Whiteout

A polar research expedition ran straight into a catastrophic blizzard, and Chris Hanks and I ended up trapped together in an ice cave. When our supplies were nearly gone, Chris pressed the last bar of chocolate and the emergency blanket into my hands. His own lips had already gone purple with cold, but he still managed a smile as he told me not to worry — the rescue team would be here any minute. Todd Carey, who'd made the trip with us, rubbed his hands together and sighed, "Professor Hanks really does love you to death, Mrs. Hanks." Even I believed it. Ten years together, and I'd thought what we had was unbreakable. Then, just as I leaned in to warm myself against his chest, a wall of blood-red, half-transparent text came screaming across my vision. [Run! That man is a hypocrite through and through!] [He's handing you supplies now so you'll stay put as bait when the avalanche hits!] [The rescue chopper only has two seats left, and he's already decided he's taking his first love out with him!] [Last time, he left you locked in that cave. You froze solid, and he flew home to collect the award with his little protégée on his arm!] Chapter 1 Chris Hanks reached over and zipped my parka collar up to my chin. "Kate, stay put and behave yourself while I'm gone. I'm taking Todd up ahead to scout for a better spot to catch a signal. You're not as strong as the rest of us. Stay here and save your energy." The old me would have believed every word without question. But right now, the comments were still scrolling. [Don't fall for it! He's not scouting anything! He's going to check the escape plan with Angelina Bloom!] [The lighter! Watch the lighter in his pocket! It's key evidence later!] [Stay calm and start recording, girl!] I forced down the tremor building in my chest and slid my hand into my inner pocket, my fingers closing around the spare mini voice recorder I always carried for geological fieldwork. Chris turned and walked toward the far end of the ice cave, Todd trailing behind him. In the corner, Angelina Bloom — an intern who'd joined the team only two months earlier — sat hugging her knees, shivering. The second she saw Chris approaching, her eyes welled up. He crouched down in front of her, his back to me, and murmured something I couldn't make out over the howling wind. Then I saw it: he pulled a silver windproof lighter out of his inner pocket. I'd given it to him on our first anniversary. Our initials were engraved on the bottom. He'd once sworn, in front of everyone, that lighter mattered more to him than his own life. Now, he was pressing it into Angelina's hand without a second thought. She took it, then looked up and shot me a glance — deliberately. [Textbook homewrecker provocation, right there.] [Don't blow up yet. Let her keep it. It's way more satisfying when that lighter ends up in a storm drain later.] I softened my footsteps and crept closer, using an ice pillar for cover. Chris's low voice reached me in broken fragments. "Angie, just hang on a little longer. I've already switched on the rescue chopper's locator beacon. The second it gets here, we're leaving." Angelina's voice cracked. "But what about Mrs. Hanks? The helicopter can only take two people this time..." Chris cut her off immediately. "She's got the blanket and the chocolate I left her. She won't die. This cave's easy to spot — the main search party will see her the moment they get here. If we leave her behind as a marker, we can slip away before the chopper's position gets flagged. Otherwise, once that avalanche on the mountain behind us comes down, none of us are getting out." Angelina was still sniffling. "But Chris, what if the avalanche hits early? She'll be all alone and terrified." Chris patted her shoulder, his voice going even softer. "It'll be fine. She's got years of field experience. She knows how to keep herself alive. You're different. This is your first time on the ice. I can't let you take that kind of risk." This was the man I'd loved for ten years. Using his supposed faith in my competence as an excuse to shove me into a death trap without a flicker of guilt. [Got it! Got it on tape!] [Don't cry now. You only get to make them cry once you survive!] [The core data chip's still on you. Chris is about to crash and burn hard.] Chapter 2 I pressed a hand over my mouth and forced the lump in my throat back down. Chris came back a few minutes later. Snow clung to his shoulders, frost crusted his lashes, and he crouched in front of me, cupping my face in both hands. "Kate, it's too windy out there. We might have to wait a bit longer." The gesture looked tender. It felt cold-blooded. My stomach turned. I looked away from him. "Is that right? Did you see the rescue team out there?" Something flickered in his eyes before he smiled. "Visibility's too low. I couldn't see a thing. But don't worry. The second that helicopter shows up, I'll get you out first." A dull cracking sound rolled out from deeper in the cave. Chris's expression shifted, and he immediately crossed to Angelina's side, pulling her farther from the entrance — completely forgetting he'd just promised to get me out first. I watched his back with a cold, distant feeling, then quietly switched on the miniature geological scanner strapped to my wrist. Its red indicator light blinked faintly as it began mapping a backup escape route. [Yes! That's the scanner!] [The