THE IRON SHIELD

Chapter XIX

XIX

Eckhart was glad the war was over. He could not lay his head down at night not having to worry of his family's security. His family was safe. They were alive and well. With his new employment with Phoenix he had no need to move back to New York City let alone the ruins of Independence. One of President Frazier's first things to do while he was in office was to begin the rebuilding of Independence. It would have to go under extreme and intense cleaning in order for it to be habitable again, but it would take time. Time was a luxury that was needed to be spent wisely.

It did not take long for Eckhart to learn of his job that he was going to be doing. He understood completely what he had to do and how he was going to do it. Former President Ford, Zaman, and Kwan along with their top generals and trusted military leaders were going to be in one location in an abandoned warehouse in Russia. Since the United States government had been reset up, the nation could not send in the Marines or Navy SEAL's to go in and take them out. The President and Phoenix relied upon Eckhart to complete the mission.

The warehouse was located in an abandoned town miles from the nearest populated town. No one would hear of this. No one was near enough to know that something happened. No one would be alive to tell of it either, except for one.

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Ford, Zaman, Kwan, and the many other political and military leaders met in a room made in the center of the warehouse. The room was ten feet by twenty feet. It was made of cement blocks. The room stood eight feet tall and had four doors. The doors were made of metal and were controlled by a keypad. Each door was on each side of the room. The room was sound proof as well. Since there was no one else around except the guards outside the room and warehouse, the doors were left open.

It was late at night. Most people were in their beds sleeping at this time, but business was to be discussed. Ford had a proposal to make and the other men wished to hear it or rather had no choice with the alliance. It was dark and cold. The winter in Russia was long and cold. The temperatures were brutal, but those who lived there were used to it. Most of the men in the room did not live there and therefore were not used to it. All of the men were dressed for the cold however. Having the doors closed would not make it warmer. The insulation of the warehouse was only a small amount. It did keep them protected from the winds that blew against the building. It was not so cold that every man could see his breath as he spoke, but cold enough.

"If Makarov had done what I told him to do, those missiles would have been launched and we would have won the war. Now they have been commandeered and dismantled. Even the ones in space have been removed. They have been jettisoned into deep space; never to be seen again," said Ford in an upset tone of voice. He gazed at every man in the room who were seated at the conference table with fluorescent lights illuminating the room. A few stood, but most of them sat at the table.

"I don't think it would be wise to start again," said Kwan hesitantly.

"Why not? So we get beat up. Does that mean we stay down and not get up?" asked Ford.

"It is dangerous. This world has changed and our kind of people are all but gone from this planet," said Zaman.

"What if we take our time and plan it cautiously?" asked Ford.

"That is what we did before and look where that got us," said Zaman.

"Makarov was weak. If he had any brains at all he would have moved those missiles earlier while Phoenix was still in Egypt," said Ford with an even more upset tone of voice.

"I lost an arm and barely lived to tell of it," said Kwan who had an obvious missing limb in his coat while the empty sleeve hung down by his side.

"What if we plan even better than we did before? Maybe not in our generation, but in the generations after us. We will have followers. And they will do better than we have," said one of Zaman's generals. Zaman, Kwan, and many others at the table agreed and nodded.

"It is a risk, but perhaps a necessary—." He was cut short by a sudden bloodcurdling scream. The scream lasted for a few seconds before it was abruptly cut short. Every man in the room was stricken with fear for they knew not of what had just occurred. The lights in the room began to flicker rapidly. The lights in the room would be very bright and then very dark. Most of the time the light was dim to dark, dim to dark, dim to dark. The lights continued to flicker rapidly. There was a second bloodcurdling scream. This time it came from a different direction.

The guards outside the room began to scramble to find what was happening. The only sound the men in the room heard was the sound of running footsteps and their heavy breathing. The door at the end room opposite Ford who sat at the head of the table while Zaman and Kwan sat on either side of him suddenly closed abruptly. There was a third bloodcurdling scream. It too, like the first two, was cut short and the door to Ford's right closed abruptly. The men in the room were too stricken with fear to move let alone escape. They did not know of the danger that lied outside the room or the building. The third scream, that came from a different direction as well, was followed by a fourth bloodcurdling scream that was cut short like the other three. It like the last was followed by the door to Ford's left to close abruptly.

The lights in the warehouse shut off. The entire warehouse was plunged into darkness. The only light was that of the constant rapid flickering of the lights in the room. The men dared not leave the room for they feared for their very lives. There was a sudden lack of noise except for the sound of the lights flickering. There was also a sudden fifth bloodcurdling scream that was just like the other four. All of the men in the room got up from their seats and stood ready to face what may come into the room. Only one door remained open and they wished to see what came through.

Instead of the door behind Ford closing as the other three have done in sync, the door opposite Ford, the one that closed first opened. There was a sixth and final bloodcurdling scream just like the other five. The person who screamed fell in front of the door that had just opened as a pool of blood oozed from his body. The door directly behind Ford abruptly closed followed by the one that had just opened. The lights still flickered rapidly and all the doors were locked. They heard no more bloodcurdling screams.

Every man's heart in that room pounded within their chests. Their pulses raced and their adrenaline rushed through their bodies. Every man breathed hard as if they had been running for their very lives. Behind Ford's right shoulder in the dark corner, a head wearing a smooth, black helmet turned to look at Ford as it was reflected in the flickering light.