she’ll freeze to death if I don’t keep her warm.
The only thing going for me is that there is no storm. There will be a storm sooner or later, but at this very moment there isn’t. I have clear lines of sight for miles around us, and the cold is tolerable without the wind seeping all the heat from my body.
Normally my suit would keep me pretty damn insulated, but it’s torn to shreds from the crash. Nothing to be done there, at least my wrist tool didn’t get destroyed, but it will eventually run out of power.
I walk us toward a forest that touches a sloping ridge. The tree cover is important. If a tribe of savages comes looking for us, I don’t want to be out in the open. The trees will also give some protection against a storm.
I limp through the forest for an hour or so, and eventually reach the ridge. There’s a nice vertical rock face, but parts of it slope inward at the base, giving a bit of shelter.
“This should be good for us,” I say.
She’s asleep, and that makes me start talking to her back like I did on the ship.
“We’ll be safe here. It’s only a matter of time until someone from the swarm comes to get me.”
I open the bag and pull out the big blanket. I lay it on the snow, then place Catherine gently onto it.
I lay out all my tools on the blanket beside Catherine. I’ve got an axe, a matter shaper and some raw material to shape with, a med pack, and a few other random things that may or may not come in handy while we’re stuck here.
I take the axe and start chopping wood from smaller trees and branches. I want to get a fire started before a storm hits us.
The big chunks of wood are the easiest part. Gathering all the shitty little pieces of brush that I’ll need to get the fire started takes the longest. After about an hour, I’m ready to light what I’ve collected.
I hit it with the torch on my wrist, aware now that I need to use it as little as possible. Still, I’m not going to try to start a fire with flint. I could do it, but it would take too long.
The fire starts, and I slide the blanket, which I’ve wrapped around Catherine, toward it. I put her near the fire, close enough to keep her warm without burning her. Then I collect myself, take a deep breath, and get ready to start the second fire.
13
Catherine
I wake up in the middle of the night. I’m nice and warm. Only my face and head is a little bit cold, but even that isn’t so bad.
There’s a fire next to me, and I’m wrapped in a blanket. It’s very nice and cozy. I look over expecting to see Krakon, but I don’t see him anywhere. It is dark, but the fire is putting out enough light that I should see him.
“Krakon?” I say. My voice sounds meek next to the crackling fire and wind. “Krakon!” I shout, much louder.
No response.
I take the blanket off enough to stand up, but the cold hits me hard. I wrap it around my body as I’m standing. I squint, and notice a fire a few hundred feet away. The hell?
I make my way toward it.
As I get closer, I see the shadowy Cygnian figure crouching next to the fire.
Closer still, and those deep blue eyes are glaring at me.
“Go back to your camp,” he growls.
He’s spit roasting some kind of animal over the fire.
“That smells good,” I say.
“I am going to share,” he says. “But go back to your camp.”
“Why do we have two camps?” I ask. “Isn’t it really inefficient to keep two fires going? For you to have to bring food over to me?”
I thought he was glaring at me before, but now he really is. “You know why, Catherine.”
I swallow hard. Maybe he has a point.
“Alright,” I say, wishing I had some pockets to put my hands into. “Mind if I just wait here until the food is ready at least?”
“I mind,” he says. “Go to sleep. At your camp.”
“Fine, asshole,” I snap, and I go back to my own fire.
I wake up to someone poking me.
“Krakon?” I mumble. “Can I get something to eat now?”
I look up, but it’s not Krakon poking me. It’s a giant polar bear.
I scream and jump out of the blanket.
The polar bear--okay,