REBELS AND SAVIORS

Femme Fatale

Alex took the woman’s hand and shook it. Looking deep into her eyes, he searched for the reason why he had been unable to mentally reach her to tell her that they were friends. She was an enigma.

“I am sorry we were late. Leena was dying, so she searched for me and sent me to help you.”

Maria looked at the tall, lanky man. His aura was certainly powerful, tinged in purple and glowing in a way that only an Eminent One's aura would glow. She recognized him immediately for what he was. His thin small beard and powerful dark eyes were offset by his dark hair, slightly long and curling. All in all, he was very nice-looking with a light in his eyes that spoke of power and living. Kathleen had had that same twinkle. For a moment, Maria lowered her head and mourned her friend, but something moved along the fringes of her own perception. Kathleen?

Before she could speak, the man at her feet made a noise. A groan.

“Yeah, great. Everyone can ignore me! I’m lying here in pain and freezing my damn ass off.” Michael coughed.

Maria crouched down next to the man she had tossed and almost killed. “You okay? They still in your throat?” She couldn’t keep the amusement from her voice.

Michael’s eyes narrowed. He reached for his gun again.

“Whoa there, partner. Let me look at you.” Kyle quickly interceded before Michael decided to shoot the young woman. Kyle just tsked at him. “Michael, no shooting the client.”

Michael just growled and lay back.

She sat down on the ground next to him, her body shaking, and Michael finally registered her wet hair. Looking at her critically, he noticed the perfect whiteness of her unflawed skin, but it had a bluish tinge.

“You were in the water as well?” At Michael’s question, Alex immediately turned to look at the woman. She nodded.

So he wasn’t just a stupid enforcer with a rifle arm. The man had some brains, and probably even used them when his body wasn’t trying to combat the pain of a crushed set of male genitalia. Maria studied his long body, appreciating how large he was. She had never heard him move up behind her. Actually, she missed him telegraphing his intent or presence. That hadn’t happened in a long time. He had long light brown hair and a scruffy beard, but it was the golden warmth of his whiskey brown eyes that held her attention. He looked all craggy and strong, but his features had a continuity about them, a belonging. And his lips were full and soft - totally kissable. When his tongue came out to wet his lips, very aware of her regard, she felt responsiveness run down her body. Men weren’t supposed to look like that. Tough angels.

He squirmed under her gaze and then cursed his reaction. “Hey, I said...”

“Yes.” Maria was shocked at her husky-sounding voice. Clearing her throat, she spoke more firmly. “Yes, I was in the water. All the lower decks are flooded.” Without her helmet to close the unit of her thermal suit, she was starting to adapt to the surrounding cold. Her body temperature was dropping fast.

Kyle looked at the woman and frowned. Quickly giving Michael a neural block in his lower spine to deaden the pain in his groin, Kyle turned his sensors on Maria.

“Your core body temperature is dropping fast. How long were you in the water?”

Michael frowned as her small body began to shiver and shake at an alarming rate.

“Too long. It took me three trips to find what I was looking for and I still missed one.”

Sean came to join them. Giving Michael an amused look and feeling for him at the same time, Sean dropped a load of manuscripts at the woman’s feet. They were all in protective casings.

“Those are mine!”

Sean just smiled at her. Whooooa, pretty. Nope. Actually breathtakingly beautiful. “Calm down, little sister. Actually everything here is yours.”

Maria looked at the man in irritation. He had touched her property! Steeling herself and swallowing her natural instinct to beat him upside the head, she tried to quell the rising coldness of her body and the internal shakes. Fuck. Her systems were starting to shut down.

Kyle made another sound of distress. She was sinking fast. They needed to warm her up. This was more than hypothermia.

“I need to get her back to the runabout and then to the Shiva. Her temperature is dropping fast. Warm saline bath and heaters. I don’t get this. It’s not hypothermia.”

Maria ignored Kyle and looked at Alex. “I need that last manuscript. It’s essential. This job is a search for three missing gems of immeasurable importance, and then one last task to neutralize the imbalance of power and restore the natural order. I need that manuscript.”

“Lady, you’re not getting it.” She turned to look at Michael.

“I...”

He cut her off. “No one! Not one of my men is risking their life in that freezing water, and definitely not with those creatures.”

Maria turned to look at Alex. “Everything else on this ship is yours as payment. There are thirty-seven unflooded cargo holds, each with treasures unimaginable...all packed and waiting to be taken.” Sean made a sound of delight.

