 |
|
Volume 3, 14 March 1998 |
The narration begins, "My name's Kenn. Kenn Kawa. I'm a Challenger of the Unknown. This is the kind of day I've had." This laconic opening belies his peril. Kenn is currently sinking into the Pacific 200 miles west of California. He continues, ".. And all I can think about is how soggy my underwear is. ..That and the end of the world... Maybe I should start again..."  Note the squid image. You'll see it again. |
To start at the beginning.... The Challengers visit an old lady, Mrs Lasko, who worries about her grandson Owen. He worked on an oil rig, sounded scared, and hasn't called since. Brenda says, "You've convinced us, Mrs Lasko. We'll look into it." Clay figures the kid probably joined a cult, but Brenda notes, "One never knows..." Famous last words. The Challengers land a helicopter on the oil rig. They're greeted by Ruger, the foreman. "I feel a bit overwhelmed. You're a lot more famous than we usually see out here." They're just ordinary people, Clay tells him, looking for Owen Lasko. "Just missed him. He went on leave to Frisco this morning." |
Can the Challs look around or get a tour? No, there's nothing to see. The pipeline won't be complete for a couple of years. Their job is experimental, gauging the size of the oil fields. To her teammates, Brenda wonders, Where's the oil? And shouldn't there be boats? and why do the crewmen ALL wear thick jackets? Who'll stay? Kenn and Brenda. The two curious Challs are escorted to quarters. Along the way Kenn notes an emergency cabinet contains a fire extinguisher, flashlight, and flare gun: it's always a good idea to catalogue available resources. They are told not to wander. Brenda and Kenn wonder, Is there a shaving code? No one has facial hair. Why the thick coats? To cover ritual scarification or body shaving? And one more thing - no one has Adam's apples. But that observation comes too late. The crew closes in... |
Cut to... Kenn figures it out as he sinks in the Pacific. The oil riggers have roped and chained him to a cinder block and deep-sixed him. "That's their secret: They're not men at all. They're women... Some sort of Amazon mystery cult on the high seas." Kenn works on the ropes. "Houdini used to get out of these things all the time. Everything gets looser and slicker in water. That's the secret. The rest is muscle control." He gets loose and swims UP - and breaks the surface! Climbing onto the oil rig, Kenn creeps in shadows and finds Owen Lasko in his dark room. "Don't LOOK at me!" |
Brenda's got problems too. With the crew chanting, "Kolkothak nyareth isyah!", she's dumped on the rig in a painted circle. A voice tells her, "You're a blessed woman, Ms Ruskin... You'll survive and birth the Slouching Beast, the Daughter of Kolkothak. We all will." The spokesman is Ruger, very much a woman. They're all women.  Brenda reports she doesn't have a lot of use for religion. |
Kenn, meanwhile, talks to Owen Lasko. He's also turned into a woman. "It's how you surrender yourself to the god... or die." The crew found Kolkothak when they drilled the sea bottom. It talks to Ruger. He/She's been waiting for a moonless night to release it. Outside, Ruger explains to Brenda. Kolkothak was born at the Big Bang, more or less. It roamed the dark universe looking for a place to plant seeds. It started boring into primeval Earth, but "a silver eye (the moon) caught Kolkothak unawares, and it fled to cover, under the cool darkness of the world, before its work was done. There Kolkothak slept until we woke it. It comes AGAIN!"  |
Owen creeps into the circle. Kenn steps from shadows armed with a flashlight and flare gun - and he's "cornered all the testosterone around here." Ruger snipes, "Judging from the beard, we don't have much to worry about." The cult chants. Brenda and Kenn compare notes such as, "Traditionally, the feminization of the shaman is what makes him a sorceror, but these guys have gone way overboard." The cultists are idiots. "They think they're important, but if this thing has been asleep that long, it doesn't know a human from a grape." The chanting stops. Nothing's happening. Brenda wonders, "... maybe we got lucky on this one - or not." |
The top of the oil well begins to spew black oil and something ELSE. The god is rising from the sea bottom! Okay, "it's real allergic to light." But Kenn is jumped before he can shine the flashlight. "It's okay. They hit like girls." But what for light? "Sister Owen" grabs the flashlight. She notes, "I got a grandmother... I can't ever show myself to her again. Up yours, Ruger." |
Shining the light gets results. The light-allergic god lashes out, reducing its devotees - including Owen - to bones.  The god perches like a giant squid atop the oil rig, ready to impregnate the Earth. |
Kenn and Brenda shelter under a steel platform and make fast plans. Brenda gets the flare gun. Kenn runs as a decoy. A black tentacle lashes at Kenn, who dodges. The tentacle breaks the oil cap. Oil spews. Brenda fires.  The god burns "like the sky is on fire." The Challengers dive into the ocean, as seen on the cover. They watch the oil rig burn. Brenda observes, "Then it (the god) is gone. Run off, probably. Or back to sleep somewhere. And we're alive." A helicopter picks them up. But Brenda's notes continue. "... this time we've been put on notice. The world doesn't belong to us. There are other powers here, other Kokolthaks, waiting, and humanity is nothing to them. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. I'll mention it when I'm sure..." |
Comments Good story. It begins quietly - interviewing a worried old woman - and moves rapidly to world-shaking trouble. With witty repartee between the heroes as they face certain death with knowledge and muscle, what more could you want? As noted in COTU V3 13, this comic has a bonus cover, since 13's cover actually pertains to this story. And it's a grabber!  |