Strana Mechty, Winter Past, 2989.
Winter had started early and the cadets could feel the cold wind seeping into their teenage bodies even though they were all suited up in thermal body suits and windbreakers. The gravel gave a solid crunch as they walked over it with their climbing shoes as they headed to the base of the spire. It was early morning, and the sun had yet to fully emerge from the horizon but the time honored tradition had always been to start just before first light.
It was both a contest and a ritual, to climb the spire at the onset of their last winter as wolflings. Countless other sibkos had done it for the past century and the first team to ascend to the summit would be treated with the utmost respect and reverence. Not all expected to even make it past the upper cliff, seventy meters up from the base of the spire. It was an unspoken agreement that the ones who gave up would either stay were they were, offering support to the climbers that could continue on upwards or that they would make their way back to the base and prepare the celebrations that would mark the first team as victors.
Jutting out over a hundred meters high, the spire was an object of respect and intimidation. It was a solid tower of crumbling rock and ice that was visible from the south of the Clan enclave. Senior wolflings both dreaded and dreamt for the day that they would finally get a chance to climb it. Countless tales of heroism and tragedy from previous sibkos only added to the spire's mystique. It was said that Nicholas Kerensky himself was the first to climb to the top of the peak when it was discovered during the preliminary explorations of the planet. By then, the spire had already become a legend to the boys and girls and all were eager for the challenge.
That the unstable rock face and the constant icing of it in wintertime only added to the danger, quite a number of young climbers had already fallen to their deaths over the past century due to the treacherous conditions of the face. The top flange presented a formidable final obstacle for it was flattened by the constant howling winds and overlapped towards the edges, like a button at the back of a pinhead. This created a very tricky situation for would-be climbers because the final ascent to the top meant that the overhang would make it nearly vertical, with almost no chance for a steady grip. For the past two decades, each successive batch of wolflings had failed to make it to the top and these newest cadets were eager to break the curse.
The entire batch had woken before dawn and silently crept out of their domiciles to make the mile-long trek on foot; their instructors had forbidden them to climb the spire but it was the unspoken rule to break that directive and get at the peak before they were discovered. In addition to their thermal clothing, each climber had twenty meters of rope, hammer, pitons and snap rings with which to keep them from falling off should they ever lose their grip. Several cadets even managed to scrounge some food for an impromptu breakfast but they had vomited it out as soon as they got to the base of the spire; the peak was even more intimidating from their new vantage point. The intelligent ones didn't bother with food at that moment; chewable energy bars would give them needed sustenance during the climb and if they succeeded, feasting would come later.
It was now over a year since the freeborn and trueborn sibkos were merged and two distinct camps within the batch had manifested itself. The trueborn clique was lead by three feisty young women, Anastasia, Natasha and Katya. The three were often called the Furies because of their extreme arrogance and aggressiveness that were directed at the freeborn members of the sibko. But the freebirthed boys and girls wouldn't be intimidated either and tended to band together for mutual protection against the predations of the trueborns. Even though they were outnumbered, two boys, the innovative Jaime and the rock-steady Travis aptly led the freeborns. Sooner or later, it would come to a head as to when the single leader of the batch would be chosen. Anastasia had spelled out the terms of the contest, whoever reached the summit first would be in the front running for the leadership position of the sibko.
As they began to rope up, several cadets already began to get cold feet and instead elected to stay at the base camp to act as support. The other climbers did not stigmatize them in any way for they would be needed in case an accident happened. A small group of freebirth sibkin from a younger batch had secretly been flown in by helicopter to the top of the summit the night before and would serve as a failsafe just in case some of the climbers would be foolhardy enough to get that far. The team at the top had uncoiled ropes down along the edge of the summit so that the climbers would snap onto them in order to be used as an emergency line should anyone slip off the face during the final ascent.
Anastasia, Natasha and Katya roped up together; they would climb as a team of three. Being the most aggressive, Anastasia would lead, followed by the tactician Natasha while Katya would bring up the rear; should Anastasia ever tire, the more precise Natasha would then take over the lead. At the other side of the base, Joshua and Travis roped up; they would take turns leading their way up to the summit. The other cadets watched the opposing teams with trepidation, everyone knew it would come down to either one as far as to who would make it to the summit.
