other’s eyes, but Jenna succumbed to temptation and leaned forward, standing taller to kiss Balto’s forehead. When she moved back, he reached out a paw and caressed her face, and she sighed. Balto spoke. “I got really lucky, you know. Winning your heart?” “So did I. I’m glad you fell in love with me.” They gave each other a long, slow, passionate kiss, after which they just stared into each other’s eyes again. “Boy, do I love you,” said Jenna. “Hey, me too, darling,” said Balto. Jenna paused for a minute before speaking again. “How far would you go, Balto? To protect me, I mean?” Balto looked at her with deep seriousness. “I would do anything for you, Jenna. Anything. No matter the cost or the danger, I would do it. If the world got between us, I would smash it out of the way.” Jenna smiled and kissed his muzzle. “You’re pretty hot when you say things like that.” Balto took one of her paws and licked the pads, causing her to shiver. “You’d better believe it,” he said. Desire burned in Jenna’s eyes and voice. “Can I have some of that heat?” Balto moved close to her, his nose barely an inch from hers, lowering his voice to a strong, passionate tone. “You’ve already got it, Jenna. Red is the color of love, you know.” “I want you, badly. Please, Balto. Touch me.” They moved in to each other, kissing and nuzzling. Giggling, they put their paws around each other and shared a long kiss. Suddenly, the door opened. “Jenna, Balto! Come look at this!” Balto and Jenna looked up to see Dixie standing at the door, beckoning them. Through the open door, they could see a few other dogs walking slowly and then stopping, staring at something with open mouths. “You’ve gotta see this, you two! Come on!” They walked out of the boiler room and looked where all the other dogs were staring. It was a relatively nearby mountain, its top partially obscured by strange, luminous clouds. Lightning was emerging from the clouds, four bolts, all reaching out to strike the mountain’s summit, over and over. The dogs just stared, silenced by the sight and sounds, low roars and screams as the bolts tore the air. “What in the world…” Doc said slowly. The bolts suddenly brightened, then all struck at once. There was a visible flash from the mountain, and a sharp vibration through the ground. Then, silence. “Um…” said Kaltag, “should we go up and look?”

The walk up the mountain was not very difficult, although the dogs had spent a good deal of energy walking to its foot. Curiosity motivated their brains to drive their bodies on. It was less than an hour before they reached the point where the lightning had been striking. It was fairly easy to find; steam from heated snow was rising and visible from some distance. When they reached the spot, they saw that a hole had been blown into the ground, and that the steam was coming from its perimeter. The dogs walked up to it nervously and peered in. For a moment, they were quiet, and then Balto spoke. “What’s going on?” Indeed, all of the dogs were thinking that question. “It’s…empty,” said Sylvie. Star climbed down into the hole and began digging, stopping after a few seconds. “Yep,” he said, “it’s empty.” All present stared into the hole, perplexed. Dixie happened to notice disturbed snow at the edge of the hole. “Look, everybody! Something was here; we just weren’t fast enough!” They all looked, and it was obvious that something had been there. Had been. Star, climbing out of the hole, saw something in the snow. “Hey, look at this!” The dogs crowded around to see what Star had found. It was a minute amount of a bright yellow substance, some sort of liquid too viscous to be absorbed by the snow. “What is that?” said Jenna. Star touched it with his paw, and then sniffed it. “That’s…blood.” “Blood? But why is it yellow?” “Yeah,” Balto said, quietly. “And what on earth bleeds yellow instead of red?” They all looked around nervously, expecting to see some kind of monster lurking nearby, but there was nothing. “Oh, well,” said Steele. “Might as well go home.” The dogs ambled down the mountain, talking amongst each other about what they had seen. Balto and Jenna stayed for a minute longer than the rest, giving themselves some time to kiss. “Mmm, oh yeah,” said Balto. “That never gets old.” “I think it gets better. Let’s prove it, hmm?” They kissed again and began panting. “You’re right. It’s better.” “Yeah,” said Jenna. “Let’s go home; it’s a lot cozier.” They walked down the mountain and back into town. Before they got home, Balto remembered something. “Hey, Jenna, I need to find out when the next race is from Morse. I’ll be home in ten minutes tops.” “Okay. I’ll be waiting. I love you.” “I love you, too.” They kissed, and Balto ran off into a different part of town.

