Jonaz entered the communications room of the Antarctic base. Power flickered slightly, as it typically did during storms. He sat down at the computer monitor and pressed the space bar to bring the system out of sleep mode. After a few seconds, a bright blue screen flared to life. Jonaz dug the nails of his frostbitten hands into the thick nylon pants he wore to keep warm.
WINDOWS UPDATE IN PROGRESSDO NOT TURN OFF YOUR DEVICE
THIS COULD TAKE SEVERAL MINUTES…
“Ballz!” Jonaz said through gritted teeth. “Every time you need to do something important…”
)>)>)>)*>
The wind outside roared like a frenzied beast. Tiny whistles of frigid air slipping through cracks in the exterior doors filled the air with an eerie harmony. Professor Plum removed the drill bit from the hole in the casing around what remained of Queenie, dragging a thin line of goo as the tool pulled away from the small hole.
“What is this now?” Plum mused to himself. He spun about and began to search through his pack for a specimen dish to store the clear, mucus-like substance until he could get it to his lab.
Through the hole he created an angry red eye peeked outward. It stared at the professor’s back and then a soft tapping at the interior of the shell began, just quiet enough that the noise was blocked by the fury outside.
)>)>)>)*>
“Finally!” Jonaz exclaimed as the blue screen of death faded. He initiated the communications protocol to contact BADGE. “Hello. Can anyone hear me?”
Static played over the speakers, nearly deafening Jonaz. He lowered the volume until he could tolerate the background noise. “Hello. Anyone who can hear this message, please respond. We need assistance from BADGE. We’ve had a strange… encounter here. Something seems to have infected one of our sled dogs.”
)>)>)>)*>
Professor Plum returned his attention to what remained of Queenie. A quiver of movement behind the hole he created startled him. He leaned in, curious as to what moved within. A red eye ringed by white met his stare and then darted away from the opening in the shell.
“What in heaven’s name is that?” The professor leaned in closer, searching for a better glimpse of what he saw within.
Deeper within the shell-like casing, barely visible in the darkness within, a pair of eyes glinted in the light above a yellow bill as something peeked out at the professor. “Quack.”
Bracing himself with both arms, the professor leaned forward with his head to verify what he imagined he saw. “How on earth did a d—"
What he could only describe as a duck charged forward, breaking through the shell as its bill opened wide and promptly closed down hard on the professor’s hand. Blood gushed out, spilling over what appeared to be the formerly peeking duck’s bill, covering it with Plum’s bright red sauce of life. “Quack. Quack. Quack quack quack. <spit>.”
The professor howled in pain as he quickly yanked his tender hand away. He suddenly felt ill and swooned, rolling prone to the floor as he passed out. “You mother…”
)>)>)>)*>
Jonaz finished sending his message out into the aether, hoping someone would respond t his call for help. He rushed back to find the professor to see what progress he might have made. Once he reached the doorway, he paused, shocked to see another shell-like casing on the floor. This one resembled a human body, but had a large section broken away that created a hole into its vacated interior.
“Professor?” Jonaz muttered as he took a step backward. A rustling of feathers startled him from behind.
He spun about, discovering a red-eyed duck in the hallway behind him. Kneeling, Jonaz studied the unusual visitor to the station. “What the heck? How did you get here?”
Something rubbed against his thigh. Jonaz looked down and found another duck beside him, this one with red stains all over its yellow bill.
“QUACK!” The duck raised its wings and charged upward at Jonaz’s face.
)>)>)>)*>
“Thanks for giving us your help to get to the station during this storm, Star Force,” the pilot said over his radio. He looked out the side window and waved at Chained Angel as she flew with wings as white as the snow. Snow that was falling in the air outside of the protective bubble Infinite Tempest created to keep the storm from interfering with the rescue plane’s mission.
Chained Angel waved back. “That’s what we’re here for. Tempest and I were investigating some leads on the Augments in South America, so we were already in the region.”
“We’re getting close to the coordinates you gave me for the base,” the Infinite Tempest said. “The storm is starting to let up, so you should be able to land without difficulty. How long have you been out of communication with the expedition?”
