James Axler – Way of the Wolf

Then he noticed motion to the left and thought the rest of the companions and the Inuit were closing on the frigate as arranged. A barrage of muzzle-flashes split the night, giving further weight to his impression.

Then he noticed they were approaching from the starboard side of the vessel, not the port side. A closer look while under cover showed him that the newly arriving group was twice the size of Harlan’s tribe.

Arrows pelted the frigate, letting Ryan know it was another Inuit tribe even before he got a clear look at the leaders.

Then the frigate slipped through the ice, dropping another few feet.

“SOMEONE ELSE is attacking the frigate!” Doc shouted.

Krysty laid down a covering fire with her .38, blasting away at the small knot of Russians grouped around the superstructure where she had last seen Ryan. She glanced across the frigate—it was so low in the ice that she could see the iceberg’s terrain on the other side of it.

“It’s Dichali’s tribe,” Harlan said. “The old bastard must have figured on making a last attempt on the Russians himself.” He reloaded the weapon he’d taken from one of the dead men earlier.

“Are you friends with him?” Krysty asked.

“Hell no. Dichali would cut his own mother’s throat if she couldn’t look after herself. He’ll try to kill us just to keep us from getting anything from the ship.”

Krysty reloaded her pistol, staring into the distance. Dichali’s tribe had nearly three times the number of warriors as Harlan’s.

Ryan, J.B. and Jak were caught in the cross fire.

“The boats,” she said. “If your people don’t get them before that ship goes down, you’re all dead.”

“And you’re not?” Harlan demanded.

Krysty gave him a hard stare. “Better be a lot of boats.” She pushed up and closed the distance to the frigate.

LOOKING AT THE LAST BEAD of solder he had just finished putting down, J.B. knew it was as close as he was going to be able to manage to getting the circuit boards back to original form. He switched off the soldering iron and shoved the robot arm out of the way.

Before he could pick up the circuit boards, the frigate listed hard to starboard. He crashed up against the table, bruising his injured ribs. Pain almost claimed him, sucking his senses down into a black void.

He made himself breathe, made himself see through the swirling black comets in his vision. Then he became aware of a liquid roar that rushed into the room. The acrid smoke from the electrical fire had already burned his lungs and seared his eyes.

Glancing to the left, he saw water rush into the ship through a tear in the side. Evidently the frigate had been torqued by the ice and broken in two.

With the way it was taking on water, J.B. knew the ship’s life expectancy above the ocean could only be measured in minutes now. He unfastened the wing nuts and picked up the circuit boards as water swirled over his feet. He felt the freezing intensity of it at once, feeling his feet almost go numb.

He wrapped the circuit boards in the bubbled plastic he had found at the redoubt, then put them back close to his heart. The Uzi in his hands, he made his way to the door, sloshing through the sea-water.

Outside he caught a Russian sailor flat-footed as he tried to sneak up on Ryan’s position above. He cut a blistering figure eight with the weapon and blew the man backward. He raised his voice. “Ryan!”

“Yeah.”

“We’re done.”

“Got a new problem.”

As J.B. listened, he realized there was entirely too much blasterfire, even when he added in Harlan’s people. “Coming up.”

“Come ahead, but watch your ass.”

The Armorer climbed the ladder rapidly, letting the Uzi hang by its strap. As he crested the top, he saw the approaching army of Inuit. “This is a bad place to be right now.”

“Without a doubt,” Ryan agreed. “You got the circuit boards fixed?”

“Won’t know until we try to do the jump.”

“Then let’s see if we can cut and run from here.” Ryan blasted another Russian on the deck. “I’ve got a feeling those men coming up aren’t going to call it quits early.”