Prey

snow and ice at will, the mountains are the only hope it has of good shelter.'

'Those mountains are fifty miles away, though,' said Wilkins. 'You think the creature can travel that distance easily enough to keep coming back here?'

Mick sighed. 'I don't know. It really depends on what the creature is doing with the people it has.'

'What do you mean?'

Mick shrugged. 'Well, at the risk of being blunt, how far would you travel to eat if the only restaurant in town was fifty miles away?'

Julia swallowed. Her throat felt thick. 'Fifty miles.'

Mick nodded. 'Exactly.'

'So what now?'

'We've got the two Snowcats still, right?'

'Sure, all gassed up and ready to rock and roll.' Wilkins turned to Nung. 'You and Darren go and get them warmed up. We'll be taking off soon.'

'The weather's good for it,' said Nung. He slipped out of the room.

Julia squeezed Mick's arm. 'Are you sure this is such a wise idea?'

'Hell no.' He laughed. 'But I'm not the type of guy who likes to sit back and wait for the bad guys to come to me. There's a lot to be said for being proactive.'

'But we don't have any weapons.'

Another smile crept out along Mick's face. 'I'm not too concerned about that.'

'You're not?'

'It's easily fixed.'

Wilkins shook his head. 'How so? You planning on doing a Macgyver or something?'

Mick leaned back over the map. 'If we leave the station and follow this line east, we should pass by this point here. Beyond that, it'll be another two hours to get to the mountains.'

'And what's at that point?' asked Julia.

'Weapons,' said Mick without looking up.

She could feel the Snowcat grinding up the ice and snow with its caterpillar treads. The engine purred, while warm air poured out of the vents. She, Mick, and Havel rode while Darren drove. In the other cat, Nung drove with Wilkins and Kendall.

'What's the story with these weapons?' Julia glanced at Mick who hadn't offered up much of an explanation since dropping the bombshell earlier.

'Would you believe me if I told you it's classified?'

'No. In fact, it would probably annoy the hell out of me.'

Mick smiled. 'Can't have that.' He glanced out of the window. 'There were precautions taken that I knew about when I was back in the service.'

'What sort of precautions?'

'Antarctica is supposed to be a neutral zone, politically speaking. Any country is welcome to come down here and research meteorology, geology, that sort of thing. Military outposts were forbidden.'

'Exactly.'

'Back during the Cold War, however, some of the people in charge didn't see it that way. In fact, both sides did their part to militarize — albeit in a small way — the continent.'

Julia frowned. Hearing about guns and weapons down in the unspoiled beauty of this place shocked and disgusted her. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. 'Wonderful.'

'Sure,' said Mick. 'We're guilty of it. But so were the Soviets. We had intel that they'd moved a large cache of weapons down here. Small arms, mostly. A few mortars, but not much more. I think the weapons were primarily intended for a garrison of troops to protect the Soviet science stations, nothing more.'

'And we responded.'

Mick nodded. 'Yeah. But we only got as far as placing the cache down here. We never actually moved any troops in. Neither did the Soviets. But the weapons stayed.'

'Wouldn't the weather have affected them? Made 'em inoperable?' Darren looked at Mick.

Mick shook his head. 'The American cache has a solar-powered generator that keeps the interior of the storage trunk warm enough so the workings don't freeze. They've also been packed in grease, which would help cut down on corrosion and environmental bugaboos getting into the works and screwing things up.'

Julia sighed. 'Sure is lucky you know about this thing, Mick.'

He looked at her. She turned away. 'Just trying to help. And we'll need every ounce we can get if that thing comes back.'

Darren grinned. 'If we've got the weapons, we ought to go and kill the sumbitch before it can come back to the station and finish us off.'

Mick nodded. 'Agreed. Let's see what the weapons are like and then we'll go from there.'

Everyone stayed silent for a moment and then Havel spoke up. 'How long are we going to be at the cache?'

'Shouldn't take too long. No more than thirty minutes. We'll dig up the container and test fire a few of the guns. Then we're on our way.'

'What about at the mountains themselves?'

'We could be there longer,' said Julia. 'What's on your mind?'

'Just concerned about our timings is all,' said Havel. 'Personally, I'm not all that keen on spending the night in a Snowcat. It seems like an awfully vulnerable position to be in to me.'

Darren nodded. 'Good point.'

Mick held up his hand. 'Guys, relax. We've got plenty of time to get the weapons, do some initial exploration and then get back to the station by nightfall. We'll batten down the hatches again, post guards, but this time, we'll be ready for the creature if it comes back.'

Julia looked at Mick. Was he really that confident about things or was he simply trying to bolster Havel and Darren? She certainly appreciated his effort. She felt a little better for his effort.

'It's going to work out fine,' she said finally.

'I hope so,' said Darren. ''Cause right now, I'm scared plenty about whatever the hell that thing is out there.'

'Me, too.' Said Havel.

'The only way we'll get over that fear is to find out what we're dealing with,' said Julia. 'And that means we go to the mountains and do whatever is necessary to ensure our own survival.' She leaned back in the seat, aware of the words she'd just spoken. It felt good hearing that come out of her mouth. Sometimes she marveled at her own ability to sound convincing. She just hoped everyone else thought so.

'Well said.' Mick clapped her on the shoulder. 'And you're right.'

'Let's hope everyone else thinks so.'

Darren pointed ahead of them. 'Looks like we're arriving at the weapons cache. Nung just slowed his cat down.'

Mick zipped up his hood. 'Okay. Let's do this and be quick. You guys follow my lead if you don't mind.' He looked at them all. 'And when I activate the storage locker, I'd appreciate it if you all hung back.'

Julia frowned. 'What for?'

'The combination is classified.'

'Are you joking?'

'No.'

'Who are you afraid of getting wind about it? We're all alone down here. The closest settlement is almost two thousand miles away. And there are no Soviets lurking in the nearby area.'

Havel smiled. 'I'm an American now.'

Mick shook his head. 'Humor me, okay? Some of my old habits die pretty hard. Technically, no one is supposed to know about this. I'd appreciate it if we could keep it that way.'

He opened up the side door and jumped down into the snow. Julia watched him go and sighed.

Darren tapped her on the shoulder. She turned. 'Yeah?'