Drifters

Antarctica

Marie was mildly impressed; Razan had almost managed to push himself off the edge. Granted, he'd immediately panicked, and she'd booted him down the rope to make sure he didn't climb back up, but he had almost ignored his fear of heights.

She watched with amusement as he slid down, then sudden alarm. He wasn't just gripping the rope with his gloved hands; he had his arms and legs around it, too. If that rope touched his face or neck he'd suddenly be lacking several layers of skin.

Thankfully he slowed to a stop without any more screaming, so he was probably not bleeding anywhere. But then he remained stopped. He clung to the rope, giving no indication of ever moving again.

After a few seconds, Marie kicked the rope. The impact sent waves down to Razan, who finally looked around. His grip on the rope loosened, then immediately tightened again.

Sighing, Marie sat down and clipped her climbing harness to the rope. She pulled the communication device out of her pocket.

"Samurai, everyone is watching you panic. Don't make me go down and push you along like a dead pig. It would be humiliating for both of us."

There was a moment of no response, and then he completely released his grip on the rope, hanging only by the metal clip on his harness. Not ideal, but better than not moving.

He slid quickly down towards Sophie, his momentum taking him back up at the end. He hit the wall of ice feet-first, but the rest of his body quickly followed. Sophie caught his ankle, and after a brief conversation she pulled him down to where he could stand on the ledge.

As soon as he unclipped himself from the rope, Marie pushed herself off the cliff's edge.

That first moment of weightlessness was terrifying. Marie gripped the rope above her, feeling it slip through her gloved hand, and bounced up ever so slightly, the friction slowing her down. With that, knowing she could control her speed, knowing she wasn't powerless here, fear evaporated.

She released the rope, letting herself slide freely down across the ravine. She went faster and faster, closing her eyes to enjoy the cold wind on her face.

Finally she sensed the other side draw near, and gripped the rope. It burned her glove as she was pulled back up, and with a sudden jerk her harness' clip hit the knot connecting the two ropes. She grabbed the new rope, holding herself anchored as she swayed back and forth.

Sophie smiled at her from where she was leaning against the wall. "Next time I think you should climb and I'll get to slide across," she said.

Marie grinned. "Never." She pulled a knife off her belt and slashed at the far rope. It snapped, falling away, and Marie landed on the ledge next to the thief. "How're your fingers?"

"Much more alive now, thank you," Sophie said, attaching her harness to a rope.

Marie switched clip for belay device, then leaned back to judge the distance between them and the other groups. They weren't ahead by a significant amount, but they were fresh. Everyone else had been using their arms for an hour straight, and it showed.

"Shall we race?" Sophie asked, smirking.

Marie knew full well there was no chance of her winning a race against Sophie. "Why not."

Razan inched his way up the glacier, grumbling about the cold to keep his mind off the lethal drop below him. There were plenty of footholds, and the rope was secure, meaning he probably wasn't going to fall to his death.

Probably.

Above him, Peter kept knocking snow off the ice wall, and some of it was drifting onto Razan. The simple solution would be to catch up to Peter and pass him. The other solution was to grumble until someone stabbed him to death out of annoyance. Razan favored the second option, as it required less effort on his part.

Sophie reached Razan's level, climbing the glacier like she was strolling down the street. "At that pace Marie will die of old age before you reach the top."

"Not entirely accurate, but it is embarrassingly slow," Marie said, climbing up on his other side. She, at least, looked like the climb was taxing her.

"I shall endeavor to increase my speed," Razan grumbled.

Sophie lazily pivoted towards him, completely horizontal. "What was that? I only heard grumpy baby talk."

Razan reached over and yanked on Sophie's braid, almost making her turn completely upside-down. She yelped, scrambled back into an upright position, and took off up the wall, giggling.

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"Children," Marie sighed, pulling herself up a ledge.

Razan smiled, following them up the glacier a tiny bit faster than before.

Peter climbed slowly, steadily, keeping his eyes upwards. He didn't need to go fast as long as he kept this pace.

Sophie passed him on his left, moving quickly. She paused just above him, adjusted her rope, then grinned down.

Peter scooted away from her, making her laugh.

"I was only going to wiggle your rope a little," she teased, then continued climbing.

Marie came up on his right. "Didn't they teach you how to climb a rope in the army?"

He looked over, seeing she had both hands on the rope. "No, mostly we learned how to shoot and how to eat inedible rations."

She smiled, then straightened her posture. "Most people are climbing like they have no rope, which is fine. But this is easier on the mind. Use your feet like you're climbing a ladder, and use the rope for balance, one hand in front of the other."