Back on the mountain, on the other side, the trees were being disturbed by a downward-gusting wind. It became more violent, and four different lightning bolts began to strike the ground, building in intensity. After a few moments, they became brighter, and all four hit the ground at once. A thunderous boom echoed around, accompanied by a brilliant flash of light. A wide hole was blasted in the snow, the edges steaming from heat. From inside the hole, the noise of labored breathing rose…

After he found out the race time, Balto was walking home casually, having no reason to be afraid of the back alleys he was traveling through. He turned a left, thinking of how he could be especially pleasing to Jenna that night.

“Balto.”

Balto yelped and spun around. Someone was standing in the shadows. Balto opened his mouth to reply, assuming at first that it was another dog. That is, until he got a better look at whoever, or whatever it was. Although he could not see the mysterious being very well, it was definitely not a dog. It had four legs, but they didn’t have paws; to Balto, they looked like tentacles. He looked up, and up…the creature was around 8 feet tall. In addition, there was its color. Bright, sickly yellow, just like the blood that the dogs had found in the hole on the mountain, with sharp-edged black streaks. It had four arms, two of which each had a long pair of claws. The other two each had an eighteen-inch, needle-thin spike on the ends. The creature’s eyes were also yellow, and faintly luminous. “Do not fear,” it said. Balto spoke. “Who are you?” “I am Equinox, Ebola advance form.” Balto’s face took on a quizzical look. “Ebola?” “It is a deadly virus from Africa. It causes fever and death by massive bleeding, internal and external, dissolving tissues and vessels. I am a mutated version of the virus itself.” Balto shrank back, justifiably uneasy. “Do not be afraid,” said Equinox. “I am not here to harm you, and no one here is in danger of the disease.” Balto swallowed his fear. “Um…are you whatever appeared on the mountain but went away?” “Yes.” “Where did you come from?” “I came from the year 2084 A.D., in the future.” Balto’s jaw dropped. “2084? That’s…that’s 159 years from now! How can you be from that time?” “In the future, humans invent a device called a dimension ripper. It tears a hole in time and space, allowing the user to cross them. I used it to come here.” Balto decided that, although it was shocking, this at least made sense. Equinox spoke again. “I have come to bring you a dire warning. If you ignore this warning, you will almost certainly be killed.” Fear crept back into Balto’s heart as Equinox continued. “The greatest abomination in the history of all nature is about to come after you. He is like me, but he is a bacterium, not a virus. He is seeking something, a terrible power, and you are in his way. To eliminate you, he will do anything…including killing the one you love.” Balto’s fear turned to complete dread. He inhaled. “Jenna…” “Yes. He will stop at nothing.” Fighting down his adrenaline, Balto spoke again. “Well…how do I stop him?” What little of Equinox’s face could be seen became very grave. “This monster has many servants, and they will not make this easy for you. I can give you tools to help you fight them, but it won’t exactly be…pleasant. You may find what I am about to say hard to understand, but you don’t have to now. These tools will not be meant for what you will think they will be. You will find out what they are truly for in time.” Balto was confused by those words, but he pushed the confusion out of his head and looked up at Equinox. “I want them.” Equinox nodded and, pointing the long spikes on his arms forward, stuck them a short amount into Balto’s chest. “Ah!” he gasped, hissing through clenched teeth. In about a second, Equinox withdrew the spikes. Balto was confused. “But…what’s that?” “You’ll find out,” said Equinox, turning and beginning to walk away. Balto called after him. “Just one question,” he said. Equinox paused, and Balto continued. “When is he coming?” The creature looked sidelong over his shoulder. “He’s already here. Be on your guard. When you see him, you will know. Good luck.” With that, he walked away, vanishing into the dark. Balto looked in a frozen puddle at the two punctures on his chest and winced. “Better get home,” he thought.

When he arrived, Jenna was waiting for him. “Hi, there. What happened? Was Morse not there?” “Yeah, he was. I just got into a…conversation on the way back.” “With whom?” Balto paused. “A stranger. I had never seen him before.” “Hmm. Someone did just move here. Everyone thought they had a dog; I guess they do. Shall we, love?” “Sure thing, baby.”

Balto