“It’s been about six hours since we heard from the base commander. Jonaz send out a message for help, but it was garbled. BADGE hasn’t been able to reach them since.” Agent Leslie said from her co-pilot seat.
“We’ll go ahead and check out the area while you land the plane. Meet you all there,” Chained Angel said before diving down toward the ground, Infinite Tempest following closely behind her.
The clouds and flurries of snow dissipated like curtains parting as they approached the Antarctic base. A heavy wind buffeted them and the landed, as if pushing them away. Other than that, nothing moved as they searched over the building’s perimeter.
Chained Angel wrapped her wings around her, protecting herself from the wind. “Where is the crew? You think they’d be watching for help to arrive.”
“I don’t know. Should we go--,” Infinite Tempest raised his arm and pointed behind Angel, “-DUCK.”
As she whirled around, a piece of torn canvas slapped against her face and flew off with the wind.
“I said to duck,” Infinite Tempest said with a chuckle.
“Thanks,” Chained Angel said coolly. “You head that way; I’ll go around the other side.”
The two of them examined the exterior of the buildings as the plane landed, following BADGE protocol until the plane landed. Once the agents departed the plane, they headed into the buildings while the Morphon-powered heroes maintained the perimeter.
Once inside, the agents searched the compound and found no signs of life. The equipment was all working properly. The environmental systems were all functioning, and beside powdery white residue in places throughout the building, everything seemed fine.
Agent Leslie called Chained Angel in to assist. The two of them met in the central laboratory area.
“No sign of them?” Angel asked as she entered the room.
“Nothing. No signs of distress or messages. No bodies. Nothing unusual except for nobody is here.” Agent Leslie said as she heaved a heavy cooler from the floor to a table. “This seems to be where they placed whatever unusual object they found for storage, but I have to admit, I’m not sure if I should open it.”
“Do you mind?” Chained Angel asked as she moved up to the table edge.
Agent Leslie stepped back. “I suppose not. I don’t sense anything alive in it, but I’ve seen too many horror movies to take the chance.”
Chained Angel smiled as she pulled the top off. She looked into the interior of the box. “Whatever it is, it’s still frozen solid in ice.” She went to reach in to remove the object.
“NO.” Agent Leslie rushed up and slammed the lid shut. “I sensed something waking up when you went to pick it up. We need to get whatever that is to BADGE’s scientists. I got a very, very bad feeling from it.”
Chained Angel pressed the lid tightly closed. “OK. Let me call in for some help with that.” She pressed a button on her wrist communicator. “Starmaster. Do you mind playing postman for us?”
Starmaster teleported into the room, his blue and black costume appearing in a burst of blue energy as he exited the Mindscape. “What do you need?”
“Can you take this to BADGE’s science labs and give it to Dr. Henderson. There are some scientists and expedition personnel missing and this may be part of the reason why.” Chained Angel reported to her league’s founder.
“Happy to help. I’ll be there in a –” Starmaster disappeared in a flash of blue light as he teleported through the Mindscape to BADGE’s HQ.
)>)>)>)*>
Infinite Tempest circled the frozen compound from the sky, watching the horizon for signs of bad weather. Beneath him, under the cover of newly fallen snow, several green heads popped up from the ground. Nearly two dozen red-eyed ducks padded their way up the plane’s ramp and into its interior, softly quacking in an odd unison.
The constantly blowing wind covered their triangular footprints, leaving no trace of their presence to be seen.
Starmaster teleported into the room, his blue and black costume appearing in a burst of blue energy as he exited the Mindscape. “What do you need?”
“Can you take this to BADGE’s science labs and give it to Dr. Henderson. There are some scientists and expedition personnel missing and this may be part of the reason why.” Chained Angel reported to her league’s founder.
“Happy to help. I’ll be there in a –” Starmaster disappeared in a flash of blue light as he teleported through the Mindscape to BADGE’s HQ.
)>)>)>)*>
Infinite Tempest circled the frozen compound from the sky, watching the horizon for signs of bad weather. Beneath him, under the cover of newly fallen snow, several green heads popped up from the ground. Nearly two dozen red-eyed ducks padded their way up the plane’s ramp and into its interior, softly quacking in an odd unison.
The constantly blowing wind covered their triangular footprints, leaving no trace of their presence to be seen.
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