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The storm descended on them, first as rising winds howling through the mountains. It whipped up ash mixed with dirt and debris, and hurled it against them. The skies darkened further, slowing their pace and crowding them together. Trini tracked the thorneway’s exact coordinates to the current mountain’s base on her wrist-comp.
Once more they zigzagged along narrow paths, this time in descent. Trini moved to the front sled with Inksuuk to guide the way.
“Easy. Easy,” Inksuuk said, tugging on the touvaks’ reins to slow them as they approached a curve in the trailhead.
The touvak gasped and choked, their lungs filling with detritus from the storm. She hated their suffering, but had no way to help them. And they couldn’t stop.
Startled shouts from behind was followed by the brays of the touvak and a familiar, terrible rumble. Trini spun around, heart racing. Had another sled gone over the edge? Something small swept past, growing as it rolled down the hill and out of sight.
Inksuuk jerked their sled to a stop. Behind them, one sled had toppled onto its side, dumping its contents over the side of the narrow trail. But the sled hadn’t gone off the path. Somehow.
Four touvak strained against the reins of the overturned sled. Yuta rushed to calm them.
Trini activated a flashlight in her wrist-comp to illuminate a short distance down the mountain. The sled’s contents had caused a small avalanche, eroding the middle of the path. They were lucky the sled had only carried supplies.
“We need to check the damage,” Yoskalo said, joining her. “This may block our way.”
Trini wished he hadn’t said that last part, an irrational part of her brain thinking if they hadn’t voiced it out loud it wouldn’t be true. Maybe if she didn’t acknowledge it, they’d be fine.
They also didn’t have time for another delay. As they started down the trail, Cho caught up with them.
“I can’t believe this happened again,” Cho said over their suit comms.
“At least we didn’t lose anyone,” Trini said, relief muted by a new fear. “I hope we didn’t lose the thorneway.”
“You think the avalanche could’ve buried it?”
“No,” Trini said, though ‘yes’ pinged in her head. “We’ll find a way to it.”
The avalanche had left behind a steep grade of loose snow and sediment.
Trini groaned. “The sleds are out.” Even travel on foot would be challenging. “What about the touvak?”
Yoskalo shook his head, his hands balling into fists as they came to grips with their new situation.
Trini felt for him. For all the Nuukimak. They’d already lost their homes. Now they would have to abandon everything they’d brought with them, that they’d fought so hard to keep.
Upon their return, they found Inksuuk ordering the others to cut the touvak loose from the sleds and transfer what supplies they could carry to the packs. He’d apparently already guessed the situation. A few Nuukimak protested, but he raised his voice to be heard over the storm.
“We can abandon the sleds here or die with them.”
“What if we transfer supplies to the touvak?” one Nuukimak suggested. “Let them carry as much as they can.”
“We don’t have the time,” Trini interjected, hoping they’d see reason.
Inksuuk, after a moment’s hesitation, nodded agreement. “Take only what you can carry.”
To her surprise, no one offered further complaints. The Nuukimak got to work.
Trini opened her own pack, wanting to shed some weight for the treacherous descent. She tossed her sleeping bag first. She no longer needed it. They wouldn’t spend another night here unless the thorneway was buried. If it was, she’d have other concerns than sleeping. She also removed her spare clothes, but kept her few remaining travel rations and the 3D printer and inks.
With that done, she grabbed the reins of a touvak, wanting to help. Nor did she want to abandon the poor beast.
What could they do with the touvak when they reached the thorneway?
Space City didn’t have a great place for the creatures. The dogs yes, but the touvak wouldn’t be comfortable anywhere. Perhaps Instructor Tereshkova might have ideas.
Inksuuk led them forward once more, setting the pace. Cho, Trini, and Taamaruq followed him. Panuik and Siqiq marched in the middle with their mothers and Ahnai. After the rest of the Nuukimak, Yoskalo brought up the rear. The dogs mixed in among them.
They had to go slow, testing out each step. The howling wind continued to pelt them with debris.
A blinking red light on Trini’s wrist-comp alerted her to further warnings from the scouts; she’d turned off the siren to avoid causing another avalanche.
The quinniq.
Trini gritted her teeth. That was all they needed. She sent the warning to Cho, who checked her wrist-comp, before glancing back. Trini couldn’t discern her expression, but when Cho turned forward, her shoulders slumped a little more.
