Leif Erikson and the Frost Giant

by Mark Philipson

  With every new flash of light, Carathuk grew in height. Soon, the Beothuk tribesman was the same size as the bear on the other table.

  “As a result of the light reflected off blue flame,” Bjarte began as the vision paused. He went on, “Carathuk’s body and the bear’s body have been altered down to the cellular level.”

  The vision started up again. Hooded First Ones stood around the tables in the surgery room. Carathuk lay on one table. A white bear lay on the other. A surgeon ignited a cylinder. He adjusted the flame control dial to the last setting. He concentrated on the flame, rounding the edges as he reduced the pull of the earth’s core around the flame.

  A surgeon ignited a stylus. He cut a line around Carathuk’s neck and followed it down to include his chest and abdomen. Another surgeon began at Carathuk’s waist and lifted the skin. The master surgeon reached in the cavity.

  The vision paused. “We are witnessing medical history,” Bjarte said. “The First Ones are going to remove Carathuk’s internal organs, from his anus to his heart, and fuse it with the white bear’s.”

  The vision continued. It showed the master surgeon coiling Carathuk’s intestines and arranging the remainder of the digestive organs. A still beating heart came next, followed by a set of lungs. The First One standing by the cylinder continued to concentrate hard. The heart beat as the lungs drew in air.

  While the First Ones prepared Carathuk, another group of First Ones worked on the white bear.

  “Carathuk and the white bear, having undergone blue light treatments, now share the same molecular structure,” Bjarte said.

  Leif wasn’t sure what Bjarte meant when he said this. When the vision started again he understood. The master surgeon fused what he’d taken from Carathuk: his balls, everything inside his stomach, his heart and lungs, shoulders, neck and head to the cavity left by the surgeons working on the white bear.

  The surgeons worked on feverishly. The vision sped forward. When the vision slowed again the master surgeon fused strands of Beothuk’s hair with pieces of fur on the bear’s neck and shoulders.

  The vision jumped forward. Unused limbs and guts had been cleared away. Carathuk rose from the table.

  The vision went black. Light faded and receded back into Miakmoo’s skull.

  “There is no more,” Bjarte said, “the vision ends at this point.”

  “What you’re a saying is the First Ones died out after joining a man with a bear?” Leif asked.

  “Correct, Captain Erikson,” Bjarte nodded. He hesitated then said, “There’s more.”

  “How much more?” Leif asked. They’d seen wonders no man had seen before. How much more could there be?

  “Carathuk wants a mate,” Bjarte blurted it out.

  What man or animal didn’t want a mate? Leif thought. Then it hit him. The only available woman was Draskawindit. Carathuk would have to kill Leif if he wanted to have Draskawindit.

  Leif decided to remain calm. Not wanting to show how he felt about all this, Leif asked, “How will Carathuk find a mate?”

  Bjarte responded immediately, “Carathuk says the Beothuk woman will be joined with a bear. She will become his mate.”

  Draskawindit pulled herself closer to Leif. Leif turned to look at her. He winked then turned away.

  “How will this mending take place?” Leif asked. “There are no First Ones left to perform the surgery.”

  “Carathuk says the visions will pass on the knowledge to Bjarte, the learned man. He will join the woman and the bear.”

  As Bjarte spoke ice grew across the upper levels of the tower. Water flowing through the caverns froze solid.

  Thirty-six

  The Education of Bjarte

  BJARTE stood before a power cylinder. He held a device in one hand: three rings that began small, increasing in circumference from upper to lower. Bjarte removed his hood and set the rings on his head. Four prongs cascaded down from the top ring. The prongs flexed and fell across the back of Bjarte’s head, the sides of his head, and Bjarte’s forehead.

  Bjarte, holding the coiled hose attached to the top ring, stepped forward. He inserted one end of the hose into the slot at the upper end of the power cylinder.

  He stepped back. Bjarte lowered his hand to the floor. He concentrated. A block extruded from the ice floor, following his hand. The block came to rest when Bjarte clenched his fist. Bjarte sat on the block. The ice reshaped to fit Bjarte’s body.

  Draskawindit entered the room. She walked up to the power cylinder.

