Drifters

Antarctica

There was the now-familiar tingle of being transported thousands of miles, and then there was cold.

Marie stomped her boots, activating whatever heated them, and pulled her jacket closed tighter. It wasn't as cold as it had been on the mountain they'd first climbed, but thin flakes of ice were drifting through the air.

She watched it for a few moments, fascinated. It looked so… elegant.

"You must begin your descent in five minutes," Nop announced, the black raven standing out against white snow. The same message echoed up and down the cliff's edge, where all the other groups were preparing themselves.

"Right," Marie said, looking at her group. "Sophie, you have everything you need?"

"Yes, ma'am," the thief said, already attaching her climbing harness to the rope.

"You have your communication device?"

She grabbed at a pocket. "Yes."

"Good."

Marie tapped the bolt the rope was tied to with a foot, making sure it was solidly anchored. It didn't move in the slightest. Nodding, she went to the edge of the cliff to check if there was a sharp edge which might cut the rope.

She forgot all that as soon as she saw the water, far below. It was the dark blue of clear water with nothing under it for leagues. The river stretched between two walls of blue and grey ice, ending not in a curve but a sharp corner. Marie had heard sailors describe this place as the ninth circle of Hell; terrible to get to, miserable to stay in, and impossible to get back out. The people who funded the journeys naturally had much more to say about the beauty and scientific interest of the place, but sailors generally stuck to grumbling about the cold and the isolation.

Marie understood that, but in this moment, all she wanted to do was spend months sailing these silent ravines.

"Captain?" Peter called, touching her elbow.

Marie smiled faintly. "I could die here," she said softly, then took a step back.

Peter carefully peered over the edge, then backed away, looking at the scenery. Black, rugged mountains in the distance made a stark contrast to the white, blinding ice. The bright blue sky above somehow exaggerated the monochromatic nature of the landscape.

"I get it. I'd rather have my soul bound to that rock in the Sahara, but this place ain't bad."

She shrugged. "If ever my death is imminent, you know what to do, then."

He touched the brim of his hat.

Marie turned to find Sophie bouncing in her new boots while Razan tried to avoid looking at the cliff. The boots had some sort of fancy gravity something in them that softened landings. In theory Sophie wouldn't break her legs with the stunt she was about to pull, but Marie still wasn't completely comfortable with it.

"One minute," Nop announced.

Around them, most people lined up at the cliff's edge. Some were praying, some were stretching, and a few were trying to not hyperventilate.

Marie put a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Good luck, thief."

She beamed, excitement radiating off her. "I don't need luck. I know exactly what I'm doing."

There were five paces between Sophie and the sheer drop. She took a deep breath, getting into position as Nop counted down.

"Three…"

She checked that she was holding the rope properly, so it would let her slide easily down it. She was.

"Two…"

People in the groups around them glanced over, clearly wondering why her group was standing so far back.

"One. Begin!"

Sophie shot forwards, running for the edge as fast as she could. Her fifth step landed perfectly at the edge, and she pushed herself off the glacier with as much force as she could manage. She flew out over the ravine, laughing as time slowed and cold air bit at her cheeks.

Gravity finally noticed her, and she fell, the heavy rope dragging her back towards the glacier. Sophie twisted, flipping onto her back, and used the belay device to slow down. The wall of ice rushed towards her. Giggling madly, Sophie braced herself.

Her boots glowed as she hit the wall with a bang that reverberated through the ravine. Snow broke off the ledge far above her, and some people yelled in alarm. Sophie's bones rattled from the impact, but nothing hurt.

She hung there for a few seconds, eyes closed as she got the last of her giggles out. Then, with a happy sigh, she pushed herself off the ice and continued sliding down.

Peter watched Sophie, frowning. Her jump had alarmed him, but there was no way her landing, which had caused the ground to shake, hadn't broken a bone. She wasn't moving like she was in pain, but he wondered if that was for show. Everyone had seen her jump, and Peter knew her pride would outweigh any pain she was in.

Marie was sitting on the edge, her feet over nothing, fingers hooked around Sophie's rope. She looked calm; unconcerned.

Peter sighed, annoyed at himself for being worried. "Should we ask if she's hurt?"

"Don't distract her," Marie told him. "I'll ask when she reaches the bottom. For now her movements are steady; measured. If something were broken, there'd be a tremor or hesitation. None of that is coming through the rope."

