30An Enchantment: The Ice Maiden
Prologue
The people in the steel, grey corridors froze to watch the procession. They each stared, unashamedly, at the coffin-shaped block of ice that floated past them, protected and controlled by four solemn and weary men. People leaned in closer to get a glimpse at the figure, frozen perpetually in the ice.
And as the procession moved forever onwards they each let out a silent prayer, a silent plea, a hope. They hoped that one, at least one, would be returned to their loved ones; that a lost one would return home.
The four men, accompanying the ice coffin, did not send out any prayers. They did not hope. They could not. At a time they had once had hope, but after five failed attempts at the process they would not allow themselves hope. Because to hope meant the possibility of being let down and their morals could not stand another beating.
Assistant Doctor. Connor Mandel watched the diggers direct the body to him. They looked bone tired and their faces were flushed from the sudden warmth that came from inside compared with the blistering cold from outdoors. Snow nestled in the folds of their jackets and it shook to the floor as they walked, but they cared not.
As they reached the sealed entrance to the laboratory, Connor flicked the switch on his side of the room. By doing so he activated the clear, glass, double doors. They slid apart to let the team enter.
Connor sealed the doors behind them and the five men waited for the sterilisation process to begin. Suddenly, compressed air, laced with disinfectants, erupted out of small holes from all around the room, blasting them. Minutes later, they shut off and immediately the doors to the inner lab opened.
The excavation team floated the slab of ice into the room and positioned it on the operating table of what, to them, looked like an immensely complicated machine. Connor, like the other men, tried to peer through the concealing ice to find out the identity of the figure. It was a male. They knew that already as this man was one of the last two that needed to be found.
Connor stepped back and addressed the team. "Thank you, men. We'll take it from here."
They nodded exhaustedly before filing out slowly, thinking probably about the search for the last man. Connor, on the other hand, walked immediately over to the wall-mounted COM. He pressed the green button on the keypad and waited as the screen turned on. It was then a matter of keying in Malcolm Dirks' number; his supervisor.
Now that the body was in, Connor was keen to get to work.
Four hours later, Connor, along with five other assistants and Dr. Dirks, were looking at a body that was unmistakably female. Soft and slender; she looked so peaceful. Connor could tell, even with the tubes connected to basically every part of her body, that she was beautiful.
And, she was their first success. The first of five that they had been able to revive. They all stared at her, watching the miracle of her chest moving up and down – breathing.
Though, one thing still remained.
"Who is she?"