A colossal twisting, writhing pillar of angry red fire sprang from near the South Pole. Clawing, twisting, branching like an unimaginably huge bolt of lightning, it extended tens of thousands of miles into space before finally dispersing.
The helicopters had been dispatched immediately from the forward base camp. When they arrived, the water that mostly filled the mile-wide pit in the ice cap was still gently steaming.
Two men wearing Arctic gear stood at the edge of the pit, staring into the void as if seeking some answer in the swirling steam. One looked at the readout on a portable computer held in his gloved hands.
"Well, Dr. Katsuragi?" the older man snapped impatiently.
"The instruments aren't picking anything up. Either Adam has somehow been destroyed, moved a considerable distance – or he has been reverted to the egg stage."
"Which shouldn't be possible without the Spear."
"I am aware of that, Gendo, but it also shouldn't be possible to destroy him – not without taking out the Earth itself. Of course, I suppose he could just have woken up and headed off on a stroll himself…"
"Don't be facetious, Katsuragi. It seems that there is an unknown party involved, human or otherwise – and that they have somehow stolen a march on us."
Dr. Katsuragi carefully closed his computer and tucked it under his arm.
"Perhaps", he began hesitantly, "this is a good thing. If the Egg of Adam is in someone else's hands, we may still be able to retrieve it. I always felt that we were playing with forces we might not be able to control…"
"First", Gendo almost snarled, "I am deeply insulted, not just for myself but also for my wife and the rest of the research team1, that you would suggest we would risk the lives of billions on inadequate data…"
"I was suggesting no such-"
"Secondly, we are dealing with unknowns, not merely known unknowns but unknown unknowns. We have no idea how this…cosmic theft, if theft is what it was, was accomplished, nor by who, or even if it is the work of a "who" as we understand it. We are clearly dealing with a power and genius beyond anything we know."
A pall of silence fell over the two men, who continued to stand peering hopelessly into the drifting mists.
Two white mice tiptoed behind them. Between them they carried a Ziplock freezer bag containing a strange, coiled, embryonic-appearing shape. They hurriedly exited, stage right.
"Narf!"
"Hm?"
"What?"
"Did you say 'Narf', Gendo?"
"No, I did not say 'Narf', Katsuragi. I thought you did."
"No."
Both men spun and looked around in wild surmise. Nothing but white emptiness scattered with chunks of half-melted ice too small for anyone to hide behind.
Dr. Katsuragi pulled out a cigarette and lit it with shaky hands. "Probably someone around the helicopters. Damn, it's cold."
"We will have more than frostbite to worry about once Keel Lorenz gets a full report. Heads will roll, possibly literally" Gendo sourly remarked. "We will have to make sure they are not ours. Of course, some of our co-workers may be more…expendable that ourselves."
They stood a bit longer in silence, Dr. Katsuragi morosely puffing at his cigarette. Gendo adjusted his protective goggles.
"Katsuragi…are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think so, Gendo. But are you sure the Yanomamo tribe would take us in? I really don't know the first thing about jungle survival…"