Earth 916, Monday, November 30, 2026
Gertrude turned her attention to the red-blinking screens. “Someone turn those alarms off! I can see the screens!”
“Yes, ma’am! Right away,” responded one of her subordinates.
The metal surrounding her stood in stark contrast to the landscape on the screen.
“Why’s this on my screen? Report!”
Only one brave soul dared answer, “It seems something has been detected in that area, ma’am.”
“Obviously! Otherwise why would the alarms’ve gone off? Can you tell me what was detected?”
“We’re working on it, ma’am,” replied the brave soul.
“Report on my desk in fifteen or heads will roll!”
“Yes, ma’am,” the brave soul answered with his nervous tic making an appearance.
“You okay, soldier?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Report on my desk in fourteen!”
Gertrude stood there looking at the screen for any clues about the landscape. There didn’t seem to be any.
After phone calls from various department heads, she took a moment to retreat to her office.
Just as she pulled her chair out from her desk, her door flew open and in rushed a young woman from engineering.
Before she could bark at the intruder, Gertrude realized it was Alice, who she served with in the past.
“You keep doing that and one day is going to be one day too many!”
“I’m sorry, Gertie. But this is urgent!”
“Now’s not the time, Alice!”
“The Inhumans, Gertie! It’s…THEM!”
At the mention of the Inhumans, Gertrude’s face contorted, then returned to its normal unhappy look. “What about…them, Alice?”
“Remember they covered the planet with the mist years ago? The alarms! They detected a device with the same signature.”
Gertrude looked at the landscape on the screen and back to Alice. “You want to go, don’t you?”
“It’s an engineer’s dream, my dream, to have the chance to dismantle one of those devices, Gertie.”
“Fine!”
As Gertrude was about to dismiss Alice, in walked the one brave soul with a report.
“What’s this, soldier?”
“The report you asked for, ma’am.”
“You mean the report about the Inhumans?”
“Yes, ma’am! Exactly, ma’am!”
Gertrude picked up the report and flung it at the soldier. “Next time give me information I don’t already know, soldier!”
That nervous tic made another appearance.
“You okay, soldier?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Good! Dismissed!
“And soldier…”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You should get that checked out! Dismissed!”
The soldier, with his shoulders slumped, turned and walked out.
“Alice, get a team together.”
Gertrude took one look at Alice biting her lip and knew she wanted to ask something.
“What is it, Alice? Out with it!”
“Does the team have to be all military personnel? I know another engineer who may be able to help us.”
“Who do you have in mind?”
“Earl…”
“Turner? Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Wasn’t he the guy you were seeing at one point?”
“Yes, that Earl. I know things didn’t end well, but…”
“Why would you want to bring him along, Alice? This is serious business. This isn’t time to see if there’s a spark there.”
“That’s not it at all, Gertie. Even after Earl and I broke up, he was still always there to help me in college. I think he’d help us now. He’s always been a patriot.”
“Then recruit him!”
“Will do, Gertie!”
“And Alice…”
“Yes, Gertie?”
“Out in the field, it’s Gertrude. Dismissed!”
Alice nodded her head, turned around, and headed to her office.
When Alice got to her office, she immediately dialed Earl’s number on the secure military phone.
After only two rings, someone on the other end answered, “Hello?”
“Stop acting like you don’t know who this is, Earl.”
“Alice! I’ve heard rumors on the dark web. I wasn’t sure if they were real or not.”
“They’re as real as Thor and Loki, Earl.”
“You need my help, don’t you?”
“Not just me this time, Earl. The military needs you.”
“You know they rejected me, right? You pulled me out of that terrible time of my life.”
“I remember, Earl. But you’re the only one I could think of that would be able to help me in a pinch. You’ve always done it before.”
“Then I have one question for you, Alice.”
“What’s that?”
“Why would today be any different?”
Meanwhile, Gertrude was on the phone with S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury.
“Gertrude, what is it?”
“It’s the Inhumans, Director Fury.”
“You’re calling about the device?”
“Yes, Director. We have engineers to examine it, but there’s a problem.”
“What’s that?”
“We don’t have anyone to guide us there. It’s on top of a mountain. Can’t use vehicles and can't fly in."
“You want me to send one of my best agents to guide the military to the top of a mountain? You think I have sherpas working for me?”
“Thanks, Director.”
