VICTOR THE VECTOR

Stuck in the Ice

The Arctic winter was cold and dark. Victor the Vector was stuck in the ice and moving along with the ice pack. His friend, Sir Winston the Walrus, sat on top of the ice floe. He visited him every day if he wasn't busy hunting fish. Today Winston brought along his young daughter Alison to meet the little vector. Alison, like her father, thought this was great fun. Victor was curious about these walruses. They were so big and seemed to enjoy everything. He looked forward to their visits.

"Tell me about yourself, Sir Winston. Are you a fish?" he asked curiously. "Oh no no no, young fellow! Alison and I are marine mammals. Oh, you do look puzzled! Let me see if I can explain. We are animals that live in the sea, but breathe the air. Fish breathe oxygen from the water with their gills..." Sir Winston thought for a moment, "and I suppose that actually is an advantage for a water creature, because - ho, ho ,ho - yes indeed - they do not have to come up for air! Ha ha harumph! That is quite funny. Tut, tut, tut." Victor wasn't quite sure he understood the joke, but he laughed along anyway. He noticed Alison was giggling. She swam up under Victor and nudged him a little which made him giggle. Oh, how he wished he wasn't stuck in the ice.

Then Alison said, "Me mum told me that we are warm-blooded and we nurse our children. She is teaching me what to do when I become a mum." "Yes, Victor, the fish lay eggs and they float with the current, just like you. The eggs float with the currents until they hatch and become little fish." Victor remembered his school of herring friends he met last summer and smiled. "Aaaah, yes indeedydee! The little fish grow up to be big fish. Oh yes, yes, yes." Sir Winstons had delight in his eyes. "Yes, big fish for me to eat." "EAT!?" Victor squeaked, "Oh how disgusting." He was certainly glad he wasn't a fish. "Mum says we are like the mammals on the land." Alison popped in. "Only we have flippers instead of legs." With that statement, Alison flipped around and wiggled her flippers at Victor. Victor thought of Paul and Rhana, his friends from the Florida beach, and he just could not think of them as being big and fat like these jolly creatures flopping around in the ocean.

The little vector wondered just how long he would be stuck in the ice; he tried to wiggle out, but was unable to move. "Sir Winston, how long am I going to be stuck like this?" "Well, let's see..." the walrus pondered. Sir Winston the Walrus knew these waters pretty well. He was an experienced walrus and familiar with all the fishing areas. "Little vector, the ice floats across the Arctic Ocean. Oh! Tut, tut, do you actually know where the Arctic Ocean is?" Victor told him, "No, I just know I was floating in the Gulf Stream and I suddenly ended up here." "Good gracious! You, my young fellow, are on top of the world. It is a very cold place. That's why I have so much blubber to keep me warm. You are drifting towards Greenland. Hahaharumph!" he snorted.

"What's so funny?" asked Victor. "Ho Ho Ho!" Sir Winston had a hearty laugh. "Greenland is always covered with ice. I don't know why they don't name it Whiteland. Ho Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha!!" Alison told her father, "Daddy, I know where he's going. In the spring, when the ice breaks up, he will be in the Greenland Current!" "Right you are, my child," a very proud father responded. Victor still wanted to look for his mother and asked, "Will this get me back in the right current to find my mommy?" "Ooh, I suspect so eventually," said Winston."I don't know much about the currents there. You will have to ask the local animals there, when you arrive." Alison thought that Victor's adventure was very exciting. She wished she could go to other ocean waters, but she also knew that some waters were too warm for her. She thought the little vector was lucky to be a current. So while Victor drifted in the ice towards Greenland, Winston and Alison visited him every day. But back in the Norwegian Sea, the Iron Fish prepared for THE HUNT FOR THE LITTLE VECTOR! !

The Hunt

There was much excitement aboard the submarine. It was a United States Navy sub on a special scientific mission. The oceanographer of the navy was aboard with three other American scientists and one from Russia. It was admiral Seaford, the oceanographer of the navy, who first saw and recognized the little vector. And...he also caught a glimpse of the old porpoise pushing the vector away. He immediately called a meeting of the scientists to devise a plan to capture the little vector.

The scientists were experts in arctic oceanography. There was professor Thomas Hoptapus, who spent many years studying the North Polar Seas and liked making mathematical models of the ocean circulation. Next was doctor Kathy Fishnet, who studied geological oceanography and worked for the Naval Research Laboratory in Mississippi. She loved collecting samples from the Arctic ice. Admiral Seaford sat at the head of the table. There was a new scientist named doctor Bob Slithers. He was young and ambitious and studied the Arctic ice. He kept to himself and nobody knew very much about him. The last scientist on board was dr. Sergi Dragoon from Russia. He was the director of the Arctic Institute in St. Petersburg. They were all seated in the wardroom. Everybody was talking at once. Admiral Seaford started the meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we must make an important decision. We have stumbled across a very exciting physical phenomenon. Up to now we have studied these objects in abstract, but to actually see one of them in the ocean is quite rare. I feel that it's important enough to temporarily divert from our mission and pursue this vector. We'll have to notify Washington immediately and emphasize the secrecy of this mission."
Doctor Sergi Dragoon got out his current charts and everybody gathered around to study them. "According to the circulation patterns, the vector should be around here - north of the North Cape in Norway."
"Yes," said admiral Seaford, "but I saw a porpoise push the little vector in this direction - towards the northwest. An old porpoise isn't going to hang around in these icy waters."
Doctor Kathy asked, "If the porpoise went this far, then perhaps the vector became frozen in the ice." She liked this idea, because this way she could collect some ice cores.
Professor Hoptapus asked Bob Slithers where he thought the vector might be. "I think it should be in the area between the North Cape and Franz Josip Land." Admiral Seaford asked the rest of the group if they also agreed. Everyone nodded and they then mapped out an area. They set the course for the submarine to follow and made preparations to hunt.