The storm and quinniq made Trini want to hurry, even as the poor footing and steep slope forced restraint. With each step, gravel gave way beneath her foot. Her heart beat in terror that one false step, from herself or the touvak, from any of them, might be their last.
They wound their way past one turn then another. As they crossed the center of the path for the fifth time, a small rockslide showered Trini from above. Her head shot up.
Another avalanche?
She braced herself, willing herself to be heavy. “Please don’t let the ground give way beneath my feet,” she whispered.
Instead, something leapt out of the ground, all teeth and claws. It collided with her leg, biting and slashing at her suit.
Shock gave way to anger at the quinniq’s attack. She smacked at it with her fist, knocking it to the ground. She shot it, and the thing went limp, sliding on past her.
Chest heaving, she couldn’t believe she remained standing. But her wrist-comp’s warning indicated that three more quinniq closed in on her.
You’ve got to be kidding!
Hoping to catch up with Cho and the more stable path along the edges before the quinniq attacked, Trini pressed forward. A few steps more. Almost there.
Her touvak reared up, kicking its legs. Braying in fear and pain, it charged forward. The reins jerked Trini as the ground gave way beneath her feet. She fell hard, the impact stunning her. Downhill she slid, everything a blur. She flailed arms and legs, desperate for purchase to stop her fall. Rough edges bludgeoned her torso and arms in a dozen places.
Something gripped her arm and yanked her up into the air. She clung to it, terrified she’d lose her grip and get swept away once more.
“I’ve got you.” Inksuuk held her tight. He’d rescued her.
Heart pounding in her ears, all she managed was a nod as she hung on, still not quite believing she was safe. After a moment he set her down. Her whole body tensed, bracing for another fall.
“Trini! Trini, are you okay?” Cho rushed to her, eyes wide, face pale.
“I... I...?” Trini wasn’t sure of anything at that moment except that she wanted off that mountain.
She examined herself. Gray and brown stains marred her explorer suit from the ash and dirt she’d slid through, but no holes. Or blood. Her chest and arms ached.
“I’ll be fine.”
“What happened?” Cho asked. “I heard your touvak cry out in alarm, and when I looked for you, you were falling downhill.”
“The quinniq. My touvak!” She searched below for some sign of the poor creature.
Cho pointed back up the path behind them. “Taamaruq settled it down. It’s fine.”
A short distance up the mountain, Taamaruq held onto two cal touvak.
“Where are the quinniq?” Trini asked, searching for them. There was no sign of them, not even on her wrist-comp sensors.
“Carried away by the avalanche when your touvak bolted,” Inksuuk said.
Trini grabbed one of his hands in both of hers. “Thank you. Thank you for catching me. You saved my life.”
“We have not reached your way of thorns yet. I had to make sure you got us there.” His eyes gleamed, and she felt sure he had a big smile beneath his mask.
“Still, thank you.” Trini exhaled, part of her on a high that she’d survived, and the other half eager to get to the bottom. “We should get going.”
Inksuuk and Cho nodded.
Trini returned to Taamaruq to retrieve her touvak.
“You’re well?” Taamaruq asked, holding reins in both hands.
“I’ll manage.” Trini stuck out her hand for the reins to her touvak. “Can’t afford to stay here any longer.”
“I’m glad you are safe.” Taamaruq said and they resumed their march.
They reached the mountain’s base half an hour later to nothing. There was no visual sign of the thorneway anywhere.
“Where is this way of thorns?” Inksuuk asked, scanning the area.
“I don’t know,” Trini said, trying to figure out its location based on her wrist-comp.
“Did we come all this way for nothing?” Yoskalo asked.
“Was the place destroyed by the avalanche?” Ahnai asked.
Apprehensive questions passed through the Nuukimak.
“It’s here,” Trini assured them. Based on the coordinates on her wrist-comp, the thorneway lay buried inside the mountain. “The avalanche sealed the entrance.”
“What do we do?” Cho asked, her voice jittery.
There were no signs of the entrance, but with her wrist-comp, Trini could estimate its location. “We need something to dig through to it.”
How much debris blocked the way?
“Like shovels?” Cho asked.
“No.” Trini shook her head. “That’s like emptying a pool with a syringe.”
“What about a light grenade?” Cho suggested. “Blast our way through.”
Trini pursed her lips, musing. She had enough printing ink for a couple of grenades, but printing one in this storm with all the dust and debris swirling around... even a small amount of contamination could have disastrous consequences.
“What is a grenade?” Taamaruq asked.
