Skinwalkers…

Having met with Mr Shannon and gained new identities, the EIS team are back on the trail of Doctor Jackal. Following up on a sighting of him at Las Cruces airport the team boarded an aeroplane to Albuquerque but their flight was interrupted by a nightmare creature attacking the aeroplane. The EIS team consists of Alfie Baldrick, the one man rifle section; Mimi Dubois, maîtresse of skills; Madeline Forsyth, the living shadow; and Sven Hyse, the Norwegian shapeshifter.

Somewhere over New Mexico, United States of America, October 1949

Mimi notices that the altimeter is fluttering, but with the blizzard still howling around the aeroplane she cannot see the ground. She pulls back on the yoke in the hope of pulling the nosediving aeroplane out of it’s dive but realises almost instantly that she is not strong enough. Reaching out with her borrowed mind speech ability she calls to Alfie for help. Hearing Mimi’s cry for help in his head, Alfie turns to Sven and tells him that Mimi needs assistance, the big Norwegian grumbles about having to get out of his seat but slowly climbs to his feet and struggles along the aisle with Baldrick following on close behind him.

As they reach the connecting door to the first class area, Sven bends down and picks up the unconscious air hostess and straps her safely into one of the empty seats. He then forces the door open and as the air rushes past them they can both see the huge tear in the fuselage, Sven manages to hold firm against the air suction but Alfie slips and is sucked into the air and only the quick reactions of Sven, who manages to grab hold of him, prevents him from being shot out into the blizzard filled sky. At the other end of the aeroplane Madeline continues to reduced the temperature around the burning engines and can see that she has managed to freeze the fuel and so the fire is starting to die down.

As Mimi is staring out of the cockpit window desperately trying to see anything through the blizzard conditions the Wendigo lands on the aeroplanes nose. It is a horror from her nightmares and she instantly panics. Throwing off her seat belt she rushes to the cockpit door and throws back the locking bolts. The door bursts open and she is sucked into the air, but once again the lightning reactions of Sven stop one of the EIS team being lost to the blizzard. Sven pulls her in close and can hear her raving about a monster. He looks into the cockpit and seeing nothing shouts:

It’s gone! We need you to fly the plane Mimi!

Grabbing Mimi by her collar, Sven marches her back into the cockpit and sits her back down in the pilots seat. Alfie takes a seat in the co-pilots chair and together they start to pull back on the yoke and ever so slowly the nose of the aeroplane begins to come up. Sven straps himself into the radio operators seat and begins to transmit a Mayday message. He quickly receives a response from Albuquerque air tower who asks who is broadcasting, Sven responds:

This is the flight from Idlewild to Albuquerque. Engines are burning. Flight crew is dead. Passengers are flying. Wish us luck!

With Alfie’s help I just manage to get the aeroplane level before Albuquerque tower reply:

You are way off course. Pull up! PULL UP!

Those words are met with the sound of an explosion and the fuselage of the aeroplane glances off of a mountain peak hidden within the blizzard. Mimi breathes a sigh of relief that they didn’t collide directly, but that relief is short lived as the aeroplane lurches with another explosion and begins to break up. It is then that they hit a second outcropping of rock and the rear of the aeroplane sheers off, taking Madeline with it. Madeline, clinging in shadow form to the rear of the aeroplane sees the remaining passengers pulled out of the broken aeroplane by the fierce winds and then all is lost in the raging blizzard.

The remainder of the aeroplane hits the mountainside hard and starts to slide downwards, the nose of the aeroplane breaks away from the main fuselage and plummets over a drop. As it ploughs its way down the mountain slope the cockpit is pelted with snow and rocks. With the cockpit windows already torn out the occupants of the plummeting aeroplane nose are battered by the debris, Alfie and Sven are still wearing their EIS issued enhanced armoured clothing and so are able to shrug off the worst of the damage, but Mimi's enhanced armour had been severely damaged in the fight with the horror in London and she had left what remained in the hidden base beneath the Montauk Institute. Mimi Dubois took the full force of the uncontrolled descent and by the time the aeroplane nose came to a halt, tilting dangerously to one side, she was hanging limp and unmoving in the pilots seat.

The tail of the aeroplane suffers the same fate as the nose, and as it crashes into the mountainside Madeline is bounced and battered in the same way as her team mates, but she is fortunate that her enhanced armour absorbs the impact. When the tail comes to rest Madeline takes a moment to compose herself and then transforms herself into her solid form before finding a thick fur coat to keep out the worst of the cold and then transforming herself back into a shadow and heading in the direction of the crash fires burning in the distance.

