Nanda and her grandfather were at the rear of the line.
Nanda herself was doing all right. She was a slight woman and she lost body heat quickly. But she had a fighting spirit and would have kept up the pace if not for Apu. The elderly farmer was simply exhausted.
If not for his granddaughter the Indian probably would have lain down and died.
As darkness had descended over the ice and the temperature had fallen, Friday had become increasingly disgusted with the Kumars. He had no tolerance for Apu's infirmity.
And Nanda's devotion frustrated him. She had a responsibility to end the crisis she had helped cause. Every minute they spent nursing Apu across the glacier slowed their progress and drained the energies of Nanda, Friday, and the other man.
The farmer's life just did not matter that much.
Friday had taken a last look around before night finally engulfed them.
The group was on a flat, barren expanse. To the right, about a half mile distant, the blue-white glacier rose thousands of feet nearly straight up. The surface appeared to be rough and jagged, as though a mountain-sized section had been ripped away. To the left the terrain was much smoother, probably worn down by ages of rain and runoff from the mountains. It sloped downward into what looked like a distant valley. Friday could not be certain because a mist was rising from the lower, warmer levels of the glacier.
Not that it mattered. Pakistan was ahead, due north. And unless Ron Friday did something to speed up this group's progress they would not get there in time, if at all.
Friday took out his small flashlight and handed it to Samouel.
The batteries would probably not last until sunrise.
Friday told the Pakistani to get a good look at the terrain and then shut the light off until he absolutely needed it again.
Then the American dropped to the left side of the loose formation.
The air was still and the night was quiet. The glacier was protecting them from the fierce mountain winds. Friday waited for Nanda and her grandfather to catch up. Then he fell in beside the woman. She was holding Apu's hand close to her waist and walking slightly ahead of him. With each step Nanda stopped and literally gave her grandfather a firm but gentle tug across the ice. She was breathing heavily and Apu was bent deeply at the waist.
'We're not going to make it at this rate,' Friday said.
'We'll make it,' she replied.
'Not in time,' Friday insisted. He did not know that for a fact. But saying it emphatically would make it sound true to Nanda.
Nanda did not respond.
'If either side drops a nuclear missile anywhere in the mountains, this glacier will become a freshwater lake,' Friday pointed out.
'Let me leave Samouel with your grandfather.
You come with me. When we reach Pakistan we can send help.'
'Leave my grandfather with one of the men who held us captive?' she said.
'I can't trust a man like that.' 'Circumstances have changed,' Friday said.
'Samouel wants to save his people. That means protecting your grandfather.' The young woman continued to help her grandfather along. Friday could not see her expression in the dark. But he could hear the farmer's feet drag along the ice. Just the sound had an enraging quality.
'Nanda, I need your cooperation on this,' Friday pressed.
'I am cooperating,' she replied evenly.
'You don't understand,' Friday said.
'We have no idea what's happening in the outside world. We need to get you across the line of control as quickly as possible.'
Nanda stopped. She told her grandfather to rest for a moment.
The farmer gratefully lowered himself to his knees while the woman took Friday aside. The American told Samouel to keep moving. Friday would find him by the bursts from the flashlight.
'If we leave the terrorist and my grandfather here, no one will come back,' Nanda said.
'I know this border region.
There will be a great deal of tension on both sides of the glacier. No one will want to make any unnecessary or provocative military moves.
Samouel will leave without him.'
'We'll send a civilian helicopter back here,' Friday said.
'The American embassy can arrange it quickly.' 'They'll be dead by then,' Nanda told him.
'My grandfather is pushing himself as it is. If I leave he'll give up.'
'Nanda, if you don't leave, two nations may cease to exist,' Friday pointed out.
'You played a key role in this.
