Arctic Base One... The jammed laser pistol lay discarded in the snow. "Should have taken plasma or firearms". muttered the badly injured man as he crawled towards the rack of M-14 rifles. The station's ongoing disaster was being recorded by the computer. A roar sounded just as the man gripped the nearest M-14. His screams filled the air as it dragged him away....
Nelson Institute for Marine Research... Admiral Harriman Nelson reviewed the footage , as did Commander Lee Crane. "I don't know what got him, Admiral, but the president has us ordered to launch a rescue mission for 'Arctic Base One." "That we shall, Lee; but the unknown bothers me."
48 hours later, Seaview was alongside the desolate icy shoreline next to Arctic Base One. Nelson, Crane, Kowalski,, and Sharkey dismounted the rubber raft. Nelson carried a plasma pistol, Crane packed a laser pistol, Kowalski packed an M-14 rifle, and Sharkey packed a Beretta 1938 submachinegun, too. The door to the station was open . And blood was every where. One by one, the bodies of Arctic Base One's crew were discovered. "They've been ripped to pieces, Admiral" Chief Sharkey reported.
Kowalski replied ."It was a bear, admiral." "How do you know this?" "The tracks over there. Also, my younger sister hunts bears in Florida. I sometimes go with her." Admiral whipped out a PDA. He scanned the bear's tracks. THey would be instantly compared to NIMR computerized wild life records, too.
"Look for any other possible survivors." Nelson ordered. They searched. in and around the igloo. Lee Crane noticed it first,. 'Is that a white puppy?' He wondered. Of all the things, a tiny polar bear cub faced him. GROWWWWLLLL! It's blood-drenched mother bear now loomed over him. Lee aimed the laser pistol at the mother bear and pulled the trigger. Nothing! THe cold had jammed the gun!
And then, a blurrr.....