Michael scowled at his friend and took out his com unit.

“Command.”

Michael heard his brother’s voice, hollow-sounding and far away. “Go, Michael. What’s the situation?”

“We’ve found our newest client and the area is secure. Send down as many recovery teams as possible. We need a warming unit from Sickbay and a full size bed. Have them bring it down and install it in the back compartment of my runabout.” Michael looked at Kyle who nodded. That should work. “Tell them to be careful of the cross chop coming in. They’ll be riding an ice storm all the way and lifters freeze on the drop, so coat them in liquid heat before starting.”

“They’re on their way.” Michael could hear Max in the background giving orders.

“What’s the field look like?”

Max voice came back. “The system is clear, so we still have time. Let's clear the salvage and chalk up some distance from this dead system.”

“Agreed.” Michael turned off his com. Turning to Kyle who was helping the fallen woman. Her body was shaking so much he could almost feel the shivers from where he was lying. She was next to him gasping for breath, as her skin turned even bluer.

“They’re bringing a warming bed.” Michael looked at her, concerned.

“She’s dropping too fast. I don’t get it!” Kyle continued to monitor her and gave her a shot of adrenaline to speed up her metabolism, thereby generating more heat.

Alex was looking at Maria’s manuscripts, frowning. Sean, after a gesture from Michael, took off to organize the crews into starting the recovery process.

“I need that last manuscript.” She could barely speak through the chattering of her teeth.

“I said no!” They lay facing each other, both refusing to back down. Maria looked down at the oxygen supply of her environmental converter. It was still attached to her neck. She just barely had enough.

Looking at him again, she shrugged. Grabbing his face, she leaned in and stared him in the eye. “You really are a handful.”

She was suddenly up on her feet, and Michael didn’t register that she was stepping out of her protective suit until she stood there in a flimsy white thermal bodystocking. In a flash she picked up her weapon, ran and dived into the cold water.

“Son-of-a-bitch! Michael struggled to his feet, combating the nerve block Alex had given him that made his legs feel like rubber, prickling with tiny nerve endings. He quickly removed his bulkier outer clothing as Kyle injected him with adrenaline to speed up his body's metabolism. Alex attached a ripcord to Michael’s body as he hurried to follow her.

“Michael!” He turned back to Kyle, as Kyle tossed him his forgotten weapon. He dived in after her.

The lower decks were strangely dark, but iridescent from some unknown source. Going through the only possible access port from Engineering, he came out in the corridor of a lower deck. With no idea where she had gone, he kept watch for large moving objects. It took him almost a full deck of storage rooms to find her. She was in the second to last room, struggling to remove another protected manuscript. It was jammed.

Sensing the movement of water she suddenly turned, aiming her weapon at him until she realized it was him and not a sea creature. He moved her aside and struggled to remove the bloody manuscript. Looking at her, he was shocked at how blue she appeared.

Suddenly her body stiffened and her arm came up. Michael finally got the manuscript free in time to turn and see her shooting at a huge creature approaching them fast. Taking his weapon, both of them shot at it until it was dead, but with the fallen creature came a flurry of activity as its blood called to other predators. They couldn’t leave the way they had come.

Seeing an access junction in the corner of the bay, Michael passed her the manuscript as he ripped its cover from the wall. Pushing her inside, he quickly followed. Keeping an eye on her body, he rushed through the smaller, tighter passages, swimming as quickly as he could with the limited leg room. He noticed her using her free hand to pull her body along with the sides of the ship. Tucking his weapon into his waistband, he followed her lead, catching up to her quickly.

They came out in another flooded corridor. It was teaming with underwater creatures, most ignoring them. Michael pulled himself from the access port, but when he tried to follow her he couldn’t. Turning he saw the cord that Alex had tied to him was tangled through the maze they had just come through. It was keeping him bound. She must have sensed he wasn’t with her, and turned to see him trying to untie the cord with his frozen hands.

Swimming to his side, their eyes made contact as she looked down. The water had tightened the cord, and both of them where too cold and numb to really feel or operate their fingers. Suddenly Michael looked up, and Maria saw fear move across his face. Turning, she saw a large sea creature bearing down on them. She reached for her weapon, but it was gone. She had dropped it in the access corridor to free a hand while holding the manuscript with the other.

Michael was still trying to untie himself. He couldn’t move. Maria grabbed the weapon from his waistband, turned and fired repeatedly. The blood would bring others. Already the smaller fish and creatures were feeding on the downed animal. She turned and shoved her manuscript in his hand and handed him the weapon to keep an eye out for others.

