Page 1

"There! –That’s him. Hurry, Gustov, move the ship closer!"

Vladimir Smirnoff led the Russian ice cutter so close to the banks of a large plateau of inland snow that large plumes of powdery vapor blinded the crew. But their mission to capture their target was imperative. Several decades ago, the KGB lost one of its most valued spies. Captain Vladimir knew about this from tales by his own father, but he’d never thought that he would be chasing the very same man across Antarctic tundra.

"Look," replied Gustov, "he’s running from some monsters – abominable snowmen!"

"No, comrade, he’s not running from them; he’s leading them. Hurry up and prepare the Tesla ball!"

In a rushed tussle of motions, the twenty-man crew scurried down the boat’s ramp and rolled a weird, round cage of iron to the icy earth below.  The boat never stopped, the huge ice cutter kept creeping through the thin ice that paralleled the old spy’s path. The other men focused their attention on seven large creatures that followed the human spy. They were bizarre things to behold: with long thick tails, inverted legs and bat-like ears. But a pair of rabbit-ish teeth, infused to the front of their more carnivorous ones, compelled the Russians to refer to them as killer rabbits.

"The cable! Damn it, Gustov - secure the cable line!" Yelled Vladimir.

He was referring to a thick metal cable that was tethered to the large cage ball, which the boat towed along side of them. By now, it was dangerously close to the old spy, whose stamina and speed seemed supernatural. As the cage rolled closer to the naked spy, Vladimir gave the order.

"Do it.   …Do it now!"

In a blinding flash of electrostatic shock, a wave of paralyzing energy shot out from the Tesla ball, instantly knocking out the rogue spy and three of the seven killer rabbits that accompanied him. Yet within seconds, the creatures began to awaken and tried to rustle the spy from his unconsciousness.

"Fry those mangy things!"

At the Captain’s request, four men aimed their Burnmasters at the odd animals and squeezed their triggers. What resulted was a barrage of fire that erupted from the flamethrowers. They instantly created a firewall around the spy and sent the abominable were-rabbits scurrying through the blinding white.

"Reel the cage in, Captain, we got him. We finally got the son of bitch!"

The ice cutter reeled in the Tesla ball, which now contained a semi-conscious man. He was naked and sporting a tough mane of long white hair. His eyes were wild and he bared his teeth as the team pulled him onto the icy deck of the boat. Without hesitation, Vladimir came near his side and mocked the old spy through the thick iron bars of the cage.

"Ha, Colonel Tulane. You ran a long way to escape the KGB, yes? But even you must know our arm reaches long and far. …Even pass the protection of monsters it seems."

Like the Captain, the other men, who were all huddled around this strange man, expected an answer. Yet all they got was a queer humming, one that began to grow so loud that it started to rock the cage. As the noise got even louder, the boat’s sensitive communication antennas began to spark and the windows of the front deck started to crack.

"Captain, that noise is disrupting the navigation meters; if this continues we’ll never find our way home!"

Heeding his underling’s advice, Vladimir pointed a flamethrower at the spy.

"Stop at once!"

But Tulane kept sounding his ionic roar. The men were now fearful of the old colonel, fearful of an evil resonance.

"Don’t let him spook you, men. He’s using an echolocation call. He’s no monster, just a freak!"

But even as Vladimir spoke, the spy’s skin began to ripple, as if a thousands worms were under it. Seconds later his skin split open and chunks of flesh spattered on the men from within the Tesla ball. Tulane’s human face began to stretch and distort in a wide and evil grimace.

[ Continue to page 2 ]