Chapter one hundred and twenty

     Things went quickly after that.

     We were whisked away in one of the helicopters and landed in the middle of Kiev before we could fully come to grips on what we had actually agreed to do.

     The capital city of Ukraine was eerily quiet and empty except for the heavy military presence at the north side of the city which was packed with soldiers and armored vehicles. Delilah and I were on the roof of the building our helicopter had landed on and we were standing at the edge, leaning against the railing to see what was going on underneath.

     It seemed that the entire city had been evacuated. The only sign of movement we could see were scrap paper and plastic wrappers blowing in the wind like tumbleweed.

     "It seems like something has scared the government of Ukraine so much they evacuated the city and the military is not moving forward. They even asked for help from Russia. What do you think is going on Delilah?"

     She shrugged,"You ask me but who should I ask? From what your grandfather told us, anybody who goes in doesn't come out. They don't know what is in there, how the hell would I know?"

     "Just asking. So should we go join the party and see who is invited to this shindig? It would be interesting to see who is crazy enough to come here."

     We left the building we we had landed on, which happened to be a hotel, and made our way to the military encampment at the north side of the city in a Humvee that was waiting for us.

     We had just made it inside when we were intercepted by a soldier who looked very annoyed, "You are the team from Russia, correct? We have been waiting for you for ages. The other teams were thinking of leaving you behind. Now come! Quickly!"

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     The man didn't even offer an explanation, he didn't even wait for me to answer him. He just grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away which made me very angry. A quick poke at a nerve cluster and his arm fell uselessly to his side.

     "Excuse me but I would appreciate it if you do not touch me without my permission. This is your only warning and if you ignore it, you do so at your own risk. Now, explain everything properly or go find somebody with better manners."

     The soldier stared at his paralyzed arm with shock and horror on his face.

     "Oh stop being a baby, it will wear off in a minute."

     That seemed to have reassured him but instead of shock, his face was now red in anger, "How dare...!"

     I didn't even wait for him to start ranting, "Shut up! I am here to help out of the goodness of my heart. I have no obligation towards you or your military. I am not your employee or underling that you can order or push around with impunity. If you are going to continue to be rude, I will just turn around and walk away."

     "Miss Sophia, I don't think that will be necessary. The people are a little unhinged but don't take it to heart, they are just scared because they are faced with horrors the likes of which the mundane world has never seen before plus this man doesn't understand exactly how valuable you would be in trying to solve the problem here. I will send this man away immediately. I will personally lead you to the meeting point and explain everything on the way."

     From behind the stuttering soldier, a very familiar face appeared.

     "Why am I not surprised that you are here Agent Smith?"