Sinking almost to her knees, she struggled with the tight knot that held them captive there. She couldn’t leave him behind, not even for her cause. Struggling, she could feel the movement in the water, the increase in activity and him firing over her head. Suddenly there was a touch to her head. She looked up. He gestured for her to leave him. She shook her head no. He motioned to the corridor filling with more of the same creatures, and gestured for her to leave again.

Again she refused. In the watery grave their eyes fought a fierce battle, both refusing to stand down until finally in a gesture of sheer annoyance, she took his gun from him and aimed it at his lower body. He closed his eyes as she blew a hole through the safety cord, releasing him.

Taking the manuscript from him, she returned him his gun, and taking his hand she swam for another corridor, pulling him after her. He kept his eyes trained behind them shooting the creatures following them. As they died, the crowd behind them slowed as they stopped to feed on the dead bodies. Michael and Maria swam through the corridors as fast as they could, until he noticed she was faltering.

Looking at the environmental unit on her neck he saw the red indicator blinking empty. She was out of oxygen. Pulling her to him as she struggled in a panic, he put his mouth over hers and breathed oxygen into her lungs. After a short time of buddy-breathing, he looked at her and she nodded that she could go on. They progressed slowly, moving upwards through the flooded deck, searching for oxygen and freedom from the water. It was slow going, what with killing creatures having large mouths and lots of teeth, plus having to stop and breathe for her. Finally he found a set of doors semi-open with a strange gleam to the top water.

Atmosphere! Daylight!

Pulling her with him, he broke for the surface. He dragged her out of the water, and they both lay on the deck just clear of the water, panting for breath. Oh, damn! They were in the burned out Bridge from earlier in the day! Michael cursed under his breath. He had sealed the doors from the other side, and the crushing winds and ice were hurling into the room, dropping the temperature even more. With their wet bodies and almost no real clothing on, both were shivering to death.

It was her gasping breath that reminded him of the high nitrogen mix in the atmosphere. Her environmental unit was still empty. Gathering her close, he joined their mouths, breathing oxygen into her body. She was losing ground fast, her skin was so much colder than his. Taking his gun, he shot at the closed doors with no effect. It could withstand a full cannon laser blast. They were dying.

Maria reached for his hand. Putting her hand over his, she turned his arm away from the closed doors to the open rip in the Bridge that was allowing the elements in. Putting her finger with his on the triggering mechanism, she made him shoot through the hole to the outside.

Smart. She was smart. His men and the recovery teams were setting up full recovery perimeters and loading the artifacts and treasures off the Saratoga. They would see the energy dispersement field. She was almost unconscious, dying. He gathered her close and breathed into her mouth again, trying to keep her warm with his own cold body. Fuck this. Alex! Alex, pick up that damn mental phone of yours and get your asses to the fucking Bridge!