“A weapon that creates a big explosion,” Trini replied. “It’ll get rid of a lot of the debris blocking passage to the thorneway.”
Cho studied the mountain above. “But would it cause another avalanche?”
“Probably, but what else can we do?”
Cho said nothing.
“We’ll need to cover the grenade during printing to prevent contamination.” Trini removed her pack from her shoulders. “I got rid of my sleeping bag thinking I wouldn’t need it. And my extra clothes.”
“Me, too,” Cho said.
“I’ll be right back!” Taamaruq rushed toward her touvak.
Trini opened her pack to find a jumbled mess of food, her 3d printer, and a cracked inks case. All her inks had mixed at the bottom of her pack. Her stomach turning at the loss, she turned frantically to Cho. “Tell me you have some inks.”
“Yeah.” Cho frowned. “What happened?”
Trini raised her broken, empty inks case.
Cho’s mouth formed an O, and she removed her own pack and opened it. A moment later she sighed, raising her own still full case.
“That’s a relief,” Trini said. They’d only get one shot at this.
Taamaruq returned with an old, worn out hide blanket. “This big enough?”
“Where did you get that?” Cho asked, blinking in surprise.
“My touvak. We all have them.”
“Brilliant! I should’ve done that,” Trini said, wondering how she’d missed the Nuukimak adding the blankets. She sat on the ground, motioning for Cho to join her. Cold seeped through her suit, chilling her underside. She gestured to the hide blanket. “Can you cover us?”
Taamaruq draped it over the both of them. “How is that?”
The weight of the blanket was a little oppressive.
“Can you raise the center a bit so we can see what we’re doing?” Trini asked.
The blanket lifted off her head and shoulders. It smelled musty.
Trini held up her wrist-comp with flashlight on where Cho could see the ingredient ratios for the grenade. Cho measured and poured, taking her time. Wind whipped at the blanket, nearly knocking the 3D printer from Cho’s hand.
“Lower the blanket,” Trini told Taamaruq, “—as much as you can, but keep it taut.”
The blanket rested on her head once more, but with less weight.
Trini dug away the snow and debris from between Cho’s legs and laid her print mat on the bare ground. When Cho had finished the mixture, she activated her printer. It rose into the air about belly height. A red light scanned the surrounding space to set the print area, then went to work adding layer upon layer of the grenade. Trini studied it, terrified some contaminant might get mixed in.
It took ten minutes to print, with Taamaruq asking about halfway through if it was working. Trini believed so, but they wouldn’t know for sure until they tried to use it.
When the print job had finished, the grenade lying on the print mat looked normal. Trini picked it up gingerly anyway, wrapping it in the mat to keep it covered until they could place it.
Cho removed the touvak blanket from their heads.
“Is it ready?” Taamaruq asked. Inksuuk and Yoskalo cast them questioning glances.
Trini nodded. “Let’s hope it works.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Taamaruq asked, eyeing the blanket-wrapped grenade.
“Then we’re in trouble.” Trini carried the grenade to the mound of debris blocking the entrance and dug a good-sized hole to stick it down.
Turning back to the Nuukimak, she waved for them to retreat. “We need to away from the immediate area.”
She urged them back until they stood a good forty meters from the blast site. She had to use the wrist-comp to measure the distance. Between the darkness and the winds hurling dirt, debris, and volcanic gases at them, she couldn’t see the mound blocking the cave entrance.
“Ready?” Her finger hovered over the trigger button on her wrist-comp.
“Go,” Cho said, clutching her 3D printer.
Trini took three deep breaths. “Let this work,” she whispered. She pressed ‘detonate’ on her wrist-comp.
Nothing happened.
She glanced at her device. Had she not pressed it properly? More likely the printing process hadn’t worked, despite their efforts to protect the print area from contamination.
An explosion erupted. Trini flinched, eyes searching for signs of the explosion. The Nuukimak shouted in surprise. Touvak brayed and bucked. Dogs whined.
“Let’s go.” Trini ran to the base of the mountain. Had they made things better or worse? The explosion had cleared a lot from the cave entrance, but it remained sealed.
“No!” Trini dove onto the mound. She shoveled away snow with her hands. A branch poked out. She ripped it free and tossed it. She’d failed. After all she’d done to lead them here. Pushing and prodding. After everything they’d endured, this was supposed to be their path to safety, not their end.
Taamaruq put a hand on her shoulder. “Stop. I may have another way.”
“What?” Trini asked over her shoulder as she continued to dig even as she knew it would never be enough.
