As tall as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, heavyset with slightly slanted eyes, and dressed in baggy-bottom trousers and a white tunic, he is quite imposing, his bristling black mustache standing straight out on both sides of his big nose.

His name is Ivan Smolensk of the Hindu Kush in the Himalayan Mountains. He is descended from a Red Army detachment that was cut off there and intermarried locally. There are about ten groups in the Himalayas; some speak Russian, some an Afghanistan dialect.

A loyal friend to Jonnie Goodboy Tyler and a fierce leader, Colonel Ivan and his tribes combine forces with the Americans and Scots in a strategic alliance to defend against the alien invaders.