Having no reason to not trust Marie, he leaned forward, trying to judge the distance between Sophie and everyone else. She was in the lead, clearly, but a few people were descending just as fast as she was.

Rani was ahead of the people around her, which was no surprise, but two people from the Diamonds were going about the same pace. Most teams had one or two people going a fairly fast speed, while the others were somewhat struggling. The only group to have all four people going quickly was the Masks.

The group in last place, other than Drifters still on solid ground, was the Foxes. They were stuck near the top, arguing. Peter glanced to his side and saw Marie watching them, too.

"Should we help them?" he asked.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Marie looked to where a raven was slowly being covered by falling snow. "Nop, are we allowed to go over there?"

The raven stirred. "No. We cannot risk sabotage of the ropes or anchors. If you touch anything up here, even accidentally, you will immediately be bailed."

Marie nodded approvingly, and looked back down.

A gust of wind made Peter adjust his hat, then he went back to watching the Foxes. Chimeg was arguing with Antoni, Mateo was watching them from below, and Innoka was clutching the rope for dear life. Antoni swung to Innoka's rope, grabbing it.

Innoka screamed, her grip loosening. She slid down, hit Antoni, and they both fell off the cliff. Antoni scrambled for a rope, but Innoka just curled into fetal position. Three hawks swooped towards them, and they were bailed. A moment later the rest of the group was bailed, too.

Razan stepped up behind Peter, careful to stay away from the edge. "What was that?"

"Innoka fell," Peter said, watching the empty ropes sway.

Razan dropped to his knees and bowed to Marie. "Captain. May I bail?"

"You may not," she answered gently. "I understand. I wish I could allow you, but one of us bailing means the whole group loses. You will simply have to wait."

"But she-"

"Samurai. No," Marie said sharply. "Sophie is almost to the water; you can wait an hour or two."

Razan sat up, his face neutral. He looked at Peter, who took a cautious step away from the edge. He didn't think Razan might try to get them to lose by pushing him off the cliff… But he didn't not think that, either.

"Yes, Captain," Razan finally said, making himself comfortable in that spot.

"Get your harness on and attached to the rope," Marie ordered, watching Sophie far below. "It'll be a while yet, but might as well be prepared. Peter will go first."

"I will, Captain?" Peter asked, suddenly nervous.

"Aye. And I'll go last."

He gave a halfhearted salute, praying Sophie remembered how to make a good knot.

Sophie got to the water and stared down, seeing the glacier go down and down forever. She wondered if there was any rock under there at all, or if the whole giant block of ice was simply floating.

Not knowing why, she pulled a glove off and touched the water. And pulled back with a yelp. It somehow felt colder than ice. She wiped her hand on her coat and put the glove back on.

At that moment, a small, thin boat materialized next to her. She watched it, suddenly seeing a flaw in their plan.

She pulled the communication device out of her pocket. "Marie, how do I get into a boat without it turning over?"

"That's a canoe," Marie told her. "Keep yourself low, and in the exact center. It won't capsize easily, just don't land in it too hard."

"Right," Sophie said to herself, putting the device away. She lowered herself a teeny bit more, then reached out to pull the canoe under her.

Trying to put herself in the center, she slowly straightened up, letting the canoe take her weight rather than the rope. It moved down, wobbling slightly, and Sophie lifted her feet again.

This was a race. She was in the lead, but that didn't mean she could spend an hour being nervous about this.

Taking a deep breath, she confidently put her feet into the canoe. It wobbled again, but steadied after a moment. Feeling good about this, Sophie lowered herself into a sitting position.

"Well done, girl, except you're backwards," came Marie's voice from her pocket.

Embarrassed, Sophie pulled herself up slightly and turned around so she was facing the glacier opposite the one she'd climbed down.

Marie spoke again. "There you are. How are you feeling? Anything hurt or weak?"

Sophie pulled the device out of her pocket. "I feel alive; I hope we get to do this again!"

"As you were, then," Marie said, amusement in her voice.

Once fully settled in the canoe, Sophie got a spool of thick fishing line out of her other pocket and tied it to the rope. She used three half-hitch knots, like Marie had taught her, then let the line out into the water for what she judged the distance of the river to be. Finally, she tied the line to the back of her climbing harness and put the remaining spool back into her pocket.