“Your blast exposed a lot of broken trees and rocks.”
Trini paused. Taamaruq was right. But how did that help them?
“We’ve got plenty more blankets. If we tear them into strips and tie the branches to the touvak, they can haul the debris away.”
Trini grabbed the nearest branch in both hands and tugged. It rocked back and forth, but wouldn’t come free. Growling in frustration, she released it and backed away.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
It didn’t take the Nuukimak long to divide the blankets and tie the strips together to create longer chains which they secured between the touvak and the largest branches and trunks in the mound. With careful coaxing, the Nuukimak guided the touvak. Coughing from all the debris they inhaled with every breath, the beasts worked hard, straining to pull away the detritus that blocked the cave entrance.
Everyone helped, even as their coughing grew. Those not working with the touvak grabbed rocks or other small pieces and hauled them away. Before long, falling snow and gravel revealed a hole near the top of the cave.
Tears formed in Trini’s eyes. They were no longer trapped. They would get through. The Nuukimak had succeeded where she had failed. After everything, it was they who had saved her, not the other way around.
They worked until they’d cleared enough space for the largest of them to fit through, including the dogs.
Inksuuk called a halt to their work. “For everyone’s safety, we need to get inside.”
“The touvak won’t fit through that hole,” Taamaruq protested.
“No, they will not,” Inksuuk agreed, eyeing the panting beasts. “But I fear we haven’t the time to clear enough for them. They’ve worked hard. Once we are safe, we’ll return for them.”
Trini hated to agree, especially after the Nuukimak had used the touvak to save them all. But listening to the hoarse coughing all around her, she knew they needed to get the Nuukimak to Space City for medical attention. Everyone looked ready to collapse on the ground.
No one argued further, just assembled according to Inksuuk’s instructions. He sent the mothers and children through first. Trini and Cho followed, while the male Nuukimak led dogs inside.
“Where is this way of thorns?” Inksuuk asked, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light from Trini and Cho’s wrist-comps.
“A short distance back,” Trini answered, enjoying the quiet inside the cave—the absence of pounding wind hurling volcanic spewage at them.
They found the thorneway twenty meters back from the entrance. Within seconds Trini pulled up the coordinates for Space City and activated the thorneway. She heaved a sigh of relief, her gut easing, as black liquid filled the thorneway.
They’d made it.
“What is this?” Inksuuk asked, frowning at the oily liquid.
“It’s a special travel method,” Trini said. “It’ll take us home.”
“Looks like filthy water,” Inksuuk said, nonplussed. “And with a cave wall behind it. How can you take us anywhere?”
“I’ll show you,” Cho answered, stepping through the thorneway, much bolder than she’d been a few days ago. She’d changed a lot since then. And not at all.
After three seconds, when she didn’t return, Inksuuk asked, “Did she make it?”
“Hold on,” Trini said, holding a hand up.
A few more seconds passed before Cho emerged from the thorneway.
“I told the guards we had you coming with us,” she explained, “and requested medical personnel.”
“Good thinking.” Trini turned to Inksuuk and Ahnai. “Follow Cho through one at a time.”
Inksuuk followed first, then both boys, who bubbled with excitement to see where it led. Trini expected it would exceed their wildest expectations.
The other Nuukimak were less eager, but each stepped through the thorneway leading a dog. Trini came through last.
Emerging in the sims warehouse on campus, she took a deep breath and sat at the base of a sims cage, thankful to be home.
The Nuukimak stared, wide-mouthed, at the facility. Siqiq and Panuik darted through the cages, pointing and asking questions. The dogs growled at the guards, but Inksuuk and Yoskalo quieted them.
Seconds later, medical personnel in hazmat suits arrived. An anxious expression marred Aunt Teresa’s face until Trini rose and they locked eyes. Then Trini rushed forward and threw her arms around her aunt, hazmat suit and all.
“You’re safe!” Aunt Teresa clutched her. “I was worried. We got your notification of trouble from the satellite. We had a ship en route to Nereus. I feared the worst when Cho arrived and requested medical personnel.”
Off to one side, Cho hugged her mom. Trini wondered if Cho regretted taking the trip.
“I’m fine,” Trini said, “but the Nuukimak have been breathing in volcanic sediments for days, though they have worn facemasks.”
Aunt Teresa nodded, taking in the refugees. “Glad you’re okay.” She gave Trini a once over glance again, then supervised the rest of her staff in leading the Nuukimak back to the University infirmary.