At noon on December 24, 1933, the fireman Alexander Pavlyuk and the sailor Nikolai Vershinin went down to the ice to cut snow for the galley. The weather was clear, half of the moon hung over the horizon, and they decided not to light the torches - they would only interfere, blind.
Perfect silence reigned around - and no wonder: the hunting schooner "Sea Hare" wintered far from cities and towns - it was not possible to return to the port in time, the ice surrounded and captured the ship. I had to spend the winter.
Pavlyuk's shout, short and strangled, made Vershinin run around the hummock. Polar bears often roamed around the Sea Hare. Pavlyuk was not on the other side of the hummock. On the trampled snow lay a hat, mitten and carbine. The sailor did not dare to pursue the beast alone, but rushed to the ship for help.
We decided to go in search of Pavlyuk after the weather was more favorable, although no one had any doubts that their comrade was dead. This was expressed aloud by the Nenets hunter Alekseev, who said that the fireman had become the prey, but not of a bear, but of people of ice.
Indeed, Vershinin and the others clearly saw footprints in the snow. They were not bearish, but strikingly resembled a bare footprint, only the big toe was slightly more distant from the others than among the Europeans. Alekseev said that the Nenets have long known that people of ice live in the northern seas. They called them that because during the polar day they live on ice floes far out to sea and feed on seals, but on a long winter night they sometimes approach the camps and attack the Nenets. When asked why, the hunter simply answered: "They want to eat."
A squad of four went in search. Bare feet were found again. The size of the print made it possible to assume that they belonged to creatures (until they dared to consider them human) large and heavy, and there were at least half a dozen of them. Consequently, there was also a real danger of attack.
On December 30, they managed to shoot a bear that climbed onto the deck of the Hare. Fresh meat is highly prized by Arctic sailors: in addition to everything, it also protects against scurvy. But the crew left the insides and part of the fat on the ice, the bear's liver is poisonous to humans. He left it not without intent: the hunter Alekseev assured that people of ice were eager for bear tripe.
Six creatures indeed came out from behind the hummocks and cautiously approached the remains of the bear. They really looked like people, but they looked much larger, at least two meters in height, broad-shouldered, covered with white wool. Two individuals turned out to be much smaller, one and a half meters, possibly cubs. The humanoid pounced on the insides and began to devour them greedily. Then they picked up the remains of the bear meat, which they could not eat, and disappeared behind the hummocks.
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Immediately, taking advantage of the good weather - calm and clear skies - Kharchenko sent a pursuit squad, five people under the command of navigator Solomin. After seven to eight kilometers, the pursuers noticed the island, towards which the anthropoids were heading.
The island rose several meters above the ice field. There were holes in the rocks - caves, and traces led to one of them. But there were other tracks leading to other caves. It looks like the island was inhabited by dozens and dozens of these creatures. But the winterers were determined to investigate the cave and find out the situation to the end. Having lit torches at the entrance, weapons at the ready, they entered the cave. It turned out to be empty! The inhabitants left it through another turn!
The cave turned out to be very spacious and probably served as a dwelling. Bones were scattered everywhere. In the corner, on a stone, as on a pedestal, a bear's skull gleamed, next to it was a smaller skull, a bear cub, and deep down, near the wall, in a natural niche, they found a human skull! The absence of two front teeth made us recognize it as the skull of the unfortunate Pavlyuk - he lost his teeth a month ago. Deciding to take the skull, Vershinin discovered a knife that undoubtedly belonged to Pavlyuk, as indicated by the initials on the handle “A. P..
The navigator decided to explore other caves as well. It was necessary to show the ice people the toughest way that it is impossible to attack the winterers. But, returning to the entrance, people saw that he was littered with stones. The ice people managed to silently lift and set stones, large, heavy, weighing many tens of kilograms. The second move was also overwhelmed!
Returned to the first. Rolling back the last stone and holding their carbines in front of them, the winterers went outside and froze, amazed: at least a hundred people of ice stood in front of them!
The moon was shining brightly, the snow reflected its light, even a small newspaper text could be read, and they were able to see the anthropoids well.
The ice people were really people, not animals! They used tools - many had walrus tusks in their hands, others had bear tibia, but stones looked the most dangerous in their hands. Tall, about two meters, covered with thick white hair, these people seemed very strong. The forearms and lower legs were noticeably shorter than the shoulders and thighs. The brow ridges protruded forward, their eyes glowed with red fire, but there was also an unmistakable mind in them. And finally, they talked among themselves, exchanging guttural one- and two-syllable words. Their intentions were clearly hostile, it seemed that they were arguing over who owned the prey. And the prey, undoubtedly, were the five winterers from the Sea Hare.
By order of the navigator, the detachment closed shoulder to shoulder and went towards the ice people. Those were not going to release their prey, three or four of them jumped very close to the polar explorers. The detachment fired a volley. Bullets, thunder and flames from the shots scattered the people of ice. They hid behind the rocks and began throwing stones at the winterers. I had to hurriedly return to the ship.
Who were they, people of ice? Nikolai Vershinin believed that these were our relatives - Neanderthals. Pushed aside by a more successful branch, the Cro-Magnons, to the Far North, they adapted to life in the ice. It is not the temperature of the surrounding nature that is critical for the existence of warm-blooded animals, but the availability of food. The Arctic Ocean was a food conveyor, on top of which were seals, walruses and polar bears, therefore, a person could well feed himself. Evolution, on the other hand, took care of protective mechanisms - an increase in the subcutaneous fat layer, the return of the fur cover, and so on.
In the 30s, active development of the Arctic began. Its natural resources have been used at times predatory. The food supply has sharply decreased, which has endangered the population of ice people. Cannibalism further accelerated the decline in the tribe …
But to this day, among polar explorers, there are stories about strange creatures coming from the darkness. And the rare winterer will risk leaving his home unarmed at night.
“Interesting newspaper. Incredible No. 5 2008