his curiosity piqued by what he sees through the portal, ed brown passes through and investigates the other world. he soon comes into conflict with the harn, but escapes back through to earth. the harn follows him through the portal and a final fight takes place in the mountains of alaska. the harn is a colony organism that can produce individuals of different sizes, shapes, and armaments, though it is limited by available resources. as the conflict develops, it tries to win by producing two large, lethal individuals.