The Ice People #OpenNovellaContest

0030 Hours

"Christine?" I asked as she glided towards me. "Christine, can you hear me? It's Matt. It's me, Christine." Still, the Ice Creature that used to be one of my best friends walked right past me and stood by the side of the Master, her arms loose at her sides;  it was as though I didn't exist.

"She can't hear you, Mr Mayhew," Captain Scott said. "Nothing you can say will bring her back to you. She belongs entirely to me now."

"What have you done?" I growled at him. "What have you done to her?! You promised you wouldn't hurt her!"

"I haven't hurt her, Mr Mayhew," the Master smirked. "I've upgraded her. She's now stronger, faster and more powerful." He hesitated, a smile coming to his lips as he gazed over Christine. "I have to say, she is my best creation yet."

"Turn her back!" I yelled, holding up the gun again to my head. "Turn her back and free the others right now or I swear to God that I'll shoot myself!" The Master rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You need a human to turn her back," he said. "A human must step inside the machine and sacrifice themselves for her. As there are no other humans around, that's not going to happen any time soon." I swallowed hard, the gun trembling in my hand.

This hadn't been part of the plan.

I just had to hope that Pete and the others would hurry up; I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up. Where the hell were they? The tracker in my pocket should pin point my exact location, so what was taking them so long?

"I grow tired of this game, Mr Mayhew," the Master said. "There is nowhere you can go, no way out, nothing you can do to escape. Give up to me now and I promise that it will be swift.  And of course I will liberate your friend in exchange." I looked up towards the ceiling, still holding the gun in my hands.

Above the ice, I could see dark shadows making their way carefully across the snow fields, treading cautiously. I smiled slightly to myself, knowing what was about to happen.

"I think I'll pass on your offer, Captain Scott," I said with a smirk. Before he could stop me, I bolted to the corner of the cavern, crouching down and covering my head.

Boom!

The ceiling ice shattered as Harrison, Silverton and Pete set off the charges above the cavern. Ice rained down on us some the size of boulders, others just fragments.  Within seconds,  Silverton and Harrison had abseiled down into the cavern, their guns up and ready to fire.

"Matt!" I heard Pete yell from the hole in the ceiling above my head. "Matt, are you okay?"

"I'm all right, Pete!" I shouted back. "I'm okay!"

"Okay, I'm coming down!" he yelled back.

"No, Pete!" I cried. "Get back to the boat. We'll deal with this!" There was no answer in reply so I assumed that he had taken my advice. I ran towards Silverton and Harrison who both kept their guns trained on the centre of the cavern where a pile of broken ice lay, hopefully with the Master crushed underneath.

"Stay alert," I told the two men. "we can't assume the Master is dead." As if on cue, the debris started to move and tumble off the pile. Christine suddenly burst out, snarling in anger before turning to help the Master up after her.

"Wait, is that...?" Silverton started then trailed off in complete shock.

"Yes," I said, keeping my eyes trained on the pair. "That is Captain Scott. He turned Christine." The Master finally straightened, brushing the  ice from his clothes. He laughed when he saw us, shaking his head.

"That was very well played, Mr Mayhew," he congratulated mockingly, clapping his hands slowly. "You had me talking about myself to give your friends enough time. Very clever, very clever indeed. But I'm afraid that your efforts will be to no avail." He turned to Christine. "Kill the two soldiers," he ordered. "But bring Mr Mayhew to me alive."