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“Done. I have the rest of the medical stuff and a bunch of hydropods and chips.”

“You’re a natural. Do you have any thermal camping gear by chance? I know we only planned for a half a day—”

Heat flooded my neck and face. “Well, you know me. I still hoped we’d find a way to extend the excursion, so I may have brought a conduction tent and a couple of blankets.”

“Perfect! You’re literally a lifesaver. Now we need to exit the craft and get our bearings.” He frowned at the doors, half buried in snow and facing downward.

“Why? Isn’t it protecting us from the elements?” I asked, wide-eyed.

“Can’t you feel the cold?” he asked, the question filled with worry as opposed to challenge. He examined the beehive of airbags surrounding us.

“I do, but won’t it be worse out there?” I asked as he located an area far brighter than the rest. When I squinted, I could see the broken shell behind the material.

Austin pressed his palms against the inflated material blocking the way. “Maybe, but when the sun goes down, even the temperature inside will be too harsh. But if we can find some kind of natural shelter that’s big enough to set up the tent you brought…”

That was a nice way of saying we’d freeze to death anyway if we stayed here.

I swallowed, taking in the information. “Can you tear it?”

“This stuff is made tough. I can’t break it with brute force,” he said thoughtfully.

“Right. Okay.”

Austin slid over to his bag and unzipped the part he could reach. He rummaged inside and came out with a bendable tube the size of a metal drinking straw.

“A laser cutter!” I said, understanding.

Austin held the tip to the closest airbag and squeezed. A bright blue light sliced at the stubborn material, popping it like a balloon. Slowly, he guided it in a large arc, clearing enough space for us to get through.

The full force of the arctic temperature burst inside along with sunlight, gusts of snow and wind, and a way forward. He was right. We could do this. The rest would be easy compared to crashing.

But my celebration was interrupted by Austin stumbling backward and grabbing his head. Rushing to his side, I held him steady until he was able to focus on me. He reached down and stroked my cheek with his thumb.

“It’s probably just a concussion. I’ve had them before, plenty of times,” he said.

I knew from experience he was a good liar, but in this case, I appreciated it. So I tucked myself beneath his arm and helped guide him out of the hellipod.

Our protective clothing helped, but it wouldn’t keep us warm enough forever. The important thing was walking away alive, I reminded myself as we stumbled from the crash site. When he pointed to some large rocks covered in snow, I set him down there and caught my breath.

From this distance, the pod resembled a crushed tin can, discarded and half buried. I grimaced, knowing it wouldn’t be much help in getting us back to the resort, but maybe some of it could be helpful.

“Where are you going?” Austin called as I trudged back toward the craft.

I held up a finger to let him know to wait and made my way to the where the bottom of the hellipod stuck half-out of the snow. I found two of the large hover disks that served as its landing legs, which were well above ground and not bent. So I grappled for a unitool in my bag and unscrewed them, finally prying them each free with a foot against the bottom of the craft for leverage.

When I returned, Austin was smiling at me—the goofy, genuine kind of smile I liked so much.

“How do I check you for brain damage?” I asked, hugging myself and dancing more from nerves than the need to keep warm.

“That was good thinking. But you haven’t even noticed where we are yet,” he said. “At least I got you to the spot you wanted.”

I stilled, looking around. We’d crashed on the opposite side of the cave-like area next to the fjord. It was within around twenty meters of where the dogs had freaked out the day before.

“You don’t look happy,” Austin pointed out, furrowing his brow. “I thought you wanted to check this place out. You said you saw movement.”

“I saw more than movement yesterday.” I explained the ordeal with the dogs as Austin listened carefully.

When I finished, he stood, stumbling only slightly with a flinch. He turned to search the rocks and the overhang they created, though from this vantage point it wasn’t as easy to see inside.