Alfie unbuckles his seat belt and slides across to check on the unconscious Mimi, he shakes her but she doesn't stir and so he reaches out his hand and checks for a pulse. Sven shakes himself free of some debris and asks if everyone is OK, Alfie responds:

I'm a little injured sir, but it's Mimi Sir! She's dead Sir! Dead!

The two men stand dumbfounded for a moment, before compulsion forces Sven to double check Mimi's pulse and confirms to his mind that she is dead. Regaining his composure Sven takes charge of the situation and tells Alfie that they need to get away from the wreckage and so he clambers up onto the outside of the aeroplane and looks around. Alfie grabs Mimi's corpse, easily lifting the diminutive French lady, and climbs up after him. Sven can see that the nose of the aeroplane is precariously perched near the edge of a precipice. He grabs Alfie and drags him away from the wreckage.

Arriving at the main fuselage of the aeroplane Madeline realises that the nose section, including the cockpit, has sheered off. She slides up onto the bulk of the wreckage and starts to search for it, but her sight is impaired by the continuing blizzard and she realises that a funnel of rapidly turning air is starting to form around where she is standing. She quickly backs away looking for somewhere to hide on the mountainside, and as she does so she sees the nightmare shape of the Wendigo slowly descend onto the wreckage. Madeline does not stick around to find out what it is up to and rushes down the slope. The further she gets away from the Wendigo the easier it is to see as the blizzard seems to die away.

Sven's experience of living his early days in the Norwegian mountains tells him that they need to find shelter and so he leads Alfie upwards towards the edge of the rocky outcrop that the aeroplanes nose had plunged over. As he moves Sven spots that the snow upon the ground is very new and shallow, and he realises that it very unusual for it to snow in this location. Sven finds a sheltered lee and squeezes Alfie into it before transforming himself into a polar bear and covering him with his bulk.

As she descends down the mountainside Madeline discovers the tracks of Alfie and Sven heading towards the rocky outcropping and so she follows them. She is momentarily startled to see a large polar bear crammed into a shallow lee, but when it looks at her she realises that it is Sven and slides into the shelter with Alfie. As the remaining EIS team members huddle from the storm an eerie howl splits the air causing Alfie to shake uncontrollably. Madeline tells them that the Wendigo is a creature of First Nation myth with an insatiable hunger and the desire to cannibalize humans and she encourages them to run and leave Mimi's corpse to distract the monster. It is at that moment that a thought strikes Madeline:

In the Montauk Institute there was an enhanced that had the ability to resurrect. What if Mimi borrowed that power?

And so they decide to move but take the corpse of Mimi with them. Sven transforms into a wolf and starts to lead them downhill, Alfie is struggling in the conditions to carry Mimi on his own and so he dupes out Billy to help him. After what seems like an eternity of trudging through the snow they realise that the blizzard is building up again and Madeline shouts over the raging blizzard:

The Wendigo is coming!

As if triggered by Madeline's statement a howl pierces the snow storm and a large shadow bursts out of the blizzard and slams into Alfie, raking him with razor sharp claws and biting at him with needle like teeth. Alfie punches out at the Wendigo but it is like smashing his fist into an ice sculpture. Sven, who has transformed into a diminutive clown, leaps at the horror and smashes into it's midriff but his attack glances off of the creatures thick hide. Madeline shoots a blast of ice straight at the beast but it harmlessly slides off of the nightmare. The Wendigo leaps into the air and hangs suspended in the howling gale raising its arms into the air before bringing them rapidly down to its sides. As it does so lightning blasts out of the sky and arcs into the EIS team.

The team dive for cover but there is none and the raging winds keep them pinned down. The Wendigo gestures once again, and again lightning strikes the EIS team. Alfie collapses, electrical sparks dancing around his unconscious form, and so Billy grabs him by the collar and starts to drag him away from the horror floating above them. Sven grabs Mimi's body and staggers away after Billy. Madeline hears the sound of a wolf howl over the raging winds and spots that the Wendigo looks in the direction of the animal call, as it does so a huge eagle bullets out of the snow storm and slashes across the Wendigo with its claws before disappearing back into the storm.

Madeline then sees a huge lumbering shape coming through the darkness of the snow storm towards them, it growls loudly and Sven shouts:

GRIZZLY!

Then they all hear the sound of a wolf howl again, but this time it is much closer. They look up to see the Wendigo whipping its head around quickly between the huge grizzly bear and the sound of the wolf when a smaller black shape arrows out of the storm and slams into the horror before flapping back into the storm. As it goes the remaining team members can see that it is a giant crow. Billy shouts that the Wendigo is injured and then the unnaturally large bear and a wolf of equal proportions leap from the storm to attack the Wendigo, but neither creature can reach. Then the eagle reappears and smashes into the back of the horror, forcing it towards the giant mammals. The Wendigo manages to avoid the snapping jaws and raking claws of the wolf and bear and starts to rise rapidly into the air.