That done, she unhooked her belay device from the rope and looked around the canoe for a paddle. There was only one, but it had big flat parts at both ends. She held it up, reaching for the communication device.

"How do I use this?"

There was a pause. "It's got blades at both ends?" Marie finally asked.

"Yes."

Another pause. "Left then right. Use small strokes; you'll be pushing yourself in a zig-zag, not straight. Focus on just reaching the other wall, and Nop can guide you to where you're supposed to be."

"Yes, ma'am."

Sophie put the device away again, and started carefully paddling.

Razan, sitting as close to the edge as he dared to get, watched Sophie bump her canoe into the far wall. She was nine rope spaces off from where she'd started, but at least she'd made it without capsizing. It had been a close call a few times, when the canoe had spun further than she'd expected and she tried to correct too forcefully.

Nop appeared above her, guiding the thief back to where she was supposed to be. By the time Sophie hooked herself to a rope and started climbing again, other people were getting into their own canoes.

Razan watched Sophie climb, wondering how he was going to manage the crossing. Marie had said all he'd have to do was slide, but he'd still be hanging over a lethal drop.

He hadn't practiced climbing because, frankly, he didn't want to. Heights weren't his friend. If his captain ordered him to climb, he would, but it was never something he'd do voluntarily.

He watched Sophie climb up the glacier like a spider, regularly stopping to adjust the rope she was on. By the time people reached the far wall, she was a third of the way up. The rope attached to this side of the ravine was fully out of the water, being dragged up by her. The angle would currently make a lethal slide, but it was getting better.

When she reached the halfway point, Marie pulled out the communication device.

"You're slowing down a bit; how are you feeling?"

Sophie paused, turning to look at them across the ravine. She pulled her device out of her pocket. "My fingers are cold, but they aren't numb yet."

Marie grimaced. "Up to your left there's a ledge. Get there and tie the ropes together."

"Yes, ma'am," Sophie replied, and dropped the communication device.

Razan watched it tumble down the wall of ice, hit the canoe, and bounce off into the water. He did a quick mental calculation, and sighed at the loss of one hundred seventy-five credits.

"Well, this was nice while it lasted," Marie grumbled, putting her device away.

"I wonder if we'll have to pay for a replacement," Razan said.

"Undoubtedly."

They watched Sophie climb to the ledge. She made herself comfortable, then started pulling the rope from their side up. Razan hoped the final angle wouldn't be too steep.

Peter took a deep breath, sitting at the edge of the cliff, lightly holding the rope. It was a long way from one side to the other, and the rope's angle wasn't comforting. He knew that as soon as he put his weight on it, the angle would only increase.

"Ready, cowboy?" Marie asked, stepping up behind him.

"Uhm, yeah, I just need-"

"Good." She put a boot in the small of his back and kicked him off the cliff.

Peter yelped, his heart stopping at the initial drop, then racing as the rope caught him and he bounced up. He gripped the rope tightly, and after a moment of friction burning his gloves, he slowed to a stop.

There was a few seconds of silence as he got his breathing back under control, then he dared look around.

He was about a third of the way across. The drop below him was dizzying, but the rope felt comfortingly solid. And it was still angled down.

Carefully, Peter released his grip on the rope. He started sliding slowly across the ravine. Soon he was halfway across, and picking up speed. He went faster, but not too fast, until the angle changed to where he was going back up. His momentum slowed, finally stopping when the thick metal clip holding his climbing harness to the rope hit the knot attaching it to the rope on the other side of the ravine.

At that point he was only a few feet from the other wall of ice. Sophie was just below him, standing on a tiny ledge.

She smiled. "Do you need me to pull you down?"

Peter looked critically at his situation. "Yes. Please."

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't for her to grab the rope below him and hop off the ledge. The rope on this side of the ravine suddenly straightened, and his knees slammed into the wall of ice. Peter yelped again, almost losing his grip, but quickly scrambled into a standing position on the ledge.

"Sorry," Sophie giggled, climbing up next to him.

He glared at her for a moment, then carefully unclipped his harness from the rope. Sophie handed him the next one over, and he slid it through the metal 8 thing.

"This done correctly?" he asked, holding it up.

"It is," Sophie confirmed, waving across the ravine to Marie and Razan.

Peter nodded, and started to climb.

There was a short scream from the other wall of ice, and Razan slid out over the gap.