110: HYDRA's Secret Weapon
Earth.
Arctic region.
A helicopter flew here across most of the world.
Under the ground crew's direction, it slowly landed.
Once stopped, Nick Fury, bundled in a thick cotton coat, disembarked without losing his composure.
Behind him, as always, was his inseparable assistant Hill.
An agent immediately greeted respectfully: "Director!"
Seeing the approaching man, Nick Fury asked "How goes the excavation?"
"We only discovered it early this morning, so excavation has just begun."
Nick Fury glanced around and, finding nothing suspicious, said "Take me there."
Led by the agent, Nick Fury entered an ice cave, steadily descending lower.
Finally, they reached the bottom where a group of S.H.I.E.L.D field staff stood ready.
Before them was a once thick ice wall.
Most peculiar was a man in a blue striped coat encapsulated inside it.
The man's eyes were shut tight, looking more asleep than frozen.
Even Nick Fury was shocked by this sight.
"Howard, you were right. He really isn't dead."
The man before him was of course who S.H.I.E.L.D had been searching for.
He had used his power to ensure the Allies' victory in World War 2, defeated the covert organization HYDRA, and was bestowed the moniker 'Captain America' as a symbol of the nation's spirit.
Steve Rogers!
He was also Howard's most successful experiment and the ultimate genetically enhanced human.
"Doctor, what's impeding the excavation currently?"
On arriving, Nick Fury knew why the team was hesitant to act.
This was Arctic glacier ice. Disturbing it carelessly could cause a collapse.
So S.H.I.E.L.D had invited top geologists and doctors for the delicate task of extracting Rogers.
Ensuring his safety was paramount after excavating him out.
The experts assembled here were mostly American.
Having grown up on Captain America's stories, they now had the fortune of meeting the real person.
And participating in excavating him no less.
Naturally they were giving it their all.
"Director, the biggest issue currently is not the digging, but ensuring Captain America's body doesn't get damaged in the process."
In their view, Captain America, frozen in the glacier, was already dead.
How could someone stay frozen seventy years yet still be alive?
Not some high-tech hibernation pod.
"Remains?"
Nick Fury frowned.
"Yes, over the years we've worried Captain America's body has become brittle.
If we dig too harshly, the captain's body might shatter completely."
"No no, I don't think you're clear."
Nick Fury pointed at Steve Rogers in the ice: "He's alive."
"Don't fret over wrecking his body, just excavate!"
The doctor's eyes widened hearing Nick Fury say this.
"You mean...Captain America isn't dead yet?"
"That's right, so can we start digging now?"
Compared to the doctor before him, Nick Fury had more faith in Howard.
Howard had said Steve Rogers was frozen in an Arctic glacier.
Find him, and he'd definitely be alive.
The genetic modification formula Howard created didn't just enhance Steve Rogers' physiology.
It also granted him the ability to survive extreme conditions.
Howard had calculated that when frozen, Captain America's metabolism would keep ticking, albeit at near zero.
Thaw him out, and he could be revived.
Seeing the doctor still hesitant,
Nick Fury grabbed a construction crew's horn: "Now, execute the Captain America excavation plan!"
"Begin!"
At Nick Fury's order,
The site buzzed with activity. Following pre-drafted blueprints, work progressed orderly.
Soon a square ice slab was extracted.
Inside, Steve Rogers lay still.
The geology doctor stepped up, pushing up his glasses in disbelief.
By his assessment, with those impacts, there was high probability the 'corpse' within would have shattered.
But the truth was, the encapsulated Steve Rogers remained unaffected.
This indicated the 'corpse' in the ice still retained properties of a living human body.
Could Captain America really still be alive?
Nick Fury didn't even glance at the stunned doctor's expression, shoving his frozen hands back into his pockets.
"Ship it back to S.H.I.E.L.D."
A helicopter slowly flew off.
Only a group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents remained, to tidy up after Nick Fury left.
The agent who had welcomed Nick Fury suddenly became stern.
He called over two other agents and headed towards a tent.
This was the command tent, entry restricted to top officials present.
The two other agents stood guard outside while the first agent entered.
Inside, he immediately dialed a satellite phone.
As soon as it connected, he uttered urgently "Hail HYDRA!"
While smashing a fist to his chest.
A deep voice responded from the other end: "How did the excavation go?"
"Nick Fury himself led the team. Steve Rogers' body was taken by him."
A disdainful chuckle sounded through the phone: "Corpse?"
"Nick Fury wouldn't have gone to the North Pole himself if it was just a dead body."
"Can someone really stay frozen seventy years and still be alive?"
The agent asked disbelievingly.
"We didn't believe it either initially, but after Dr. Connors' experiments, we're convinced."
"Then what do we do now? Rogers nearly destroyed HYDRA!"
The agent's face darkened.
In their view, without Rogers' birth their HYDRA would not have failed utterly.
On the call's other end, in a dark office,
A middle-aged man sat playing with a lizard, speaking slowly "Don't worry, we'll gain total control of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Nick Fury and Steve Rogers, they'll both pay."
"Besides, we now have a secret weapon comparable to Rogers..."
To be continued...