Dead Ice

SIXTEEN

They let Leopov slip into the tent with some of the supplies and the radio pack.

Maddock knew that the men would get some respite from the cold once they were zipped into their bivouacs. Her job was to listen in on the radio for any kind of chatter from the Russians. He hated that they were blind. He wanted to know where the Spetsnaz team was with pinpoint accuracy. He didn’t want them wiping their noses without him knowing about it. She’d picked up a fragment, but all she had been able to make out was the word Pandora. That had been enough to convince him their intelligence was correct.

The signal had come from a short wave radio. That meant they couldn’t be too far away. There was no way of knowing who was broadcasting, but if it was the Spetsnaz team it meant they were no more than a matter of hours away, and possibly a lot less.

He waited until the others had settled down for a couple of hours sleep with their bellies full before he took Bones to one side. He didn’t want there to be any risk of Leopov overhearing what he had to say.

“Are you still up for this?” Bones asked before Maddock had the chance to voice what was on his mind.

“Don’t worry about me.” He was not sure whether he was lying to Bones or to himself. He felt stronger now he’d eaten, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t still carrying some of the aftereffects of his dunking.

“Okay, so what do you want to tell me?”

“The girl. She’s not going to be able to keep up on any kind of forced march. If we don’t have the Russian to worry about we should just push on. I’d rather not have to worry about her keeping up.”

“This again?” Bones scowled. “Come on, Maddock. She’s kept up so far. Don’t you think she’s proved herself?”

“She’s going to hold us back,” Maddock insisted.

“I don’t know, man. What do you have in mind?”

“We leave her behind.”

Bones gaped. “Leave her? Out here? Alone? After what just happened with the sabertooths? Are you out of your freaking mind? Hypothermia can mess with your brain, I guess, but seriously, dude, that’s uncool in the extreme. We can’t do that. I don’t care how you dress it up.”

“We don’t have to leave her on her own. We push on and the others can hang back with her. At least that way we won’t have to worry about her until this is done with.”

Bones shook his head. “We don’t break the team up. Rule one. Besides, she’ll never go for it.”

“I wasn’t planning to give her a choice.”

“What’s really going on here, Maddock?” Bones fixed him with a knowing grin. “You got a thing for her?”

“No, I don’t have thing.” Privately, he wasn’t so sure. The physical attraction was undeniable. Other than that, he didn’t really know Leopov all that well, but he certainly felt something. “I just don’t think she’ll be safe where we’re headed.”

“I doubt it will work, bro. You saw what happened the last time you tried to leave her behind.”

“We don’t tell her. We get a couple of hours shut eye then we move on. The others can follow when they’ve rested. You and me, we could get across the mountains much faster if we don’t have to worry about her. You know it and I know it. If we leave the packs we’ll make double time.”

“Just the two of us? You make it sound easy. I don’t plan on being Oates to your Scott, man.”

The reference to the famed polar explorers surprised Maddock. Not for the first time, he updated his assessment of Bones’ intelligence and breadth of knowledge.

“That’s fine, I don’t intend on it, either.” Maddock’s mind was made up.

“So leave her here with the prehistoric predators?”

“Not alone. The rest of the crew will be here. We’ll put Professor in charge. He’ll be able to get the rest to the other side and find us. We get there first and at least get the chance to assess the situation even if we can’t do anything without them. If the Russians are there, we get the chance to turn back without this turning into an international incident.”

“Who are you trying to convince? And there was me thinking you and Leopov were going to get your freak on after your heroics back there.”

“Think of it as a rush of blood to the head.”

“Which one?”Bones waggled his eyebrows.

“Just for that, you can break it to Professor.” Maddock said. “And the sooner you get it over with the better.”

Professor took the news better than Maddock had expected. It was all about the mission. Sending a couple of scouts ahead made a lot of sense, as did keeping the woman back from the front line. He came to find Maddock.

“Take these.” Professor handed over the GPS locator and the map.

“How will you manage?”

“I’ve already sketched a copy. I can manage not to get lost from here,” he jabbed at the point where the two pencil lines crossed. “All I need’s my trusty compass.”

“What happens if the ship gives new coordinates?”

“Then I adjust and you have to wait for us to catch up. Either way, that’s the point that I’ll get the others to. How much of a head start do you need?”

“We’re going to grab a couple of hours shut eye, then we’re striking out. Give us at least an hour’s start before you break camp. That should be enough to keep Leopov from chasing us.”

Maddock hoped his instincts were right about this.