Ice Station

On the other skirt in front of them, Book reached for Kirsty's outstretched hands. Schofield held her from behind. The transfer was almost complete?

And then suddenly Rebound's voice burst across their helmet intercoms: 'Oh, fuck! It just launched!'

Schofield and Book both snapped around at the same time.

They saw the smoke trail first.

It spiraled through the air. A thin white vapor trail.

And in front of it... a missile.

Its source?the last British hovercraft.

It was another Milan antitank missile, and it stayed low, close to the ground. It rocketed through the air, covering the distance between them fast, and then suddenly, with shocking intensity, it slammed into the back of Schofield's orange hovercraft and detonated.

The hovercraft jolted ferociously with the impact, and Schofield lost his grip on Kirsty and fell back into his hovercraft's cabin. As he fell backward he looked up, and the last thing he saw before he hit the floor of the cabin was a fleeting glimpse of Book?lunging forward, off balance? desperately trying to get hold of Kirsty's hands as she fell down in between the two speeding hovercrafts.

Book and Kirsty fell.

The black rubber skirt of one of the hovercrafts filled Book's field of vision as he tumbled down between the two hovercrafts.

He held Kirsty by the hand, and as they fell he pulled her close to his body and rolled in the air so that when they hit the ground he would take the brunt of the fall.

And then suddenly, concussively, they hit the speeding ground.

'Book is down! Book is down!' Rebound's voice yelled loudly in Schofield's earpiece. 'The little girl fell with him!'

Schofield's hovercraft shot across the ice plain, totally out of control.

The missile's impact to the rear of the hovercraft had destroyed its rear fan and half its tail rudder, causing the hovercraft to fishtail wildly and shoot left?and head straight for the cliff edge.

Renshaw grappled desperately with the steering yoke, but with its tail rudder half-destroyed, the hovercraft would only turn left. Renshaw heaved on the steering yoke, and gradually the hovercraft began to turn in a slow, wide arc so that it was now careering across the cliff tops back toward Wilkes Ice Station!

'Rebound!' Schofield yelled into his helmet mike, ignoring Renshaw's efforts to keep control of the hovercraft.

'What?'

 'Get out of here!'

'What!'

 Schofield said fiercely, 'We've been hit bad over here! We're fucked; our game's over. Go! Get to McMurdo! Get help! You're the only chance we've got!'

'But what about?'

 'Go!'

'Yes, sir.'

 At that moment, Renshaw said, 'Ah, Lieutenant...'

Schofield wasn't listening. He was watching Rebound's hovercraft as it sped away in the other direction, into the driving snow.

Then he looked out through the side window of his destroyed hovercraft and saw in the distance a small dark lump on the ice plain.

Book and Kirsty.

'Lieutenant...'

Schofield saw the last British hovercraft approach Book and Kirsty, saw it slow to a halt beside Book's doubled-over body. Black-clad men got out of the hovercraft

Schofield just stared. 'Damn.'

Beside him, Renshaw was wrestling with the steering yoke. 'Lieutenant! Hold on!'

 At that moment, as Renshaw pulled on it, the steering yoke snapped and broke and suddenly the hovercraft spun laterally to the left and performed a slingshot, and in an instant Schofield and Renshaw were traveling backward again.

'What the hell are you doing!' Schofield yelled.

'I was trying to avoid that!' Renshaw yelled as he pointed out through the destroyed rear end of the hovercraft?the end that was now their leading edge.

Schofield followed Renshaw's finger and his eyes widened.

They were hurtling?in reverse?toward the edge of the cliff.

'Why can't this fucking day just end,' Schofield said.

'I think it's about to,' Renshaw said flatly.

Schofield shoved Renshaw out of the driver's seat and slid into it. He began to pump the brake pedal.

No response.

The hovercraft continued to rush toward the edge.

'I tried that!' Renshaw said. 'No brakes!'

The hovercraft raced toward the cliff edge, traveling backward, totally out of control.

Schofield grabbed the broken steering vane. No steering either.

They would have to jump?

But the thought came too late.

The cliff edge rushed toward them, too fast.

And then all of a sudden they ran out of ground and Schofield felt his stomach lurch sickeningly as the hovercraft shot out from the cliff top and flew out at incredible speed into the clear, open sky.

SIXTH INCURSION

16 June 1635 hours

The hovercraft fell through the air, rear end first.

Inside the cabin, Schofield snapped around in his chair to look out through the shattered forward windshield of the hovercraft. He saw the cliff edge high above him getting smaller and smaller as it got farther and farther away.

In the seat beside him, Renshaw was hyperventilating. 'We're gonna die. We are really gonna die.'

The hovercraft went vertical?its tail pointing down, its nose pointing up?and suddenly Schofield saw nothing but sky.

They were falling fast.

Through the side window of the hovercraft, Schofield saw the vertical cliff face streaking past them at phenomenal speed.

Schofield grabbed his Maghook and put his nose in Renshaw's face, silencing him. 'Grab my waist and don't let go.'

Renshaw stopped his whimpering and stared at Schofield for a second. Then he quickly wrapped his arms around his waist. Schofield raised his Maghook above his head and fired it up through the destroyed forward windshield of the falling hovercraft.

The Maghook shot through the air in a high arc?its steel grappling hook snapping open in midflight, its rope