Huskies from Hell

Chapter 1

There he was, at the last station the cargo train could possible reach in the snow ring. Petrash had been the only passenger in the single carriage for people for the better part of the day, no-one else in their right mind headed this way. With a deep sigh he grabbed his two black sports bags containing what he'd needed most and stepped out into the freezing cold. The train had entered a long warehouse so cargo could be loaded and offloaded under cover and not in the middle of the constant snow and wind, and for that he was grateful. It was still as cold as outside but at least the wind was blocked for the most part. He asked one of the men unloading crates where he could find the office and followed the path he was told between the containers, stacks of crates and barrels. The office looked like a rundown shack made of composite plating, not very comfortable, which suggestion was enforced by the creaking of the door as he entered it. He asked for the chief and one of the men pointed to a large figure in the corner writing at his cluttered desk with a heater close by.

'Excuse me, I was told you could get me to outpost Zero.'

The figure turned around and Petrash saw he must be part of the polar bear clan. White fur, heavy body underneath the dark blue snow jacket and grey trousers. His ears showed scars of frostbite so Petrash figured he must have been working here for quite some time.

'Ah, you must be the guy they sent to Zero this time.' he said and held out his hand. 'Call me Chief.'

They shook hands and Chief continued. 'HQ told me you'd come and asked to get you to the outpost.'

He grabbed his battered beige cap from a stack of papers and led him out the door to the garage at the back. 'Unfortunately I can't spare anyone to guide you because I've got extra cargo deliveries to a nearby lab, but if you're not willing to wait you can use a bubble to get there by yourself. Navigation will show you the way so it's not really difficult.'

'I'm here so I might as well get there as soon as possible. The sooner I go crazy the sooner I'll be back.'

Chief laughed and slapped him on his back. 'I guess you heard about the stories of all those who were sent here.' He looked at Petrash and smiled. 'Then again, they just might take a liking to you.'

Petrash shuddered at the thought of being liked by a group of hard-ass snow ring drivers nicknamed the Huskies from Hell as Chief opened the door to the garage.

Most of the garage was empty except for a dark green tracked vehicle looking larger than a house and two yellow tracked trucks the size of regular street trucks. Chief led him to the other side of the huge truck and there were a couple of bubble shaped tracked vehicles. Most of the top half of the bubble was transparent plastic, the rest a dirty yellow metal.

'Here you go.' Chief said and opened the door at the side of the first one. 'Navigation has the coordinates for Zero in the preconfigured list.'

It was large enough to hold four people and baggage.

'Thanks.' Petrash said as he dropped his bags on the floor in front of the fake leather back-seat. 'How long will it take to get there?'

'About eight hours.'

'Damn.'

'If you like, there's rations and even a couple of bottles of the strong stuff in the back so you won't have to feel cold during the trip. As long as you don't overdo it.'

'Heh, no worries. I intend to get there in one warm piece.'

'Well said.' Chief snickered. 'Well, have a good trip, and good luck. I'll open the door for you.'

'Thanks, I'll need it.' Petrash said and settled into the driver seat. The controls were pretty close to a car's. He started the engine and put the automatic gearbox in drive mode. Carefully feeling how quick the steering reacted he drove forward and turned to the open door where Chief waited for him. He gave him a quick wave as he entered the outside world of the snow ring for the first time in his life. The shacks that formed the town for the people here to live in laid to the right but the navigation showed his route to the left. Not having to worry about streets he turned until the arrow pointed straight ahead and turned on the cruise control.