As the sun began to finally break over the horizon, the climbers started in earnest. Anastasia threw herself onto the rock face with reckless abandon as she clambered up as fast as she could, only to be tugged back tight as Natasha cautioned her to slow down in order for them to hammer in the pitons that would serve as their lifeline should a slip occur. Joshua and Travis alternatively climbed and hammered in their pitons in a parallel fashion, making very fast progress.
Several hours passed into midmorning as the teams battled their way upwards, the cold wind sapping their strength while the iced-over rock posed a formidable challenge to their climbing skills. Within a few hours, over half the teams already gave up and some began to rappel back down to the base of the spire.
Joshua tried to get some life into his frozen arms by exercising them; he was cold and tired from spending the night on the summit. He had volunteered along with two other boys from his sibko to help with the final climb should it ever come to that. But knowing that his older brother Jaime was one of the teams vying for the top, Joshua knew he had to be in on the action, no matter what.
A light tap on his shoulder brought him back to his senses. Joshua turned and saw his friend Cranston unpacking a flask from his backpack.
"What have you got there?" Joshua asked.
Cranston smiled as he took a sip and then handed the flask over to Joshua. "Just a little something to help us get warm. I stole this from the officer's mess a few weeks ago; might come in handy now."
Joshua took a sip and nearly spat it out. "It is an alcoholic beverage. This is forbidden to us."
"Brandy, to be exact; the flask that it is being carried in even dates back from the Star League era." Cranston laughed. "Why should it be forbidden to us? Just because of our age? Are we not warriors too?"
The other boy had walked over after inspecting the ropes and took a swig at the flask of brandy as well. "Cranston, make sure you hide it before our instructors notice it." He said.
"I definitely will, Chayam. I have many stashes all over the enclave; this summit shall be my newest stash." Cranston said to the other boy.
"Quiet!" Joshua interrupted them as he ran over to the edge of the summit. "I hear something."
As he looked over the edge, he noticed that the three girls had already passed the upper cliff and were rapidly scrambling upwards to where the safety lines had been prepared for the final ascent. Joshua frowned but nevertheless felt a rush of excitement that gave new life to his cold and tired body. Hoping that his brother's team was not far behind, the boy quickly scampered over to the opposite side and looked down as well. Sure enough, Jaime and Travis had bypassed the upper cliff as well and were getting close to the ropes that they had set on that side.
"Jaime, Hurry! The Furies are roping up!" Joshua shouted down towards his brother.
The boy's shout echoed on down the spire and was heard by Anastasia as well. With a snarl, the red-haired teenager tied the summit rope using a climber's knot onto her harness and began to scramble upwards, taking more risks as she grabbed handholds one after the other without testing them for stability first. Just as she grabbed onto a jutting rock close to the beginning of the top flange, the large stone instantly came loose as she placed her weight on it. With remarkable agility, Anastasia quickly grabbed onto another handhold with her other arm just in time. It was a very near thing for she nearly would have fallen off along with the small boulder. Wiping her sweating forehead with relief, she quickly scrambled for the final ascent.
Natasha was getting extremely frustrated; she had to uncoil the full length of her rope in order to let Anastasia get well ahead of them. Being more careful than her leading sister, Natasha hoped that there would be no accidents; this was a dangerous climb and she really didn't care too much about Clan honor at this point. What mattered to her was everyone's survival. As she pondered these disturbing thoughts, Natasha saw a looming shape dropping towards her. Within a split second, she instantly hugged the cliff face as the small boulder dropped past her, narrowly missing her head by a few scant inches.
"Katya! Look out!" Natasha screamed down at her third sister who was bringing up the rear.
Her sister Katya was too busy disengaging a snap ring from an embedded piton on the cliff face when she heard Natasha's warning. The small boulder hit her squarely on the top of her helmet and cracked it before continuing down to the ground. The impact instantly stunned the blond teenager and she lost her grip on the spire as she fell off.
Natasha instantly saw everything but was in no position to prevent what had just happened. As she saw her sister careen off the face of the spire she could hear the pitons being jarred loose beneath her as Katya's lifeline began to place tremendous pressure on the pitons that she hammered in just minutes before. Natasha knew that the velocity of her sister's fall along with the slippery conditions of the spire might just send them both tumbling down. With grim determination, Natasha grabbed onto the strongest handholds she could find and braced her body just as the last piton beneath her snapped loose from the intense weight and speed.
