The wind howled across the ice shelf.
Clark suddenly stopped walking. His hand shot out and grabbed Aaron's arm.
"Don't move."
"What is it?"
"Sniper."
Aaron froze on the spot. His eyes scanned the ridge ahead of them. Nothing but darkness and snow. He couldn't see anything unusual.
"Where is he?"
"On the rooftop of the command ship. East corner. He's tucked in behind a vent with a thermal scope. He's watching the entire deck from up there."
"You can actually see him from here?"
They crouched down behind a cargo container. Frost covered the metal surface, and their breath came out in clouds of steam.
"It's a good thing you noticed him so fast," Aaron said.
"He's really good. His barrel hasn't moved even an inch. Totally still and focused."
"So he's an expert?"
"A professional. Not just some regular mercenary. Someone who has been trained for years."
Aaron studied the command ship from their hiding spot. The sniper's position covered every possible approach. The deck, the ladders, the ice ridge. Everything was exposed.
"We need to get past him," Aaron said.
"Yes, we do."
"Can you move faster than he can see?"
Clark thought about it for a moment. "At night, maybe. But the spotlight sweeps across every fifteen seconds. If someone notices a blur on the camera feed, we'll have problems."
Aaron closed his eyes. The serpent inside him stirred.
[ Vampire shadow skill ]
"I can get us inside through the shadows. But I need a dark spot to land in. No lights and no cameras."
Clark pointed across the deck. "Right there. Behind that crane. It's a dead zone. No camera coverage for about ten feet."
"How long until the spotlight sweeps back around?"
"Twelve seconds."
"That's enough time."
Aaron grabbed Clark's wrist and pulled him into the shadow of the cargo container.
The darkness swallowed both of them completely.
Everything went cold and silent and weightless. They moved through the blackness like it was water. No sound. No visible shape.
Twelve seconds later, they came out behind the crane exactly where Clark had pointed.
Clark let out a long breath. "What was that place, even i couldn't see anything in it."
" Well, i didn't know this was first time, i used this shadow to move someone in it"
They pressed themselves against the base of the crane. Above them, the command deck was busy with voices and footsteps moving around.
---
The main ship was absolutely massive.
Clark looked through the walls, scanning floor by floor and room by room. His x-ray vision mapped out the entire vessel in his mind.
"Got it. Bridge deck. That's where the commander's room is."
They climbed upward, staying quiet and moving from shadow to shadow.
---
Through a vent grate, they finally saw him.
Commander Rick.
He was a tall man with gray temples and a scar running across his jaw. He stood in front of a large screen while three voices crackled through the speaker. The voices were distorted and hidden.
"Madam Amanda," Rick said. "The ship could be fully retrieved within one month. We are working with full forces on this."
A woman's voice answered him. It was calm and cold. "One month is acceptable. What is the security status?"
Rick turned to the man standing beside him.
Bronze Tiger.
He was muscular and controlled. His stance was completely different from the other soldiers. Disciplined and precise. A martial artist without question. Aaron recognized that kind of posture immediately.
"Bronze Tiger," Rick said. "What about security? Is everything secure?"
Bronze Tiger's voice was low and measured. "Yes, Madam. All perimeters are locked down. No breaches have occurred."
"Good. Continue with the operation."
The screen went dark.
---
Bronze Tiger turned to face Rick. "I'm going to walk the perimeter. Something feels off to me."
"Your instincts acting up?"
" I don't know why I feel the instinct telling me, this mission will be not simple"
He walked out of the room. His movement was silent and smooth, his footsteps making no sound at all.
Aaron watched him leave through the vent. "That one is dangerous but not for you, you can take in him seconds."
Clark nodded slowly. "So what do we do now?"
"We need to reach the Kryptonian ship. But to get there, we have to pass through a lot of obstacles."
Aaron started counting them off on his fingers.
"There are navy divers in the water. Armored security teams on the deck. Drone operators scanning the ice. Containment squads at the salvage zone. Engineers inside the ship. Heavy-lift crews working the cranes. Intelligence agents monitoring communications. Hazmat specialists at the extraction point."
Clark stared at him with a surprised look. "You memorized all of that?"
"I was paying attention while we moved through."
"We have to pass all of them?"
"Yes, we do."
"How do we do that?"
Aaron looked at the vent and then back at Clark.
"Well, one by one, we have control it "
---
They moved down from the command deck. Bronze Tiger had gone in the opposite direction, which was good.
The first obstacle was the drone operator station. Two men were sitting there, monitoring thermal scans of the ice on their screens.
Aaron pointed to his eyes and then toward the door. Clark nodded, understanding the plan.
They slipped inside the room.
One of the operators looked up. "Hey, what are you—"
Aaron's eyes flashed crimson red.
"You are tired. Go to sleep. You saw nothing here."
Both operators slumped over in their chairs, fast asleep. No alarm was raised.
---
The next obstacle was the security checkpoint. Four armored guards stood there with rifles and full body armor.
Clark whispered, "I can take them fast."
"No noise."
"I know."
He moved before Aaron could say anything else.
One breath was all it took. Four precise strikes, each one silent and clean. The guards dropped one after another. Clark caught the last one before his rifle could hit the floor.
"Clear," Clark said quietly.
---
The third obstacle was the heavy-lift crew. They were engineers, not fighters, so they were easy to avoid. Aaron and Clark waited until the crane swung overhead, and the noise covered their movement across the open area.
The fourth obstacle was the containment squad. Two men in hazmat suits stood at the extraction point. Aaron hypnotized both of them with a single look. They stood perfectly still with blank expressions on their faces.
---
At last, they reached the salvage zone.
The Kryptonian ship towered above them, half-buried in the ancient ice. It was massive and ancient and unlike anything made on Earth. The symbols on its hull glowed with a faint green light. It was waiting.
Clark stepped forward and touched the hull with his bare hand.
The entire ship hummed in response.
"It's working," Clark whispered, his voice full of emotion. "It's still alive after all this time."
Aaron looked back toward the fleet behind them. They had managed to pass everyone. But Bronze Tiger was still out there somewhere, still searching.
"We don't have much time left."
"Then let's go inside."
The hull opened up before them, and light poured out from within.
They stepped inside together.