Chapter 77: The Ice Bridge Run

 

The Frozen Chukchi Sea. The Ice Bridge. 2:30 PM.

The engines of the snowmobiles screamed like banshees against the howling wind. Jack rode the lead machine, towing Dr. Braun on the sled. Braun was clutching the sides, screaming words that were lost in the roar. Sebastian rode the second machine, with Harper clinging to his waist, facing backward, the AS Val rifle in her hands.

The "Ice Bridge" wasn't a road. It was a jagged, shifting spine of frozen seawater, barely ten meters wide in some places. On either side, the black ocean churned, waiting to swallow them.

"Faster!" Sebastian’s voice boomed over the comms. "The vibration is cracking the ice behind us!"

"I'm giving her all she's got!" Jack yelled back. "Any faster and we fly off the edge!"

THWUP-THWUP-THWUP. A deep, rhythmic thumping sound cut through the air. Not the wind. Rotors.

"Contact rear!" Harper shouted into her headset. "Black helicopter! No markings! It's a stealth Hawk!"

---

[The Predator from the Sky]

The helicopter rose from behind an iceberg like a black shark breaching the water. A side door slid open. A gunner leaned out with a minigun.

BRRRRRRRRT. A line of tracers tore up the ice just inches from Sebastian’s snowmobile. Chunks of ice exploded into the air, peppering Sebastian’s visor.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Sebastian yanked the handlebars hard to the left. The snowmobile drifted, its track biting into the edge of the ice. The rear ski hung over the abyss for a terrifying second before finding traction again.

"I can't get a lock!" Harper fired a burst at the helicopter, but the wind threw her aim off. "They are too far back!"

"They aren't trying to kill us directly," Sebastian analyzed the trajectory. "They are cutting the bridge!"

The helicopter fired a rocket. WHOOSH. BOOM. The missile hit the ice bridge fifty meters ahead of Jack. The explosion shattered the connection. A massive fissure opened up, widening rapidly as the ice floe drifted apart. A fifteen-meter gap of freezing water now separated them from the path to the Oil Rig.

"Brake!" Jack slammed on his brakes, his snowmobile skidding sideways to a halt just feet from the edge. "It's over!" Jack shouted, looking at the gap. "We can't jump that!"

---

[The Physics of Impossible]

Sebastian saw Jack stop. He didn't slow down. He hit the throttle.

"Sebastian!" Harper screamed. "Jack stopped! There's a gap!"

"I see it," Sebastian said calmly. His HUD calculated the distance, the speed, and the wind drag. [ GAP: 15 METERS. ] [ REQUIRED SPEED: 140 KM/H. ] [ CURRENT SPEED: 110 KM/H. ] [ PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 12%. ]

"Jack!" Sebastian roared over the channel. "Don't stop! Hit the gas! I'm going to push you!"

"You're crazy!" Jack yelled.

"Do it! Or we all die!"

Jack looked at the helicopter circling back for another run. He looked at the black water. He cursed. He gunned the engine. His snowmobile leaped forward, but it didn't have enough runway to reach top speed.

Sebastian’s snowmobile roared up behind him. CRUNCH. Sebastian rammed the front of his machine into the back of Jack’s sled. The Ratnik-3 Exoskeleton whirred as Sebastian stood up on the pedals, using his enhanced strength to force the machine down, creating more traction.

"Hold on!" Sebastian shouted.

He pushed Jack’s sled. The combined horsepower of the two machines surged. 120 km/h... 130 km/h...

They hit the ramp of ice at the edge of the gap. 145 km/h.

---

[The Leap of Faith]

For a second, silence. Two snowmobiles and a sled soared through the grey sky. Below them, the black ocean waited. Above them, the helicopter pilot watched in disbelief.

Jack’s machine cleared the gap, landing hard on the other side. The suspension groaned, but it held. But the impact of the push had slowed Sebastian down slightly. His snowmobile’s nose dipped. It wasn't going to make it. The rear track clipped the edge of the ice.

CRASH. Sebastian’s snowmobile slammed into the ice cliff, shattering. Sebastian and Harper were thrown forward.

"Grapple!" Sebastian yelled.

He activated the winch built into his left gauntlet. THWIP. A steel cable shot out, embedding itself in the ice near Jack’s snowmobile. The cable went taut instantly. Sebastian swung in the air, dangling over the water. His right hand was gripping Harper’s wrist. She was hanging below him, her boots skimming the waves.

"I got you!" Sebastian grunted, the servos in his arm whining under the strain of two people.

The helicopter hovered over them. The gunner took aim at the hanging targets. "Say goodbye," the gunner grinned.

BANG. A single, thunderous shot rang out. Not from the helicopter. From the ice.

Jack. He was prone on the ice, his hunting rifle steadied on a block of snow. The bullet went straight through the helicopter pilot’s window. Headshot.

The helicopter spun out of control. It pirouetted in the air, smoke pouring from the cockpit. It crashed into the sea fifty meters away. SPLASH.

---

[The Arrival]

"Pull!" Jack shouted, reversing his snowmobile to help drag them up. Sebastian engaged the winch motor. Slowly, agonizingly, they were pulled up the slippery ice face.

They flopped onto the solid ice, gasping for air. The snowmobile was gone, sunk to the bottom. But they were alive.

Jack walked over, blowing smoke from the barrel of his rifle. "City boy," Jack shook his head, looking at Sebastian. "You drive like a maniac."

"Physics," Sebastian tapped his helmet, standing up. "Just physics."

He looked ahead. Looming out of the mist like a rusted iron giant was Deepwater 9. The Oil Rig. It stood on massive concrete pillars, battered by waves, silent and dark. A ghost station.

"We walk from here," Sebastian said, helping Harper up. "The transmission tower is on the top deck."

Harper looked at the rig. It looked ominous. Foreboding. "Do you think it still works?"

"If it doesn't," Sebastian checked his power levels (Battery: 15%), "I'll fix it."

They began the final march across the ice toward the metal beast. Unaware that inside the rig, something—or someone—was waiting for them. And the lights on the rig... suddenly flickered on.

(End of Chapter 77)