Chapter Fourteen
It was the next afternoon and Claudia was hovering over the mountain in a helicopter with Artie and Pete, looking for any sign of HG and Myka. Artie had spoken with the owner of the lodge to find out that his agents never returned to their cabin last night. Things moved quickly from there. Everyone was tensely quiet as they boarded the private airplane that was reserved for emergencies. The silence was uncomfortable and no one managed to get any sleep.
They checked the cave with the artifact first, but both it and the agents were long gone.
"Over that way!" Artie gruffed at the pilot of the helicopter as he pointed their right.
"Man, I told you I had a bad vibe," Pete said with worry as he looked down at the abandoned, snow covered vehicle.
"Dude, you said you had chili dogs!" Claudia retorted.
"The dogs just disguised it. I was still vibin' and it was still bad."
"Would you two stop acting like children for five minutes," Artie demanded with impatience.
Claudia was about to protest but closed her mouth and directed her attention out the window when she saw the look on Artie's face.
The chopper made its way to the vehicle and the pilot circled to find a place to land. "I don't see anywhere clear enough to set her down. We either need to look farther, or you can take the drop ladder."
"We don't have time," Artie barked over the loud whir of the helicopter blades. Lower us down and stay close. I have a feeling they aren't with the car anymore, but maybe we can get an idea of which way they've headed."
Claudia exchanged a look with Pete, both realizing that it would take a lot less time if Artie didn't have to make his way down then back up the ladder.
"How about you just let me and Claudia go down to look and we'll be right back up," Pete suggested cautiously.
Claudia sat at the edge of her seat as the pilot settled the helicopter into a position above the car. Pete climbed down first and Claudia followed with ease. They quickly dashed to the car, anxious to make sure the agents weren't in the car and in bad condition.
Pete brushed the snow off the driver side window with his sleeve and sighed with relief to see the car empty. He tried the handle, but the car was locked.
Claudia went around the rest of the car, brushing off snow and making sure the agents were not in the back.
"Not here," she called to Pete.
"I don't think we'll have any tracks to follow. It looks like a lot of snow has fallen since they abandoned the vehicle."
"They probably walked back the way they came," Pete theorized, "which I would assume is the direction that the vehicle is facing."
"Right, let's bounce and fly along the road," Claudia agreed as she reached back for the ladder.
Myka quickly turned to face the direction from which they just walked. She could hear the distant hum of machinery.
"That sounds like a helicopter," she said excitedly. "It must be far over the mountain. Quick, we need to get ourselves into the most clear area we can find that provides the most contrast." She reached back for Helena's hand and grabbed hold of it, pulling her forward. "We want to make sure they can see us."
Although not easily caught off guard, Helena stumbled as she was suddenly being yanked forward. Myka slowed down and gave her a chance to catch up before tugging urgently at her hand again, pulling back in the direction of the gas station. They hadn't made it far and that was the least tree-covered area they had encountered in quite some time.
"I do hope you're correct about this," Helena started, "because I don't particularly enjoy backtracking."
"Come on, it's got to be Artie and Pete. We've been out of contact for too long and there's no way they'd not be looking for us by now."
Myka tugged some more at her partner's hand as she increased her speed to a jog.
"Not everyone here has eaten enough sugar to get a rush, darling," Helena protested, but still managed to keep up.
They rounded the bend and dashed to the gas station. Myka immediately started searching for items that would create an eyesore to draw attention. There was little more than a couple of wooden pallets and an empty gas can, but the latter was bright red and she grabbed it on her way to the side of the building.
"We can climb up onto the dumpster. Then, if you help give me a lift, I should be able to make it onto the roof of the building," Myka explained as she tossed the gas can on the snowy dumpster lid. Carefully placing her foot at the protruding corner of the metal dumpster and grasping the grooved edge of the top, Myka pulled herself up. Covered in snow, she tested the stability of the lid. "It should hold both of us just fine. Come on!"
Myka watched as her partner mimicked her foot placement and reached up to her outstretched hand, gripping firmly. Myka slipped in the wet snow and barely caught herself from falling down onto Helena.
"Not to worry, I can make it up just fine on my own," Helena said confidently while positioning herself again and climbing onto the dumpster with ease.
Myka brushed the snow off her pants and sat the gas can on the edge of the roof. "Get a really good foothold. It's a bit slippery."
Helena assessed where best to place her feet and motioned for Myka to step closer.
"Right then, up you go!"
Myka grabbed onto the concrete ledge of the roof as her partner gripped her hips. She pulled with all of her strength as Helena pushed from below. She felt as her partner's hands repositioned themselves to her butt.
"I hope you're enjoying this," Myka managed to get out through gritted teeth as she struggled.
"Very much so!"
With one last push from Helena, Myka was able to pull hard and rest her abdomen on the ledge. Breathing deeply, she composed herself and launched her body the rest of the way over the ledge.
"I don't think I can pull you up here," Myka frowned, "so, you can either stay there on the dumpster, or break back into the store for anything else that may come handy in attracting their attention."
"Righty ho!" Helena exclaimed as she leapt to the ground with ease.
"She was too eager for that," Myka mumbled out loud to herself.
Myka watched the horizon in the direction of the helicopter's telling sounds. It was still running, but seemed to have come to a halt. Furrowing her brow, she tried to estimate its location. Her best guess was that it was near their rental car. They're smart, she thought, they'll figure out that we aren't there and then follow the road until they reach us. That's simple enough.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Helena shouting her name.
"I have constructed a plan to claim their notice!" she announced.
"Yeah, what's that?" Myka projected her voice to the ground.
"A simple mirror trick, actually," Helena shrugged with a compact disc in her hand, suddenly aware that it wasn't one of her most thrilling ideas.
"Ah, I see. The glare from the sun could definitely help catch their attention," Myka agreed, "especially if it nearly blinds them."
"Don't be so dramatic, it can't possibly blind them."
"No, probably not," Myka chuckled, "but when Tracy and I were teenagers, she shined the glare off her CDs into my eyes so many times, I was pretty sure I'd go blind."
Helena gave her a wide smile at the insight to her childhood. Myka loved sharing her memories with Helena because she was always genuinely interested in hearing about them, just as Myka always loved Helena's stories of her time before Warehouse 12.
"Do you want me to give it a shot from up here, or do you have a good spot down there to take aim?"
"I suppose I shall give it a go from the anterior of the gas pumps," Helena declared. "The sun is at an adequate enough angle to reflect off the disc. That way you are available to flail about with your gas receptacle up there!"
"Hey! I do not flail!"
"Do you not recall ten minutes ago when you flailed in an attempt to regain your balance atop the dumpster lid, darling?" Helena jested with a grin. "You most certainly do flail. Not to worry, though, it is rather endearing."
"Alright, you know what? How about you go over there now and play with your shiny disc. I'll be up here, effectively gaining the attention of the helicopter with my flailing," Myka sassed, overly emphasizing her words with a flourish of the gas can and paying no mind to the sound of the helicopter that had just breached the horizon.
"There they are!" Pete shouted from the co-pilot's seat, binoculars in hand. "Mykes is flailing around on top of a building with something red."
Claudia leaned forward to look. Sure enough, there was a curly head of hair holding onto a red object. "Do you see HG?"
"Yeah, she's on the ground trying to blind me with something shiny," Pete whined.