Prey

But then she realized that the fact they were armed would presumably discourage any real exploration attempts beyond hunting the creature down.

And Julia wasn't so sure she wanted to do that.

Nung's feet disappeared in front of her and Julia slung her own rifle over her shoulder. She grabbed a slippery handhold and found purchase, making her way up in the same way the others had.

When she finally made the first ledge, she risked a look back down. Wilkins was on his way up, followed by Darren and then finally Kendall. Julia saw him looking back at the Snowcats.

Was he thinking about making a run back for the station in one of them? He'd never make it! And worse, if he took one of the Snowcats, half the team would be trapped here.

But Kendall apparently thought better of his idea, if he'd even had one, and started up the mountain as well.

Julia breathed a small sigh of relief and waited for Wilkins to climb up. Twenty feet suddenly seemed a lot higher, looking back down at the ground.

Wilkins drew abreast of her and exhaled a long icy breath. 'Whew!'

She clapped him on the back. Climbing in heavy parkas and with a rifle was difficult.

Mick suddenly materialized. 'C'mon. Another five minutes and this thing is going to be all over us.' He turned and they followed him toward the opening.

In and of itself, it wasn't all that big. Maybe three feet wide by four feet. Just enough to squeeze through. But as she ducked into the darkness, compacting her already petite frame, Julia could see that the cave opened up dramatically on the other side of the opening.

Already, the air felt still, compared to the howling maelstrom outside. Mick walked further on and caught up with Nung and Havel who were crouched by a large boulder, rifles at the ready. The cave opened into a tunnel that appeared to go on for some distance.

Where did it end?

Wilkins and Kendall finally got into the cave and all of them huddled a moment to take a breath and relax. Masks came off, and hoods came down. Inside the cave, the air was still cold, but not nearly as bad as it was outside.

Mick checked the opening again and came back shaking his head. 'It's bad out there.'

Nung pointed. 'Good thing that opening isn't any larger. Otherwise we'd still be catching hell from that wind.'

Kendall leaned against the cave wall. 'Well, now that we're here, what do you propose we do?' He aimed a gloved finger at Julia.

'What we'll do first,' said Julia, 'is establish a base camp. We need warmth. Food. Water. Until we get out of here and back to the station, we're going to have to rough it for a while.'

'I'd suggest that no one go anywhere by themselves, either,' said Mick. 'We haven't determined how far this cave goes on for. And we also haven't determined if this is abandoned or not.'

Everyone turned slowly to peer into the darkness of the tunnel. Julia found herself staring into the inky blackness wondering what might live down there. And what it might do to them if it knew they were down here.

Vulnerable.

Wilkins cleared his throat. 'I hate to be the one to bring this up, but we need a place to go to the bathroom. I'll nominate myself to find a proper place. That wind made my bladder shrivel.' He hefted his rifle and started off. Darren got up and went with him.

'There's no wood or vegetation to speak of inside here,' said Nung. 'Looks like we'll have to make do with a fire from the hexanol blocks.'

Mick shook his head. 'No fires yet. The last thing we need is to announce our presence to whatever might be in here with us. Our clothes will keep us warm enough. Once we clear some more distance into the cave, we can move back more away from the opening. The air should be warmer back there.'

'We need light,' said Julia. Indeed, in the short few minutes they'd been inside, the ambient light from the opening had gone dark. Their eyes had adjusted, but it was coming on near total dark.

A light blossomed into the inkiness. Another soon followed. The survival lanterns used a slow-burning oil composite that would last for hours. They had six of them in total. Julia figured if they spaced them out right, they had enough to last for at least a day and a half.

Wilkins and Darren came back. Wilkins thumbed over his right shoulder. 'Back and down there is a depressed area that should fit the bill.. There's even some small opening that can act as a drain.'

Mick brought his rifle up. 'It's time we moved further in.' He looked at them. 'I'll take point.'

Wilkins walked over toward him. 'I'll go with you.' He glanced at Julia. 'Okay boss?'

She nodded. 'I'm going, too.'

Mick started to pretest but Julia shot him a look. 'Girl Scouts, remember?'

He grinned. Julia turned to Nung. 'Keep an eye on things back here. Two of you watch in the direction we're traveling. The other two watch the door. I don't want anything coming in there and taking us from behind.'

She moved off behind Wilkins and Mick. She noticed Mick had his rifle in his shoulder with the barrel aimed down at a forty-five degree angle. A sudden beam appeared from the end of his M16. She could see that he'd jury- rigged a flashlight to the underside of his barrel.

Smart, she thought. He's definitely been in hairy situations like this before.

Once clear of the rest of the team, Mick turned and signaled Wilkins and Julia to come in close. He spoke in whispers, close to their ears.

'We should try to move as quietly as we can. We don't know what's up ahead and I'd rather not let it know we're coming.'

Julia pointed at the end of his rifle. 'What about the light?'

Mick frowned. 'Not much we can do about that. We have to be able to see. Unless one of you has some night vision goggles you've been holding out on me, I don't see much of a choice.'

'Looks like we go with the light then,' said Wilkins.

Mick nodded. 'From now on, we'll try to use hand signals only. When I give one, Wilkins will pass it down the line to you Julia so we all know what the deal is.' He went through some of them and then smiled. 'All right, let's move.'

He stood up again and started back down the tunnel. Wilkins stayed about four feet behind him and Julia followed.

As they walked, she couldn't help but marvel at the jagged interior of the tunnel. Bits of rock jutted out at every angle. The floor of the tunnel underfoot felt like they were walking on an uneven rough surface that could slice them up if they fell.

Bits of moisture dripped down from unseen sources overhead. Julia supposed it was condensation gradually seeping through the rocks. Droplets fell and splashed in the darkness.

They were able to move remarkably quietly and the only echo came from behind them where the rest of the team was still waiting.

Mick's flashlight beam cut through the darkness ahead, moving smoothly over the tunnel, back and forth, to and fro.

I'm glad he's on point, thought Julia.

They'd traveled maybe one hundred meters when Julia thought she saw Mick do something with his arm. Wilkins' arm went into the air soon after.

The fist.

Julia stopped before she bumped into Wilkins.

Up ahead, Mick stayed absolutely still.

Seconds ticked by and Julia felt like her heart was about to crash through her chest. It sounded so loud in her ears! Surely everyone else could hear it. She struggled to get a breath and inhale and exhale smoothly through her nose.

Relax, she thought. Mick's up there. Anything that comes down the tunnel has to get through him first. And then Wilkins. And then me.

She grinned, but the thought didn't make her feel much better.