True North

Chapter 2


Between homework, classes and training sessions, Bridge had little time to worry about his upcoming wilderness survival final. The days seemed to fly by, and before he knew it everyone was packed and it was time to leave. First there was the two hour flight north, then another three hours on a bus, driving through windy, narrow roads before arriving at base camp. Bridge was on the last bus of cadets to arrive.

Base camp was a hive of activity. Cadets and their instructors hurried from place to place, with bags scattered haphazardly on the ground. A few tents were already up, and Bridge recognized one of the other teachers talking animatedly to a bored-looking Lieutenant Ziira.

Beyond the camp clearing was a line of emerald-green pines which traced their way to the foothills, ending at the base of a mountain. The mountain towered over the landscape, with a white, jagged peak reaching into the high clouds.

Trying not to look too eager, Bridge slung his bag over his shoulder and wandered around the camp until he found Sky and Syd. Sky was sitting on top of his bag, reading the map. He looked up when Bridge arrived.

"Good, you're here. I think they're about to fly us out." Sky handed the map to Bridge, along with a waterproof pen and notebook. "I picked up the map and your journal. You're the best at reading maps, so you can be our navigator."

Bridge nodded and tucked the map away in his pocket. Syd stood a short distance apart from them both, her coat pulled tightly around her. She shivered as a cold wind blew off the mountain.

"Are you okay?" Bridge asked.

"I'll be better once this is over," she smiled half-heartedly. "I have to say, I'm kind of nervous about this."

"It won't be that bad," Bridge said. "It's just for a few days."

Syd gave him a doubtful look. "I don't know. Last time I had to take one of these practicals... "

"Attention, cadets!" An instructor tapped the loudspeaker, cutting off anything Syd was about to say. "Make sure you've collected your maps and journals! Double check to make sure you have everything - Group B-4, report to the helicopters!"

"We'd better get ready to go." Sky said and, sure enough, within a few minutes it was their turn.

"Group B-6!"

The three cadets shielding their eyes from the flying snow as the helicopter landed nearby. The pilot waved them on board, and soon they were flying over the mountain.


Syd stared out the window with a look of thinly concealed horror and watched miles upon miles of ice and trees pass by. She looked back at her teammates. Sky was watching her steadily.

Syd knew that look. It was the look people gave when they evaluated, judged and dismissed her. In any other place, at any other time, she would have confronted him. As several cadets had discovered, if words couldn't get her point across, a fist made from steel or cement would.

This time was different. This time, she looked away.


"This is it!" the pilot said. He gave them an encouraging thumbs up. "Good luck!" The three cadets saluted and jumped out of the helicopter. The sound of the whirring blades faded into silence, leaving them in a small clearing surrounded by wind-swept pines. The ground was coated with an icy crust of snow.

Bridge was the first to speak. "Okay, what now?"

"Well," Sky said, "we have five days to reach the rendezvous point. If we want to get a good grade on this project, we should get started right away."

"Okay," Bridge said. He unfolded the map and studied it for a moment. "According to the pilot, we are here." He took out a pen and marked the spot where they landed. "The rendezvous point is here." He pointed toward a gold star on the map, a good distance away.

"That's at least 30 miles," Syd observed, looking over his shoulder. "Probably more."

"That's less than 7 miles a day," Sky said. "It's totally manageable. We're on the south side of this mountain, right?"

Bridge wasn't sure. "I don't know. Yes, I think so. Maybe." He looked back at the map.

Sky sighed. "Look, we all want to get onto a squad, so we need a good grade in this class. I don't like it any more than you do, but I have the most experience in this sort of thing and the best grades in the course. So just follow my instructions we'll get through this fine."

"I thought this is as much about teamwork as completing the course," Bridge objected.

"Even teams have leaders," Sky said. "Besides, do either of you have a better idea of how to go about this?"

Bridge and Syd shook their heads.

"Okay, it's settled then." Sky said. "Bridge, which way is shortest?"

Bridge pointed at a shaded area on the map. "I think that if we follow this ridge, it'll be longer, but we'll avoid this rocky area, which is good because it seems steep and is probably difficult to walk over."