Just as Anastasia began to scramble upwards beneath the top flange, she instantly lost any slack on her lower line. The red-haired twin of Natasha cursed at the thought that her more timid sisters were slowing her down again.
Without looking down, Anastasia shouted a curse directed to her sisters. "Victory is in our grasp, I need some slack on the rope!"
Natasha had wanted to scream for help to her leading sister but the intense pressure on her harness had sucked out all the air from her lungs as she gasped for minute breaths of oxygen. Katya's limp form continued to dangle underneath her as the lifeline embedded itself onto her sister's body. Natasha's muscles throbbed with intense pain as she courageously held on with all her might onto the cliff face. Her palms had now been scrapped raw when her gloves were shredded against the sharp ice and rock; crimson drops of blood flowed down her forearms. Natasha felt her knees buckling from the intense weight but she needed to hang on for as long as possible; if she fell off too, the single line would not be able to hold all three of them.
Hearing Joshua's warning about her sisters, Anastasia finally looked down and gasped. She could see that Katya was dangling like a dead fly on a string of spider web while her other sister Natasha was bravely hanging on. At that moment she came to a decision.
"Natasha, disengage your harness. Let her fall." Anastasia shouted to her.
Despite the intense pain on her chest and limbs, Natasha felt a flash of anger at her twin sister. She was telling her to kill Katya just so that they could win the contest! With effort, Natasha shook her head violently and glared back at her twin with palpable hatred behind clenched teeth.
"We can win this contest, I am nearly there." Anastasia continued her twisted reasoning. "We can rule over this sibko; just disengage your harness."
Natasha did not respond and kept hanging on.
"I will not allow my weaker siblings to prevent me from my victory." Anastasia sighed as she pulled out a knife from her jacket. "If you will not let go of Katya, then I must leave you here for now while I finish this climb." With those searing words, Anastasia began to cut the lifeline between them.
"No!" Joshua shouted from the top of the summit as he and his friends started scrambling for the safety line.
Natasha had had enough. Her twin sister was going to kill them both for the sake of glory. She would not let that happen.
Anastasia screamed a curse as Natasha finally let go of her grip and plunged down as well. The sudden jerk made the knife slip off from Anastasia's hand as she too lost her grip on the top flange from the intense weight and fall of her two sisters. Now all three were dangling precariously below the summit as the three boys above held onto the safety line.
Joshua's hands were bleeding from the grip on the rope as they struggled mightily to prevent the line from jarring loose and plunging the three girls to their deaths.
"The line was not meant to hold this many." Chayam's voice was barely a peep as he too struggled to support the rope. It was like a brutal tug of war with three teenage boys against the almighty law of gravity.
"Well, if we ever let go, we can save ourselves the trouble of having to take orders from those three witches." Cranston whispered through his teeth as he kept his grip on the line as well.
"Shut up." Joshua hissed despite the pain.
After a few minutes, Jaime had at last scrambled onto the top using a reverse tucking maneuver. After catching his breath, he helped his teammate Travis up onto the summit as well. As both boys looked around, they instantly saw the three younger teens with their backs on the ground, holding onto the safety harness with all their strength.
With the help of the much older Jaime and Travis, all three sisters were finally hauled up onto the summit. Jaime could barely keep Natasha and Anastasia from attacking each other. Travis carefully examined the still unconscious Katya and concluded that she had a severe concussion from the blow on her head and would need immediate medical help.
As a helicopter flew in order to evacuate them, Anastasia climbed aboard first and kept to herself; Natasha stayed with her sister Katya on the other side of the fuselage while Joshua sat beside his triumphant brother. Travis bellowed and hollered like a king to the pilots while sitting in the cockpit.
"You have done well, Jaime. Congratulations." Both brothers shook each other's hands gingerly for both palms were scraped raw and still oozed blood.
"I must congratulate you too, brother." Jaime said to his younger brother. "You helped to save three lives today."
"Aff. It was part of our duty." Joshua smiled before glancing over to Natasha. "And I did not want to see her die."
Jaime made a short laugh. His little brother was in love.