  “Move the dial to the first setting,” Bjarte told Draskawindit.

  As the dial moved to the first mark, Bjarte’s head slumped forward. He closed his eyes. Shades of orange, red, and yellow colors danced around the headgear like a demonic halo. When he opened his eyes he said, “Mind waves have passed from the first water of flame and are recorded in memory.” He turned to Draskawindit. “Second level,” he said.

  On the second setting Bjarte seemed to fall asleep. His chin rested on his chest. The colors of the second flame pulsated off the headgear in bright white and swirling to yellow, merging into a dark orange. Bjarte woke. His gaze went from a sleepy-eyed squint to a fixed stare. “Once more, again,” he said.

  When Draskawindit dialed in the third setting Bjarte remained awake. He stared straight ahead. A steady stream of blue and purple lights rose from the center of the upper most ring on the headgear.

  Draskawindit saw Bjarte make a twisting motion. She turned the dial to the final setting. Bjarte pressed his thumbs to his temples. A solid blue color began at the top ring and faded into a shade of deep purple.

  Bjarte raised one hand. He pressed harder. Draskawindit moved the dial to the last setting. Merging shades of blue and purple turned into a sphere of solid blue becoming white at the edges. Bjarte threw his head back. He dug his thumbs into his forehead.

  A thin layer of air surrounding Bjarte shimmered slightly. The lower end of the blue sphere worked its way down to the ice floor. The rays seemed to pass through Bjarte, momentarily reflecting bones. The light showed blood pouring through veins and arteries. Intestines coiled and flexed under vessels alive with blood.

  Draskawindit stepped forward. She reached toward the shimmering curtain of air. When her fingertips broke through her hand lifted to the ceiling. She stepped back. Bjarte brought his head forward. He drew his hand across his throat.

  Draskawindit twisted the dial all the way in the opposite direction. The blue sphere engulfing Bjarte vanished. Bjarte removed the head piece. He walked across the room. Draskawindit stepped aside as Bjarte removed the hose connecting the headgear to the power cylinder.

  Bjarte left the room housing the mind wave bridge between humans and the power cylinder. He made his way to the surgery room.

  ■ ■ ■ ■

  Leif walked into the surgery room. Bjarte stood at the head of the twin tables. “Captain Erikson,” Bjarte said, without turning to see who’d entered.

  Leif didn’t want to know how the monk knew it was him. It probably had something to do with strapping his head to that First One power engine.

  “How are you feeling?” Leif asked.

  “I’m weak,” Bjarte sighed. “I can feel myself growing stronger every second.”

  “What are you doing in here?” Leif took a chance. He knew why Bjarte was in the surgery room. He wanted to hear the monk say it.

  “I’m preparing for the upcoming surgery by reviewing the steps carried out by the First Ones,” Bjarte answered. “If I keep the vision in memory I can refer to the passing images. I even have the ability to pause the vision. I can see it from hundreds of different angles.”

  “So, you are confident you can pull this thing off?” Leif asked. “This unholy act,” he added. He let his last words sink in while he waited for a reaction.

  “I’ve often wrestled with the aspect of God in one hand and science in another,” Bjarte said. “The weight seems to be balancing the scales in favor of science right now.”
/>   Leif took another approach: “It must be a wondrous thing to be given the gift of knowledge.”

  “Truth,” Bjarte agreed. “I’ve been given the privilege of carrying on the legacy of the First Ones.”

  “Hmm,” Leif grunted. “I’m no learned man,” he nodded. “Is the legacy of the First Ones carrying on their greatness or is it just doing something because you have the ability to do it.”

  Bjarte remained silent.

  Seeing Bjarte not answer, Leif pressed on: “Is it a legacy that’s been handed down from a dying race to a man joined with a bear or is it insanity reaching across the void?”

  Leif saw Bjarte’s reaction. He no longer had the wide-eyed stare Leif saw when he came into the surgery room. “Bjarte, I’m the captain of the Ormr in langi. I brought members of my crew to this land. In the name of Jesus Christ or Odin, I will do everything in my power to bring them back.” Leif held onto the monk’s shoulder. “Or die trying,” Leif added.