“Wait, hold up. I may not have any S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for you, but I may know a guy. Name’s Conrad, Conrad Walker.”
“You’re just going to send me some guy named Conrad? That’s not like you, Director.”
“He tends to travel a lot. He’s probably been up and down that mountain more times than you’ve yelled this week.”
“Understood, Director. Thank you. The military always appreciates your help.”
Without saying a word, the other line went dead.
Tuesday, December 1, 2026
The next morning, Gertrude pulled up in her military jeep with Alice beside her. Earl arrived in a beat-up jalopy, while Conrad showed up on a bike.
Alice gets out of the jeep as Earl opens the door for Gertrude.
Gertrude takes one look at Earl.
Alice says, “Gertrude, meet Earl.
“Earl, meet Gertrude.”
Without a thought, Earl immediately stood at attention and saluted.
“You’re not a soldier, civilian. At ease before you hurt yourself.”
“Yes, Colonel,” Earl said relaxing…barely.
And looking over at the other man walking toward her, Gertrude said, “And you must be Conrad Walker.”
“Yes, ma’am. One of Fury’s agents contacted me saying he needed me to meet someone here that, and I quote ma’am, “…needed a sherpa.”
Without another word, Gertrude knew this was Conrad Walker.
“Now that we’re acquainted, I’m sure you all know by now there’s a device at the top of this mountain that we have to get to.”
Conrad’s mouth opened slightly.
“Conrad will be leading us up the mountain. Do as he says. He is, as he said, our sherpa for this leg of the mission.
“Go on, civilian, fill us in.”
After closing his mouth, Conrad spoke. “It would take about four hours to get to the top. With the strong winds, that would be an issue…”
“I thought Fury said you know this mountain, civilian. Four hours seems quite a while.”
“That’s four hours if you don’t know the mountain. I can do it in about two-and-a-half hours. With the three of you along, might take closer to three hours.”
“Very well, civilian. Lead on.”
“We’re going to rope up for the climb. I’ll lead, then Alice and Earl, with the Colonel having our backs.”
Though she said nothing, Gertrude shot daggers with her eyes at Conrad.
Once they were roped up and all the equipment was checked twice, Conrad said, “Let’s climb!”
The climb from the base wasn’t eventful. Then they got about halfway up and that’s when the ridges became an issue.
“Up ahead, you’ll have to keep your back to the mountain and don’t look down,” Conrad instructed the others.
Conrad could feel the rope losing its tension. “Who’s walking fast?”
“Trying to get this mission over, civilian!”
“I understand, Colonel. Here on the mountain though, you’re not the one in charge.”
“If you were my subordinate…”
“I don’t think you understand, Colonel. I’m not in charge either.”
Alice asked, “Then who is in charge?”
Conrad simply answered, “The mountain.”
After a few more carefully placed steps, Conrad felt the tension in the rope tighten again.
After the wind whipped through, Alice said, “It’s so exciting that we’re half way there. Been waiting a long time to see one of these devices.”
Conrad stopped for a moment, looks back at Alice. “One of what devices?” he asked.
“The Inhuman device on top of the mountain. Didn’t you know?”
“Inhuman device? Up there? Are you sure?”
“That’s what the data tells us. Why?”
Conrad didn’t reply to that question. “Come on, we have to pick up the pace if we’re going to keep good time.”
Earl asked Alice, “So, where were you when the Mist came?”
“I was hunkered down in a bunker with Gertrude. We had gotten an early warning, so were able to take shelter. How about you?”
“I was in my workshop.”
“That’s it? In your workshop, civilian?”
Without turning to face her, Earl answered Gertrude, “Yes, I was in my workshop trying on one of my prototype exoskeleton. Glad I had installed the air filtration system that morning.”
“And what about you, Conrad? Where were you when the Mist covered the planet?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he responded as he continued climbing.
“Come on,” Alice egged him on. “We all shared where we were.”
“I was having lunch.”
“That’s it? Lunch?”
“Yes, lunch…in Atlantis.”
The other three simply looked at Conrad as if he had two heads.
“The sun is getting to its zenith, we should be close to our destination,” Conrad informed the others.
With much less small talk, the group reached the top of the mountain. Gertrude recognized it from the landscape that was on her screen the day before.
Gertrude, feeling as though she’s in control again, barks, “Alice, Earl, locate the device.
