Hunt Beyond the Frozen Fire by Christa Faust, Gabriel Hunt Page B

do it without uttering a single sound.
    The razor-edged stalagmites made a straight shot across the cavern impossible, their jutting facets turning the ground of the cavern into a particularly nasty labyrinth. After seeing what a tiny one had done to Millie’sthick parka, Gabriel was quite sure he didn’t want to brush against any of them by accident. Carefully, he began to pick his way along a circuitous, spiraling route that avoided the densest patches of crystals. He waved for the others to follow.
    They followed, and spoke not a word. But even their cautious, sliding footsteps were amplified to an accusatory racket by the singing crystals.
    They’d made it nearly three-quarters of the way across when Rue lost her footing on the slick ice. She reached out instinctively for balance and gripped one of the nearest stalagmites. The sharp edge sliced open the palm of her glove and slid deep into the flesh of her hand. A high-pitched yelp of pain escaped from her throat before she could stifleit.
    For a second, the team stood frozen as the sound doubled and qua drupled into a jagged siren wail echoing through the crystalline chamber. First the smallest crystals and then larger ones began to detach and drop all around them.
    “Run!” Gabriel spat in a harsh constricted whisper that was immediately snatched up and echoed back by the crystals.
    They made a break for the narrow opening, tearing at top speed through the deadly rain of crystal blades. The clashing racket had become so loud and piercing that Gabriel had to cover his ears as he ran, the pain in his ear drums outweighing even the sting of the cuts inflicted by the falling crystals.
    When Gabriel made it to the shelter of the tunnel opening, he reached out to grab Velda and Rue, pulling them to safety. Millie was close behind but Nils had fallen about twelve feet back, a foot-long crystal piercing his calf like an arrow.
    Millie turned back, dodging the falling crystals, and swiftly hauled the silent, bleeding Swede up in his arms. Gabriel clenched his fists as Millie darted and weaved, eyes cast up at the ceiling, trying to guess where the next deadly missile would plunge.
    One fell directly in front of him, smashing to shrapnel against the ground, the sound of its impact setting off sympathetic vibrations in the crystals all around the point of impact. Millie kicked a large fragment out of his path, put his head down, and barreled forward. He made it into the tunnel just seconds before a truly massive stalactite, as wide around as Millie himself and twice as tall, came crashing down. It fell against the tunnel entrance, sealing it. The terrible screaming of the resonating crystals was muffled at last.
    Gabriel looked around as Millie set Nils down on the ground. This tunnel was also roofed with the glittering red ice—but here the ice was smooth and flat, not lined with crystals. He laid one palm against the nearest wall. No vibrations, even when he quietly whispered, “Testing…testing…” He tried it louder. Nothing happened.
    “It’s okay, we can talk,” Gabriel said. His voice sounded muted and distant in his ringing ears. “Everybody all right?”
    “Man, that stings,” Rue said, holding up her cut hand and poking at the slash in her glove.
    “I’m okay,” Velda said. “How’s Nils?”
    The team gathered around the fallen Swede.
    “I am all right,” Nils said. “It is not so very bad.”
    Gabriel bent close and examined the crystal protruding from Nils’s calf.
    “I need to pull it out,” Gabriel said. “But first I’ll need something to handle it with so I don’t cut my fingers.”
    Millie unslung his bedroll and pulled out a heavy pair of pliers. Gabriel took them from him and positioned the jaws on either side of the crystal. “Good news is,” he told Nils, “something this sharp ought to come out cleanly. You ready?”
    The Swede nodded. “Yes. I am ready.”
    Gabriel gently squeezed the pliers closed. He pulled on the crystal