Kirill stood up and looked at pope Francis, he was stunned, he didn't know what to say. Francis smiled at him, it was a sympathetic smile, he could remember having that same feeling of confusion as well.
Kirill finally recovered enough to speak "Is it really true, what you say, I mean, is it actually true?"
Pope Francis, sighed, he didn't know how to feel about the whole matter, he certainly didn't like how it was being handled, but it had to be done. He stirred himself from his thoughts and answered “Yes, it is true.”
The next few hours were a blur for Kirill, he left the Vatican City and a limousine dashed at almost unbelievable speed through the roads of Rome, taking him to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, straight on the tarmac and straight to his report with Vladimir Putin and now after three long days he was on an aircraft heading towards the Antarctic and a meeting that might just change everything.
He hadn’t slept well since talking to Pope Francis and his conversation with Vladimir had not went any better, it was hard to keep this news to himself but he had no choice, besides the two aides that Vladimir had given him were keeping a very close eye on him. Despite all this he found himself falling asleep.
A gentle hand woke him, he had slept for the entire 11 hours it had taken for the plane to get from Northern Russia to Antarctica. “We are here and they are waiting outside on the tarmac for you.”
After a few very cold minutes he was in a large dome, there were hundreds of soldiers in the area, each one wearing their own countries uniform. He was taken over to a small room and walked in.
A small officious man sat at a desk and welcomed him in “He has asked for you specifically, in fact he has asked for many people over the last few weeks.” Kirill nodded, he had heard about the list of visitors to his room, it was more of a cell than a room, no-one really knew what to do with him, should they kill him, believe him or just let him go and denounce him as a mad man!
It had finally been agreed that they would for the moment allow their prisoner/visitor some degree of latitude, all meetings had been recorded and transcribed but the cameras didn’t work or were mysteriously wiped and when the meetings were transcribed the words faded on the paper, even the photographs of the visitor could not be taken as only a blur was left in the place where he was.
“Come with me” the official said and Kirill followed him, they walked down some stairs, maybe fifty foot into the ground, at the bottom the official continued walking for another 5 minutes until they came to a large metal door, he scanned his eye against the red light and the thick metal door opened with a groan.
Two guards snapped to attention and from behind Perspex windows asked for ID, the official flashed his badge, Kirill showed his “Visitor” badge and they continued onwards through another large door.
The official announced their arrival, they had come to a large metal door, two more soldiers stood to attention and asked for Identification before relaxing. The official in a low voice murmured “there are few who have actually gone through this door, in truth we don’t actually know what we are going to do with him”
Kirill had been fully briefed by Vladimir, the original argument had been to dispose of the visitor quickly, he had been found in the desert and much of his movements had gone viral, the internet had helped spread his arrival, but he had been quickly and quietly picked up and after much discussion taken here to Antarctica which was which governed internationally through the Antarctic Treaty system a treaty signed in 1959 by 12 countries including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and the United States in many ways this place was the only true multi-national area on Earth.
The door opened, Kirill took a large breath and said a quick prayer, after all it was better to be safe than sorry, it wasn’t every day that you met someone claiming to be Jesus…..