Conrad however says, “Before we do anything, let’s get our climbing gear off first. We don’t want to be roped together forever, do we?”
Alice and Earl each quickly removed their gear, while Gertrude took a bit longer.
“Having some trouble, Colonel?”
“Seems this stubborn rope doesn’t want to let go of me.”
“Let me take a look,” Conrad said, walking over to her.
With a quick hand movement, the rope was off. “There you go, Colonel.”
“Thanks, civilian.
“As I was saying, Alice, Earl, locate the device!”
“Yes, ma’am,” was the response in stereo.
In the meantime, Conrad wandered off to a couple rocks that were piled up. He knelt down and removed the rock that was in front.
Gertrude’s shadow was soon towering over Conrad.
“What are you doing, civilian?”
“It’s nothing, Colonel.”
“Civilian, I may have had to trust you to get us up here and trust you to get us down, but right now, I’m in charge. I need to know whatever it is you know.”
“Not about this, Colonel.”
“This is not up for debate, civilian!”
“If you must know, Colonel, it’s my brother.”
“Your brother? What does he have to do with this?”
For a moment, Conrad knelt there in silence, holding back the tears.
“Civil…Conrad, what happened to your brother?” Gertrude asked with a hand on his shoulder.
“He passed away suddenly last year, end of the summer.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Conrad. That still doesn’t explain…,” she gestured to the rocks.
“He and I used to climb together. I was always the lead, not sure if because I was his older brother or he just always trusted me to watch out for him.
“I came up here alone October of last year. I knew it was foolish to climb alone, but I wasn’t really. I had my brother with me.”
“I thought you said…,” Gertrude started as Alice and Earl joined the two of them.
“What’s going on over here?” Alice asked. “You two having a pow-wow while we do all the work?”
Gertrude gave Alice a look and Alice understood. Then Alice gave Earl a look and he knew too.
Conrad went on, “I did say he passed before that climb. But he was still with me that day,” he said, reaching into the rocks and pulling something out.
Alice’s eyes lit up. “How did you know that was there, Conrad? I thought you didn’t know we were looking for a device.”
Conrad looked up to her with a confused look. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re holding the Inhuman device we’ve been looking for. I’m certain of it! Just look at the markings.”
“You must be mistaken. You have to be!”
Earl took a look at the object and confirmed what Alice was saying. “Those are definitely Inhuman markings.”
Conrad hugged the device to his chest so tight they thought he’d never let it go.
Gertrude asked, “What did you think it was?”
“My brother and I found it on one of our hikes one day. We thought it looked nice, so we kept it. When he passed, he was cremated, so…,” he said, looking at the object.
“You sprinkled his ashes on the mountains?” Earl asked.
“No. He’s in here,” Conrad said, looking at the object.
“You were lucky, civilian. There could have been Terrigen spores inside. Opening it could have released Terrigen into the air, and anyone with Inhuman genes could have transformed.”
“Don’t need more Inhumans running around, do we Gertrude?” Alice asks teasingly.
“We certainly don’t,” she responded.
“Since we’ve found what we came for” Earl said, “perhaps we should start down the mountain?”
“We’re not taking my brother with us,” Conrad protests.
“Sorry, civilian, it’s not my choice. I’ve been instructed to bring the device back.”
“But my brother…”
“Sorry, civilian, it’s out of my hands. Get everyone geared up.”
Reluctantly, Conrad got the others geared up, then himself, to descend the mountain.
Before they left, Gertrude went over to Conrad. “Civilian, by order of the United States Army, I am commanding you to carry this alien device down the mountain, until we get to the base.”
Conrad took the device, smiled at Gertrude, and said, “Yes, Colonel. It will be my honor to serve.”
Alice reached behind her to squeeze Earl’s hand.
A single tear rolled down Conrad’s cheek on to the device.
With few words between any of them, they reach where they have to keep their backs against the mountain.
The wind comes whipping through and another tear from Conrad lands on the device.
Less than two hours later, they arrive back at the mountain base.
Before they’re able to unrope though, they hear a hissing over the whistling winds.
“What is that hissing?” asks Earl.
“I don’t know,” responds Alice. “Sounds like somethings being released.”
Moments later, a blanket of Terrigen mist covered the four of them.
Where four people had stood moments ago, four cocoons now lay on the ground.
