Blackstone - The Temple of Trials

Battling the Cold

"Come here, Grant," David said and pulled me toward him. We hugged each other and shivered in the cold. That's when a Jump Door opened and a camera shot through. It zoomed in on us. A holographic projection of Father K emerged.

"Look at the young lovers. It seems they just can't get enough of each other." Father K sneered.

This was the last thing I wanted. I hated the cold and now to be broadcast in front of how many millions of viewers, was more than I could imagine. I shrieked in anger, grabbed my razor phone and shot a full volley of photon blasts at the image until David grabbed my hand.

"Don't give him the satisfaction, Eliza," David said through chattering teeth.

"That's quite all right, young man. Your little relationship has raised the stakes and our ratings. Keep up the good work. Now if you want to win this round, I suggest you find me the gold tusk of a Denebian Walkrus. You have two days, young rangers. Keep up the great work!" Father K said and the holographic projection winked out.

"The golden tusk of a Denebian Walkrus?" I said.

David consulted his razor phone, "First things first. We've got to get out of this cold. The temperature is going to drop another fifty degrees by nightfall and I'm afraid this boat isn't going to cut it. We've got to find shelter quick or we won't make it. Help me scan."

David and I scanned with our razor phones. From the data, I got back it seemed to be that we were in the Arctic region of an Earth like planet. The ocean extended for thousands of miles and the only land mass was hundreds of miles to the south. However, I did detect a large object only one mile to the North.

"Ross, are you picking this up, too?" I said.

David looked at the readout on his phone, "Got it. It seems to be some kind of ship. It doesn't seem to be moving. That looks like our best bet. It's only a mile or so I think we can make it."

The little boat had an outboard motor attached to it. David activated it and it sputtered to life. David grabbed the motor's handle and we moved off to the North. It was a freezing ride. Large icebergs filled the vast frozen sea and a cold wind blew across the waters, chilling us to the bone. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity we approached the object. It was a tremendously large rusting freighter that listed on its side. It was so large that it reminded me of the gigantic oil tankers of Earth.

David motored our little boat right up to the side of the hulking wreck.

I looked up the side of the freighter. It seemed to be a mile up the side.

"Will our grappling lines reach that far?" I said to David.

"Only one way to find out," David said and reached for his Etheric knife.

Grappling lines shot out of our Etheric knives and streaked up towards the deck. They latched on. We attached them to our belts and shot up the side of the rusted freighter. Finally we reached the deck and climbed over the side.

The deck sloped to the side. It did indeed look like this was some kind of derelict oil tanker. Rusted pipes and equipment sprawled across the massive deck. Way at the other end of the ship was a small building that was probably the pilot house. David and I made our way across the slippery deck until we reached the pilot house. We stepped inside.

The pilot house was abandoned. The computers were dead and the equipment looked like it hadn't been used in a hundred years or more. I shivered. The whole place was spooky beyond belief.

"At least we're out of the wind. This should shield us from the elements enough for our Jumpsuits to keep us warm," David said.

"Now we just need to find the golden tusk from the walkrus or whatever it's called." I said.