  Bjarte looked at his hands. He turned to Leif. “What are your orders, Captain?”

  Leif stared into Bjarte’s eyes. The pupils had contracted. Blood returned to the fine vessels in the whites. He looked like a man again. “I need you to use what you’ve learned to get us out of here.”

  “I’ve acquired enough knowledge to fill a thousand lifetimes,” Bjarte answered.

  “Is the ability to thaw and drain the ice in the caverns in your memory?”

  Thirty-seven

  Escape from the Tower

  CARATHUK stood before Leif and Draskawindit. Leif, sensing Carathuk wanted to pass some kind of information, turned to Draskawindit, “Find Nogwinto and send him here,” he said. Draskawindit left the room. Leif was glad to see her go. He wanted to keep her as far from the bear man as possible.

  Nogwinto entered the room. He pulled Miakmoo out of the sack and set the skull on an extruded floor block.

  Carathuk turned his gazed down.

  Miakmoo spoke in Norse: “Carathuk will be away from the Ice Tower.”

  Leif asked, “How long will he be gone.”

  The answer came back: “Carathuk is not sure, it may be one day or it may be three.”

  Leif hesitated. He wondered if he should ask the next question.

  “Where is Carathuk going?” Leif asked.

  “Carathuk travels to the plains to find a female white bear.”

  Leif felt a sting of despair when he thought about the woman he’d grown so close to being subjected to this gruesome butchery. He also saw a glimmer of hope — perhaps he could hatch a plan in the giant’s absence.

  “I will tell Bjarte to prepare,” Leif nodded.

  ■ ■ ■ ■

  Leif watched the bear-man pass through what Bjarte called the Zero Natural Attraction Barrier — the narrow space separating air from the water of flame — and into a cavern. Carathuk swam upward.

  With Carathuk gone Leif decided to take immediate action. Acting on a hunch, he said to Miakmoo, “Tell Nogwinto to pack every crevice in your skull with ice.”

  Leif didn’t know how far the mind waves reached. He recalled Bjarte’s words: “The mind waves pass through areas that have the least natural attraction. This is where the blue flame operates at maximum efficiency.” Shit, Leif thought. I should have had the monk tell in words easier for me to grasp. I think I have an inkling, though.

  Leif left. He didn’t know if stuffing ice into Miakmoo skull would make a damn bit of difference in preventing the passage of mind waves. It felt good to make a decision — right or wrong.

  Leif stood before the group. Draskawindit and Nogwinto stood on one side of the room. Kanute, Ulf, Halvar, and Jarl stood on the other.

  “I need to tell you something,” Leif said. He paused.

  When he hesitated Kanute spoke up: “You haven’t said much since we arrived at this god’s forsaken place. We were beginning to think the First Ones had tampered with your brain, skipper.”

  “I’m fine,” Leif muttered. “We need to be ready to leave this place at a moment’s notice. Carathuk, the bear man, has left the tower.”

  “What difference does it make,” Halvar said. He stepped forward. “The frost giant has cast a spell and frozen all the water in the caverns.”

  “Indeed,” Leif nodded in agreement. “I plan to get around that obstacle.”

  “Very well,” Halvar said. The others agreed.

  ■ ■ ■ ■

  Leif approached Bjarte. The monk stood before a power cylinder. He turned as Leif walked across the room. “I have a question for you, Bjarte,” Leif said.

  “I’m listening,” the monk answered.

  “Do you think you have enough power to melt the ice in the caverns and drain the water?”

  “You know, Captain Erikson, I thought you would broach me on that subject. I’ve been thinking about this problem and searching my memory for a possible solution.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Leif smiled. “Tell me more?” Leif regretted saying that as soon as the words fell out of his mouth.

  “I’ll need to start another session under full Zero Natural Attraction and prolonged exposure to blue flame. Once I enter the differential zone I can merge my conscious and sub conscious with the thought well. From within the session I’ll be casting into the thought well for the command that thaws the ice. Once I resolve that issue I’ll —“

  “Enough,” Leif cut Bjarte off. He rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to hear the details. I only need to know if it can be done and how long it will take.”

