Dead Ice

FIVE

Maddock awoke lying on the floor. He felt the warmth of the fire on his skin. As his senses grew more alert, the sound of muffled voices slowly became clearer.

He opened his eyes to see the wood lying in the hearth had blackened and charred and now glowed with a deep warm red at its core. It gave off enough heat to sting his face. He tried to move. The voices stopped suddenly. He knew that meant he was the center of attention. Every joint ached as he tried to sit up, every muscle filled with pain. It felt as if they hadn’t moved in days.

“How are you feeling?”

He moved too quickly, his head pounding as he tried to sit up. He couldn’t even be sure who had spoken, so addled were his senses.

“I’m fine,” he lied trying to hold back the darkness that swam at the edge of his vision. He pulled himself up into the chair again, wondering how he’d ended up on the floor, and took the opportunity to look around properly. Bones and Professor were sitting at small table, but neither of them made the slightest move toward him. Plates and mugs lay scattered across the table, bearing food debris. At first he thought the others had fed themselves while he had been out of it but then he realized that the plates had been there for some time. The edges of the scraps of bread were white with frost burn. This was the previous residents’ last supper, or the remnants of it at least. The cabin’s previous occupants had apparently walked out into the endless winter and abandoned the place. Had they expected to return? Or had they just left in a hurry? Without the familiar bacteria and mold growths it was impossible to tell how long the place had been empty. Months? Years?

“How long was I out it?” he croaked.

Bones glanced at his watch. “Half an hour, maybe a little more.”

It could have been worse, but half an hour was a long time when they were in a race against time, or at least a race against the Russians. They couldn’t afford to be sitting around and doing nothing, waiting for him to thaw out.

“Where’s everyone else?” He hadn’t realized they were down in numbers until then. The room wasn’t big enough to hide anyone. He was slowly coming back to himself.

“I sent them out to scout the area and make sure that there’s no one hiding out in these buildings. They should be back before long. I didn’t think you’d want them all to see you naked. You’re not the most impressive physical specimen.”

Maddock hadn’t even realized he wasn’t wearing the same clothes he’d been in when he went under the ice. He saw them now, a wet pile on the floor beside the fire.

“Your mom thinks I look pretty good,” he rasped.

“He’s already feeling better,” Bones said.

“Here.” Professor handed him a plastic beaker. “Drink up. It’s still hot.”

Even the steam from the coffee, strong and black, felt good as he raised it toward his lips. The first sip burned, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him. He savored the heat as it trickled down inside him, coming alive again.

“What about Lieutenant Leopov?”

“First one out of the door,” Bones laughed “I think she’s got something to prove, or at least thinks she has.”

“Do you think that was a good idea?” Maddock took another sip of the hot, bitter liquid.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but it’s probably best to keep her close. Maybe she can speak Russian maybe that’s exactly why she’s here, but I’ve got this sneaking suspicion there’s more to it than that.”

“It doesn’t make her one of the bad guys though,” Professor said.

“Ah, Professor, don’t let legs that go straight on ‘til morning distract you,” Bones said, a sly smile spreading across his face.

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

“Don’t rise to it. He’s yanking your chain.” Maddock stretched, easing the kinks out of his back, then took another slug of coffee. The Cheshire Cat smile on Bones’ face seemed to stretch even wider. It was a miracle he didn’t disappear into a puff of smoke, leaving nothing but that toothy grin behind. Professor’s expression didn’t change.

“So what do we do now?” Bones asked.

“We didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves until you were back in the land of the living,” Professor said.

“We wait until the others get back. Unless they have anything to report, we establish this as our base, then we send out a scouting party to look further afield. We can’t afford to be hanging around.”

“Roger that.” Bones gave him a level look. In his eyes, Maddock read an unspoken question.

“I’m fine. Really.” Privately, Maddock hoped that was the truth.