"Sounds like a plan. Syd?"

Syd sighed and started to walk. "Let's just get this over with."


They stopped walking when the sun set, taking cover behind a clump of forlorn aspen trees. The tents were soon assembled and the three cadets sat around the campfire stoves. Bridge tore open a standard-issue packet of food and emptied the green flakes into a pot of boiling water. After letting it sit for few minutes, he scooped it out into cups, handing one to each of his teammates.

Bridge poked at his own food before taking a tentative bite. He had to force himself to take a second. "This is pretty gross," Bridge commented. "You'd think they'd give us better food."

"It's because of all of the off-worlders," Syd said. "It's hard to find things that taste okay to everyone at the Academy. This is probably a delicacy to someone from Titan or something."

It was hard to believe this cup of mushy green stuff with orange flecks could be appetizing to anyone, but Bridge ate it anyways. Rinsing out his cup, he sat back down on the cold ground and stared up at the dizzying array of stars. Somewhere nearby there were a few sharp coyote yips, followed by a chorus of howls.

"I'm going to bed," Syd said suddenly. She entered her tent and zipped the flap behind her.

"She doesn't seem too happy to be out h… h…" Bridge sneezed, "here."

"Are you okay?" Sky looked genuinely concerned.

A tiny part of him hoped that at least a little of that concern was for him. 'No way,' Bridge thought. 'He's just worried about our grades - if I get sick it'll slow us down.'

"It's nothing," Bridge replied aloud. "I'm fine. It's probably allergies, anyhow. I've had them since I was a kid."

Sky studied his teammate. Although they were in the same training squadron and had several classes together, he actually knew very little about Bridge. He knew that Bridge was among the youngest in their class. He also had some kind of strange power, but no one seemed to know exactly what it was. Sky suspected it had something to do with the gloves he always wore. "Bridge… why did you join S.P.D.?"

Bridge shrugged. "It seemed like the thing to do at the time. My parents hated the idea, but I wanted to help people and make a difference. I was an only child and I really liked the idea of being part of something, you know?"

Bridge smiled brightly and Sky suddenly realized that the other cadet was kind of cute. He suppressed the thought immediately. Personal relationships between cadets, while common, were against regulations.

"Why did you enlist?" Bridge asked him.

"Same reasons, I guess," Sky said. Bridge waited, but he didn't elaborate further. "Anyways, we should go to sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow." Sky retreated to the safety and solitude of his own tent. He couldn't let anything, no matter how small, get in the way of being promoted to a squad.


The next morning they got off to a slow start. Neither Bridge nor Syd were morning people and after a quick breakfast of dried fruits, it took nearly an hour to get everyone packed and ready to go.

The bright, sunny weather of the day before was gone, replaced with overcast grey skies and a sharp, damp wind. An apprehensive feeling began to grow deep in the pit of Bridge's stomach. 'It doesn't mean anything,' he told himself. 'It's just the weather.'

"I think we should try to at least get around this mountain by dark." Bridge said. He adjusted the map as he walked. "Then it looks like a straight shot to the end."

"Good," Syd said. As she spoke, the wind picked up again. "I am totally ready to be back home in my nice, warm, bed."

Sky gritted his teeth. "None of us are happy about being here, but you're the only one I hear complaining about it."

"Whatever," Syd said. "Not everyone is as used to roughing it as you, Sky."

"Look," Bridge interrupted, hoping to head off an argument, "let's just try to work together. I think…"

There was a sharp, resounding crack somewhere high above them. They looked up to see a white cloud of snow cascading quickly down the slope, crushing everything in its path.

Bridge could feel the roar of the avalanche in his chest. He ran blindy, the thin layer of ice slowing down his every step, making the ground slippery and dangerous. Behind him, Syd slipped and fell. Bridge turned back, but Sky was already pulling her to her feet. They ran as fast as they could, knowing their lives depended on it.

They were too slow, too late. The wall of snow hit them with tremendous force.


A/N: Wow, a fast update from me! That's rare. :) Please review!