underground river route is deeper in the cave. Don't run for the entrance!] [Kate's finally using her brain. Let's go!] The temperature dropped to twenty-two below zero. Chris opened his personal emergency pack and dug an extreme-cold-weather parka out from the very bottom — the spare gear I'd had custom-made just last month. Without a second's hesitation, he draped it over Angelina's shoulders. Angelina was still holding the lighter I'd given Chris, clicking it on and off, a thin blue flame flickering with each press. The light caught the faint, satisfied curl of her lips. I walked over. "Chris, that parka is my size." His hands stilled on Angelina's buttons. He turned to look at me, impatience creeping into his voice. "Kate, don't start throwing a tantrum right now. Angelina's new — she's got a weak constitution and mild asthma. She can't handle the cold. You've spent years out in the field. Your cold tolerance is way better than hers." The comments scrolled past. [Good cold tolerance doesn't mean she can't die!] [Watch Angelina — she's about to fake being sick any second.] My voice came out edged with frost. "Good cold tolerance doesn't mean I won't die out here. My hypothermia symptoms have already started. Give the parka back." Angelina shrank back, shoulders hunching, eyes brimming with tears. "Mrs. Hanks, I'm sorry — I didn't know it was yours. Here, take it back. I'll be fine, it's not a big deal if I have a flare-up—" She didn't even finish the sentence before a violent coughing fit doubled her over, and she collapsed into Chris's arms. He caught her at once, then rounded on me. "Kate, are you determined to see her dead? Once we're back, I'll have ten of the best parkas made just for you. You're usually the one telling everyone to think about the bigger picture — why are you being so heartless today?" Todd mumbled under his breath, "Yeah, Mrs. Hanks, Angelina's coughing like that and you're still fighting over a coat?" I looked at the two of them, standing shoulder to shoulder against me, and found the whole scene almost funny. In their logic, stripping me of the gear that kept me alive was simply me being reasonable and thinking of the group. I pointed at the lighter still in Angelina's hand. "Fine. She can keep the parka. Give me the lighter — I need it to start a fire and stay warm." Chris frowned. "It's just a lighter. So what if Angelina borrows it for a bit? Her hands are cold. Why do you have to fight a young girl over every little thing?" He came closer, took my frozen hand in his, and tried to tuck it against his chest to warm it. "Come on, don't be angry. My body heat will do more for you than that little flame ever could." He'd stripped me of my right to survive and expected a scrap of cheap affection to pass for devotion. I yanked my hand back. "No, thanks. Your body heat is too precious for the likes of me." His face darkened. "Kate, you are being completely unreasonable." He turned and went back to Angelina's side, and didn't look at me again. I retreated to a corner against the ice wall, my fingers quietly finding the spare communication battery hidden in an inner layer of my coat. Chapter 3 While we'd been arguing earlier, I'd already pulled the backup battery out of the shared-frequency radio from memory. If they saw me as dead weight, as something to be sacrificed, then I had no reason to keep pinning my survival on them. On the scanner, the red light blinked a few more times, and a narrow ice-crevice route toward an underground river appeared. [There it is!] [Follow the crevice — there's an abandoned multinational research station at the end of that underground river!] [Watch for the station's ventilation shaft. Don't try to break it open bare-handed — the ice pick's tucked at the small of your back.] Chris would probably never guess it. He thought I had nothing left but a chocolate bar and a blanket. But what I actually had to live on had never been his charity. The wind outside the cave suddenly changed pitch. A roar tore through the storm from somewhere overhead. It was the rescue helicopter. Todd jumped up, ecstatic. "It's here! The rescue team's here!" A sharp burst of static crackled from the tactical radio at Chris's waist, and the pilot's urgent voice cut through. "Hanks, do you copy? Wind shear's too severe — we can't land. We can only hover and drop the ladder. Fuel and weight limits mean we can only pull two people up this trip. The next run won't be until tomorrow morning at the earliest. Who's going first?" The air went still. Only two people could leave. Chris keyed the radio back almost without hesitation. "I'm bringing Angelina up first. Todd and Kate stay here and wait for tomorrow's rescue." He didn't even glance back at me before he sealed my fate for another day. [Shameless. He's not even bothering to pretend anymore!] [Fight back! Use the pressure data! Tell him a major storm's rolling in within two hours!] I got to my feet. "I don't agree with that." Chris froze. I pointed at the weather monitor on my wrist. "Barometric pressure's dropping fast. That means a major storm front hits within two hours. By tomorrow morning, visibility here will be zero. That helicopter is never coming back, and staying here means dying here." His expression darkened. "Kate, don't spread panic. Angelina has asthma — she won't make it through the night without treatment. Todd's a young man