He kept cursing Alex out in his head while breathing for the both of them and shooting through the open side of the ship. Her body was so tiny and small compared to his - and way too cold. He could feel unconsciousness threatening him as the pull of darkness increased and his breathing labored against the cold. If he stopped, then she died. Alex. Max...

~~~

Kyle and Alex pulled on the safety cord. It wouldn’t move. They’ve been down too long. Kyle checked his sensors on his hand unit, and medical scanner. Too much movement below, but he could still read two humanoid life signs.

Sean came up to them. “I’m going in after them!”

Alex shook his head no. “We do not know where they went. With all the sea life down there...”

“I’ll follow the line.”

“Sir! Topside says they're picking up energy readings off the port side. They're coming from a hole in the hull of this ship.” The three men looked at the young crewman and then at each other. Alex grabbed the manuscripts and shoved them in his pack, then gathered up Maria’s clothing as Kyle grabbed Michael’s.

“It has to be them.” Sean rushed from the room, as Alex paused. Alex.

The com system came alive. “This is Max, where is Michael? I can barely feel him. Alex, dammit, respond!”

“Max, it’s Sean. Michael is missing.”

“We’re picking up huge energy blasting from the portside hull.” Max said rechecking the science sensors himself.

Alex came alive and rushed from the room down the corridor. “The Bridge. They came up in the Bridge.”

Sean followed. “Then why didn’t he join us? One of those damn sea creatures must have taken a bite out of his ass.”

Alex just shook his head. “He can’t. He sealed the Bridge from the other side.”

They made it down the side corridor to the main one from which they had entered the ship. Grabbing the safety ropes tossed along the forty-five degree angled corridor, they used the ropes to keep themselves from sliding further into the bowels of the ship. Crossing to the other side corridor that led to the Bridge, they ran, using the walls to keep them steady.

Sean worked fast to release the frozen lock while Kyle scanned the other side with his medical scanner.

“Hurry, Sean. One’s not breathing and their life signs are almost gone.”

Alex tried to open a time/space corridor to the other side so they could walk through, but he couldn’t. He didn’t have enough control, and the last one he opened seemed to just appear at his will.

Sean just swore and sped up. The doors were finally freed and he and Alex pried them apart. They rushed in to find Michael leaning over Maria, his body covering hers, kissing her.

“We rushed in here just to watch Michael mack on the girl?”

Michael lifted his head at the sound of Sean’s voice. “Kyle...oxygen. She ran out awhile ago.”

Kyle rushed to their sides, as Michael rolled off Maria’s body and lay gasping, trying to breathe for himself for a change. Sean and Alex came to him and helped him back into his clothes. Putting hands under his arms, they dragged him out of the Bridge into the more sheltered corridor. Michael’s whole body was shaking. He couldn’t feel his hands or feet, actually he couldn’t feel his entire body. He was numb.

Alex rushed back into the Bridge to help Kyle with Maria as Sean began to rub Michael’s arms and legs to get the circulation going again.

“Just because ya already kissed her, don’t be thinking she’s yours yet.”

Michael looked at his friend and his eyes darkened. Sean just swore under his breath. Damn, already? Something told him that his friend was going to be lacking humor in regards to this woman.

Sean looked up as Alex and Kyle came through the doors carrying Maria. They laid her down next to Michael who turned and looked at her, concerned. They had put her back in her heated environmental suit, and Kyle put a new environmental unit on her neck. She was breathing again, but still unconscious and blue.

Kyle worked on her furiously, talking to himself the entire time, as Alex went back to reseal the doors. He found the temperature control on the suit and turned it up. She must have used it before the other three times she went into the water to stabilize her body temperature. Kyle began packing small heating packs into her suit to increase her temperature.

“I don’t understand why her body isn’t compensating for the cold and increasing the shivering effect with a push in metabolism. The adrenaline I gave her isn’t even touching her, except to speed up her heart. I can’t give her any more.”

Alex came back to join them. “I think it is her nature to take on the surrounding temperature.”

Kyle looked up confused. “What do you mean?”

“The manuscripts she was so intent on retrieving. They were Anterraan.”

The three men looked at Alex in shock. That was impossible! Anterra was the first planet that Khivar destroyed before the war started. That world and its entire star system had been pulverized and sucked into a negative energy sinkfield - a black hole. Khivar had turned his newest deadly weapon on their sun and blew a hole in its middle. The collapse of the giant star into itself was so great in mass that its gravitational field wouldn’t let even light escape. It took out countless surrounding star systems as the gravitational pull of the black hole overwhelmed the stable orbits of nearby systems. It was the mass destruction that began the war - that and Khivar raiding worlds for genetic materials for his cloning project.

Even Khivar had been surprised at the power and destruction of his new weapon. The loss of genetic material and the loss of the Anterraan homeworld was a terrible lesson. Anterra had been an anomaly. The inhabitants were evolved far beyond their surrounding worlds.

They were capable of space travel long before the others, but as a race they tended to avoid traveling in space by conventional methods. They were fabled to travel great distances in a wink of time. A cold-blooded race, their internal bodies did not self-regulate their body temperatures, but rather took on the temperature of the surrounding environment. The coldness of space was almost too much for them to withstand.

