S.H.I.E.L.D. Classified: The Lost Months

FORWARD

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT(S)

Property of S.H.I.E.L.D and retained as evidence

Evidence Inventory Report:

Item number: 4452 of New York recovery effort

Contents: small (20 cm x 15 cm) notebook

Date and time of seizure: 5 May 2012, 4:45 pm

Sealing official: Agent Robert Quincy

Offender full name: Loki [Son of Odin]

Location of confiscation: Among the wreckage of New York; intersection of Broadway and Wall Street

Locker number: 465

Brief description of the evidence: laboratory notebook of New Mexico University biology student Cynthia J. Guarder. Documents contain intelligence associated with the extraterrestrial enemy 'Loki'

[Documents transcribed by S.H.I.E.L.D]

FIELD STUDIES NOTEBOOK

Cynthia J. Guarder

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Course #BIOL575 Community Ecology

M.S. – Biology, Year 2

August 16, 2011

Final project objective: Catalogue diversity of plant species in selected areas of the North American southwest and determine the rate by which species reclaim previously disturbed land.

Area A (see supplement for coordinates) had been left undisturbed for a period of five years. Returned today and mapped out locations of approximately 54 individual Sarcobatus spp. shrubs. Accompanying sketch displays pattern of distribution [Fig. 25].

August 18

Significant discovery in the rocky pass that surrounds Area B: an Amaranthus specimen was found near the following coordinates (33N by 104W), but unable to distinguish species as inflorescence was not present; will document leaf morphological characteristics for later classification. Leaves are ovate, entire, alternate, approx. 7.5cm long (not including petiole), opposite venation.

caudatus?

August 19

Much has happened since I last wrote. Just this morning, I was diligently collecting samples for my thesis. That small amaranth plant I discovered in the ditch yesterday was so curious that it warranted a second analysis. Upon my return to the site, hideously strange, giant monsters trudged through the desert field in search of something. About five in all, the creatures had bizarre blue skin and piercing red eyes and rose six meters above the ground. A chill seemed to emanate from their bodies, rousing me to take refuge under a patch of desert weeds insufficient for cover. Thousands of questions swarmed in my head as to what they were or from where they came, but none were pertinent enough to distract me from my imminent and paralyzing fear. Of any explanation, I had none save a few uncertain words harbored in my memory. What was it that they said? 'Jotenheim', 'bridge', 'Loki'? While they performed some strange ritual just meters away from my position, I prayed that I would stay unnoticed; to my despair the subsequent lightning strike and windstorm, unmistakably a product of their conjuring, consumed me. Although I had never been struck by lightning before, this experience was far more than electrocution. My entire body was pulled up and away from the ground. Ahead of me lay a stream which I took to be a black hole surrounded by bright lights, but that would mean death. It should have meant death, and yet somehow it didn't. Within the stream, I could not breathe or speak, think or move. It was quite possibly the closest to death I ever care to be, but the worst was yet to come.

When the roar of the lightning tunnel finally ceased, I found myself standing on the stone surface of what looks like the arctic. Towering cliffs surrounded me and cast jagged shadows, shrouding the region in darkness. My desert clothing did little to protect me from the constant unforgiving, biting, and relentless cold. I could do nothing but focus all my attention into retaining body heat. The sky appeared to be night, although it was noon when I left New Mexico. I must have been transported to the depths of a polar region, which would explain the lack of sunlight. Shapes lurked among the cliff sides. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by the horrible blue creatures, hundreds of them in all directions. Sheer terror forced my body to move and I dove into a crevasse. Bits and pieces of conversation found their way to my ears; curiosity bid me to stay but common sense convinced me to seek safer shelter elsewhere. Behind me: 'Scouting party' 'Thor' 'empty handed' 'you brought a Midgard slave?' 'She'll never survive'.

This frozen wasteland is like no place on Earth. Even a desert can support life in some form, but as for this, not so much as a leaf exists. How can anything survive without plants? How do these revolting inhabitants subsist? What do they eat? For a moment, I was overcome with panic. 'She'll never survive', 'she'll never survive'. By utter willpower, as I hurried through the winding crevice and away from the giant creatures, I was able to collect myself think through the situation logically. Obviously I could not depend on plants for survival, but there was always scavenging. This idea came to me out of the fact that, as I emerged from what was now a tunnel through the ice, I appeared to have stumbled upon a recent battlefield. Clothing and armor were abundant, albeit rather large and sometimes torn. Because the bodies were frozen, the meat should still be good, what choice did I have? Carefully I sorted through the bodies of slain giants, all the while being wary of my surroundings lest any other monsters may inhabit this place. One of the soldiers had a small bag that looked promising, but it was caught under his shield. Once loosened, the shield fell off of the body with a crash and caused one of the surrounding rocks to stir. It was then that I realized that this was no rock. An armor of thick, leathery skin encased the creature, much like a rhinoceros or elephant, but not either of those. It had horrifying red eyes and menacing jaws rimmed with jagged teeth. Horns encircled its face and ran in a line across its back. It did not look vegetarian. In all my years of study, I had never seen a creature anything like this one. It was then I realized that this foreboding icy hell could not be a polar region, and this was no earth. Revelations aside, I knew I could not outrun it, not in my present condition; no my choices were limited to fight or die. There was only a fraction of a second left for me to grab the nearest weapon, a spear, and brandish it forward. The charging rhinoceros-like beast impaled itself on my spear at full speed; I quickly let go and rolled sideways just as its momentum drove its body forcefully into the ground. I sat beside it for some time, my hands shaking from more than just residual fear. The pool of dark blood that was beginning to encroach upon me also carried with it an alien ambiance for which I had no explanation. Its murky black color was all wrong for a mammal and the sheer quantity was enough to make me feel sick. This world posed many dangers, and my best hope of survival was to find a place to hide immediately.

It was nightfall and I took shelter nearby in a small cave. The few minutes of scavenging had managed to yield extra cloth, some frozen flesh, and another spear, just in case. Luckily, the soldier's bag contained two flint stones sufficient enough to produce a spark. It only occurred to me later to wonder what they could possibly use for tinder. Using some of the extra clothing I had collected (far too big for me), I was able to start a small fire and roast the meat. Survival during winter depends entirely on maintaining a fire, but that can only sustain one while she awaits rescue. Will anyone ever come for me? How can anyone know where I am?

All of my sorrows back home feel so small now that all I have left is survival. My Master's thesis, the job outlook, my research… how trivial it all seemed when one has so little energy to devote to even the most basic instinct. I have come to the conclusion that I may surely die here on this god forsaken world. Oh that I could tell my family how much I loved them…even now as I write, my body is overcome with drowsiness. If I fail to maintain the fire and it burns out while I sleep, I will freeze to death. No one will know where to find me. Let this journal be my last words to whoever may find me. This was my fate.