In the Arctic by Art Collins Page A

back. Withdrawing her head a few inches, she then whispered, “Do you think we can move these sleeping bags really close together?”
    “You bet,” he whispered back.
    Overcome by exhaustion and the events of the day, it wasn’t more than ten minutes before the two teenagers fell asleep. Before nodding off, Willow yawned and said, “Be careful tomorrow.”
Plan B
    Sadly, Flint didn’t return to the transport pod during the night, and it was just past nine o’clock the next morning when Dr. Henderson called the group together and said, “Well, Zenda, you predicted that Malum wouldn’t attack at night, and he didn’t. So, tell me, when do you think he’ll make his next move?”
    “That depends on what we do,” Zenda answered. “Should we review what we agreed upon last night?”
    “I think that would be in order,” the Mission Commander replied. Then she turned to Major McColl and said, “Before you say it, I know we all need to get started on our C-Rations.”
    As all the humans ate their breakfast, Dr. Henderson outlined the dangerous plan that she thought just might work. With the first step of the plan having been successfully accomplished the night before, step two involved drawing Malum out of the tunnels.
    It wouldn’t be out of character for Zenda to try to convince her adversary to spare the remaining Earthlings’ lives now that he’d demonstrated his superiority by killing six of them. She knew her pleadings for mercy would be futile, but that wasn’t the point because the meeting was simply a diversionary tactic.
    Dr. Henderson had been shown how to raise, lower, and lock the transport pod’s hatch, and she would secure the hatch after Zenda had departed for her meeting with Malum. Positioning herself far away from the Chinook, and at a point where Malum’s view of the transport pod’s hatch would be blocked, Zenda would then call out his name.
    Zenda would be carrying a transmitter that, once activated, would set off a buzzer back in the transport pod. Once Malum arrived, she would begin to beg. She would also activate the transmitter, signaling that step three of the plan should commence.
    After the buzzer sounded, Dr. Henderson would lower the transport pod’s hatch. Deciding on which three people would then exit and sprint to the Chinook had been a particularly contentious issue the night before because there was a very real chance that some, or all of them, might not survive!
    One of the three leaving the transport pod was, as Meatloaf had said, “the bait” that would distract Malum while the other two attempted to drive the blue feather home and say the magic words. Even though there was risk to all three, the bait’s life was in greatest danger.
    Professor Eberstark had argued that since he was the oldest and had the shortest time to live, he should play the role of bait. While there was some logic to his argument, the old professor was turned down because he couldn’t move fast enough. Major McColl had also volunteered to play that role, but he was rejected because he was the only one left who could fly the chopper.
    “I played that role once before,” Meatloaf finally said, “and I played it pretty well. So I’m your bait, like it or not.”
    With the bait decision made, it didn’t take long to agree that Archibald and Jockabeb would be the other two accompanying Meatloaf. Archibald was given the blue feather, and his brother was asked to repeat “Nito, Vito, Samu” one more time, so everyone could hear the words that would hopefully end Malum’s life and save everyone else’s.
    Once Meatloaf and the two brothers were aboard the chopper, the last and most critical step in the plan would begin to unfold. Meatloaf would position himself in the cockpit where he could see Malum approach. It was also a cramped space that would restrict the alien’s mobility once it attacked. Archibald and Jockabeb would hide under blankets in the main cabin and wait for Meatloaf’s