“Poikilothermic?” Kyle scanned the surrounding temperatures and then her body. “Anterraan. No one knows their physiology. They weren’t very forthcoming about themselves with other races.”

Alex nodded. They were a once-silent race, keeping all matters about themselves hidden from outsiders. But their silence ended there. They helped all those who needed help. Their loss to the known universe was mourned and the outrage brought on by their destruction brought the rest of the universe to the brink of war that lasted almost ten years.

It appeared that their newest client was the last surviving member of a now extinct race. She and she alone held all their collective knowledge and history. She also was the last surviving genetic representative, and thereby priceless to Khivar. Alex felt a strange common fellowship with the woman.

“We need to get both her and Michael to the runabout and put them in the warming bed. She’s been cold for too long.”

“I’m fine.” They looked down to see that Maria had regained consciousness. “Where are my manuscripts?”

“I have them.” She looked at Alex and then simply nodded. They were safe with him.

Michael searched her face and body. She was still blue and shivering, but at least she was breathing. “You’re not okay. Alex get us out of here before she decides to take us for another swim.”

Her eyes narrowed at his tone, but then she turned and ignored him. Kyle, Alex and Sean helped the two to the end of the corridor and into the larger one. Michael looked up the forty-five degree sloping incline and groaned. He wasn’t getting paid enough.

Kyle looked at the woman. She was still shivering. They had lost the helmet to her environmental suit, so he couldn't close it.

“I don’t know that it’s a good idea to take her outside. Her suit is open and her body will adapt to the outside temperature. I’m not sure her body and heart can take the stress. It’s been pushed to the limit already.”

“She is sitting right here, thank you. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about me in the third person.” Maria leaned against the wall, looking up the incline. She could make it if they’d just let her get her breath back. Her lungs felt like they had exploded in her chest, and she was still coughing up water.

Michael took out his com. “Report. What is the status of the recovery teams?” Michael waited for his main recovery officer to come back with a report.

“Commander, we set up a protective field and installed heaters. The protective areas are already warmer. Twenty-three of the thirty-seven storage bays have been emptied.  Sarasvati is already on a turnaround trip, and the other two ships are loaded and ready to take off.”

Michael did a quick calculation. The Sarasvati was their largest recovery ship and commanded the most storage space, but even she couldn’t hold fourteen more storage bays.

“Send the other two ships to Shiva. I want them unloaded and back as soon as possible. Is the Trinity up and working?”

“No, Sir. She is still in dry dock for refitting of blown power couplings. Her aft shields took damage on the last job.” Raiders and Pirates only attacked the smaller recovery ships that Shiva housed in her immense landing bays. No Pirate would take on the full battleship with her armor and weapons, so the smaller recovery vessels were their best bet.

Michael swore. That meant they only had Vishnu and Kali available since both Trinity, one of their larger ships, and Rama, their newest, were still in dry dock for repairs.

“Do what you can.” Michael closed the link at his officer’s affirmation. “Max?”

“Good to hear and feel you, little brother.”

“Yeah, no big. Just took my weekly bath early.” Michael ignored his brother’s chuckle. “Do me a favor and light a fuse under the recovery team to unpack the Vishnu and Kali and send them back. I don’t like this ice planet.”

“Will do. Stay dry and warm.” Max disconnected. Max looked at his com officer and nodded for him to send the orders as he searched the scanning fields of the system, looking for Raiders.

Michael looked at Maria again. She was still resting up against the wall, appearing to be asleep. Michael then turned taciturn eyes on Sean.

“Dammit, Sean! I thought you’d have all the ships ready for recovery!”

“Little shorthanded right now, Michael. I’ve got the normal crews keeping Shiva operational, and all the landing and light craft mechanics working around the clock on full shifts.” Sean frowned at Michael, who seemed to be warming after his ordeal, but was still shaking. “You’ll remember that half my crew is missing in action. We left them on Riodan on our last six days off.”

Michael just grunted. Yeah, forgot about that. They had lost half their engineering and mechanical staff on their last six day shore leave. Sean’s boys had gotten into a little brou-ha-ha in a local cathouse and gaming establishment. The result was the shutdown of the house, with half those involved incarcerated for half a cycle. That had been over three months ago, and they couldn’t pick up their missing crewmembers for another three months. Repairs and refitting had been slowed by working at half staff.

“We’ve got to move her, Michael.” Kyle scanned Maria again. She was warmer, but her body kept trying to adapt to the cold ship.

Michael looked up the long inclined corridor, watching his men emptying and moving cargo out of the storage bays. They could move now, and the sooner the better.

“Okay, let me go first. You tie a support line to her, and help walk her up and out of the Saratoga.”

“She can walk. Thank you.” Maria opened her eyes and regarded the irritating man closely. “It’s only an steep incline, not a mountain. And I’ve been here over three days climbing in and out of this ship. I’m cold and tired, but I’m not helpless.”  She stood up to make her point. “Alex must go first. He’s carrying my manuscripts.”

