Read Online Ice Rift by Ben Hammott - Free Book Online Page A

over the edge with a foot and slowly lowered it into the crevasse. A gust of cold wind ruffled the fur collar of his hood. He turned his head in the direction it had blown from. He frowned at the distant grey clouds. They were a good indication of an approaching storm.
     
     
    Max glanced up at the snow and ice debris dislodged by the approaching crate sliding down the side of the ice wall. He squeezed past the three boxes ready to be lowered into the cavern, knelt beside the hole and poked his head through. “Eli's sending the last box down. As soon as we have it, we'll lower them down to you.”
    “Okay,” Henry shouted back.
     
     
    By the time all four boxes had been lowered into the cavern thirty minutes later, the wind blowing through the rift had increased, driving pellets of frozen snow that stung their faces.
    Max observed the grey cloud-filled sky that had gradually darkened. “A storm's heading our way.”
    Theo had reached the same conclusion. “We won't feel it when we're below.”
    Max sat with his feet dangling into the void. “It's not us I'm worried about, but Eli up top.”
    “It doesn't seem too bad at the moment. Hopefully it'll blow over soon.”
    “I hope you're right.” Max dropped into the hole.
     
     
    As soon as the first box had been freed from its tether, Henry opened it and took out a flask of hot chocolate and a tier of plastic cups. Because the temperature was warmer in the cavern and sheltered from the wind chill, there was no need to drink from thermos cups to prevent the hot liquid from freezing.
    “Anyone for hot chocolate? I had Pike make a fresh batch.”
    “Henry, I could kiss you,” said Jane with a smile.
    Henry smiled. “If I was thirty years younger, I'd insist on it.” He handed out two cups and filled them with steaming hot chocolate.
    Jane and Lucy both took a sip.
    “Ahhhh,” sighed Lucy, appreciatively. “It's better than sex.”
    “You've been dating the wrong men,” said Jane.
    Lucy laughed. “You're so right.”
    Max's descent was accompanied by flakes of snow drifting through the opening.
    “Is the weather turning?” Henry asked.
    Max released the rope so Theo could pull it up. “A storm's on the way.”
    Lucy glanced up at the hole and the specks of snow and ice drifting in. “Will we be okay down here?”
    “We'll be fine,” Henry reassured her.
    Theo joined them a few moments later.
    “Right,” said Henry. “Now we're all here, how about we find the flashlights and start exploring this amazing cavern?”
     
     
    With no shelter to protect him, the wind whipped at Eli, flapping the hood of his coat. If it grew any stronger he'd have to return to base. Though a precaution of Henry's was that at least one person remained on the ice while the team entered the rift, in case they got into trouble, not even Henry would expect anyone to remain unsheltered in this weather. He could take refuge in the Sno-Cat temporarily. It had a heater if the engine was running, but if the storm was an exceptionally cold one and lasted for a few days he might run out of fuel and freeze to death.
    Even through his layers of thermal clothing, Eli felt the high wind chill steal away his body heat. He wiped the film of frozen snow from his goggles with a gloved hand and gazed north. Rolling black clouds sped toward him. Though he'd never experienced one before, he'd heard about the Katabatic winds caused by heavy cold air rushing down glacial inclines like a tidal wave. Often referred to as Hell's Wind ! Not named because it was hot― the opposite in fact― but because of the up to two-hundred-mile-per-hour winds that spurred it along, causing anyone unlucky enough to be caught in its path to endure hell or be sent to it.
    He turned and looked at the base camp and back at the blizzard screaming across the ice. It was travelling too fast for him to outrun in the Sno-Cat; he had only one option. He picked up one of the climbing ropes trailing into the rift and moved to