Chapter 4: Winterland

I stepped out of the hot shower and glanced at the blinking message on the screen. I thought of the hot tourist that I had spent the night with and went to open the message. I frowned at the encryption before it hit me and I glanced around. I read it slowly, deciphering it in my mind. I erased the message using a scrubber before sending a short message and headed to my bedroom.

I almost hit myself for not seeing all the military types around the lodge wearing civilian clothes. I moved past my closet and pushed against the wall. The whole thing from the closet to the corner slid back and into the wall. I looked around before stepping in and starting down the ladder. I hit a switched and the wall above moved back into place.

I was in a small brightly lit room and reached out to pull clothes off a shelf. I dressed and then added weapons before grabbing the long case and the bag. I turned and touched a piece of the shelf and the end wall opened to reveal and dark space. I stepped in and climbed down before slowly stepping out in the sub basement garage. I started to move and froze at a slight sound.

I set the case and bag down before moving to the side in the shadows. I used the snow runners to cover me as I worked my way around the garage. I killed the first man as he knelt beside a workbench with his rifle up. I moved into him and slid the blade of an energy knife under his ear and into his brain. I lowered his body quietly before moving on.

The second was up high on a snow stand that should not have been put together inside. I climbed up and reached around to pull him back as my knife went in at the base of his skull. He jerked and spasmed as I set his rifle aside and silently moved down.

The third man was next to the garage door hidden beside a thick beam. I stayed next to the wall as I crept up and moved. I brought my knife around and into his throat under his chin, it struck in and up to hit his brain. I moved to hold him and slowly lower him to the floor. It took me a couple of minutes to find the last man.

One of the wall vents was wide open and in the winter we did not do that. I changed to my silenced pistol as I moved along the wall and turned at the last second as I flipped a laser sight on. I aimed at the same time and the man laying in the vent looked startled with his weapon laying on the vent floor. I shot him between the eyes before heading back to my case and bag.

I headed across to my personal snow runner and tied the case and pack on. I took a breath before bypassing the door monitor and opening it. I moved the runner out and closed the door before resetting the monitor. As I left the lodge area I used a hidden way that kept me from sight until I was in the trees.

I headed out and around before starting along a route I had planned years before. The heavy storm struck several hours later and I slowed before changing direction toward one of the emergency shelters I had scouted. It was still an hour before I rode under the overhang and stopped. I moved the runner back behind some large rocks.

I slipped between boulders and ducked into the cave opening. I used a light to look around for animals before moving to the side and sitting on a shelf of rock. I was thinking ahead to what I might find at the port. I was leaning back and napping when I woke to a slight difference outside.

I moved up and into a crack to look out a small hole. It was several minutes before I saw the first man move out of the thick snow fall. He was wearing white camouflage with his rifle up. I fired my silenced pistol and his head snapped back as he fell. Less than a second later another man appeared to one side of the first.

He kept moving and did not even see his downed man. I shot him in the head before slipping down and moving out of the cave. I crawled through the rocks and boulders outside before slipping into the falling snow. I crawled to the second man’s body and laid beside him as I searched through the wall of snow.

I was wearing thermal glasses but they only helped a little. The third man appeared next to the first man and knelt as he reached out to check him. I aimed and fired and he dropped with a hole through his head. Searching fire ripped through the snow but it went over and around me. I shifted slighting and used the sounds to fix the other man’s position.

My suit kept my body heat from being seen and a few minutes later five men rushed out of the storm. It was like shooting targets at a fair. I fired rapidly into each man before shifting to the next and they never even knew where I was. I knew I could not stay and moved back to the snow runner. I pulled out and used the compass to guide me as I moved away slowly.

It was less than thirty minutes before I heard the explosion behind me and knew they had used a small kinetic strike. I continued to move, knowing they would not be able to track me while the blizzard covered me. It was almost twelve hours before the storm began to pass. I was exhausted and headed towards another preselected emergency shelter.

I brought out rations after pulling into a large cave and sat back to eat as I thought. I pulled my emergency blanket out and turned around to lay on the runner seat. I woke to darkness and listened for several minutes before sitting up. I folded the blanket up and put it away before eating again.