Free False Horizon by Alex Archer Page B

looked in the back of the plane and seen Tuk, and only managed to free herself.
    Tuk strained his ears and heard crunching sounds from outside of the plane. Someone was walking around. Unsteady, but they were alive.
    Tuk knew that the time had come to make his presence known. They would all be reliant on one another now if they had any hope of surviving. And he felt certain the man on the phone wouldn’t mind.
    Tuk frowned. But maybe not just yet. Maybe he would simply act the part of the stowaway. He could claim he’d gone out drinking and staggered inside the plane to sleep off his binge.
    Yes. He would keep up appearances until told otherwise. Operational sanctity was his first priority. That and his personal survival.
    But first, he had to get himself out of the plane—
    Tuk jerked back as a massive sword blade suddenly sliced through the battered metal skin of the airplane, rending it apart. Tuk felt the bags beneath him suddenly start to spill out and with them went his body.
    He toppled out of the airplane and landed at Annja’s feet.
    A sword? Where had she gotten that?
    But Annja took another step forward, even as the first bits of surprise registered on her face at seeing Tuk. Then she fell over into the snow.
    And Tuk scrambled forward to help.

10
     
    Annja came back around and opened her eyes. She immediately felt the cold snow around her body and wondered what had happened. But then the memories flashed through her mind and she sat up instantly.
    “Wait.” A small hand held her down. “If you get up too quickly, you will vomit and dehydrate.”
    The face of the small man swam into view. Annja frowned and then remembered that he had somehow spilled out of the back of the airplane. “Who are you?” she asked.
    “My name is Tuk.”
    Annja struggled. “Mike—?”
    “The man with you is still unconscious. And he is still secured to the seat. I was unable to free him without assistance. Perhaps when you feel better, we might—”
    “We’ll do it now,” Annja said. She slowly got to her feet and headed for the plane, followed by Tuk.
    “I really think you ought to rest before we do this,” he said.
    Annja stopped and looked at him. He was tiny and looked more like a child than an adult. But she could see the creases and furrows in his face that come with the accumulation of life experience. She shook her head.
    “If we leave him in there, he’ll get hypothermia. We need to find some form of shelter and start a fire.”
    Tuk nodded. “Very well.” He followed Annja around to Mike’s side of the plane.
    Annja looked inside. Mike’s face looked peaceful but she was alarmed. She’d already regained consciousness twice and Mike had yet to move. Was it possible that he had a severe head injury? If he did, then they would need a medevac as soon as possible. But Annja had no idea how to go about getting one. The only hope she had right then was that Jomsom air traffic control had launched a search-and-rescue party for them.
    “Help me wedge the door open,” Annja said.
    Tuk came alongside, and then as Annja held the door handle down he leaned and drove the door back with the force of his body. Annja looked at him and smiled. He might have been tiny but he had a lot of power in that body of his.
    Together, they got the door open. Annja looked at Mike. As she twisted, she grunted as a sharp lancing pain shot through her ribs. They were tolerable, but would also need taping at some point.
    First things first, she took Mike’s pulse and found it stronger now than when they’d first crashed. That was a good sign. He was breathing well. But his cheeks were pale.
    From the waist down he was covered with snow. Annja frowned. “We’ve got to get this away from his body. It’s leeching the warmth right out of him.”
    Tuk nodded. “All right, let me help. You have an injury from the crash, it would appear.”
    Annja nodded. “You’re no picture of perfection yourself, pal. You’ve got some blood on