Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
I should have never brought Velma to Blood Falls. Blame my desire for a few more moments with her before duty dragged me away and circumstance removed her from proximity.
My selfishness might have killed her.
Soon as the quaking began, a more violent shaking than anything I’d experienced thus far, I sprinted in Velma’s direction only to see her racing away from me.
I mean, I could see why. The lake’s partially frozen surface became unstable and Velma nearly got tossed into the water as the ice heaved.
However, in saving herself from drowning and hypothermia, she also got further from the helicopter, our only means out of the area.
A chopper that was suddenly sitting on unstable ice.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Seeing the impending disaster, I veered direction, aiming for my machine, throwing myself inside to get the rotors going.
Joslyn and Vernon arrived moments later, huffing from exertion and flung themselves in the back.
Before they’d even strapped in, I pulled the controls to get us rising, just in time, as the ice underneath the heli’s runners fully fractured.
“Holy shit, that was close,” Joslyn panted. “Where’s Velma?”
“Across the lake,” I spat out through gritted teeth. “I’m going to see if we can pick her up.” I angled the chopper so I could look in the direction I’d last seen her in and my heart sank at the horrific sight.
The lake’s frozen surface had split into chunks that bobbed and sloshed the iron rich water, splashing red all over, and rousing my PTSD because the whole area looked like a massacre occurred.
“I see her!” Joslyn yelled just as I noticed Velma standing on solid ground and not drowned because of my carelessness.
As if worried she’d not been spotted, Velma jumped up and down and waved her arms. The last thing she did before the ground under her feet swallowed her.
Disbelief had me blinking as if it could change what I’d seen. It didn’t.
Joslyn screamed. “Velma! No!”
Moving quickly, I angled the helicopter for a better look at the hole, hovering close enough I could see Velma’s motionless body lying at the bottom of it.
Dead? No way of knowing from up here.
“I’m going to land.” I fully planned to, but Vernon, who’d put on his headset, replied, “Are you fucking dumb? If the ground couldn’t bear her weight, what makes you think it will hold a chopper?”
A valid point, but I wasn’t feeling all that rational. I needed to focus. To remember my training.
If this were a regular rescue mission, what would I be doing?
“Okay here’s what we’re going to do. There should be a harness back there. One of you needs to clip into it and attach it to the winch. Once ready, I’ll lower you down, and you can secure Velma to you.”
“I found the harness,” Vernon stated. “But I’m not seeing a winch.”
Only in that moment did I recall it had been removed a week prior for repair. “Fuck.” A word getting way too much use in the past few minutes.
“Anything else we can do?” Joslyn’s voice quavered on the query.
“Nothing.” The truth being we couldn’t perform an aerial rescue with what we had, nor could I risk landing. “We have to return to the station where I can grab another chopper with a winch intact.”
“We can’t just leave her there,” Joslyn exclaimed.
“We don’t have a choice!” I barked, then added less gruffly, “I don’t like it either, but if we’re going to rescue her and not die in the process, then we need proper equipment.”
It killed me to angle away from that hole. To leave Velma alone. Defenseless.
Somehow this woman had managed to worm her way into my affection.
Crazy, especially since I’d been so determined to dislike her.
But then I met her and got a taste of her attitude.
Discovered her sharp mind and wit. Lusted after her curvy body.
Found myself enjoying how she, without thought, pushed her glasses up on her nose when she got passionate about a subject.
Her fierce curiosity and need to understand things intrigued.
Her kisses and touch made me feel alive.
Was it love? Too early to tell, but I did know I wasn’t ready to lose what burgeoned between us.
The twenty minutes back to the station felt like hours and, as we neared, I couldn’t help but gape.
“Holy shit, the volcanoes blew.” Joslyn stated almost reverently.
Indeed, threads of orange could be seen snaking through the forming mist. Streams of lava, not only from Erebus, but from the other three cones, as well.
Nearing McMurdo Station, I no longer had the capacity for shock despite the fact the quake had proven devastating. Buildings listed drunkenly. Smoke rose, not from chimneys but actual fires. People raced in the direction of the runway because the transports were packed.
The moment I landed, Corporal Johnson was there, his voice ripe with panic.
“Captain, the volcanoes are erupting. An evacuation order has been issued.”
“No shit. How’s the runway for the plane?”
“Cracked, but there’s people working on filling in those gaps before it lands, which should be in the next hour.”
“How many do they figure they can take?” The station currently held nine hundred and fifty or so people.
“Six hundred, more if we cram them in standing.”
I whistled. “That won’t be a comfortable flight. And that only covers part of the personnel. What about the rest?”
“They’re being transported by all other available means, snowmobile, chopper, snowcats, to other outposts further from the danger zone to await evacuation. Planes are on the way.”
“All the heli’s are gone?” I asked, feeling my heart sink.
“Yeah. Now that you’re here, we can refuel and load this one up.”
“What?” Joslyn cried. “No! The captain has to go back for Velma.”
My lips felt numb as I explained. “Miss Jekins fell through a hole but couldn’t be extracted, so I was hoping to use another heli with a working winch.”
The corporal’s mouth rounded. “I’m sorry, Sir. But there isn’t one expected for at least a few hours.”
I scrubbed my face. “Meaning I need a new plan.” I glanced at Joslyn and Vernon. “You should head for the airstrip and get on the plane.”
“Like hell we are. We’re going with you to rescue Velma.”
“I’m trained for this kind of mission, you’re not. You’ll hinder more than help.” The honest truth.
“You can’t do it alone,” Vernon pointed out.
The corporal cleared his throat. “I’d offer to aid, Sir, but my orders are to stay here and refuel the choppers soon as they arrive for their next run.”
“See, you need us,” Joslyn insisted. “We can help.”
Maybe they could. “Follow me. We’re going to need to grab some gear. Since I don’t have a winch, we’ll have to improvise.” Inside a locker I found a not oft used rescue strop, essentially a sling. A rope ladder, too.
As I loaded the chopper, I also had to advise people looking for escape that I was performing a high-risk rescue operation. None decided to join us, preferring to wait for the next ride.
Once loaded with gear—that also included tents, rations, and other things should we end up stranded because something went wrong—we headed off again.
“Here comes the plane,” Joslyn murmured into her microphone, drawing my gaze to the large craft descending from the apocalyptic sky. A plane Velma would most assuredly miss. It would be loaded quickly and sent off well before my return.
My jaw tightened.
I’ll make sure you’re on the next one. Because failure wasn’t an option.