Chapter TWO
Present
Six SHIELD agents shuffled single file out of the jet black helicopter. The air was cold and dry, the once serene of the isolated forest broken by the din of their transportation. All six were relatively relaxed. The mission was supposed to be a standard follow-up after some German hikers claimed to have found a Hydra base off one of the trails. Pictures posted on the internet had inevitably attracted SHIELD's attention and warranted an investigation. If any of the agents had been asked their opinion, they would have responded it was bullshit. All except for one.
Nonetheless, here they were, silently persevering through the thick growth. The first in line reference a gps locator, each step forward bringing them closer to the mission objective. Upon reaching the coordinates, the first agent slowed to a stop. Standing before the agents was a large door, and as promised, with a familiar carving, faint from over seventy years of weathering.
"Well, I'll be damned…" One of the other agents muttered, dropping his gun to hang by it's shoulder strap to trace the snake's with his free hand. "After all these years."
"We get it. Hydra." The older, more experienced, Agent Sewell said, holding up a camera. Secretly, he was always amused with the newbies's fascination and it made him feel honored to have been apart of the fight against them. It was nice too, because since the discovery of Hydra infiltrators in Shield two years ago there had been a lot of new recruits. "Now move so I can take photos for evidence."
A few minutes later, the ancient door creaked forward, opened by a Stark Technologies code breaker. One by one, they shuffled in, weapons drawn. Inside it was dark, and simultaneously, six flashlights illuminate pools of white light on the cement floors. Each agent moved slowly, as if a wrong foot fall could cause the entire structure to collapse. After locating the base's breaker room, the team is able to restore power and the base was filled with dim light.
The main room is large and filled with lab desks and boxy, old computers. The spread out to explore the base, now confident it was empty. One agent attempted to revive the electronics, and another began shuffling through a row of filing cabinets.
"They had warning," One agent said quietly, dumping black ash from a metal trash can on to the floor. "Must've burned everything."
"And for nothing, we didn't even have this exact location confirmed until..well now I guess."
"Not for nothing, dammit. They could have had information we could have used now. We still don't even know if Shield is completely clean yet of their filth."
An agent on the far side of the room, separate from their simplistic, bickering group smiled at that. Shield could never be clean of Hydra. They were two sides of the same coin. He was also new to the team, but lacked the happy go lucky innocence of the true newbie. His crooked nose, marked permanently from being broken a few too many times and his almost snake like eyes distinguished him as different from the other recruits. Unknown to them, he had his own mission.
Turning around one last time to ensure they were locked in their squabble, he began exploring the base further. If what was allegedly here was still present, he wanted to be first. Three flights of rickety metal stairs later he found it.
The heavy door was shut, identical to all the other doors in the compound. The other doors, however, lacked the branched pattern of scorch marks growing from the frame. Without hesitating he grabbed the door handle, pulling with all he had.
A painfully loud screech echoed out, and the man with the crooked nose cringed. Seconds later, other voice began to filter through:
"The hell was that?"
"Where's Smith?"
"Dammit! Michaels, pay fucking attention. This is why we don't like rookies wandering off to explore by themselves."
"It's from downstairs. Yes, shit I'm not stupid. Of course I tried the comms. They're not working."
When the five other agents got to the lowest floor, they found Smith walking toward them, sheepishly looking at the ground.
"What the hell?" Of course, easiest mission ever, and a rookie manages to fuck it up. How would this reflect on his leadership if he couldn't keep five men in check.
"Sorry, sir." He has been so, so, close. He knew what was behind the door. He was certain, in fact, at this point. Time to suck up.
"I just saw a sudden surge in the break room, energy from this room," That would at least line up, he thought. Aloud he said. "I thought it could be dangerous."
The mission ordinate looked at him hard. "Okay, let's open it then. While you were playing Dora the explorer, we stuck to the mission and searched the top two floors."
"Yes sir," Together, he and one of the other agents wrenched it open. The other man instinctively reached for a light switch, found it yelped.
"It shocked me!"
"Agent, focus…" a third agent trailed off, eyes wide, as the door was pushed open all the way.
In front of the six men were four tall, floor to ceiling, cylindrical glass chambers, all but one empty. In it was a small girl, floating in a clear blue substance. Her feet were bare, sticking out from a boxy, over sized, grey paper thin uniform. A thick black collar was wrapped around her slender neck, contrasting with her pale skin. Two long, blond braids twisted behind her, suspended weightlessly with the rest of her features. One thin arm was stretched out to the glass, one finger only a few inches from the frosted barrier.
"The hell? They preserved bodies too?" The agent appeared sick.
"The girl's alive." Smith spoke, only realizing afterward with a hiss how certain of it he sounded. However the Shield agents were more distracted by the discovery of a small stack of bones, three complete, slightly mummified, skeletons. From the child sized, charred remains of gray uniforms, to the jarring, smallness of the skulls, they appears to be the same age as the girl in the chamber. Four cryo chambers for four experiments.
"The fuck…"
Thx