Part VII

Part VII

Aleksandr Astapkovich sat in a small room awaiting the main developer of the program. The room was not very imaginative, much like most of the building itself. Blank walls stretched all over the area. A giant screen and computers over took much of the area. A rectangular metal table sat in the middle of the room, and Astapkovich occupied a seat on one of the longer sides of the table, his entourage sitting in a row of chairs directly behind him.

Aleksandr’s right hand began tapping his right hand on the table, sending a low but audible echo throughout the room. The sound of the metal door opening resonated through the room. Aleksandr turned his head towards the door to see four scientists walking through the door, escorted by two armed guards and Colonel Ostakovich. The four scientists, three men and one woman all wore white lab coats.

Astakovich and his men graciously stood as their hosts walked to their side of the table. The woman stood behind the main chair, adjacent from Aleksandr; Ostakovich went behind a seat right next to her, while the others stood in front of their chairs behind the two.

“Lieutenant General, again we apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience. I’d like to introduce to you Dr. Natasha Frolov; she is the main programmer and the one in charge of the entire programming operation.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant General,” Natasha said. Her long, black curly hair was put back into a bun, and black framed glasses were worn across her face. She was a woman in her 30’s, and stood with a proper posture, which was admired by a military man like Astapkovich.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said, offering her to take her seat with his hand. As they sat, both entourages took their assigned seats.

“As Colonel Ostakovich just stated, we appreciate your patience throughout the ordeal. Obviously, the security breech we had delayed our process. I understand you met our special guest?” Natasha questioned.

“I did have the pleasure, yes,” Aleksandr answered.

“Ok, well, let’s get started,” Natasha insisted. She snapped her fingers, and quickly one of the male scientists behind him handed her a manila folder. She laid it on the table and pushed it towards Aleksandr. “Inside is the disc, and instructions on how to operate it.”

Aleksandr opened the envelope and looked in, searching out the disc first. Finding what he wanted, he resealed the manila envelope and handed it to one of his guards.

“Have you had the pleasure of hearing what this disc has to offer?” Natasha asked.

Aleksandr smiled, “I have not had the pleasure. Would you mind enlightening me?”

Natasha smiled, “Of course, Lieutenant General. This disc is a massive supercomputer virus, with the power of knocking out global missile systems worldwide, including even the United States. Once the virus has taken its effect, your government will have the ability to send missile attacks to any country in the world, without fear of any retaliation.”

Aleksandr was impressed. “Is there a time span of which we must attack in or are we free to attack whenever we determined to be necessary?”

“The virus is technically only temporary, but is nearly impossible to destroy.”

Aleksandr gave a confused look, “I’m not sure if I follow you.”

“Let me explain, when the virus is unleashed, missile systems around the world will detect the virus with Russian characters, directly relating you’re country as the source of the virus. But by the time the virus is detected, the systems will be down. The only way to repel the virus is by a password, which we disguised into Mandarin Chinese characters. The password is included in the documents.”

“Excellent,” Aleksandr said. “My country thanks you for your hard work, and that payment will be wired to you within the next week.”

“Very good,” Natasha said.

Abruptly, the echo of the metal door opening across the room caused nearly everyone in the room to jump. A guard rushed in, seemingly out of breath. He approached the end of the table.

“Excuse the interruption, Colonel, Lieutenant General, Dr. Frolov, but we seem to have a matter of urgency.”

The three looked at one another, before the Colonel spoke to his subordinate, “Out with it then.”

“It seems we have a security breach. A ventilation grate was found in the snow outside the exterior wall. Also two guards were discovered tied and gagged in the prisoner’s cell, one unconscious. The vent had been removed in that room as well. One of the guard’s uniform was stolen. It is believed that the intruder is impersonating one of our guards,” the guard informed.

Ostakovich was not happy. This had been the second break in the past week and a half, and that was not something this facility was used to. “D****t,” the Colonel yelled angrily, pounding his fist on the table, “We’re going into lockdown. No one gets in or out. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the guard said before hurrying out of the room.

Ostakovich looked at the Lieutenant General, “I’m sorry, sir, but apparently things aren’t running smoothly as usual. You must excuse me.”

“Of course,” Astapkovich said.

The Colonel turned to the guards behind him and gave them orders to escort Astapkovich and his escorts to a secure area. The guards saluted, and Ostakovich left.

The guards gathered their group and escorted them out of the room.