The Ice Warrior

Chapter 28

As inadequate as the human reflexes were, it was no surprise for Wir Eis that they were slow in reacting. Before they even managed to understand what was going on, Wir Eis and Arthur stood before the weaklings, cutting off the bear's path.

The strange appearance of an AI and an alien made even the bear pause in its tracks, trying to reassess the situation.

"Should we shoot it?" Rose asked.

"No!" Silv and Justin exclaimed at the same time.

"We can't just let it eat us, and it won't be confused by Arthur and Wir Eis for much longer," Rose said.

"Eat us? Polar bears don't eat people, do they?" Silv asked with a trembling voice.

"Usually not, but if the food is scarce, as it usually is these days, then anything is better than nothing," Justin said.

"Human, go. Wir Eis and Arthur stop bear." Wir Eis said.

"How?" Silv asked.

Before Wir Eis could answer, the bear continued its charge, judging Wir Eis and Arthur to be the prey, not predators.

Wir Eis met the bear head-on, wrestling it to the ground.

"Go!" he yelled, avoiding the bear's snapping teeth.

Everyone but Arthur started running away, not sure what else they could do. Especially having in mind that firing their weapons had more chances of angering the bear than putting it down.

After the humans were far enough away, Wir Eis opened his enormous mouth, and a green liquid spurted out of it and into the bear's face. As a consequence, the bear stopped moving almost immediately.

"No wonder you don't need any weapons. What was that?" Arthur asked, fascinated by what he had never seen before.

"My people poison. Use it to hunt." Wir Eis said.

"You mean to tell me that you have a poison in your mouth that can paralyze your prey? That's awesome!" Arthur said, overly excited.

Wir Eis got up from the immobile bear, wiping away the excess liquid.

"Wait a minute. Why didn't you use it sooner? You let the others get freaked out of their minds." Arthur said.

"Human easy to scare. Wir Eis not scare them." Wir Eis said.

"Well, that does make sense. The humans are already struggling to accept that there are aliens among them. Learning that the said alien could paralyze them in seconds would only increase their fear. Why didn't you use that poison when the military caught you?" Arthur asked.

"Too many humans. Poison not help." Wir Eis said as they headed in the direction the others ran away in at a much slower pace than necessary.

"But why show me? And what will happen to the bear?" Arthur rattled out his questions.

"Someone know my strength and weakness good. You most rational. Bear be fine." Wir Eis said.

"That's an excellent point. Still, I wish my mistresses could have seen that! It's such a unique experience." Arthur said.

"Arthur not tell. Only if have to." Wir Eis said.

Arthur had to agree with Wir Eis. Humans were already hesitant enough around the strong alien. They didn't need another reason to fear him. Besides, if Wir Eis wanted to attempt some trickery, he wouldn't have shared anything with Arthur in the first place.

"What does your species eat anyway?" Arthur asked, thinking about the fallen bear and how easy it would be to consume it.

"Files on the ship say snow snake the best. Big and tasty." Wir Eis said.

"What about here, on Earth? There doesn't seem to be a lot of food outside the sectors." Arthur asked, curious.

"Polok." Wir Eis said.

"I do not believe I am familiar with that species. How long has it been on Earth?" Arthur asked, surprised that there was a species he never heard about.

That was especially shocking because he possessed knowledge of all flora and fauna on the Earth.

"No Earth. Home." Wir Eis said.

"But how can you have a homecooked meal here?" Arthur asked.

"Ship do a lot. Can create condition similar to home. Polok live, snow snake not." Wir Eis said, sounding tired of the questioning.

"Alright, alright, mistresses have told me that I ask too many questions, but just one more. What does 'polok' look like? What can you compare it with on Earth?" Arthur asked.

"Before ice, there be worms. Polok big, long worm." Wir Eis said to Arthur's utter fascination.

Before Arthur could ask any more questions, they saw their humans in the distance and picked up their pace to rejoin them.

"You are alive. I am so relieved." Silv said the moment she saw them.

"Yes, you should have seen Wir Eis's prowess. He was wrestling with the bear and then the bear tried to strike him with his huge paw, but Wir Eis hit him in the snout. Then, he put his arms around the bear's neck and made it lose consciousness." Arthur said, lying far better than an AI should have been capable of.

"I am just glad you are both okay," Silv said.

"Yes. Bear not come again." Wir Eis said.

"Well, that's a relief. We have enough problems as it is, and we don't have adequate weapons to fight the bears. Besides, this equipment is far too heavy to run around with." Rose said.

Wir Eis immediately took up the larger share of the equipment than the one he had dropped when he confronted the bear.

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Rose said.

Arthur did the same, so humans could continue their travels without getting too tired.

"I think we've gone far enough. It's time to double back." Justin said.

"Agreed," Silv said with much less venom than usual.

"Once I get us to the familiar zone, you will have to lead the way to the base. Can you do that?" Justin asked Silv.

"Yes, I have the coordinates," Silv replied matter-of-factly.

"Wir Eis, once we get closer to the base, you'll have to guide us so that we can get in undetected," Silv said.

"Yes. Wir Eis do." Wir Eis said.

Then they set off at a much quicker pace, afraid to find out what else could be hiding under the layers of snow.

Wir Eis also sent a message to his sister to prepare everything for their arrival. He wanted to make sure that the way he planned to take the others through was as safe as he had been telling them. Avoiding any surprises was crucial if they wanted to fix their spaceship quickly and efficiently.

The fate of his kind was on his big shoulders, and he was not ready to fail everyone.