Trial by Ice by Casey Calouette Page B

that settles it.”
    Nur nodded slowly and bitterly. “Yes, I think it does.”
    William creeped out into the bright chill air. The nearest dropcap was split open and smashed apart. A thick smoke drifted in the distance from multiple points. Sebastien emerged and stood by his side.
    “Hmm.” Sebastien shrugged. “Is old, not even last generation, we haven’t used autocannons in thirty years.”
    William nodded. “Whoever it is doesn’t like us, that’s all I need to know.”
    More men emerged and watched the horizon in silence. The moment set in that they were truly on their own, not only in a barren wasteland, but on a hostile planet with zero support.
    William stepped back inside and walked to where Eduardo was adjusting the reactor. “Could you go and see Vito? We need a way to keep a wounded man warm.”
    Eduardo nodded, “Si, si.”
    William turned and looked to the rear of the room. Nur, Grue, James and Berry all stood staring at him. He returned the gaze before the men turned away. He watched a moment more and walked back into the chill. 

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
    Struggle
     
    The camp spread out and dug through ice packed like gravel. They searched for the collected sleds and supplies. The storm had slammed the sleds away, though a few were found nearby. One was found, oddly enough, standing straight up like a needle on the horizon.
    All eyes watched the horizon and strained to listen. The mystery attacker seemed to be gone south, the way they were going. They combed the strafed wreckage but found only another shrapnel scarred lid for a sled. 
    The wind shifted and brought the acrid smoke from the wreckage to the camp. Aleksandr and Kerry stopped the lashing. “What’s tha smell?” Kerry asked.
    “Meat,” Aleksandr replied.
    They quickly finished working and scuttled inside.
    The wind relented, though the chill behind it was fierce. Each group lashed supplies with electrical cable and quickly retreated to the relative warmth of the tent. Every movement brought scant warmth.
    Eduardo and Vito shuffled between the two tents and found William warming chapped fingers near the coil.
    “William, we may have a solution,” Vito said. He nodded to Eduardo.
    “We can use the reactor and a sheet of plating as a resistive heater,” Eduardo said slowly. He nodded to himself and spread his hands out. “Then they lay on top.”
    “Good man! Will it get too hot?” William asked.
    “Ahh, well, we can regulate the reactor, but it is still a good deal of power, but it’s all we have.”
    “How much weight?”
    Vito looked to Eduardo. “Another hundred kilos or so.”
    “Hmm, that’s unfortunate.” William slid his semi-dry mittens on.
    “I ain’t pulling it,” Grue hissed as he walked past. Berry smirked as he followed.
    “I will,” Sebastien said. His tone was simple, but firm. Berry bared his teeth in a fake smile.
    William peered over his shoulder and nodded. “We all will.”
    “We will have three on that sled: Tik, Von Hess, and Squire,” Vito said.
    “Will you be ready to move in the morning?” William asked.
    Eduardo smiled confidently. “We’re ready now, just need to swap the leads off of the coils.”
    “Right, we’re leaving as soon as the tents are down tomorrow,” William replied.
    The pair walked back out as Eduardo spoke of the reactor adjustments to be made. William watched them and clapped his mitts together. The coils twanged. They would try tearing down both tents, moving, and setting them back up well before sundown. He turned and looked to Grue and Berry. The factions were emerging.
    The survivors took to carrying weapons and staring south. They had no desire to remain, dead or alive, on that barren plain.
    An inventory was taken of weapons. They had seven sidearms, twenty-five CR-9 rifles, and a single Beretta multi-point launcher.  The slabs of caseless ammunition were the only thing abundant. A case of filament-wound Chilean grenades finished out the