Prey

Julia pulled the Snowcat into a position near the entrance to the station. Mick hopped out and grabbed a shovel from above the door. He started flinging heaps of snow out of the way.

Within fifteen minutes, Julia could see the door clearly amid the dense piles of snow. Mick put the shovel down and walked over to her side of the cab.

Julia opened the door. "You must be exhausted."

"What about you?"

"I'm wasted."

Mick held out his arms and Julia crawled into them. Mick carried her in through the entrance of the research station. It was warm inside.

"I'm starving," said Julia. "And a cup of coffee would absolutely thrill me right now."

"I could use a shower," said Mick.

"That's an even better idea," said Julia.

Mick looked hurt. "You saying I smell?"

Julia laughed. "We both do, I'd wager."

Mick kissed her. "How much hot water do you think is stored up?"

Julia nuzzled him. "Maybe enough to last us a good half an hour."

"Awesome." He pushed her away. "But first things first. We make the call for help. Then we can get…comfortable."

Julia followed him to the radio room. "You think you can get a transmission out in this weather?"

"Only one way to find out," said Mick. He sat down at the console and switched the frequencies until he found what he was looking for. Julia heard lots of static on the speakers, but Mick played with the squelch until he had it where he wanted it.

He cued the microphone. "This is Research Station Bravo calling Delta Fox One, over."

He paused and they heard nothing but static. Once again, Mick cued the mike and repeated his message. This time, there was a slight pause followed by a new voice.

"Delta Fox One. Go ahead Bravo."

"We need an emergency pickup down here. Scramble a rescue bird STAT."

"Are you aware of the weather pattern over your area right now Bravo?"

"Roger that," said Mick. "Relay this message to MacDill Air Force Base, General Stoner. 'Alpha One One Five Tango Charlie Foxtrot.'"

"You're on a civilian band, Bravo."

Mick keyed the mike once again. "Not anymore, Delta. Relay the message and await Stoner's instructions. Relay to me once you confirm the message. Bravo out."

He leaned back. Julia put a hand on his shoulder. "You think they'll relay it?"

"They have to. Standard orders for them if a military message comes through to relay it according to instructions given by the sender. They'll get Stoner out of bed for it and he'll tell them go ahead and scramble a bird for us. They won't like it, but they'll do it. And that's all that counts right now. Us getting the hell out of here."

Julia nodded.

"Something wrong?"

She sighed. "I was just thinking about the next people to come back down here. I mean, eventually, they'll have to, right?"

"I'd assume so, yeah."

"What's that going to be like? I mean, knowing you're coming back to a place that was attacked by aliens? It'd weird me out. I wouldn't be sure if I could ever feel safe again."

"You were all abductees though according to Kendall. So, it really wouldn't have mattered where you ended up. The aliens would have found you."

Julia hugged herself. "And what about now? They can still find me, can't they? They could still come for me. I've probably got some sort of transponder inside my body giving off signals or something. Christ."

"There's a difference," said Mick. "Between then and now."

She looked up at him. "What's that?"

He wrapped his arms around her. "Before you didn't have me around to protect you. Now you do."

She hugged him. "You mean it?"

"Yeah. I do." He pulled away from her. "And besides, I think I have some friends who might be able to help you out with that transponder. We've know about them for years and we've successfully removed them before from other abductees."

"Really?"

"Sure thing."

Julia fell into his arms. "Mick, I can't tell you how glad I am that we made it out alive."

"I could say the same thing."

She looked up and kissed him again. "How about that shower now?"

He grinned. "I thought you'd forgotten."

She eyed him. "Me? Forget about getting you naked and soapy? Not a chance of that."

He laughed.

"Well, isn't this just the most darling and nauseating thing I've ever seen."

Julia felt Mick's body stiffen. She looked around him at the entrance to the radio room.

Kendall.

Holding a pistol.

"I thought you had the good sense to die," said Mick.

"Not a chance."

"How'd you get here?" asked Julia.

"You two were kind enough to give me a lift back. Lots of room in the trunk of the Snowcat. Not all that comfortable mind you, but cozy enough. Although your conversation made me want to retch repeatedly. I'm surprised at my own iron will."

"What do you want?" said Mick.

Kendall sighed. "You two ruined my plans. Seems the least I can do is return the favor by killing you both."

34

"You don't want to kill us," said Mick.

Kendall laughed. "No, in fact, I genuinely do want to kill you both. Very badly, I might add. If you had even the vaguest idea of how much trouble you've put me through, you'd understand why I'm so upset."

"So, tell us," said Julia.