  “I’ll get started immediately, Captain Erikson,” Bjarte muttered. He added, “I can make no promises. I can see a hundred reasons why it should work; however, there could be a thousand variables preventing it from working.”

  ■ ■ ■ ■

  Leif had another idea. He took Draskawindit with him. “Tell Nogwinto to remove the ice from Miakmoo,” he said.

  Draskawindit passed the word on. Nogwinto lifted the skull and pulled out the ice.

  Leif took a chance. “Ask Miakmoo to show a vision of Carathuk,” he said.

  It took three times for Draskawindit to make Nogwinto understand.

  The skull cast a vision. It showed Carathuk walking across the plains. A white bear followed closely behind.

  Now is the time, Leif thought. He rounded up the other members of the party. They waited outside of Bjarte’s chamber. “This is it,” Leif said. “We are leaving.” This could be the only chance to make it out the land of the First Ones alive.

  A sphere of blue light covered the powered cylinder. The silhouette of Bjarte facing the cylinder could be seen as the sphere pulsated.

  Leif had no idea what in the hell Bjarte was doing but he wished he’d do it faster.

  Moments later the hardened ice filling the caverns thawed into tunnels of water. Bjarte, head in hands, lowered his head before the cylinder.

  Leif saw the edges of the ice tunnels shimmer. The water filling the tunnels drained into the walls of the ice tower.

  Bjarte reached out and set the dial on the power cylinder back to the off position. The light faded. He removed the headpiece. “It is done,” he said.

  “Can you lead us out of here?” Leif asked Bjarte.

  Bjarte hesitated. He looked around. “I can sense where the guide tablets are placed and piece together a mental drawing of the cave system,” he said.

  “Very well,” Leif nodded. “We are going to be right behind you.”

  Leif, Draskawindit, Nogwinto, Kanute, Eluf, Halvar, and Jarl followed Bjarte into a cavern.

  Thirty-eight

  On the Other Side

  BJARTE walked ahead then stopped and stood before two caverns branching off in opposite directions. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the white stone stylus. Bjarte held the stylus in place over his forehead and pressed his thumbs into his temples. He concentrated.

  “Wait,” Leif said. “Do you have a minute glass?” he asked the monk.

  “Here.” Bjart
e reached into another pocket. Once he’d given Leif the glass Bjarte reset the stylus and resumed thinking.

  Leif had turned the glass over twice before Bjarte finished concentrating at the first fork in the escape route. How many more times would the monk have to stop to do this and how much time would they lose each stop? Leif wondered.

  “What did you just do?” Leif asked.

  “I have to concentrate on the placement of the guide tablets when I come to where the caverns lead in different directions,” Bjarte answered quickly.

  “Do you have to stop to concentrate?”

  “Yes, I must close my eyes,” Bjarte answered. “What are you getting at, Captain Erikson?”

  “I’ll show you,” Leif replied. “Have Miakmoo cast a vision. Have it show Carathuk.”

  Nogwinto removed the skull from the sack. He set it on the floor. The vision showed the bear man walking across the Ice Field.

  “Bjarte,” Leif said. He continued, “Cypher the distance from us to Carathuk. Figure how long it will take us to get out of these caverns. Take into consideration stopping for two turns of the glass every time you need to concentrate on the next guide tablet.”

  “I see what you’re driving at,” Bjarte nodded after a few moments. He went on, “The distance between us and Carathuk is still opening. When the bear man finds a suitable candidate for a mate. The distance between us will be closing. If Carathuk finds the bear soon and we are not out of the caverns —”

  “Kanute,” Leif cut in. “Carry the monk on your back.”

  Kanute sat on the ice floor. Bjarte climbed on his broad back.

  “I want you to hold that thing against your forehead and think about finding the next guide tablet at all times.”

  Now, with Kanute and Bjarte in the lead, the group moved through the caverns at a steady pace. Bjarte indicated the direction to take moments before arriving at a junction.

  Leif took up the rear, chanting the rhythmic Norse rowing song used on the Ormr in langi. As he did this, Leif couldn’t help but wonder if they’d ever set foot on the decks of the ship again.