Monster of Ellesmere Island

Chapter 1

On Tape

Commander Sierra Mcdougall: Please state your name for the record?

Scientist 1: My name is Dr. Allan Jost.

Commander Mcdougall: Okay Doctor Jost, will you please start from the beginning, please?

Dr. Jost: Of course. It all started a few months ago. After we discovered the lava tube a few kilometers from here it became a "hot" spot for us. We would find ourselves taking the rover out to study it almost once a week. But the thing is, we would only go that far out to study it during the months of the midnight sun. So once the months of the polar night were finally over, we ventured out to the lava tube to study it once more. It was around this time when we found the polar bear remains. These polar bears had been very savagely eaten. The hunter had stripped off everything, leaving just bone and the polar bear's face. We took lots of pictures and even brought back samples, the remains were well preserved due to the extreme cold.

Commander Mcdougall: Are these the pictures here? She asks as she picks up a stack of pictures that are on the table.

Dr. Jost: Yes ma'am those are the pictures. We concluded that the polar bear remains most likely belonged to a male polar bear.

Commander Mcdougall: Are these the pictures of the lava tube here?

Dr. Jost: Yes ma'am, we weren't able to explore that much of it with the equipment that we have but we did find more polar bear remains inside of the lava tube.

Commander Mcdougall: How tall is this lava tube?

Dr. Jost: Measurements show that it is about 7 meters from its ceiling to its floor.

Commander Mcdougall: That's a tall cave.

Dr. Jost: Yes ma'am it is. But it does face away from us and is fairly hidden. But one of the main things out of the ordinary were the two meters long and one-meter wide footprints that we found in the snow and ice.

Mcdougall examines the pictures with a very fascinated look on her face. There is a hint of skepticism while she studies the photographs but she does believe that they are real.

Taken from the journal pages of Nickoli Filippovich II

I am a Russian-American, I was born in Vancouver, Washington. My Father immigrated from Russia in his mid-twenties, to have a fresh start in a new country. He gave me his own name: Nickoli Erik Filippovich as a way of "passing on the torch" to me so that I could be his successor. I had been in The U.S. Marine Corp for five years when I was offered a position in the United States Protection Agency. The USPA is a special operations agency that was created to conduct small-unit military operations to protect American citizens against potential threats, whether it be Terroristic or unknown.

Ever since our unit arrived at Alert and heard the statements from the employees here on base, we have all been on high alert. No pun intended.

Joad, on the other hand, seems fairly optimistic about the situation. Due to his passion for science and science fiction, he's fascinated by this sort of thing. Joad is also a good addition to the team with his sense of humor and overall optimism. I'm probably closest to him. He's a good change from our commander, Mcdougall. She can be sort of a hard-ass sometimes. But, it's all with good intentions, I guess. The strange sudden appearance of fairly fresh polar bear remains and all of the strange noises and sounds that the scientists reported hearing during the night cycle are a cause for concern that should be taken seriously. Even the fact that she addresses me by "Filippovich" means that she means business. Because Joad, Nanci, Robert, and Brian, on the other hand, call me Nick; due to the fact that we're equals.

Today we helped run maintenance. To make sure that everything on the base was up to code to withstand the harsh conditions of the environment. We're doing this not only as a safety precaution but also as a way to burn time while we wait for the snow to slow so that we can investigate the site where the scientists found the polar bear remains.

Everything on base seems to be in order. The climate control is working properly and there is enough food in the kitchen for all of us to eat for a few weeks.

  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Nickoli put down his pen, closed his journal, and took a moment to look around at his surroundings. He was in a room, not much bigger than your average walk-in closet. In the room there are two other cotts, not counting his own. All of the men were in one repurposed storage closet while the women were in the extra bunk room, standard procedure. The bunk room that the women are staying in is vacant because Dr. Gerald Bingham had to return home due to some kind of family emergency. The scientists weren't completely specific on the details and they weren't questioned about it, out of respect for his situation. Even though the scientists probably should have been questioned.

Since Joad was still out making his rounds it was just Nick and Brian Hensley in the room. Both of them being on opposite sides of the room.

Brian is a very quiet guy, muscular enough to hold his own in a boxing match, but quiet all the same.

"Hey, Brian?" Nick asked.

"What's up Boss?" Brian responded.

"What are your thoughts on this whole situation after hearing everything they have said? Do you think there is a potential threat here or do you think this is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo?"

"Well, at this point it's really hard to tell. I have been to a lot of places, nowhere this far north of course, but I have seen some crazy things when working those jobs. It wouldn't surprise me if there was something really going on here and it wouldn't surprise me if this was all just a hoax. But, of course, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't true."

"Ye...eah, that's exactly what I was thinking," Nick said back a little sarcastically.

Taken from the Journal pages of Nanci Montez (Day 2)

It still hasn't stopped snowing yet. When we arrived here it was barely a flurry of snow but now it's coming down in heaps. So much for a place that doesn't get a lot of snowfall this time of year.

Today we've done our usual rounds. We've helped in the kitchen and even spent some time in their weight room here. At night we play games, mostly dice and card games. We stay busy where we can in a place like this. Mcdougall, even though she's a hardass, is damn good at Texas hold'em. I lost most of my cash to her and Brian Hensley. I don't think I've told you about him yet. Brian has your average rough exterior of an ex-combat official but of course, he's a big softy on the inside, you just have to get to know him a little, I think. If it wasn't for Mcdougall being here, Brian would definitely be in command.

Joad, on the other hand, does not have the best Poker Face, he has probably lost just as much money as I did. But, I'm not sure how much money Nickoli lost. He won some and lost some so he probably came out of the game about even. Nick tried to help me out by giving me a few pointers here and there, but there was really no helping me.

Mcdougall reported to us that the weather monitoring station here predicts that the snow should ease up enough for us to inspect the found remains. Part of me really hopes that she is wrong because I really do not want to go out in that weather. I'm from Oklahoma, so the temperatures out there are unlike anything that I have ever felt. But I will follow our Commander's orders when she gives them to us. USPA.