The man in the ice

Dale steadied himself against the crane. He latched his cord to the metal frame and looked out over the ice pit. At the far end of the steadily rising chain was a chunk of ice the size of a car. He waited impatiently as the ice drew to eye level. The crane clanked to a halt, it's job done. Dale gazed into the ice at the distorted yet familiar form of a man.

The waves thumped the little boat as the four tribesmen sailed to the ice cliffs. Two were expert rowers, the third was a warrior and the fourth was Gebek. He was the wiseman of his tribe. There was a gathering of wise-men to the ice cliffs.  The little boat beached on the icy shore. The two disembarked, leaving the oarsmen to take care of the boat.

Professor Gold stared at the block of ice lustfully. She lightly traced the distorted face like the man belonged to her. Dale felt a twinge of disgust for her. He hadn't seen her on the ice fields once. At least until they had pulled the man out of the ice. Now the professor was everywhere.
"He is going to make me so much money," she breathed. "Just think what we could learn from him."
"So much about Benjamin you won't even know what to do with yourself." Dale grumbled. "And I won't get a penny."

"Master Gebek," the warrior started. "What is the counsel all about?"
"I'm not quite sure." He replied as they maneuvered the slippery slopes. "Even if I did know, it's not my place to say."
Deep in thought, the two crunched across the snowy ground towards Uafi, the council of the wise. The rising sun did nothing to stave off the cold. The harsh landscape made it seem like this place was the edge of the world.

"You...Holland. Prepare to transfer to the upstate NewYork lab." Professor Gold said.
"With all due respect, it would be safer to study the subject here," he started.
"No." She said. "We have better equipment in NewYork and I will not stay here longer than I have to."
"As you wish ma'am."
She turned away, already on her phone. Dale might as well have been a wall.

"Well, Tepish," the wiseman sighed. "This is as far as you go."
The young warrior looked up at the wall of ice. If he had another man to stand on, he could see over the edge of it. He then looked into the gap. There was little light at the far end.
"Good luck master," he said, grasping Gebek's forearm. "Be wary of hidden ice."
"It's not worth it, being a wiseman." Gebek said sternly. "If they hear you talk like that, they'll pick you next."
"It's not that," Tepish said. "I just have a bad feeling. A cold one."
The wiseman nodded thoughtfully. He squared his shoulders and started down the tunnel the gap made.

For the thousandth time, Dale wondered why professor Gold chose archeology. She had no interest in history or people. Other than, perhaps, how those things could bring her fame and fortune.
Dale, on the other hand, loved archeology. Particularly when discoveries led to clues about long dead cultures. Examining the iceman would be a dream come true if she wouldn't be there to put her hand in everything.
"Hopefully she'll get bored and leave us to ourselves." Dale said to the highly insulated crate. "You're not her type anyway."
The crate remained silent, slightly cooling the air around it.
"I wonder if Professor Gold feels this way about me." He sighed. "Like a block of ice she has no use for."

Gebek ran for all he was worth. Field upon field of icy plains lay before him. For a brief moment, he wondered why he was rushing towards certain death. Then the wind howled like a lost soul and he remembered what was behind him and he ran harder.
Suddenly, he lost his footing and went tumbling across the ice. Trying not to loose his momentum, he pushed off the ice with frozen, numb hands. With a quick scramble, Gebek was off and running again. With a quick burst of speed, he headed towards an outcropping of ice. He didn't feel the ice shatter beneath his feet.
Suddenly in a free fall, Gebek tried to cry out but found his mouth was numb. Seconds later, he splashed into the icy water under the ice. He tried to swim but found he couldn't move. Darkness engulfed him as he sank to the bottom of the watery cavern.

Dale checked the equipment and monitors surrounding the considerably smaller chunk of ice. From what he could now see from the iceman, his clothes were rotted but his flesh was practically perfect. The man had to have been frozen instantly for his flesh not to rot away.
"You are beautiful." Dale breathed. "You almost look like you're sleeping. Are you sleeping?"

Dale ran a gloved finger lightly down the damp skin of the thawed out iceman. He carefully pulled out a syringe. Concentrating so he wouldn't rupture a vein or horribly mar the skin, Dale inserted the needle to draw some blood. The scientist didn't notice the face of the iceman flinch slightly. Satisfied with his blood sample, Dale left to run some tests on the blood.

Noise. Strange noises like... bugs? Gebek groaned, turning his head. His head throbbed with pain. He decided not to move and instead tried to open his eyes. Finding he couldn't, he drunkenly rubbed his eyes to clear the muck away. His eyes cracked open and bright light flooded in. Gebek blinked a few times to get his eyes to adjust.
"Where...?" His voice broke like glass. "Gurrr..."
The room slowly came into focus. Intricately carved stones surrounded him with cords and flashing lights. At first he was afraid. For a moment, he thought he was some part of a gruesome ritual. Then Gebek remembered that he had ran...

Dale meandered down the hallway, looking over the information the initial blood tests revealed. His job would be so much easier if he had a crew of experts. Then of course, professor Gold would have a harder time to take all the credit. Oh well. Things could be worse, she could be breathing down his neck.
Dale opened the door to the lab without looking up. He absently set the papers down as he looked at the computer monitor. After a moment of scrolling through the readings, he realized something was wrong. Dale looked up. His jaw dropped. The iceman was gone.

