had another device in his hand and it wasn’t for throwing. “As long as my button pushing skills are satisfactory, we should be fine.”

The lights were on them now, converging from all directions. Kurt stared into the cab of the snowcat and saw Yvonne looking right at him.

He smiled. “Now.”

—

Joe pressed the switch and a signal went out to the explosive charges. They detonated simultaneously, causing an instant and powerful shock wave.

The wind-loaded ridge shook with the blast and a thousand-foot-wide sheet of snow broke loose. It was only loosely attached to the ridge, having built up over recent weeks and during the last twenty-four hours of the storm. The ice beneath it was thick and firm yet brittle. It all gave way at once.

The initial break seemed to occur in slow motion. And then, suddenly, everything was moving and the avalanche began.

49

From inside the snowcat, Yvonne saw Kurt and his friend stuck in the deep snow. They’d gone for the top of the ridge and gotten caught trying desperately to climb over it.

“Run them down,” she urged her driver. “Before they get free.”

The snowcat climbed straight up the slope like cars clinking toward the top of a roller coaster track. The lights of the machine brightened the view, spreading across the snow and painting the trapped Americans in a warm glow. She saw Austin staring down at her, his frozen face looking concerned.

And then . . . he smiled.

The look chilled her to the core. What did I miss?

The charges went off a second later, four powerful flashes erupting simultaneously. Three to the left, one almost directly in front of her.

The explosion threw a wave of snow into the windshield and the snowcat rocked backward and stopped. A deep and ominous resonance came next. It echoed around them, like a heavy wave crashing onto a beach. But instead of first increasing in volume and then fading, it grew louder and more intense with every passing second.