Алисон Робертс – At His Service: Her Boss the Hero: One Night With Her Boss / Her Very Special Boss / The Surgeon's Marriage Proposal (страница 17)

Carefully, Mikki took a deep breath. She looked at Josh rather than Tama. ‘Sorry, mate, but I can’t turn down an offer like that, can I? We’ll tell you all about it as soon as we get back.’

Tama was right behind her as she stepped out of the room.

‘We’ll see about that,’ he murmured. ‘There may be some aspects of your survival training that you might not want to share with everybody.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

SHE could share this with everybody.

If she could find the right words.

Words that could convey the sense of desolation she felt seeing Steve taking the helicopter back to base, leaving Tama and herself standing on a snow-covered slope.

The tiny dot of the aircraft faded into the endless blue sky and Mikki had the weird sensation of looking down from even higher than the helicopter had been. Seeing herself and her sole companion fading to black dots on a pristine white background. Insignificant and then invisible as her mind’s eye saw the towering peaks of the mountains behind them, the tussock-covered high country below and then mile after mile—as far as the eye could see—of bush-covered land.

Wilderness. The blanket of greenery might give the impression of soft lines but beneath that canopy was a harsh landscape of steep slopes punctuated by baby rivers that tumbled into ravines. Dense bush that would be impenetrable in many places. Slippery tussock sprouting through puddles of icy snow, and where they were right now knee-deep snow, the chill of which Mikki could feel pressing on her leather boots like a solid weight.

The silence, when the final chop of the helicopter’s rotors had faded to nothing, was as awe-inspiring as the scenery. So deep it seemed almost sacrilege to break it. Not that Tama was sharing Mikki’s reverence.

‘Nice, huh?’ He took a deep breath of the cold air. ‘You don’t get a view like this every day.’

‘No.’ Mikki was still trying to take it in. To push back a fear she hadn’t expected to be so strong.

‘You OK?’

‘Yes.’ No. What did they think they were doing, putting themselves into such a hostile environment voluntarily? This was crazy!

Mikki finally dragged her gaze from the mind-boggling vastness around them. She turned and found it a comfort to see the figure of another human body, especially one as big and solid as Tama. She raised her gaze and there was a pair of dark eyes behind ski goggles staring back. Lips that showed above the black wool of a balaclava were curved into a smile.

‘You just need to trust me, princess,’ he said. ‘Can you do that?’

She had no choice.

They may have spent yesterday evening sorting supplies and clothing and going over basic survival techniques, but there was no way Mikki could be doing this on her own.

She had to trust Tama.

With her life.

Strangely, it was easy to take that step. The fear she had been so aware of ebbed sharply because the trust was genuine. A part of that connection that was so much stronger than simply attraction.

She didn’t even mind him calling her ‘princess’ because she knew there was respect in their bond. Instead of being demeaning, the title was more like an endearment and that notion reminded Mikki that there was more on the agenda here than just her survival training.

Excitement replaced fear. A delicious tingle of anticipation.

‘Of course I can,’ she told Tama. ‘I’m assuming you’re keen to get off this mountain alive.’

‘You bet.’

‘And I’m guessing you’ve done this before.’

‘Once or twice.’

‘In this particular location?’

‘Absolutely.’ Tama looked around them, taking a long moment to stare at the mountain peaks. ‘I love it up here,’ he added. ‘We’re on top the world. Free.’

Mikki was looking at him rather than the mountains. Listening to a note in his voice she hadn’t heard before. A tone that reverberated and gave her the odd urge to touch him. A moment later she realised why. It had been a piece of personal information, hadn’t it?

In all the interaction she’d had so far with this man, nothing as personal as a passion for anything other than his work had been apparent. It was like having a drink offered when she hadn’t realised how thirsty she was. A tiny taste and Mikki wanted more. A lot more. She wanted to know what else he loved. Who he loved. What did he need to feel ‘free’ from?

‘You’re staring at me again.’

‘Again?’

‘You do it a lot.’

‘Do I?’ It was time to change the subject. ‘I’m just waiting for words of wisdom to spill from your lips, that’s all. What’s first? Do we get to build a snow cave?’

‘No.’ Tama seemed to be collecting himself. Focussing on what they were there to do. ‘We’re going to make a mound rather than a cave. Caves are best for a larger group. A mound is all two of us will need for a night.’

Just the two of them. In close quarters. All night. Was it just a lower level of oxygen at this high altitude that was making Mikki notice a slight dizziness?

‘The first thing we do is STOP,’ Tama said firmly.

‘Stop what?’ Mikki asked nervously. Her wayward thoughts, maybe?

‘S.T.O.P.,’ he spelt out. ‘It stands for Stop, Think, Observe and Plan. What if Steve hadn’t just flown off into the sunset? What if he was lying dead in the mangled helicopter we just crawled out of? And what did we wait for before escaping the wreckage?’

They had been over important considerations of surviving a crash last night.

‘We waited until all movement had stopped,’ Mikki responded obediently. ‘We didn’t want to get sliced to bits by rotors that were still in the process of shearing off.’

‘Good. What should we do now?’

‘Wait until the risk of fire has gone and go back to check that the emergency locator beacon is activated and see if the radio works.’

‘And?’

‘And we try and retrieve the survival pack, if we didn’t already bring it out with us.’

‘Right.’ Tama was well into teaching mode now. ‘Our ELB isn’t working for whatever reason and neither is the radio. What now?’

‘We try our cellphones.’

‘No coverage here.’

‘We should stay close to the wreck, which is going to be a lot more visible than we are. We could try and signal a passing aircraft by using mirrors or flares or making a fire.’

‘You were paying attention.’ Tama nodded approvingly, which sent a ridiculously warm glow through Mikki. ‘What else should you be thinking about?’

‘Any immediate threats to our safety. The dangers of hypothermia and dehydration.’

‘What do we need?’

‘Shelter. Water. Fire, if possible.’ Mikki was enjoying the challenge. ‘I think we need to build a shelter close to the wreck, try and keep warm and conserve energy. And if we’re not found by morning, we should try and walk out.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’ Tama raised an eyebrow. ‘What have you left out?’

‘The patient? If we’d had a patient on board and got them out we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.’

Tama shook his head. ‘Keep thinking. Remember STOP.’

‘I’m up to P. Oh-h.’ Mikki rolled her eyes. ‘I haven’t observed much, have I?’

‘What should we look at?’

‘The weather. Terrain. Materials that might be useful.’

‘Cool. We know the weather’s OK but if this was for real, what might we be looking for?’

‘Wind direction and speed. Say, a nor’westerly that means bad weather’s on the way. Strong winds and rain could increase avalanche risk.’ Mikki had begun moving her feet without realising it because they were getting cold enough to be painful.

Tama noticed. ‘We’ll start moving,’ he decided. ‘You can tell me about the terrain and where any danger areas for avalanche might be if you spot them.’

‘Don’t we need to plan our route first?’

‘We’ll talk about that, too.’ Tama picked up the small backpack that contained their survival kit. ‘I’ve done this before and our route is carefully planned to give us practice in the skills we need. Follow my steps to start with and watch how I’m kicking the snow to pack it down and then testing it before I put any weight down.’ He grinned. ‘Should keep us from falling into a crevasse, hopefully. You’ll get a turn at keeping us alive later.’