in good shape; he can get you through it. You're a veteran on this team. Don't you have any sense of the bigger picture?" I laughed, cold. "She has asthma, so she goes first? I have claustrophobia. Why aren't you sending me first, then?" Right on cue, Angelina grabbed Chris's sleeve, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Chris, let Mrs. Hanks go first. It's fine if I stay behind, as long as the two of you are safe..." Todd jumped in immediately. "Mrs. Hanks, how can you do this? Angelina can barely breathe, and you're still fighting her for a seat?" I looked at Chris, my voice level. "You've made your choice. It's her, isn't it?" That seemed to sting him. "Kate, I'm taking her to get treatment. I'm not choosing her over you. The second tomorrow's helicopter gets here, I'll come back for you myself. Stop threatening to leave me every time something goes wrong. It's childish." Last year in the Alps, in that same kind of hovering helicopter, he'd gripped the cabin door with both hands and refused to board until he saw me safely up first. Today, he was handing me the seat marked for death and dressing it up as duty. I took a step back. "I'm not threatening to leave you. I'm informing you. Chris, we're done." Anger flashed across his face. He yanked off his polar-grade windproof gloves and shoved them into my hands. "These can handle negative forty. Take them. I'm begging you — just stop making a scene, all right?" He'd handed me a pair of gloves and taken away my right to survive in the same breath. Cheap, laughable devotion. I didn't throw the gloves away. I tucked them into a side pocket of my pack. Then, right in front of him, I pulled the encrypted satellite phone out of the waterproof bag where I'd hidden it. His face changed instantly. "What are you doing with that?" Chapter 4 "I've always been the one handling comms on the shared frequency. If you open an unauthorized backup line, you'll interfere with the helicopter's radar positioning!" He lunged for the phone. I sidestepped him. "Interfere with positioning? I'm contacting base to pull in a backup search-and-rescue chopper from another sector. Since our great team leader's decided to fly out with his protégée, I figured I'd better find my own way to stay alive." Chris's face went ashen. If I got through to base, everything he'd been hiding — deliberately stalling my rescue to get Angelina out first — would come out into the open. A deafening roar sounded above the cave mouth, and the rope ladder dropped down. There was no time left. Something hard and cruel flashed across Chris's eyes. He grabbed Angelina's arm. "Angie, hold on tight. Go, now!" She'd been sobbing about being scared a second ago; she climbed faster than anyone. Chris stood by the ladder and glanced back at me once. There wasn't a trace of guilt in that look — only the cold resolve of a man trying to bury the truth. "Kate, you can blame yourself for this. You're too smart. And too selfish." He said it low, then hauled himself up fast. Just as he was about to climb clear of the cave mouth, he stopped. He raised one foot in its heavy snow boot, aimed it at the load-bearing ice pillar teetering at the entrance, and kicked it as hard as he could. A crack tore through the cave with a sound like thunder. "Professor Hanks, what are you doing?!" Todd's terrified scream was swallowed by the roar of collapsing ice. Tons of ice and snow came crashing down. To stop me from reaching that ladder — and to cut off any signal I might send for help — Chris had triggered a localized avalanche and sealed our only way out. White swallowed my vision in an instant. Then came the suffocating dark. The shockwave knocked me off my feet, snow burying me past the waist. In the darkness, Todd broke down sobbing. "We're finished! We're going to die! Why would Professor Hanks do this?!" I dragged in ragged breaths. The cold was slowly wringing every trace of air from my lungs, and yet, strangely, my mind had gone perfectly calm. I understood then — once a person sees the full truth of being thrown away, there aren't even any tears left. The comments lit up again in the dark. [Don't panic! Kate's got another route!] [The underground river entrance is thirty meters to your back-right!] [Core data chip! Confirm the chip's still with you first!] I switched on my headlamp and pulled a silver metal case, wrapped in layer after layer of insulation, out of the bottom of my pack. Inside was the one and only core data chip from this entire expedition. Chris had always assumed the data lived on his own workstation. He had no idea that without my top-level password, everything he'd hauled home was just dead metal. Force it open, and the data would wipe itself in three seconds flat. I got to my feet and knocked the snow off myself. Todd grabbed my pant leg, sobbing so hard he could barely speak. "Mrs. Hanks, please save me! I shouldn't have taken their side back there. I was wrong!" I looked down at him. He'd been stupid and hateful. But he hadn't been the one who kicked that pillar. "If you want to live," I said coldly, "shut up and stay close." Todd nodded like his life depended on it — because it did. I followed the route the scanner had mapped, heading deeper into the cave toward the underground river. [Hang in there! The station's only two hundred meters ahead!] [Don't give up! In the original storyline, Kate died right