cast into the deep

the third chapter

An apache helicopter made its way deep into the alps, to the location where it was decided that the new world peace corps base would be setup. At the conference held last night, all the nations came to an agreement that the alps would be an extremely safe location. And so it was decided that the new base would be situated smack dab at the border of three powerhouse countries- Germany, France and Italy.

Construction was in progress. Everything was done in a highly organised manner. Remnants of the previous base were transported to the new location in old marine green cargo trucks. Transportation by plane would have made it easier for enemies to detect its location. Trucks came and went by the minute. Rustling their way through the snow capped mountains, going up and down through the jagged terrain. Every now and then a truck plummeted its way into an icy ditch and, with hard a push on the accelerator, it would roar its way out risking an avalanche every time it did so.

Ripples of snow were dusted away as the helicopter made its way on to a rare-but-flat surface on the jagged terrain. The captain, with a deep breath, took his first step on the to-be new headquarters. He slowly looked around, analysing the his new compromise, knowing that he'd have to make something off this ambush terrain. At any moment a huge chunk of snow could have landed a surprise attack on them.  Strikers were scattered all over the place- some were transporting material while others were helping in construction and some drawing out new site plans while others sat there in misery, remembering their loved ones who were killed in the attack.

T he captain took a few more steps away from the helicopter and following him from the inside was his assistant. Average height, fair complexion with smooth long black hair, hair that covered her ears and reached till her lower back. Her sharp dark brown eyes could keep a man on his toes with just one glance while her snub of a nose gave her a deceptively cute look. Her face had a rather oval shape to it; it just added to her beauty. Her body was the perfect figure of seduction with the curves of a demon. She had the usual secretary outfit- a black pencil skirt with an ivory white cut sleeves shirt and a pair of 6 inch black heels.  She may look like the woman of your dreams but before you know it, you could be dealing with your last wish. Everyone thought that she was a bad bet, that with her reputation all the she could do was burn the corps to hell. But it was the captains belief that gave her such a high post. He believed that too reach perfection you need to sprinkle on little bit of bad.

The captain, with a quick sniff, called out to his assistant- "Ms. Snuffles, it's time". She gazed at the captain in wide wonder, hoping for a second thought, hoping for him to change his plan of actions, hoping... "Ms.Snuffles, is there something you want to say to me". Her head nodded , with full of doubt, from left to right. She made a sharp angled turn to her right and began to skip with shortly bound steps as her tight skirt and heels prevented her from  freely galloping through the thick layer of snow. Just an inch before she got out of the captains radar she stopped...and with her back still facing the captain, with a trebled voice she asked " Shouldn't we at least wait till the construction is over? The project can wait". She turned her head around and to her fear the captain slowly turned his head towards her. His frown turned into an angry grumble as he muttered a few words in disgust. A grumble that may not have been audible to the human ear but the sight of it made it loud enough to anyone looking. And in a moments flash everyone suddenly lost interest in their water break and Ms.Snuffles instantly resumed back to previous action. Words from the captains mouth came out like a spell. Magic that did not induce awe into one but dark magic that bread fear into one.

She rushed, rushed like a penguin would be more appropriate, trying not to break her ankles with her stilettos . She rushed through a corridor of the half built research facility. It was to be five long, metallic white, semi-circular hall ways, all leading to a giant dome with ten floors in it. Five above ground, five underground. She stopped in front of a large silverish metallic door, took a step to the side and bent forward placing her eye in front of a retinal scanner as a red laser swept passed both her eyes. The door slid aside, and gave way to busy view. Even though the building was largely incomplete, the research department was pushing forward at full throttle as the atmosphere around buzzed with knowledge and large fancy words.

She navigated her head from side to side trying to spot him. "Prf. Arrigun!" she shouted.

A black head with two puzzled eyes popped out from a group of busy researchers.  With one large side step he disassembled from the rest of the group and quickly sneaked his hands into the side pockets of his deeply stained lab coat. Standing at about average height with no facial hair on this 22 year old, he looked like he was about to tumble over , face first into the floor. He was extremely skinny which was a disgrace to his rather rich background. His parents had all the money in the world one could ask for but they still failed to make him look like a fair and fat young son. Although they did succeed in one; his education. Prf. Arrigun, at such a young age, is now the best the world has to offer when it comes to weapons and armour development.

Snuffles stood there with wide open eyes and a dropping jaw, shocked at what her eyes had to offer her. She expected someone older and someone a bit more...tougher. Arrigun waved his hand past her eyes looking for signs of life. She snapped back into reality as her neck violently jerked back with amazement. She didn't realise how close the professor had come to her. As his hands nervously shivered in his pockets, he gathered all his courage and asked " y..yyy..you called for me."

With a painful gulp, she swallowed down her shock and replied "S.ss.sorry. I mean I was expecting someone rather stronger, I mean as the head of the weapons department you would expect something better."

And that was probably the biggest mistake Ms. Snuffles had ever committed. Poor young Arrigun. He anyway couldn't bear the fear of new faces and she ended up adding gasoline to the spark. Thereafter the professor quickly shuffled around in circles mumbling words in fear. His hands were still stuck in his lab coat and his eyes, without any blink, kept staring at the floor. And all she could do was stay dazed.

The large metallic door, behind Ms.Snuffles opened and shut again. This time was different. This time as the door slid shut, so did the noise in the lab. Everyone starred with a nervous stomach. Some tried to gulp and digest their fear away but their mouths were to dry to do so. Although there was still one person who continued on his path. Arrigon didn't stop, he just went round and round and round continuing to mumble a blur of words.

"Oh, I guess we all want to lose our jobs, become penniless and feed out families with rotten scraps of metal don't, we ?". And just like that everyone panicked back into resuming back to what they were doing. Ms.Snuffles turned around and too her despair, the captain had made his way into the research lab. The captain took in a deep breath as he shifted his line of sight towards the frightened professor- "Stop it you imbecile fool",- Arrigon had absolutely no idea what hit him as he came to a sudden standstill. The captain continued, "It is not deemed as fit for the head of the weapons department to be shuffling around like a little bunny. So get your act together and get on with the s-class project A.S.A.P, Professor. "

Arrigon shuffled his feet to a sudden stop