by Andrew Gille
As he contemplated firing again at the Magadan, he saw chunks of fur and flesh flying into the air and felt the spray of blood from the beast that had blocked his path. He then realized that a Snow Yeti had come from behind the Magadan and torn it to shreds, both beasts had ignored his bullets as they tangled. The Snow Yeti was victorious in only seconds and shoved his foe into a corner, beckoning the two men to come his way assuming that they could see in the darkness as well as him.
Only one of them could, “Let’s go,” Scott said, once again grabbing Colin’s hand and leading him into the light.
Colin now appeared pale and frightened as he came into the white light of the corridor. The male yeti, Mother Goddess and one of the princesses stood waiting for the two men to emerge with the princess who had shredded the Magadan hiding in the tunnel. He must have retreated into the darkness after the initial grenade explosion and been too petrified to join the others in the ensuing chaos.
The distant sound of gunfire echoed through the rock walls of the corridor like someone tapping on them with a metal rod.
“I think we’re going to have more to deal with than Yetis when we get up there,” Maddock remarked.
Maddock’s thoughts were confirmed as they reached the light of the cave entrance.
Magadan warriors hid behind cover as heavy fire from AK-74M rifles pounded the cave entrance. The Magadans who were brave enough to leave the cover the rocks and cave walls behind which they hid were pelted with heavy automatic fire and were forced to return to their hiding spots.
The group of Snow Yetis slowly crept toward their hiding counterparts. The Mother Goddess was the first to kill a Magadan warrior. One of the first they encountered, far back in the corridor, fixated on the events unfolding in front of him and did not notice as she grabbed him by the ankles and then dragged him back into the cave where the Snow Yetis viciously tore him apart.
“They didn’t used to do that,” Colin whispered to Scott and Maddock.
“You forced violence on them, they just learned to survive,” Scott said.
“If these Magadans had adapted this fast we would have got our funding,” Colin said indifferently. Scott shot him an icy glare and he shrugged his shoulders.
The group crept slowly forward, Magadan yetis lay in bloody pieces throughout the cave entrance, dead from rockets and mortar fire. Another RPG sailed into the cave as Colin, Maddock and Scott took cover. Pieces of rock shot toward them, hitting the Mother Goddess and her remaining Snow Yeti forcing them to wince as the sharp hot rocks hit their bodies.
Now more Magadan lay dead and the remaining warriors realized that they could not confront the enemy they faced. They scattered some running out of the cave into the forest and some running back into the cave. They ignored the presence of the Snow Yetis and the humans. The only danger they presented to the group was from barreling over them as they scrambled to escape. Outside small arms fire could be heard as the soldiers fired in vain at the Magadan warriors, it would take much more powerful ordinance to take down the great beasts and some escaped into the forest. The screams of men indicated that others shredded their enemies before disappearing into the woods.
“Why didn’t they just bomb this cave?” Colin asked rhetorically.
“What?” Scott asked him.
“Good question Colin,” Maddock replied as the three humans crouched in the light of the mouth of the cave.
“The Russian army would have sent a load of helicopters, they’d have air-fuel bombed this cave. These aren’t Russian military,” Colin remarked.
“They’ve got a fucking Hind helicopter,” Scott said.
“Yeah, there’s someone else I know with one of those,” Colin said, “If this was the Russian army, we have no chance to escape, if this is who I think it is, we can get out of here.”
“Who the hell has enough money to field a private army and own a Hind helicopter?” Scott asked.
“Well, I used to. There are plenty of Russians who own their own military regiments and there is one in particular that Roskovski must have called. Dimitry Strovenyevich,” Colin said, the name escaping his mouth as if it were a curse word.
“These are Strovenyevich’s soldiers?” Scott asked.
“I’d be willing to bet,” Colin replied.
“These are mercenaries. Colin is right, the Russian military wouldn’t waste time trying to advance into the cave. They’d strafe the shit out of this place with MiGs. These guys don’t have that luxury apparently,” Maddock said.
Just then, a soldier appeared at the mouth of the cave and fired down at Maddock and the group, the only targets he could see. The three quickly took cover and the Snow Yetis followed their lead.
“How the hell are we going to get out of here now?” Scott asked as bullets zinged by impacting the floor and stone walls around them.
The Mother Goddess made a move to advance toward the cave entrance, enduring the bullets that were caught in the weave of her thick fur.
“No!” Scott shouted.
She seemed to understand him and moved back behind cover.
Maddock fired a few bursts at the soldiers entering the cavern. The fire was only effective at slowing them down as they took cover and began firing down into the cave, making the main corridor a deadly path filled with flying hot metal.
Maddock made a motion to move and fired a few rounds to keep the soldiers’ heads down as they retreated back into the cavern.
“This is not the way I want to go,” Colin remarked.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Scott replied.
The Snow Yetis led the way as the group made their way back down through the lighted corridors through which they had just ascended. The corridor was surprisingly devoid of Magadan stragglers.
“Where are the bad yetis?” Maddock asked to no one in particular.
