With an ever-so-slight whirring sound, a pistol appeared at Nox’s hip. Nox rarely used a particle beam pistol; it was overkill when paired with his thought-control weapon. Nox withdrew the pistol from its hidden compartment and placed it on the table before Stalin.
“A gift for you,” Nox said.
Stalin lifted the weapon; it was slightly heavier and larger than the U.S. 1911 pistol.
“Fire it,” insisted Nox.
Stalin took aim at an innocent vase filled with lovely lavender flowers sitting on a marble-top table. He squeezed the trigger. A flash of light left the barrel of the handgun; the vase exploded, leaving a burnt smoking hole in the wall behind the where the vase once stood. Stalin smiled.
“Thank you for the gift. What shall I call you?”
“Nox Bellator, Marshal of the Soviet Union,” Nox replied.
Stalin stood for a moment, pondering the proposed arrangement.
“I almost forgot. I have another gift for you,” Nox said. “It is still in my fighter. Shall we walk back to the craft?”
“Of course, I would love to see the inside of it.”
“Would you like for me to take you for a ride in it?” Nox’s highest priority was ensuring that Stalin would appoint him as the General responsible for Soviet research and development.
“I would like that very much,” the dictator replied.
A handful of soldiers accompanied them back to the square where Nox’s craft was waiting. Nox disappeared back into the craft, “I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later, Nox reappeared beneath the craft with two prisoners, one male and one female, hands tied behind their backs, with black hoods over their heads.
Stalin chuckled, “What makes you think I need two more prisoners?”
Nox pushed the two, bound prisoners toward the dictator. When they were five feet from the dictator, Nox ripped the black hoods off their heads. Stalin roared with laughter. It was Hitler and Eva Braun.
“This is the best gift I have ever received, Marshal Bellator.” Stalin nodded at Nox to emphasize the word ‘Marshal’.
“I’m glad you like it, Sir. I think it would be best if we keep this gift a secret, just between you and me,” Nox warned. Nox emphasized the word ‘Sir.’
“Of course. The Fuehrer and his bride will receive my undivided attention for the remainder of their lives,” Stalin said with a wicked grin.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Moscow, Russia
Present Day
It had been over 70 years since Marshall Bellator and Stalin had struck a deal. Nox sat at the head of a long conference room table in an underground facility, 29 levels below the surface. Underground facilities had come a long way since WWII. The conference room looked more like what you would find in a corporate headquarters in New York City than the old concrete walls of yesteryear. The table, surrounded by high ranking Russian officers, was closer akin to a board room table than the hand-carved gilded tables of the past.
Even though they were deep underground, there were faux windows that glowed with artificial sunlight. Instead of nautical charts and maps on the wall, behind him was a huge display monitor. Built into the conference room table before each of the chairs was a display that could control the big screen at the head of the room.
Nox was uncomfortable in his hand-tailored suit and silk shirt. The suit was more than fine, it was superb. Nox still preferred his armor. The lesson that Dale Matthews’ squad taught to him in the Vosges Mountains still stuck with him. But today was an exception. Today’s events had been in the planning stages for almost 10 years. Today he was going to meet, in person, for the first time, the Council of Three Hundred.
Until now, the number of living humans that had seen Nox were fewer than one hundred. In a few hours, Nox would be transported from his deep underground bunker to the classified Russian Air Force base, where he would speak to 300 of the world’s most powerful people.
Many members of the Council of Three Hundred had heard of Nox Bellator, but less than a dozen had ever met him. The Circle of Ten were the ten sitting members on the Council of Three Hundred that Nox had personally chosen to be in his inner circle. The Circle of Ten was a secret group within the Council, chosen by Nox because he felt they would do his bidding. Ten members in his pocket was not enough to sway a Council vote, but it was enough to have trusted eyes and ears in the Council. The Circle of Ten came in very handy when he needed points made, favors requested or a whisper campaign started. All 10 of his inner circle sat on the best committees, though only two were chairmen.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Nox bestowed upon himself the title: Marshal of the Russian Federation. He outranked every flag officer in Russia. He answered only to the President of the Russian Federation. Only one person had held this rank in the past. Most of the Russian people did not even know the position existed. There were over 1,000 flag officers in the Russian military. Of those, only a handful knew of Nox. He gave his orders to the generals under his command and they directed the rest of the military. The rank-and-file officers and enlisted just assumed the orders originated from a three or four-star general.
“Have all of our guests arrived?” Nox asked.
“The last guest’s plane touched down 20 minutes ago. They are gathering in the Grand Hall as we speak. It will take 15 minutes to transport you to the conference center,” General Ivanov said.
The three-day conference was taking place on Nox’s secret air base, just outside Moscow. Nox had a conference center and hotel built specially for this occasion. After all, when you are hosting 300 billionaires, security and luxury are absolute requirements. The conference hall was a negotiated compromise. Nox insisted on no weapons, but the billionaires insisted on bringing their private security details. The hotel and conference halls were divided into two sections: one for the world leaders and another for their security details. The leaders would all pass through several layers of security, but their bodyguards would have to stay behind. In all total, there were over 2,000 people staying in the hotel during the conference.
Nox stood to address his generals. What he was about to do had never been done. “The time of sovereign nations is coming to an end. We must lead the way into a new world order, where there is one flag, one currency, and one military. We need to stop wasting resources fighting one another and come together to fight the enemies of the planet.”
“I understand it is hard for you to comprehend a world without borders, but you must. Otherwise, humans will fade into history, a mere footnote in the annals of more advanced civilizations.”
“Marshal Bellator, we all have faith in you, but if the Americans refuse to join us in this new world order, how can it succeed?” General Popov asked.
“Leave the Americans to me. They will come peacefully, or I will bring them to their knees. But, we are not even close to that stage, yet. First, we must unite the people behind one currency. We are close. The Euro is an example of how a one-world currency can work. More than that, there are international credit card companies already in place, with built in currency exchanges. Soon, converting to a one-world currency will be as simple as pressing a button on a computer.”