The Adventures of Professor Schlotheim

3

I scrambled out of the snow to fill my lungs at last with fresh frosty air, then saw my assistant Bob Nesbitt standing by my side, knee-deep in the snow, a snowboard under his arm.

"Professor," Bob exclaimed with surprise, "what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the Bahamas?"

"It's a long story, Bob. You'd better help me up on my feet," I said, lying on my side.

"Professor," my assistant said, after I was up, and a girl in a ski suit appeared before me, "this is my fiance, Ada Smith."

"How do you do, Miss Smith?"

"Nice to meet you, Professor Schlotheim," said Ada, "I hope you aren't injured."

"Thanks, I'm okay."

"What about the animals?" asked Bob, excitedly.

"They're dead, Bob."

"And Matilda?"

"Yes," I gave out a deep sigh, "your favorite monkey is dead too. All of them, rabbits, guinea pigs, weasels, frogs. They killed them all."

"Who killed them?" Bob exclaimed in a shocked tone.

"They," I pointed at the bald head that had just popped out of the snow by my side. "Give me your board!"

I grabbed Bob's snowboard and right away landed it with all my might on the thug's head. The impact at once rendered the bald man motionless and still.

"That's their leader," I said, then turned around and cried: "Look out, Bob! There's another one behind you!"

A mop of red hear was sticking out just beside my assistant. Bob was clever enough not to lose any time, but snatched the other snowboard, that obviously belonged to his girlfriend, and bashed it heavily against that head. 

"Professor," screamed Ada. "another one on your left!"

"It's the scum who killed Matilda," I cried out and nailed the head back in the snow with Bob's board.

"Serves him right!" shouted Bob.

"There must be two more," I said. We stood silent for a minute but no more heads popped out.

"They must have suffocated under the snow," Bob broke the silence. "Who are they? What were they doing in the lab?"

"They were a desperate crew, Bob, and they nearly killed me. It was only this avalanche that saved me from death just in time. Though such fucking huge masses of snow usually kill people."

"Professor, it was I who set off this fucking mass of snow down here," Bob informed me, smiling with a stupid air.

"Thanks Bob. Though I highly doubt you did it to save me."

"What about these guys?" asked Ada, pointing at the motionless heads, sticking out of the snow. "Are they alive?" 

"Obviously we brained them either dead, or unconscious," I said.

"Should we check them?" suggested Ada.

"What for?" I replied. "In any case, we'd better leave this place as soon as possible."

"Professor," Bob stared at me with a confused look, "I still don't understand what happened here?"

"I'll tell you later, Bob. Do you hear that noise, guys?" I pointed to the sky. "Rescue copters are coming this way. I say, let's get the hell out of here."

I turned around and started plodding through the deep snow toward the village.

I and Bob had been using the lab strictly for research purposes, while our living quarters were a rented chalet in Mürren. I wasn't sure if Petrin's people weren't inside, but since we had to pick up some necessary stuff and papers, we sent Ada ahead of us as a scout, and only after she made sure no one was in, did we enter the house.