“Will you quit calling them that Maddock? The bad yetis? You mean the Magadan? They hole up in the crevices and cracks along this path. We’ve probably past several of them already. Keep moving and maybe they won’t pounce on us,” Colin warned.
The Snow Yetis led them to the corridor where light had streamed in and all four went into the tunnel.
“No, we can’t go there!” Scott said, expecting that they’d understand him.
The yetis ignored his pleas and went into the unlit corridor. The muted sunlight of a cloudy day streamed in through the ceiling. The steep walls went straight up.
“See, I told you,” Scott remarked as the yetis looked up the steep shaft above them.
“They can’t understand you Scott,” Colin said.
Outside they heard shouting in Russian and hurried footsteps. Strovenyevich’s troops were advancing, there was nowhere to go now.
“We’re fucked,” Colin said with a hint of panic in his voice.
The Mother Goddess grunted at the princesses and the male yeti, then suddenly, using her paws and feet she ascended up the shaft by pressing her hands and feet on opposite walls. She quickly scaled the steep, slippery shaft as if climbing a ladder.
One of the princesses grabbed Colin by the back of his jacket and hoisted him on her back.
“Alright! Hang on Colin!” Scott exclaimed.
“Do I have a choice?” he said as he clung to the locks of fur on her back as she ascended the shaft just as quickly.
The remaining female snatched Scott, placing him on her back she too climbed effortlessly up toward the light cascading into the tunnels.
The cold wind bit their faces as they emerged from the cave into the outdoors. A steep tree lined path led down into the forest below. They could see the path that led to the entrance of the cave and which descended down to their snowmobiles.
Maddock then came, clinging to the back of the male yeti.
“Everyone’s out?” Colin said.
“Yeah, we’re all here,” Scott replied.
“All of them went in the cave?”
“I don’t see any still on the path,” Maddock sai
d, squinting to adjust to the comparatively bright light of the cloudy mid-afternoon skies.
“Then I guess, I might as well…”
Colin removed a small black box from a pocket within his parka. Pushing a few buttons he then looked quizzically at the box in his hand.
“What the fuck?” He exclaimed.
“What are you doing?” Maddock asked.
“It should have worked, what is wrong with this thing?”
Maddock saw that the black box Colin held was a Crossfield Communication Device. The ancient tech had always had reliability problems and despite the numerous updates, it apparently still was unreliable.
“Goddamn it!” Colin said as he threw the device as far as he could while still clinging to the beast.
The yetis began to trot down the path toward the main trail that led to the cavern.
“Why didn’t it work?” Colin whispered to himself as he bounced along on the back of the yeti.
As the yetis merged onto the main path, the entrance to the cave came into view. Strovenyevich’s guards had just noticed the group moving onto the main path. Maddock saw them take aim at the group.
Suddenly, a low rumble could be felt, then a violent blast sent tons of rock and ash spewing forcefully from the mouth of the cave. Strovenyevich’s soldiers were sent flying by the black debris ejected from the cave. When they landed, several hundred feet from where they had initially stood, they did not move.
“Why did that take so long?” Colin questioned.
“Better than my Crossfield Communication Device,” Maddock replied, “It sent my Merry Christmas message to Mason after New Year’s back in 2002. For a Crossfield Communication Device, that was a blazing delivery.”
Colin bitterly rolled his eyes. Above, violent explosions rocked the cave, the cave entrance had already imploded and several areas on the hill containing the Magadan’s lair were now collapsing in on themselves. Scott was glad that they were no longer standing on top of the hill. Nothing that was in the cave would now be coming out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
A Call from Columbus
AGENT SANDY MAGDALENA'S pantsuit was covered in blood as she paced in the boardroom. A medic had refused to remove the knife lodged in her arm until she was able to receive proper medical treatment at a hospital. Instead, just sterilizing it as best he could and wrapping it in a tight bandage. She could not leave the board room now. Even as internal affairs agents processed the scene, photographing Franklin and Collins' bodies and making notes on an Android pad with an electronic pen.
"Surveillance from the Odin 32 Satellite indicates that a large explosion has occurred just 15 miles from the extraction point. Your team has less than 35 minutes to reach that point and deploy the Fulton recovery system. Reconnaissance shows no signs of anyone at the extraction point," the voice on the other end of the Polycom stated.
"They'll be there," Magdalena said.
"Agent, the explosion seems to have attracted the attention of the Russian military, they've launched MiG 35's from an airbase 200 miles to the south and are enroute to the area affected by the explosion. We recommend that the recovery plane be called off. There is a serious danger in this recovery."
"I understand that, but you have to give them the time, I know they'll be there, do not call off that plane!" Magdalena said.
"The recovery plane is enroute and will be flying over the extraction point regardless, Agent Magdalena. They will also be flying out over the Pacific and back to Hickam Air Force Base, regardless of whether your agents are on board."
"Understood," Magdalena replied her hand to her chin, the bloody knife jutting from her arm.
"We'll be in contact as the recovery aircraft passes over Agent," the voice replied.
"Do we have any carriers in the area?" Magdalena asked.
"Affirmative, the Abraham Lincoln has been deployed after exercises and posturing by North Korea last week."
