Free Ice Rift by Ben Hammott Page A

their view.
    Jack cursed.
    The passenger screamed.
     
     
    Eli released a sigh of relief when the Sno-Cat bounced clear over him. He then heard the engine noise again, much louder now. He turned his head and was astonished to see an airplane appear out of the blizzard below him. He watched with trepidation as it shot nearer, catching a glimpse of Jack fighting the controls. He watched in horror for its passengers when the Sno-Cat smashed into the wing, sheering it off like it was paper. The wing folded and struck the side of the aircraft before it was lifted by the wind and borne aloft while the Sno-Cat dropped into the crevasse to be lost from his sight.
    Now minus a wing, the plane tipped up on its side with the still attached wing aimed at the bottom of the rift. With a shriek of tortured metal, the bottom of the plane scraped along the ice wall, tearing off the skids. The plane dipped to head deeper into the chasm. The screech of metal was deafening inside the plane the passenger now looked upon as his coffin.
    Jack released his white knuckle grip on the useless controls. They were in fate's hands now. He braced himself for the impact he knew was coming. As the fuselage screeched along the ice wall, Jack felt the plane rotate. He caught a brief glimpse of the narrowing gap between the ice walls before the airborne snow and ice stole it from him again. A secondary screech of protest filled the small space when the top of the plane made contact with the ice and skimmed along it. Pilot and passenger stared at the buckling fuselage. The sound of tearing metal that filled the small craft announced the loss of the remaining wing. When the top and bottom of the plane touched ice at the same time, an outcrop of ice ripped through the thin aluminum skin. Ice shards sprayed the plane's frightened passenger, his eyes transfixed on the ice wall speeding by only inches from his face. If it was possible for him to be terrified more than he'd been previously, then he was.
    When the plane neared the bottom of the rift, it was forced between the narrowing sides of the two ice walls, crushing the top and bottom of the plane. As it became wedged in the tight space, the plane's momentum slowed. It brought a glimmer of hope to both pilot and passenger that they might actually survive the crash. After what had seemed like an eternity for the plane's occupants since the start of the catastrophe, but was in fact only a few seconds, their ordeal came to an end when the plane slowly juddered to a halt. After a few creaks and groans, the plane settled, and except for the weather raging outside and the two passengers' fast pumping hearts, all was still and silent.
    “We made it! We actually made it!”
    Jack turned to look at his passenger. “You owe me a new plane.”
    “After what you just put me through, you can sue me.”
    Jack sighed. He would argue the issue later. They weren't out of danger yet. They still had the freezing cold to contend with. If they remained in the plane, they'd soon freeze to death. If they left the plane, they had no equipment to climb out of the rift and seek the shelter of the nearby base camp. He picked up the radio― it was dead.
    “So, what do we do now?” asked his passenger.
     
     
    When he had recovered from the shock, Eli climbed down to the bottom of the rift and headed in the direction he'd last seen the plane before it disappeared into the blizzard. If there were survivors, which he doubted, they would need help. They wouldn't last long in this weather. He came across the plane about one hundred yards along the crevasse. Its wings had been torn off, and the fuselage was crushed and dented. He hoped the passengers inside had fared better. He headed forward to find out.
     
     
    “So…what do we do? We'll freeze to death sitting in this tin box.”
    It was the first time since he'd had his pilot's license that Jack wouldn't have minded if one of his passengers had died. “Be quiet, I'm