"this store which men and women set on pleasure and pain...is the mark of the beast upon them_the mark of the beast from which they come. Pain, pain and pleasure, they are for us as long as we wriggle free of the dust. So long as audible pain turns you sick, as long as your own pain drives you; so long as pain underlies your proposition about sin...you are an animal, thinking a little less obscurely what an animal feels" "The Island of Dr. Moreau"- H.G. Wells.
"The Island Affair"
"What the hell?" yelled Napoleon Solo to his partner as they clung to the hillside while the ground shook beneath them.
"Earth tremor...remember we are near the San Andreas fault?" called Illya Kuryakin as they scrambled up the top of the hill to view the T.H.R.U.S.H. lab they had been sent to observe. It stood like a lonely sentinel on the far outskirts of the town of Parkfield.
There was no rationale for Thrush to have built this small facility so close to the fault, though it would have been relatively free of prying eyes and this section of the San Andreas consistently produced magnitude 6.0 earthquakes only every twenty two years...the last one being in 1966.
The ground moved violently again; knocking both men to their knees...just as suddenly the lone building down below them was gone; exploding into a mushroom of fire and debris. What they had just felt was very much out of sync given the predictability of the seismic activity for the area.
"Maybe it wasn't an earthquake after all?" Napoleon called as he picked himself up; dusting off his clothing.
"Hey...do not look at me? I did not do it...though it was a very nice explosion." smiled the Russian as he scrambled to his feet to join his partner.
Solo pulled out his communicator; contacting headquarters.
"Open Channel D-Waverly. Sir, the THRUSH lab has been destroyed..."
"Destroyed?" snapped his boss,"Mr. Solo you two were supposed to observe and report...what the devil did Mr. Kuryakin do now?"
llya looked at his partner shaking his finger in warning at him...
"Ah..sir, Illya...we had nothing to do with it. We were attempting surveillance when there was what seemed like a small earth tremor, a minute later it was followed by an earthquake...then the whole building just went up in a massive explosion."
"Oh...well then," said Waverly clearing his throat," We'll send in a cleanup team from the Los Angeles office to canvass the site...in the mean time the two of you stay put to make sure nothing is disturbed. Waverly out."
As soon as Solo closed the communicator Illya barked at him..."Why am I instantly to blame everytime something blows up?"
"Well aren't you always blowing things up anyway...stands to reason?"
"True..." he smiled," but I do not like to be given credit for the work of others."
"Looks like we have a few hours to kill before they get here...Napoleon sighed, kicking some gravel aside with his shoe.
About a half hour later the flames subsided and the two agents were able to wander down through the smoldering wreckage. Illya pushing aside some of the blackened timber...found charred human remains beneath it.
"This did not happen because of an earth tremor...there was definitely something being kept here that was highly volatile. The explosion and ensuing fire were too intense for there not to have been some sort of accelerant present? It looks like there will be little for the cleanup crew to make use of."
"Do you hear that?" Napoleon said, cocking his head to one side as he reached out; touching his partners arm.
"Sounds like an animal?" said the Russian.
The two agents followed the noise to a spot less than fifty yards away where they spotted a clear plexi-glass container, with air holes drilled into it's walls and top. Inside it was a bundle of cloth; beneath which was something that was moving.
Illya knelt down, peering at it warily when a tiny hand appeared from under the cloth.
"Bozhe moy_my God it is a baby!"
He quickly pulled out his throwing knife, scoring the edge along the top of the box; prying it up with the blade. Then tossing the lid aside; he reached in gathering up the blanket; gently lifting the child out. Illya raised the cloth to look at it.
Napoleon watched as a look of horror filled the usually placid face of his partner.
"What's wrong?"
"Napoleon look..." Illya said as he turned the infant to give Solo a better view.
"Good God!" Napoleon gasped," what is it...that's not human?"
"It looks like some sort of human hybrid," Illya answered; regaining his cool demeanor as his scientific curiosity kicked in.
"The child had a human torso and head...but the eyes were definitely reptilian and the tongue was more that of a serpents."
"Why the hell would Thrush want to do something like this...it's like a creature out of a science fiction novel?"
Illya raised his eyebrows..."I do not know my friend." He reached out examining the child's eyes, when suddenly he yelped in pain.
"Chto za huy_what the fuck!" Illya blurted out," It just bit me!"
The side of his hand had two distinct puncture marks in it.
"Napoleon quickly...I need a stick or a small piece of glass!"
Solo grabbed a small broken piece of glass from the ground, handing it to his partner.
Illya held the child's head back, carefully placing the piece of glass beneath a pair of pointed fangs in it's mouth...putting a little pressure on them. Milky liquid oozed from the the teeth onto the glass.
"Der'mo_shit!" He cursed."Venom!"
Kuryakin lowered the creature back into the box.
"Napoleon you need to incise the bite and suck the venom out," he spoke with a surprisingly calm voice.
Napoleon grabbed Illya's knife; cutting a slit between the holes, then he quickly began sucking the side of the Russians palm; spitting out what ever he was able to draw from the wound. He continued to do so until blood flowed freely from the incision, then taking his handkerchief; he bound it around Illya's hand.
Illya lowered himself immediately to the ground; sitting beneath a small shade tree, knowing he needed to remain still to slow the movement of the poison throughout his system. The temperature was beginning to rise as it was nearly midday and the Russian loosened his tie; undoing the top button of his shirt, trying to remain calm.
Napoleon pulled his communicator " Channel D- medical emergency!"
"Medical...what is the nature of the emergency?"
"Agent down...possible snake bite?"
"O.K. Mr. Solo I have your location. We'll have a medi-vac chopper there shortly...the nearest hospital is in San Luis Obispo. Tell the victim to keep the affected area below the heart and to stay still. Do you know what kind of snake it was?"
"Ummm...not a clue. But we have a sample of the venom.
The chopper arrived taking Kuryakin to French Hospital nearly 197 miles away, while Napoleon waited for the cleanup team from Los Angeles; hiding the plex-glass case from view. He handed the chopper pilot his card.
"U.N.C.L.E.? Who's Uncle is it?"
"It's actually a what...The United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. And the man you're transporting is my partner...so take good care of him?"
"Will do boss...I was in 'Nam. I understand these things."
Napoleon leaned into the helicopter helping to strap Illya in. "Feeling anything?"
"Nothing yet... symptoms can take several hours to show up...and who knows what type of venom it is? But this should help," he said holding the piece of glass with the sample he had milked from the fangs.
Napoleon gave the Russian a reassuring pat on the shoulder..."Let's hope so tovarisch. See you soon alright?" He tried hiding his worry from his partner.
Illya gave a little wave as the door to the chopper was closed. Napoleon ducked down, walking away when blades from the helicopter stirred up a cloud of dust as it rose into the sky; disappearing quickly over the hills and out of sight.