'Who is this guy?'
She glanced back out the window as Mick made his way to the other Snowcat. Presumably to tell them what he just told them. She looked back at Darren.
'I wish I knew.'
9
Julia watched Mick from the cab of the Snowcat. He walked across the white ground and stopped every few paces. She thought she saw him reach into his pocket and pull something out, but his back obscured her view.
The other Snowcat sat just out of range as well. Apparently, Mick had been able to convince them to stay inside. She frowned. Part of her resented the ease with which Mick seemed to be able to assume command over the situation.
The team was still hers, after all. And while Mick might be a solider with the experience necessary to survive this bizarre situation, Julia was still in charge.
The problem was twofold. First, she had a thing for Mick. Her heart started hammering every time he even glanced at her. She chided herself for the schoolgirl crush, but dammit, she couldn't help it. And that made sticking up for herself a bit of a problem.
The second part of the problem was that Mick showed absolutely no real interest in taking control of the expedition. He simply stated the obvious and people reacted to it as common sense. Any attempt on Julia's part to paint him as some sort of quiet usurper of authority would make her look like the bad one.
And she could definitely trust Kendall to exploit that for everything it was worth.
She sighed.
Darren glanced at her. 'You okay, boss?'
She smiled. She liked the sound of that word. 'Yes. I'm fine, thanks. Just concerned about what's going on. And how it will affect the original nature of our mission.'
'I think we all are,' said Havel from the backseat. 'I've been dreaming of coming here for decades. But when I was dreaming, there was no mention of some type of creature hunting us.'
Julia grinned. 'I didn't have that in my dreams, either.'
She turned back to look out of the windshield. Mick had stopped walking around. He'd bent down on the ground, studying it intently. At once, he dug a gloved hand into the snow and ice. Satisfied, he used a small ice axe to start chopping away an outline in the snow.
Finished with that, he cleared the white covering away and Julia saw some type of dark hole in the ground.
'Whoever designed that hide, they knew how to camouflage something,' said Darren. 'I never would have seen that.'
'I don't think any of us would have,' said Julia.
'We are lucky Mick is with us,' said Havel. 'And that he apparently has knowledge of these things.'
Was there a note of suspicion in Havel's voice? Did he suspect Mick might not be all that he claimed he was? Or that he might be even more?
Mick had withdrawn a long cylindrical gray metal box from the hole. He reached in and pulled out another one. They both measured roughly five feet in length by three in width.
The hole in the ground disappeared.
Julia frowned. 'Why did he close it up again?'
Darren pointed. 'He's waving us out. May as well go see what he dug up.'
Julia let herself down on top of the treads first and then onto the snow. Even as she approached Mick, she could already hear Kendall giving him lip.
'— ridiculous why we weren't allowed to help you remove the weapons from the cache. Why should it be such a secret?'
Mick looked at him. 'Are you finished?'
Kendall's mouth moved as if about to say something, but he chose not to. Mick nodded to himself and then turned to Julia. 'Let's get these open.'
She knelt on the snow and undid the clasps on the first box. A whiff of air that smelled like her uncle's old auto body shop tickled her nostrils. Inside the box she could make out the almost two dozen rifles and pistols. Each had been packed in grease and then slid into its own bag. From where she knelt, they almost looked like inflatable guns and not the real things at all.
Mick grabbed one of the bags out and tore open the bag. The rifle slid out, still encased in the greasy afterbirth. Mick paid as much attention to it as an obstetrician. He carefully wiped the ooze from the barrel, pawed it off on the snow and then continued wiping it with a cloth he'd found in the case until the rifle shone like new in the bright overhead sun.
Mick grinned and held it up, examining it from all angles. He slid a small button out from behind the trigger guard and quickly disassembled it piece by piece. Satisfied that everything seemed in working order, he reassembled the piece. Then he dropped the magazine and nodded at Nung to open the second case.
Nung looked up from doing so. 'Ammo?'
Mick nodded. 'Let me have the box marked 5.56.'
Nung handed it to him and Mick felt for some rounds, slipped them into the magazine one at a time, and then popped the mag back into the rifle.
He glanced at Julia. 'You ever shoot before?'
'In the Girl Scouts.'
He smiled. 'No shit?'
Julia nodded. 'Summer camp.'
'Cool.' Mick ratcheted the charging handle back on the M16 and let it kick forward a round into the chamber. He stood and looked around.
'Kendall.'
'What?'
Mick fished in his pocket and came up with a soda can. Go pace out fifty steps and then place the can on the ground between the two Snowcats.
'Why me?'
Mick frowned. 'Because you need something to do besides working your mouth.'
Kendall sighed, took the can, and started walking. Mick looked around.
'We have to clean and zero each of these weapons if they're going to be any use to us at all. I'll show you how in just a second. For now, let's make sure this baby still works.'
Kendall finished placing the can and hurried back. Mick waited until he stood behind him and then brought the rifle up into his shoulder, leaned forward just a bit and squeezed off a single round.
The explosion sounded like an atom bomb. Julia groaned inside. So much for the peace and solitude of this place. Man and his guns had forever scarred it now.
The round burst into the snow two inches from the soda can. Mick nodded. 'Off a bit.' He looked at Nung. 'There should be a small tool in that case. Looks almost like a bit toothpick.'
'Got it.' Nung handed it to Mick who then used it to ratchet the rear sights on the M16.
He stood again and aimed. This time the bullet tore into the soda can and made it jump into the air. It came down with a clank.
Mick let the rifle down. 'Okay. Let's get to work.' He glanced at Julia. 'How do you want to divide up the jobs?'
'We'll all clean and zero the weapons.'
Mick nodded. 'Okay.'
For the next hour they worked until they had twelve M16s and twelve Beretta pistols cleaned and in working order. They checked the ammo and then loaded up the Snowcats.
'There's a lot of gear here,' said Wilkins. 'We'll have to watch the gas tanks and make sure we're not pulling
