Challenge continued
Continuing the challenge from pasquinade...
Santa's Last Ride, Part 2
Nick rocked back and forth in the snowbank until he could heave himself up. Shaking off the loose snow, he check around him. All of the reindeer were down. Sleeping, he hoped. He checked to see that all were accounted for. "Don't bother, they're not going anywhere for quite some time," said the small figure in the darkness.
At the North Pole, Jerry and Joey tried turning the radar screen off and back on again.
"Just in case," Joey said. Jerry rolled his eyes. The world map on the screen still showed nothing.
"I really wish we hadn't lost Johnny last year. This is just the kind of disaster he kept telling us to be ready for."
"Yep. And we thought he was out of his mind. Too late now. Let's run back the data and see when he dropped from view."
"Johnny," Nick sighed. "I thought we lost you last year. How'd you survive the explosion?"
"I didn't. I was nowhere near that test sleigh when I blew it up. Did you even bother to check for me?"
"Joey said the wreckage was lost at sea! Pretty sure he was making excuses since the explosion was directly over the Pole. I just never had a chance to check for myself."
"Gee, thanks for caring."
"It was delivery time! We had to get the sleigh together, finish the QC on the toys, tag and pack them. I was going to check on you after the rush season was done."
"And yet..."
Nick sighed. "I forgot. But you're okay! So it's all good, right? And isn't this just the kind of disaster you were warning us about? Where are we, anyway?"
"Lapland?" Col James wasn't sure if this was good or bad. "So he was only just getting started?"
"Well, Sameland, technically. Looks like he hit about two and a half million houses. Then the sleigh transmissions indicate it just started dropping. Disappeared right around northern Norway."
"Maybe the Russians shot a couple of the reindeer. General Koslov keeps promising to do that." Koslov would say he was joking, but James was never sure that he was. The General was the commander of the Russian version of Operation Rudolph, but his career began right before Perestroika. Col James suspected that he was never fully on-board with the whole Santa tracking program. Probably didn't even believe in Santa. "Is there anything we can do? Need us to fly AWACS over to get a bead on him?"
"No time, Colonel. By the time you got your bird over there we'd be too far behind schedule to catch up. We're pretty sure we know where it is. We'll keep you posted. And don't worry, Gen. Koslov's lack of belief makes it impossible to shoot any reindeer."
---
I'll keep you posted too. To be continued.
Santa's Last Ride, Part 2
Nick rocked back and forth in the snowbank until he could heave himself up. Shaking off the loose snow, he check around him. All of the reindeer were down. Sleeping, he hoped. He checked to see that all were accounted for. "Don't bother, they're not going anywhere for quite some time," said the small figure in the darkness.
At the North Pole, Jerry and Joey tried turning the radar screen off and back on again.
"Just in case," Joey said. Jerry rolled his eyes. The world map on the screen still showed nothing.
"I really wish we hadn't lost Johnny last year. This is just the kind of disaster he kept telling us to be ready for."
"Yep. And we thought he was out of his mind. Too late now. Let's run back the data and see when he dropped from view."
"Johnny," Nick sighed. "I thought we lost you last year. How'd you survive the explosion?"
"I didn't. I was nowhere near that test sleigh when I blew it up. Did you even bother to check for me?"
"Joey said the wreckage was lost at sea! Pretty sure he was making excuses since the explosion was directly over the Pole. I just never had a chance to check for myself."
"Gee, thanks for caring."
"It was delivery time! We had to get the sleigh together, finish the QC on the toys, tag and pack them. I was going to check on you after the rush season was done."
"And yet..."
Nick sighed. "I forgot. But you're okay! So it's all good, right? And isn't this just the kind of disaster you were warning us about? Where are we, anyway?"
"Lapland?" Col James wasn't sure if this was good or bad. "So he was only just getting started?"
"Well, Sameland, technically. Looks like he hit about two and a half million houses. Then the sleigh transmissions indicate it just started dropping. Disappeared right around northern Norway."
"Maybe the Russians shot a couple of the reindeer. General Koslov keeps promising to do that." Koslov would say he was joking, but James was never sure that he was. The General was the commander of the Russian version of Operation Rudolph, but his career began right before Perestroika. Col James suspected that he was never fully on-board with the whole Santa tracking program. Probably didn't even believe in Santa. "Is there anything we can do? Need us to fly AWACS over to get a bead on him?"
"No time, Colonel. By the time you got your bird over there we'd be too far behind schedule to catch up. We're pretty sure we know where it is. We'll keep you posted. And don't worry, Gen. Koslov's lack of belief makes it impossible to shoot any reindeer."
---
I'll keep you posted too. To be continued.