Michael stood up as well. “By all means! We’d not be wanting anything to happen to those.” Michael’s sarcastic tone took on a heavier angry sound to it. She was so irritating. He liked her better when she was unconscious. “Get going, Alex.”

Kyle looked at his two patients and frowned. “Neither of you are in any shape to make the few meters walk to the ship.” He looked at the woman’s shaking form and frowned yet again. “The outside cold could be deadly to her.”

Maria looked at the doctor. “I’m not going to your ship. I’m going to mine.”

“The hell you are!” Michael practically shouted. Michael reached over and gestured for Kyle to start up the incline. “Get going. She’ll be alright outside. Recovery has set up heating units inside the protective shield. It’s warmer and not so stormy as when we set down.”

Maria brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean 'inside the protective shield and heaters'?”

Michael just shrugged. “On an inclement planet we set up a forcefield protection grid to shield our salvage and our ships in case pirates follow us in. Inside the grid we turn on outside heaters attached to our ships that warm the area within the forcefield. It sets up a mini environment, and allows our recovery teams to move faster and more efficiently without combating blinding ice and winds.”

Maria actually cursed aloud, causing the three men to stare at her in real interest. “You can’t be that stupid!”

“What?” Michael took offense.

“Do you have no concept of where we are? The Saratoga went down in the iced ocean of Linius VI. This isn’t just a ship buried in the ground connecting with an underwater river. It’s an...”

“Ocean!” Michael looked at Sean sharply. The other man nodded. “Go!” Michael looked at Kyle. “You, too.”

Kyle nodded and grabbed one of the safety lines and began following Sean out of the ship, trusting Michael to see to Maria’s safety. She took a cord as well and Michael was bringing up the rear, when suddenly the ground shook. The Saratoga's decks shifted and moved, knocking their feet out from under them. Kyle and Sean above them lay on the deck holding onto their lines, and Maria, who was just above Michael, looked back in time to see Michael’s hand slip from his line as it snapped. Another worker above had used the same line and the added weight snapped it from its mooring.

The darkness at the bowels of the ship and end of the corridor was now approaching. It was the ocean’s water as the Saratoga slipped free of the ice that had held it for years and continued to sink into the ocean. It was fast approaching. As Michael scrambled for another safety line, Maria reached down with her free hand and grabbed his hand just as his body started to slide down the incline towards the icy waters. The added weight on her arm made her grunt in pain. The Saratoga’s deck was no longer at a forty-five degree angle, but sixty and the deck was sinking rapidly into the water. Michael felt it sloshing at his feet.

“Let go of me! The added weight will snap your line, and you can’t climb one-handed while you're holding me.”

“No!” Michael looked up into her eyes, stormy and fierce. She was trouble - pig-headed and obstinate. Damn! So damn beautiful, and possibly the last thing he would see in his short life.

Michael swore and tried to reach another line, but he was afraid to move too much. Her hold on him was tenuous and she looked like she would let go to grab him. Grabbing the bottom of her line, he pulled himself up enough to relieve the pressure on her hand and slowly climbed up and over her body as the ship shifted and sank even more. Looking up, Michael saw that both Sean and Kyle had cleared the corridor. As the ropes released in slack they both slid downward.

Their legs were back in the water, and Michael thought about climbing up, but with their combined weight on the line he didn’t want to chance it. The best bet was for him to release the rope and let her climb free, and then when she cleared the corridor use the rope to climb out himself.

“Don’t even think about it!” He looked at her stormy eyes. How could she read him so completely? “You go, we both go.”

“This is stupid! You can’t take the cold water, but I can. We’re not both going to make it, and you holding onto me means you can’t climb.”

“Then we climb together, and you can stop trying to sacrifice yourself for me. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Stop being so damn honorable!”

Michael just snorted. Honorable his ass. He had no intention of dying, and he had every intention of demanding payment from her in the future in some form or other.

“Lady, this isn’t me being honorable or altruistic. I expect to be fully compensated for the pain you’ve been in my ass.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Whatever! If a reward is what you want, then reward is what you’ll get. But you better start climbing because I’m not leaving you behind.” She  snorted as he cussed, trying to find some purchase on the slick icy deck with which to pull himself up and over her. Pain in his ass? She thought she had established herself as a royal pain in another part of his anatomy as well.

They both slowly climbed as they heard Sean and the others trying to get a handle on the rope from above to pull them up. They were clear of the water, and halfway up the steep slope when they both paused to breathe. He had managed to get himself above her, but just barely. They lay side by side, panting. Her hands were so cold, she wasn’t sure she could hold on much longer, and her face was practically resting in his stomach.

“What’s your name?”

Michael looked down at her hearing the muffled sound of her voice against him. “What?”

“Your name. I want to know your name.”

“Why?”

She made a sound of exasperation. “So I can say a prayer for you when you d