As the Wendigo lifts into the air the EIS team find themselves battered by the snow storm and have to shield their faces, when the storm dies they look up and find themselves the focus of a semi-circle of huge creatures. In the centre sits the huge bear, and it is flanked by a wolf, a coyote, and a dog. The team stand transfixed by the creatures unwavering stare and Billy turns to Sven and says:

You're good with animals aren't you Sir?

Sven transforms into his wolf shape once more and approaches submissively towards the giant wolf, as he does so the large dog stands up and wags its tail before sitting down again. Sven cocks his lupine head to one side and then the large eagle lands between the unnatural animals and the EIS team, the eagle walks forwards and as it does so it transforms into a Native American woman draped in a feather covered cloak, and that is all she is wearing. Billy's jaw drops and the injuries he took while battling the Wendigo finally overcome him and he drops to the floor. Sven transforms back into his human form and rushes to Billy's side to check him. The eagle woman turns to the coyote and says something in a language that Sven doesn't understand and the coyote walks forwards transforming into a naked Native American man wearing a coyote tailed hat.

The eagle woman says to Sven:

Your friends are injured. Can we help?

Sven nods and the eagle woman gestures to the coyote man who walks forwards and examines the bodies of Billy, Alfie, and Mimi. Sven steps forwards and bows to the eagle woman before asking who they are. The eagle woman responds:

I am Chiksar, misses with arrows in your tongue, and we are skinwalkers. We have someone who can help your friends but we must travel far and quickly so we will carry you. Where is the shadow spirit that accompanied you?

As soon as the unnatural animals had arrived Madeline had taken the opportunity to slip away and search the crash site for any equipment that would help in the fight against the Wendigo, and possibly the unnatural animals as well. She locates a first aid kit as well as some survival equipment stored in a crew compartment, and a flare gun attached to one of the bulkheads. As she is searching she looks up and can see a crow circling high above and so she dives underneath the bulk of the aeroplane and hides. After a short wait she peeks out, and not seeing the bird in the sky she starts to make her way back towards her team mates.

Sven looks back at the eagle woman and tells her:

I will go and find the shadow, which direction are we head?

The eagle woman points north but says:

My brother and I will wait with you while my others brothers take your injured ahead of us.

The coyote man places Alfie's body upon the bears back and then the dog and wolf both transform into huge bears and the coyote man places Billy and the Mimi upon each of them. The three bears then start to run north and as they move their speed increases to impossible limits and they vanish from sight. Sven starts slogging back up the hill calling out for Madeline.

Hearing Sven call her name, Madeline quietly slides shadow like across the snow covered mountainside and slips onto the big Norwegian, she whispers quietly in his ear:

Sven, don't jump it's Madeline. What is happening? Is it safe to come out? Are they holding you prisinor?

Sven shakes his head and tells her what happened in the meeting with the skinwalkers and how they are helping to heal the rest of the team. Madeline slides back off of Sven and transforms back into her solid form before introducing herself to the eagle woman and the coyote man. When they respond Madeline detects that their accents are rooted in the Navajo language, possibly even Apache. And when the eagle woman tells her that the rest of the team have been taken to their camp and that she would like permission to take Madeline and Sven, Madeline agrees. Madeline transforms back into a shadow and slides onto the coyote and the eagle woman transforms into a huge grizzly and Sven climbs onto her back. The unnatural animals start to run and within seconds they are travelling well over one hundred miles per hour along the canyon floor.

An hour or so later they run into a wide valley and starting to decelerate head towards a ramshackle town with a number of teepee in its centre. When they arrive Madeline transforms back into her human form and thanks the coyote man who has also transformed back into a human. Sven then spots an older man walking towards them, he is wearing an elaborate headdress and when he arrives he introduces himself as Hototo. The eagle woman talks to Hototo in what Madeline later discovers to be Mescalero Apache. The elder nods sagely during the conversation and when it is finished he turns to Madeline and Sven and says:

Your friends are being cared for by our healer as we speak. Please join me and we can talk.

