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Just travel across the universe to that blasted planet, grab the head of the organization that offends us and come back. How was he supposed to do that in weather conditions that prevented his seeing anything? Damn his superiors, they should be eaten for a thousand years by something that digested very slowly. The only thing to do was find a body of water and wait until this stupid weather of theirs was over. Safely tucked away in their base below the frost line, the on duty members of SHADO watched the skies with their instruments fouled by the weather above them. An Arctic blizzard had moved down into central Europe and across the British Isles. There were few people who could recall weather like this since recorded history. Anyone not on station when it started had been notified to stay home until the storm was over. The satellite information showed the storm was gathering strength, looking much like a hurricane or tornado in the upper atmosphere, but without the defining touch down of a spout on land, for which everyone was grateful. It might be several days before the storm wore itself out. Radio stations were all issuing emergency information. Electricity was going down in some areas already leaving people out of communication except for battery power. The motor pool hurriedly shifted their all-terrain vehicles, the Mobile units, over to arctic configurations. Wouldn’t do to have spinners come in and not be able to get to them. For that matter, bringing in their people once the storm lifted might be a good idea.In Northern Scotland, among the lochs, ice was forming at an unprecedented rate. Ian Cord stared at Loch Ness in dismay. If the top froze over, what would that do to his research project? Would it kill the monster he was there to study? And what the Hell was that noise? He flinched as something hit the water at speed, showering him with ice and freezing spray. The snow was too thick for him to get even a glimpse of what had happened. Damn. He was freezing, time to abandon his watch post and pray he could get back to the hotel where it might be warmer. By the time the storm broke four days later, much of Southern England was without power. London was in turmoil, or would have been had anyone been able to get out their front doors. Emergency crews were digging tunnels through the snow packed between buildings to get food and medical supplies through. No one could recall a storm like this, ever. Must be that climate change thing the Americans were always blathering about. Slowly, the ice and snow melted off as power was restored to the grid and electric heat returned. And in Loch Ness, an alien commander was faced with a dilemma. “What do you mean we're stuck? We just launch, do the mission and leave.”“Ice, sir.”“Ice? Why would ice be a problem?”“All the water we are in is frozen, sir. We are … encased in it.”“We're encased in it? How did that happen?”“The storm, sir. We will have to wait for it to thaw.”“And how long will that take?”“Perhaps well into the next rotation around their sun, sir. It is recommended we hibernate until we are freed.”Expletive deleted.Six months later, the ice in the Loch finished melting in the late spring sun. The trio of spinners limped to the surface trailing water and dangling icicles from the edges, shaking off the cold water as they climbed into the sun. SHADO activated to go after them. Sky One with Captain Carlin aboard reported the strange site of the spinners off balance and simply heading out of atmosphere.“Where did they come from?” Straker demanded harshly.Ford looked up at him from his console and shook his head. "I don't think they got through recently, sir. Carlin says they're festooned with icicles ..."“Icicles?”Ginny Lake standing on the overlook next to Straker looked struck. "Freezing! That's how we can investigate them!" she yelled and took off for her lab at a runEd and Keith exchanged a look. Damn, now she had a use for the liquid nitrogen cannon she'd developed.End