Peter nodded, carefully changing his position. He wobbled a bit, but quickly found his balance. A few careful steps, and he decided Marie was right. Only needing to find places to put his boots was easier than figuring out where to put his hands and feet.

"There you go," Marie said, keeping pace with him. "How's your palm doing?"

"The scar itches, but I don't think it's… real pain," he said, knowing she'd understand.

"If it gets to be real, if it starts bleeding, stop and we'll haul you up when we reach the top," she ordered. "Winning isn't as important as you having a working hand."

"Yes, Captain."

She nodded. "As you were." Focusing on the rope, she started moving twice as fast as before.

Peter adjusted his hat and followed.

Sophie hung her legs over the glacier's edge, watching her teammates make their way up. Far to her left, Rani was at the same level as Razan. To her right, one of the Diamonds was not far behind Rani. Everyone else was in the middle half of the climb.

Marie got to the top and stopped, panting. "Help me up, girl."

"Yes, ma'am." Sophie hopped to her feet, then knelt down and took Marie's outstretched hand. She pulled, helping Marie clamber up onto the flat snow.

"Ow," Marie stated.

"Sorry," Sophie said, sitting at the edge again.

"Not you, my damn elbow…" She rolled over and stared into the sky. "If at all possible, I recommend avoiding having your elbow shattered when you're twenty-seven."

Sophie smiled. "I'll do my best. Although specifics would be helpful."

Marie sat up, moving to look over the edge. "I was pushed backwards down a flight of stairs, and landed with most of my weight on my elbow."

"Right. I'll avoid situations where someone might push me down a flight of stairs, then," Sophie decided.

"Backwards," Marie specified.

"Backwards," Sophie echoed.

By that time Peter was close to the edge. He stopped, looking up at them. "Little help?"

Sophie got to her feet again, moving to haul Peter's rope up. He climbed over the edge a bit more gracefully than Marie, but still collapsed into the snow once he was on flat ground.

"Should we pull Razan up?" Sophie asked, looking over the edge again. At this point Rani had passed him.

Marie hooked her clip to his rope. "Razan! Grab the rope!"

He looked up, nodded, and quickly wrapped himself around his rope.

"I'll hold it here, you pull," Marie ordered Sophie.

Sophie nodded, pulling the rope up and over her shoulder. The snow under her feet crunched down a bit with each step, but she was familiar enough with snow that it didn't alarm her.

"I can do that," Peter said, getting unsteadily to his feet.

"So can I," she said cheerfully.

He stared at her flatly for a few seconds, which she ignored.

"Come help get the samurai up," Marie called to him.

He sighed, and Sophie smiled. She knew he'd just offered to be polite, but it still annoyed her. He could have asked if she needed help, rather than implying she wasn't strong enough.

"Stop," Marie ordered, and Sophie stopped.

She held the rope, watching them pull Razan over the edge. Looking to the left, she saw Rani climbing to the top of the glacier at the same time. Sophie waved at her friend, and Rani returned a grin and a rude gesture. Before she could respond, Nop appeared.

"Please separate, and we will return you to the transport room," the raven said.

"Is that required?" Marie asked.

"Not necessarily, but you aren't allowed to touch other ropes or anchors," Nop warned.

"I'd like to stay," Sophie said, moving to sit next to Marie. "I want to see how long it takes everyone to get up here."

"You can watch from your rooms, or your area," Nop told them.

"No, thank you," Marie said in a tone that allowed for no more argument.

Nop paused, then turned to the men. "Would you like to go or stay?"

"I'd like coffee," Peter said. "I assume I'll have to go home to get it, so…"

Razan bowed. "As entertaining as developing frostbite might be, I, too, would prefer returning home."

Nop nodded, and they vanished.

There was silence for a while, the wind whistling over the glacier covering the sounds of people climbing below. Sophie wanted to point out a few things, what certain people were doing, but saw Marie was watching the horizon, a faraway smile on her face.

Finally Marie looked over, sliding her arm through Sophie's. "Well done today, thief. I'm glad you're in my group."

Sophie moved closer to her. "I'm glad… we met. Captain."

They were silent for a few seconds more, then Marie cleared her throat. "So. What do you see?"

Sophie leaned over the edge and pointed. "That person is about to faint. There's a whole section of ice there that's getting a bit loose; it might break off. That man over there keeps trying to jump for some reason. And that woman is obviously terrified, look at how she keeps adjusting her rope. Oh, and over there…"

End Volume 1