"Can we get fighters in the air?" Magdalena requested.
"Negative, Agent Magdalena, we cannot provide an escort to your recovery aircraft, invading Russian airspace could start a war."
"I understand that! Can we just get fighters in the air and escort once over international waters."
"We'll see what we can do."
An exasperated Magdalena hung up the phone and dialed another number. The phone connected her to a satellite uplink to Scott's comms.
"Ladyhawk 1 to Badger 4," she said. She was met with crackling silence on the other end.
She looked back at a projection of a map of the extraction point. The picture had been updated with the coordinates of the explosion. Scott and Maddock would need to get there over 10 minutes early to deploy the Fulton system. Where were they?
"Ladyhawk 1 to Badger 4," she repeated.
There was no response. A clock overlayed on the top right-hand side of the map counted down under 30 minutes now. Her hope that Scott and Maddock were still alive diminished with each second that ticked off the clock.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Gift of the Mother Goddess
“HOW MUCH TIME do we still have?” Maddock inquired as he bounced along on the back of the male yeti.
“25 minutes!” Scott shouted as the yetis ran, seeming to understand the urgency of their riders.
“I wish we could whip these things to go faster,” Colin commented.
“Do you only ever speak asshole, Colin?” Maddock admonished.
“Right there, Colin’s snowmobile,” Scott said, holding on to the yeti’s fur with one hand as he pointed with his thick glove.
As the Snow Yeti’s approached, Scott’s face bore a look of dismay. As they drew closer, it was apparent that the snowmobile had been sabotaged. Wires hung from beneath the cowling, and several bullet holes were evident in the cowling, gas tank, and track area of the sled.
“Will these things run to the extraction point?” Maddock asked.
“I think they are running back home, that’s along this trail. I don’t think there is any way to communicate to them where we need to go, and I don’t think they are fast enough to get there,” Coin replied.
“Well, there are two more sleds along this trail,” Scott shouted as he bounded along on the yeti’s back.
“Let’s hope Strovenyevich’s troops didn’t destroy those as well,” Maddock yelled.
As they continued through the thick forest, Scott saw the trees bent and the boot marks of several dozen troops. It was the landing zone for Strovenyevich’s team. It gave him hope as they continued down the trail.
Finally, they rounded a corner and came upon the sleds that Maddock and Scott had left. The men jumped off the beasts and rolled to a stop in the snow. The sudden loss of their riders made the yetis pause. The Mother Goddess, who led the group, looked back at them. The yetis made a motion as if they wanted the humans to climb back on them.
Scott shook his head, “No, we’ve got to go, this way,” he said, pointing in the direction of the extraction zone.
Colin pulled the cord of the Tajga 500, it roared to life, and he let out a gleeful cheer.
Scott and Maddock stood as the Mother Goddess looked at them. She reached around her neck and removed the necklace she had taken from the Magadan shaman. She nodded to Maddock and placed it around his neck then let out another loud roar. She then grunted, before turning and walking away into the forest.
Maddock stood amazed at what had just happened. He touched the gift of the Mother Goddess and looked down. It was a symbol of her victory, and she’d granted it to him. He watched as the Snow Yetis disappeared into the forest. They would not be the last of their breed as the Mother Goddess carried new children within her. They would hopefully live to be born now that she had escaped the cruel captivity of the Magadan yetis. He realized that there were more Magadan out there. Still, he hoped that she would give birth to the warriors that would turn the tide on Colin’s genetically engineered abominations and allow the Snow Yeti to wander their forests i
n peace again.
“Maddock, stop thinking about fucking yeti chicks and get over here!” Colin shouted.
Maddock was jarred out of his moment of peace and looked in Colin’s direction. The two-stroke smoke of the sled rolled around its cowling and enveloped the machine. Colin now jumped to the other Tajga and pulled the cord several times. Finally, it roared to life.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here!” He urged.
Scott hopped on the already warm Tajga and calculated the coordinates of the extraction point with his watch. A narrow trail led to the small area where they would need to deploy the Fulton system to escape from Siberia. It would be a wild and fast ride, but they could make it if they left now.
As Maddock approached the Tajga, Colin slid back, anticipating that Maddock would be the one to drive.
“No, you drive!” Maddock said to Colin’s surprise.
The three took off roaring into the forest at breakneck speed.
Back in Columbus, Ohio, Sandy Magdalena watched as the countdown on the clock reached 20 minutes.
“Badger 4, Ladyhawk 1, do you read?” She said into the Polycom.
Her voice was met only with the hollow sound of crackling and static.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Escape from Siberia
THE SNOWMOBILES ROARED through the forest as the clouds began to clear. The sun sank low in the sky, casting long shadows through the trees, which flickered by as the two sleds blasted through the narrow path in the woods.
Scott, his watch pointing the direction to the extraction zone as well as giving him the time left and distance to the point, ticked down past 20 minutes with five miles to go. On the straight stretches, he could get the sled up to 80 kilometers an hour, about 50 miles per hour. However, that was in the straights, and the path twisted and snaked through the woods. He estimated that they'd be there with less than 10 minutes before the plane arrived.