here, two hundred meters short!] [Eat the chocolate now! No point saving it if there's no one left to save it for!] I tore open the chocolate bar Chris had shoved at me, and bit off half. The sweetness melted on my tongue, but all I could taste was bitterness. That chocolate had been meant as bait to keep me calm and compliant. Now, it was just fuel to keep me alive. Three hours later, I finally spotted the ventilation shaft of the abandoned multinational research station. A rusted iron grate was wedged tight against the ice wall. Todd was nearly at the point of collapse. "It won't budge. We're not getting in..." I didn't waste breath answering. I pulled out the one ice pick I had left and drove it into the gap between the grate and the ice wall. The screech of metal on metal set my teeth on edge. My palms had already gone numb from the cold, and every time I put weight into the pull, it felt like my wrists were splitting apart at the bone. Chapter 5 [Yes! Pry it with the ice pick!] [The bottom-left screw's rusted through. Put your weight there!] I gritted my teeth and threw the last of my strength into it. Crack. The first bolt snapped. I shifted my angle, braced the scanner's hard casing against the edge of the grate, and pushed again. A second bolt gave. Then a third — until the whole grate had been forced open into a gap wide enough to crawl through. I shoved Todd through first, then climbed in after him. The moment I hit the floor inside, I'd burned through nearly every last scrap of strength I had. But I couldn't afford to go down. I forced myself to switch on the backup power and boot up the encrypted satellite comm station. When the connection to the international joint rescue frequency went through, a startled voice answered. "This is Joint Rescue Command. Please state your identity and position." I held onto the console, my voice raw. "This is Kate Connery, lead data analyst for the polar expedition's core research division. I'm currently at Research Outpost Three, the abandoned multinational station. Initiate a Tier-One evacuation immediately. At the same time, use the highest authorization level to freeze all data access on the home project team's servers." The voice on the other end confirmed my identity fast. "Dr. Connery, your authorization command has been received. Stay on the line. We're dispatching the nearest rescue crew to reach you." I closed my eyes. "One more thing. Please notify the International Geological Consortium and the organizing committee back home at the same time. Chris Hanks is suspected of deliberately sabotaging a rescue route, endangering the lives of his team members, and attempting to illegally seize the project's core data. I have all the evidence." Meanwhile, back at the research base at home, Chris and Angelina had landed safely by helicopter. The instant he stepped off, eyes red-rimmed, he sprinted for command central. "Quick! Get heavy ice-cutting equipment out to the cave in the back mountains! Kate gave up her cold-weather gear for a new team member — she gave up her own chance to survive so someone else could live, and now she's trapped under the avalanche!" His voice was hoarse, and he even managed to squeeze a few convincing tears at the corners of his eyes. Everyone in the room was moved by the sight of a man grieving his lost wife while still holding the operation together. But the second he was alone in his office, he didn't even bother shutting the door all the way before diving for his workstation. Red text flashed across the screen. ACCESS DENIED: CORE PERMISSIONS LOCKED. Chris's brow knotted instantly. He knew the data was password-protected, but he wasn't worried — not yet. He was counting on Angelina, his so-called genius protégée, to crack it. And if that failed, he figured the team back home could brute-force the lock open in a matter of months. What he hadn't counted on was that I'd used an irreversible polar-grade encryption algorithm. Force it open, and the underlying data would wipe itself instantly. The comments scrolled past in front of me. [Hahahaha, good luck getting that open!] [Chris: My wife's dead, but the data should still be mine. Kate: Dream on.] [Irreversible encryption, huh? Finally, a smart decision from her!] The rescue plane reached the station under a dim, overcast sky. I was wrapped in an emergency blanket and carried aboard. An international investigator sitting across from me leaned in and asked quietly, "Dr. Connery, are you sure you want to head home right now?" I tightened my grip on the chip and looked out the window at the storm swallowing the polar landscape. "I'm sure. Chris is planning to accept an award on my behalf, isn't he? In that case, I'll need to be there in person." My phone buzzed the second it found a signal again. An invitation to the Annual Polar Expedition Honors Gala popped up. Time: nine tomorrow morning. Location: the National Convention Center. The comments flooded my vision instantly. [Here it comes! The most satisfying comeuppance scene on the whole internet!] [Go get him! Make him die of embarrassment on camera in front of everyone!] I looked at the smiling, cultured publicity photo of Chris on my screen and smiled a little myself. 'Chris. Didn't you want to stand in the spotlight and accept an award over my grave? Then you'd better brace yourself. 'Tomorrow, I'm going to personally destroy your reputation.'