Synopsis / Summary / Plot
It's 1952 and Peggy Carter, Woodrow McCord and Howard Stark are in northern Russia with 2 teen Russians Tania Belinskaya and Mikhail Uriokovitch. Stark is driving them through the countryside in a ramshackle truck provided by McCord when he loses control while avoiding a herd of reindeer and dumps them in a deep lake. 4 of them reach the bank safely but Mikhail isn't with them.
The boy does appear out of the water, claiming that he tried to drag the truck out but it's stuck. Tania can't understand why he'd think he could do such a thing, but Woody reminds the others that he saw Mikhail transform from a bear last issue - which they still don't believe. Howard is just miffed that Woodrow never installed in the truck the rocket booster that he built for him.
Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, some Russians are being herded into a building by some German soldiers apparently leftover from WWII. They are dissident scientists who have been sold to these Germans to do with as they will. 2 of them are Anton Vanko and a woman named Shareen whose eyes emit a strange green glow. We see a 3rd scientist get shot for being unable to keep up. Then we see that the building has the sign of Hydra on it.
Mikhail is our pals' guide, and says that (coincidentally) they've reached the spot they were aiming for. Woody can't see anything of interest, but Mikhail says they'll have to wait for dawn. Impatient McCord loses his temper, but just then the rays of the sun unveil a crystalline spaceship.
Woody McCord is the Man On The Wall, designated to guard Earth against aliens. His impulse is to destroy the ship with an alien-looking gun he whips out of his coat. But engineer Stark wants to investigate it.
Howard holds up the alien globe that kick-started this adventure, saying he thinks he sees where it will fit in the spaceship. Standing on Woodrow's shoulders he can't reach far enough. But McCord persuades (with a smaller alien gun) Mikhail to become a bear (to the amazement of the other 3). Standing on his shoulders Woody is able to insert the device.
Down in an underground complex (the building was only the entrance) Hydra have been investigating alien energies from this region. 2 days ago they detected another burst (presumably when Howard activated the alien ball in #1 and was attacked by a holographic spaceship). The scientists are being forced to track the energies to their source. When McCord puts the ball in place it triggers another burst, which causes Shareen's hands to emit the green glow - she quickly hides them.
Our 5 enter the spaceship and find it deserted. Stark touches a control panel and it comes to life. The ship goes into a vertical takeoff with a green energy similar to Shareen's. Then it passes through a green spacewarp.
The Hydra-ruled scientists have created a portal to home in on the energy bursts. This comes to life too, and Vanko starts to manipulate the controls. But Shareen blasts the console to bits. She turns a ghostly green as the Hydra soldiers menace her. And the portal goes mad.
And outside the spaceship reappears from its warp heading straight for the aboveground entrance.