Gebek watched from his hiding place as the man in white clothes noticed he was gone. The man stood still for a few moments. He watched interestedly as the man consulted the flashing stones and began to move agitatedly around the room. Apparently the stones told him something because he went running out of the room.
Looking around to make sure he was alone, Gebek emerged from his hiding place. It was then he discovered how dirty and naked he was. He glanced at the door and went about finding something to wear. If he could find clothes like the man, maybe he could deceive him into thinking he was a fellow tribesman. At least till he figures out what they want and what happened to him.

"...if she finds out I let her 'great discovery' get stolen..." Dale hyperventilated.
"She'll what? Fire you?" The female voice from his phone asked.
"No. She'll murder me and use my body as a replacement!" He pulled up the security footage on the screen.
Dale's jaw dropped as his eyes took in what the screen was showing him.
"Dale? Dale?!"
"I'm gonna have to call you back, love." He said as he hung up.

To Gebek's surprise, the man returned much sooner than he had anticipated.  He hadn't found clothes but he had found a suitable soft cloth for a wrap around his hips. The white coated man entered the room slowly, as if he expected an attack. Gebek didn't hide this time. The man obviously knew someone was there.
He waited for the man to notice him so as not to startle him.
"Hello." Gebek said after being noticed.

Dale stared at the man dressed in nothing but a towel. He was sure the man had said some kind of greeting, but the word was unlike one he had ever heard. It was almost a guttural fox like sound. At least, if he had to describe the sound, those were the the words he would use.
"Uh, hello?" Dale replied.
Both seemingly shocked by each other's greetings, they stared at each other for a moment. As he stared, Dale slowly realized that this was the ice man. Sure he'd seen him get up on the security tapes but it hadn't really sunk in till now. He slowly pulled out his cell, not really aware of the action.
"George, remember that favor you owe me?"

Gebek was shocked to find that he hadn't heard of the tongue the other man spoke. He knew there were many tongues but the way he said hello, if that was what he had said, was... strange. Sort of like a singsong bark. He had never heard a tongue like it before.
Then this strange man pulled something out of a pocket in his clothes. For all the world, the object looked like a polished stone. Gebek's brow furrowed as the man put it to his ear and began saying things into it. After the man stopped as if to listen to a response, he was pretty sure this strange man was crazy. Gebek glanced around then noticed the man had replaced the rock in his pocket.
The man pointed at him and beckoned to him. Gebek glanced around again for an alternate way out and saw none. The man beckoned more insistently. Seeing no escape, he slowly took a step towards him.

"Ok I'm down for clearing a debt." George walked into the security room. "What can I do for you?"
"Rewind the security tapes bout a half an hour and I think you'll figure out what I want." Dale's voice was slightly higher than normal over the phone. "I want you to erase the tapes."
"Ok. Ok. Now lets end this illegal conversation before I get fired." The slightly overweight security guard said, hanging up.
'Now to get the ice man out of here...' Dale thought as he licked his lips.
The young archeologist quickly discovered that getting the ice man out was the easy part. Getting him to calm down after he saw what was outside was another story. Dale suspected that the ice man had planned to make a break for it but had quickly changed his mind.

If Gebek thought the room he had woken up in was noisy and confusing, that had not even begun to prepare him for the chaos of outside. Great shiny creatures prowled around, growling and barking at each other. Buildings rose higher than mountains and people were everywhere. He took a few steps, back pedaled, tried another direction and swiftly backed up again. In the end, Gebek hid behind the man and watched everything fly by.
"What is this place?" He muttered to himself. "It's mad. Completely mad!"
The man waved at the madness and called out something. To Gebek's astonishment, one of the growling beasts slowed and came to a stop in front of them. Then the crazy man went to walk up to the monster.
To his surprise, the beast didn't eat him. Instead he stroked it and its side opened. The man motioned to him. Gebek stepped forward slowly. Instead of red insides, there was an oddly shaped tanned skin. The man non too gently helped him into the beast.

"Where to, pal?" The cabbie asked, twisting a tooth pick with his tongue.
"139 Amsterdam Ave." Dale replied, pulling the door closed.
"You got it," the cab pulled away from the curb. "What's with the dude in the towel?"
"Uhhh, he's my uncle..." He scrambled for a convincing lie. "And he was playing strip poker and he uh... lost."
"Aw man dat's rough." The cabbie grimaced sympathetically. "I lost strip poker once and not only is it the most humiliating thing to happen to a guy, you lose all your stuff too."
"Yeah, I told him it wasn't a good idea and he goes and does it anyway." Dale shook his head. "To add to that, he's Polish and doesn't speak much English."
"So for all you know, he got scammed into thinking he lost." He adjusted his hat. "You know, I love New York, but sometimes you wanna beat the crap outta some people."
"I know what you mean," Dale nodded. "Here's good."
The cab pulled to the curb. Dale paid the fare and opened the door. The cabbie grabbed a chain hanging from the rear view mirror. There was a silver Aztec calendar  the size of a quarter attached to it.
"Hey, Polish," he called. "Good luck for the next time you play strip poker."
The ice man accepted the offered chain. Dale patted the man on the shoulder and guided him towards the building.