The submarine began to scope the ocean. Each of the scientists took turns at the periscope. They looked for the little vector night and day for fear he would get too far away and they might never find it. One day, while professor Hoptapus was scanning the ocean surface, he noticed some activity on an iceberg. He saw an old walrus sitting on the ice, while a younger walrus played in the water. He called the rest to show them this happy scene. Thinking nothing of it, they moved on. Meanwhile, on the iceberg, Sir Winston saw the Iron Fish and told Alison. Alison told Victor and he became very frightened. His body wanted to tremble, but it couldn't, because the ice held him fast. Alison asked Victor why he was so afraid. Victor told her about his encounter withe the Iron Fish and how he nearly got sucked into its wake. They watched the Iron Fish pass by until it was out of sight. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Victor wanted the iceberg to hurry to Greenland so he could be set free in the spring.

Pretty soon the submarine had covered the whole area without any luck. While they were deciding what to do next, Kathy Fishnet asked if they could collect some ice where they saw the two walruses. Everyone thought it was OK and the sub returned to the iceberg. Sir Winston watched the return of the Iron Fish. "Tut, tut, little vector, just stay tucked in the ice and they won't notice you. Alison and I will attract their attention." "Well", thought Victor, "I don't think I have any choice but to stay where I am!" As if Sir Winston read his thoughts, he chuckled, "Ho ho ho, of course you can't go anywhere. Alison will keep guard and we will take turns hunting."

The submarine stopped at the iceberg so doctor Fishnet could collect some ice cores. The rest of the science team watched the walruses. Doctor Sergi wondered why the walruses didn't leave the iceberg and jump in the water, since the sub was so close to them. He saw the young one leave and return with some fish for the large one. Later in the day the large one left and returned with some fish for the smaller one. "Very strange indeed", he thought. As soon as doctor Fishnet had gathered enough ice cores, the submarine prepared to leave. Sergi Dragoon went to the admiral and told him about the strange behaviour of the walruses. "I have the feeling they are protecting something." Doctor Bob Slithers was standing by listening and asked, "Can you take the submarine below surface? I think we should look underneath this iceberg."

The captain ordered his crew to take them down. While the submarine circled the iceberg, admiral Seaford looked through the periscope. The walruses tried to swim in front of the periscope to keep the Eye of the Iron Fish away from Victor, but Alison had to go up for air and at that moment......

The Battle

"AHA! I FOUND IT !" the admiral yelled triumphantly. At that moment Alison wished she were a fish with gills. Sir Winston was trembling with fear. "ALISON! COME HERE! LET'S PUSH THIS ICEBERG AWAY"

They started to push with all their might and slowly began to move the berg. But they were no match for the Iron Fish. The submarine surfaced and quickly put out a small rubber boat. The walruses decided to attack the boat. A terrible battle began and Winston feared for his daughters safety. The sub put out a second boat to lasso the iceberg. Sir Winston and Alison knew they would not be able to save the vector, so with a mighty heave they turned the boat over they were fighting with. The men and women fell in the ice cold water and the other boat had to let go of the iceberg and rescue them. When the submarine released another rubber boat to capture the iceberg, Winston and Alison knew it was hopeless. They quickly swam to Victor to say good bye. Sir Winston tried to assure Victor that humans were not so bad and that they would probably take good care of him. Poor little Victor cried and cried. His tears instantly turned into ice. How he wanted to be with his mother.

The submarine had captured the iceberg and now wondered how they were going to get the vector out. Doctor Kathy suggested they get the large corer and drill through the ice with it. And that's how Victor ended up as an ice cube in the cook's freezer. Bob Slithers watched the whole operation and evil thoughts began to form in his mind. "If this little vector were mine, I would become rich and famous............."

The scientists gathered in the wardroom and examined the vector. Everyone was excited. Doctor Fishnet got her core; professor Hoptapus could model the ocean currents; doctor Dragoon could study the ice movements; admiral Seaford could tell the Navy he was responsible for its capture and doctor Slithers watched and waited! Victor listened to their conversations. They all seemed friendly enough to him. The old porpoise would have told him to go with the flow and he decided to do just that, but he didn't like being locked up in a that dark box. The submarine headed for the Navy base in Iceland. There they secretly moved the ice cube in a cold storage box. Nobody was allowed to visit the vector except for the admiral and the scientists. They were planning to stay for three days while the submarine refueled. The plan was to continue the scientific mission, but when professor Hoptapus came to pick up the vector, he had a nasty surprise: THE VECTOR WAS GONE!!!

ON TO EPISODE 4