Darkness was gathering as they neared their destination at Sparrow Lake. The days of perpetual night were a thing of the past as spring time drew nearer but night still came quickly here in the North. Twilight spread across the Eastern horizon like a purple bruise outlined in vivid hues of pink and orange.
Bryce stopped the snowmobile at the crest of a hill overlooking the lake and scanned the skyline for movement. Big predators often stirred from slumber at dusk and began their nightly roaming in search of prey. Bryce remembered his Innuit friend Goerge Whitefeather who had been eaten by a polar bear not far from this very location two winters ago. The huge, white carnivores were hard to see against the snow and would stalk a man for days waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Without being aware of his actions, Bryce felt down to where the 12-gauge shotgun was strapped to the side of the snowmobile, then he revved his engine and began the descent to the lake below.
Bryce pulled up and stopped the engine in front of a large mound of icy snow that jutted from beside the frozen lake. Like a big letter "I" laying on it's back, it seemed forlorn and lonely in the stark, flatness of the countryside. Natuk, clearly not tired from the exertions of his journey, began digging madly at one end of the mound.
Snow flew from between his thick, powerful legs as his front paws worked furiously and his head disappeared into the snow. THis was Bryce's icehouse built during a fishing trip earlier in the winter. The entrance was buried by recent snowfalls but he got down on all fours and in true "doggy style" helped Natuk dig out the cavelike opening. Soon they were inside and Bryce rested on the raised sleeping platform in the centre of the structure as Natuk sniffed around in the corners.
After doing some housecleaning and then unpacking the snowmobile, Bryce went to the back of the icehouse and removed two snowballs frozen onto one-inch diameter vents punched into the top rear surface of the shelter. With a steady flow of air to avoid suffocation, the house could now be heated with just a candle - the thick ice walls insulating him from the wind and frigid cold outside. He put some food outside for Natuk and then found his butane/propane camp stove. Opening two cans of Irish stew and corn, he prepared his own dinner, removing his parka as it became uncomfortably warm from the heat of both the candle and the camp stove.
After dinner, he went down to the lake and lay on his back staring into the night sky above. It was only Five O'clock in the afternooon but it was already pitch black. The stars glittered brightly against the dark globe of the heavens. Bryce just lay there for a while taking in the beauty of the night and thinking of the vastness of the Universe. He located Mars hanging low, barely visible in the winter sky. He wondered what Gail, the most vulnerable and yet also the most idealistic of the probes, was doing at this very moment. It was unthinkably surreal that on that twinkling little red dot, minute and so far away, Zachary was forming robotic legions to fight an alien amphibian threat and Daniel was possibly communicating with the creator of the Universe in cryptic, unintelligible, phsyco-babble that seemed little more than a child's gibberish.
Bryce's reverie was interrupted by the sound of Natuk's excited howling coming from about a half kilometer away. He looked to the direction of the commotion but could see nothing in the dark. When excited, the wolf in Natuk would come to the surface and his voice became an unearthly howl with yipping noises and vicious sounding growls thrown in. From the dog's tone, there was definately something amiss. Bryce ran back to the icehouse and pulled the shotgun free from the snowmobile. Natuk's distressed call was coming from the direction of a stand of spruce off in the distance. He set off running as fast as he could, the thigh-deep snow slowing him and making each step an effort. He was exhausted before he was halfway there.
Bryce reached the trees and followed Natuk's tracks into the wood but now the barking had stopped and a eerie silence descended upon the night. Bryce continued to track his dog with only the light of the stars to illuminate the pawprints in the snow. He reached into a leg pouch and found two shells. He loaded the shotgun before proceeding, his breath coming in short, sharp bursts, his heart pounding in his chest. Anything that could upset Natuk was big trouble and he felt tension run down his spine.
Suddenly, the tracks ended. Just ended, in mid-gait as if the huge dog had vanished into thin air. The last print was back towards the hind leg and then there was nothing, just virgin snow, where the next step should have been. Bryce frantically searched the woods in every direction. The skin was crawling on his back and neck. The 12-gauge was held ready and the insides of his gloves were wet with sweat. There was nothing. NO trace of Natuk. The woods were dark and still.
And then there was light. A warm, brilliantly white light that blasted into Bryce's brain with the intensity of an exploding sun. His optic nerves tingled and he could feel photons bouncing off the insides of his skull. He jammed his eyes closed and fired the gun reflexively as he fell to the ground.Then the light changed and there was color such as he had never seen before. Swirling paisley and plaid patterns shifted and ebbed and impossibly brilliant, formless images danced against the backs of his eyes which were clenched closed, his arms covering his face. Phosphorescent shining globes of pure energy rained down upon Bryce pounding his senses into oblivion. He saw radiant bursts of color and thought he knew now what the big-bang had looked like at the dawn of time. Just before he lost consciousness, there was a cacophony like the feedback of a million speaker amps - and then there was silence.
When Bryce awoke, he felt the pain in his head first. His skull throbbed and he had the sensation of having been blown up like a balloon and then deflated again. The world was spinning and he could not tell which way was up or whether he was standing or laying down. He felt cold. The wind howled around him, his limbs were numb, and his body was shaking as if he had laid exposed for a time. Bryce opened his eyes slowly. It was still dark and he was lying in the snow. The stars shone above him but the night seemed deeper and darker. He looked at his watch. It was 4:21 in the morning. He remembered the lights but had no recolection after that. He had lost over ten hours since he had left the icehouse.
He looked around but could not recognize his surroundings. He had no idea where he was. The stand of spruce was nowhere to be seen nor where there dog tracks in the snow.
"Natuk", he called as loud as he was able.
Again he yelled, "Natuk. Here boy. Natuk, c'mon buddy".
There was nothing. He was alone.
In a flash of inspiration, he pulled the digital location finder from his parka and from the selection menu chose the Anik III satellite from which to take a reading. He entered his starting co-ordinates at the Earthwatch station onto the display and hit enter. He waited while the signal went into space and back again. A set of numbers appeared on the screen and Bryce could only stare in astonishment. He was almost three hundred kilometers North of where he should have been.
"Good God", he thought. "I'm halfway to the pole. How the hell did I get way up here? What am I going to do"?
Fear gripped him like a clenched fist and he and to fight off the panic which threated to overwhelm him. He struggled to keep control as panic would kill him before the cold would if he let it. He looked around and tried to understand his situation. And then, he saw something in the distance. A light - a man-amde light of the artificial of the home and garden variety. A sign of man way out here in the frigid waste. It was either a mirage or a miracle but whichever, it was his only hope.Bryce pulled his parka closer around him, strapped the woolen facemask around his head and staggered off towards the distant beacon. He fell heavily in the snow after only a few steps. He dragged himself to his feet and set forward again, the wind and blowing snow colsing around him like a shroud.