Billy Baldrick comes to with a start. As his senses slowly return he starts to piece together where he is. He seems to be laying on animal skins in a conical tent with a thick smoke in the air. He can make out the naked forms of Alfie and Mimi to his left and right, his eyes linger briefly on Mimi before he realises that there is someone else moving within the tent. Out of the smoke steps the most beautiful Native American lady, Billy is stunned by her appearance and the fact that she is also naked. She says something to him in a language that he does not understand, but he does understand the gesture for him to get out of the tent and so with a last look at Alfie and Mimi he leaves through the tent flap.

He stumbles out into the cold, naked as the day he was born, the sky is clear and he is bearly aware when someone drapes a bear skin around his shoulders and leads him through a collection of teepees towards the largest in the centre.

Hototo leads Madeline and Sven into the central teepee and gestures for them to sit. A moment later and Billy, wearing nothing but a bear skin, is lead into the tent. He sees Madeline and Sven and asks what happened. They tell him that they were rescued by their hosts and that they have healed him, with a shrug Billy joins the pair sitting on the floor of the teepee. A woman enters and offers them all a bowl of liquid and when Billy raises it to his lips he feels the welcome burn of alcohol pour down his throat. A moment later and he is overcome by a feeling of regeneration as his aches and pains are washed away.

Madeline watches on as Hototo goes through a ceremony of placing tobacco in a long pipe, all of his movements are precise and well practised and each action seems to have particular importance within the whole process. Eventually, the elder lights the pipe before taking a very long draw on it and passing it to Madeline.

Alfie comes to laying within a teepee, as soon as he regains consciousness his mind links with that of Billy and he looks about for Mimi knowing that she will be there. He sees her body laying beside him, naked and badly injured and can see that her chest is rising and falling barely as she takes shallow breaths. Mimi still lives. Then a beautiful Native American woman hands Alfie a bowl of liquid and knowing how it affected Billy he gulps it down and feels instantly better. He is then ushered out of the teepee by the stunning attractive, and naked, woman. He passes through the flap and feels the woman come through after him, but when he turns to see her he is started to see that the individual following him appears to have a hessian bag over their head and their eyes and mouth are nothing but spots of bright light.

The unusual humanoid leads Alfie towards the central teepee and when they enter he can see the rest of the team passing a long pipe around while Sven loads his own pipe with tobacco and having lit it, passes it to the elder in the elaborate headdress. The rest of the team see the unusual humanoid enter with Alfie and the elder says;

This is Zaltana Littleone, she is our medicine woman.

He continues:

We must apologise to you for we believe this to be our fault. The coyote man came to us and allowed some of us to reveal our spirit. The skinwalkers gained their gifts and Zaltana hers, but one of our number had hidden his nature from us and when his spirit was revealed he became the Wendigo. Zaltana believes that it was your spirits that attracted the Wendigo to you, he was drawn by your nature.

Madeline asks if it was the same coyote man that had helped rescue the team, but Hototo tells her that it was not one of the skinwalkers but a coyote man. Madeline nods as if she understands and then asks when the coyote man came? Hototo tells her that it was fourteen nights ago. Sven asks if he looked like Doctor Jackal, and to emphasize the point he transforms into Doctor Jackal, the people of the village look at him intently and says that they cannot be sure. He then asks if the coyote man did his magic with a brass sphere? One of the skinwalkers gets very excited and produces a fractured glass sphere with a brass button from her pocket, it is obviously the work of Doctor Jackal and when she presses the button the sphere disappears from sight for fifteen seconds before materializing back in place.

Madeline asks if they know where the man is now, but she is told that it is very difficult to track the coyote. Hototo goes on to say that he was interested in the fact that some of the tribe worked at the nearby military base. The elder, after a brief conversation with Zaltana, says:

Your friend is terribly injured, her spirit is weak and it will take time to bring her back to consciousness. The twins will also need time to fully recover. You are welcome to stay here until they are healed and we will keep you safe.

The team agree to stay until Mimi has recovered. The following morning Madeline talks to the eagle woman and asks her what she thinks that the Wendigo wanted with the team, the eagle woman simply replies:

He wanted to eat you!

Madeline also asks if there is any news about the air crash and is told that it has been mentioned on the radio. Madeline also asks if the eagle woman will teach her how to speak Apache and she agrees.

Mimi takes a massive lung full of smokey air and sits bolt upright. The last thing that she remembers is being pummelled by rocks through the broken window of a crashing aeroplane. She looks about and through the smoke filled atmosphere she can see a beautiful Native American woman moving towards her with a bowl of liquid. The woman says some thing to her in a language that she doesn't understand, but as she passes the bowl to Mimi, Mimi touches her hands and borrows her ability to speak her native tongue and thanks her in Mescalero Apache. The woman is a little startled and gestures to the entry flap.

Mimi climbs to her feet and steps naked into the cold air.