The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 51

EKSTREMALNY ISLAND

27.01.8462 - 4:00 AM

Three ships crossed the calm waters at the far end of the North Sea in one of the most remote regions of the globe. The boats were slow, and the journey across the Teçá Channel, a sea space that divided the territory of Tachlovicka and Ekstremalny Island, took about four hours. All three vessels had the same military shape, totally devoid of beauty or good taste but convenient for the purposes for which they were built. On one of the vessels were four large white battle tanks, a snowmobile, and a helicopter.

Nikolas walked to the helicopter and settled into one of the seats. It was a time of year that Ekstremalny Island was plunged into a night that lasted more than twenty hours a day. Ekstremalny Island was part of an originally Tachlovickan archipelago called Studený Okraj. It is the northernmost island of the archipelago and the one closest to the north pole, which is constantly "inhabited," the island that was ceded to Bernard Herrscher centuries ago.

The last few days had been intense for Nikolas, who had decided not to share his decision with the rest of his brothers and sisters. He had called only ten people for that rescue mission, three responsible for navigating the vessels: the lateral vessels provided cover for the central ship, which carried the battle tanks and the helicopter. Four people would be responsible for taking the four tanks to the indicated location. Two others would accompany them inside a tank to carry out the rescue and transport of Fernand by snowmobile back to the central vessel, and finally a pilot for the helicopter. All those summoned were close to Nikolas. They understood the mission and its consequences, even so, accepted to embark on that adventure.

As soon as the central vessel, suitable for getting as close as possible to dry land, or in that case piled snow, reached the limit of the approach, a long ramp extended to the southern edge of the Island, and the four tanks began to cross the newly formed bridge between the ship and the island. Nikolas watched worriedly as the tanks faded into the dark dawn, and all he could do was hope the operation would work.

The tanks soon traversed an endless expanse of snow, which was so high that completely covered the war vehicles that moved on, pushing the snow to the sides or passing over it, the fourth tank dragging along with the snowmobile. The dark night and high snow precluded any possibility of visual control, the handling of the tanks was purely virtual, based on geolocation

It took almost twenty-five minutes until the first tank arrived at the indicated location. All four tanks stopped side by side in the middle of the dark dawn, and a few minutes passed as the tank commanders exchanged information. The silence and darkness were broken when a huge blast went off from the four tanks simultaneously, and an intense explosion dislodged a considerable amount of snow and earth from the side of a mountain. All four commanders waited apprehensively as the noise echoed through the dawn, and the snow descended the hill, forming a small avalanche that covered the entire hole that had been made in the mountain. As soon as the snow settled, the four tanks, once again coordinated, began to emit a long, mighty blaze of fire. The fire lit up again the night and rapidly melted the snow covering the hole in the mountain.

Two agents carefully followed through an MC the exterior images, they were watching the snowmelt and reveal a large crater in the mountain. Once all the snow had melted, the light caused by the flames allowed agents to identify three long corridors dug into the cavity. When the exposed corridors of the prison were visualized, the flames were cut, and agents exited the tank through the hatch, carrying with them a large backpack and huge rifles. They uncoupled the snowmobile from the tank and climbed into the vehicle.

Inside his narrow cell, Fernand was awakened in the middle of the night when a loud explosion made the whole room shake. He immediately heard a loud noise as if something was falling apart, and his heart sped up. He got out of his bed immediately and turned on the only light in the room, running to the wall opposite the door and putting his ear right next to it, feeling the vibration of a massive amount of snow or earth moving down the mountain. He imagined that snow or ground was shifting a few feet above his cell and worried at the thought that something horrible was happening.