Page 13 of Duty and Desire
Scarlett crouched near the exposed cable, pulling a multimeter from her pack. “Let’s see how bad the damage is,” she muttered to herself, connecting the device to the cable. The screen flickered to life, showing no signal at all—completely dead.
“Signal’s down across the board,” she reported to her team. “We’ve got physical damage here, but we need to check for electrical shorts and any possible interference further down the line. Start testing the other cables and keep an eye out for anything that looks like it might’ve been damaged by the snow or debris.”
While one of her lieutenants oversaw the cable repairs, Scarlett moved her focus to the relay station. It was still partially buried, its metal casing heavily dented. After excavating it from the snow, she pried open the access panel. The wiring and circuit board looked untouched, but a single reading told her the power supply was unstable, likely damaged by the impact.
“We’re going to need to replace the supply here. Get me a new unit from the cache, and we can get this thing back online.”
Within minutes, a new power unit was delivered and Scarlett supervised her engineers as they carefully installed it—reconnecting wires and properly grounding it. It powered to life with a gentle hum.
Scarlett’s radio crackled; the transmission lines were back up.
“Command, this is Captain Bennett. Do you read?”
“Loud and clear, Captain. Looks like we’re back online.”
Scarlett allowed herself a brief moment of satisfaction and pride in her platoon. But the work was not done yet; therewere still hundreds of soldiers awaiting rescue who were trapped beneath the ice.
“Alright, soldiers, we’ve got people buried under tons of snow. We’ll be rejoining the rescue teams now. I want each sergeant to take their team and fan out. All officers stay ready to receive comms. General Carson will be relaying location info from the heat imaging.”
With a squad of her own, Scarlett headed to the west of the base. General Carson’s voice crackled across the radio.
“Captain Bennett, imaging is picking up several hot spots in your vicinity. Marking the coordinates for you now.”
Scarlett couldn’t help the slight flutter in her chest at the sound of Ros's voice, but she quickly shoved it aside. This was no time for distractions.
“Copy that, General. We’re ready to move on your command.”
“We’ve got a heat signal about a hundred feet to your east, approximately six feet below the surface. Another group is showing up about 150 feet north, but they’re deeper—maybe twenty feet down. Prioritize the closer one first; I’ll keep the coordinates coming.”
Scarlett waved her team forward, moving toward the first set of coordinates. The snow was deep, but they trudged through it. As they reached the designated spot, Scarlett stopped, her breath coming out in controlled huffs as she gauged the best approach.
“Here’s where we dig,” she said, planting her shovel into the snow. Her team followed suit.
Scarlett’s shovel met something solid. She dropped to her knees, scraping the snow away with gloved hands, and undercovered fingers pointing up at the sky. This soldier had at least remembered some of their avalanche training then. With any luck, they’d have remembered to dig an air pocket too.
“Got ‘em,” Scarlett yelled, her team falling in beside her.
Her team helped her clear the remaining snow, and soon they uncovered a soldier. His eyes were closed, frost clinging to his eyelashes, but he was breathing. Scarlett gently shook him, and his eyes fluttered open. “We’ve got you,” Scarlett reassured him, her voice firm but kind. “You’re safe now.”
The rest of the team worked to pull him out with the medics on standby while Scarlett turned her attention back to the radio. “General, we’ve got one out. Moving to the next coordinates now.”
Ros's voice was a steady anchor in the chaos. “Good work, Captain. The other group is deeper; expect harder digging. We’re seeing at least five individuals down there. Proceed with caution.”
Minutes felt like hours as they dug, their breaths coming out in sharp puffs. Scarlett’s muscles burned, but she didn’t let up. Finally, they broke through to an air pocket beneath the snow, revealing a cluster of soldiers huddled together, their faces pale but alive.
“We’ve found them,” Scarlett reported, a wave of relief washing over her. “They’re all alive.”
The team carefully began extracting the soldiers, wrapping them in thermal blankets and administering basic first aid. Scarlett’s hands moved on autopilot, her training kicking in as she checked each person for injuries.
“General,” Scarlett said into the radio, “we’ve got five more out. Requesting immediate medevac for hypothermia and minor injuries.”
“Helicopters are en route,” Ros responded, her voice filled with calm authority. “You did good, Captain. We’ll have them out of there in no time.”
As the helicopters hovered above, lowering stretchers and rescue personnel, Scarlett took a moment to glance up at thesky, the snow still falling lightly around them. The roar of the helicopter blades filled the air, and she could feel the vibration through the ground as the medevac team touched down.
“Captain Bennett,” Ros's voice crackled through the radio one last time, soft but filled with the weight of everything left unsaid, “we’re bringing you and your team back to base. You’ve done enough for today.”
Scarlett allowed herself a small smile, the tension in her shoulders easing ever so slightly. “Copy that, General. We’ll see you back at base.”