THE IRON SHIELD

Chapter XXII

XXII

Since no one in the stealth plane had ever climbed a mountain, let alone been to Mount Everest, it would be a challenge accomplishing this mission. However, the group would not need to climb too much of the mountain, but instead be air dropped near the top of the mountain. The stealth plane was capable of vertical and horizontal flight. The plane slowed near the twenty thousand five hundred foot mark and allowed the four men to jump out and land on the mountain. It was only four foot drop given how close the stealth plane could get to the mountain without having to worry about wind.

Granted it was only a four thousand foot climb instead of a twenty-nine thousand foot one, but it would still be a challenge climbing the tallest mountain in the world when the four of them had never climbed a mountain before. The air was biting cold and the group felt every one of them. Their winter dress helped much, but the frigid temperatures still affected the four. Of the four, Eckhart would have the easiest time climbing the mountain. With a robotic arm and two robotic legs, it would be less of a challenge for him.

Eckhart jumped out first and landed on a small ledge large enough to land on and move on for the others to come down as well. The extra weight of an oxygen tank did not help the climb for him even though he had the less challenging part of the climb. It was just extra weight. Kruger jumped down next and nearly lost his balance, but Eckhart grabbed his arm before he went any further. Kruger got a glimpse over the side of the ledge and did not want to know anything more than that.

Eckhart and Kruger moved to one side of the mountain and took out their ice axes. Patton jumped down next and with his size he too nearly lost his balance, but he quickly took out his ice axe and snagged it on some ice. Patton moved to the other side of the ledge while Scheider jumped down. He, like Eckhart, did not lose his balance, but did snagged is ice axe into some ice to prevent it. All four had oxygen tanks on their backs and a mask to their mouths. By the time the four would make it to the top of the mountain, they would be exhausted. They would have to rest before infiltrating whatever it was that was in the mountain.

The stealth plane flew back to the carrier. It would not be coming back to pick them up. They would need to call in that their mission had been completed and they would meet at the extraction point which was a temple not far from where they were at. Should things go well, they would be back at the base in two days.

The four began to climb. Four thousand feet seemed like an eternity of climbing, but really it would not take as long as they thought it would. Daylight was just coming up and the mountain was just being lit up. They had traveled through the night and would have plenty of daylight hours to climb the mountain. By the end of the day, they believed they would be at the top.

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Time passed and the top of the mountain was coming into view. It was evening when the four made it to the top. The air was thinner and colder at the altitude. Scheider pulled out the tent from his bag and set it up. It was wind resistant and large enough for all four of them. Even Patton with his great size would be able to fit with the other three.