The Sixth Seal полностью

They must be new, Otto had thought. He’d been involved in the Sixth Seal spy network for fifteen years. He knew all the major players. Whoever this organization was, they must have been relatively fresh.

“What do we do with Bruno?” Otto asked. He currently sat in his car outside the airport, watching flights come in and out.

“Leave him. Let him rot for a little longer. It will teach him to do his job.”

That Otto couldn’t disagree with. Bruno’s job was supposed to be a quick one: Discourage the female pair from boarding their airplane in any way possible. Bruno had planned on beating the women senseless and dumping their mangled forms behind a local dive bar.

Bruno wasn’t exactly a nice guy. Neither was Otto. The Sixth Seal didn’t need “nice guys.” — they needed ruthless soldiers who were willing to do what it took to advance the organization’s goals.

While the commander didn’t seem overly bothered by Bruno’s failure, Otto was. It wasn’t that he had failed, either. Otto was bothered by the women’s ability to subdue a brute like Bruno. He was usually very reliable.

Otto watched another jumbo jet come in. These two are trouble.

After a two-hour flight from Punta Arenas to Palmer Station, Zahra and Yana now sat at the bar inside the GWR Building. Neither operative had expected anything like it. Once they had come in from the bitter cold — and it was bitter — they had been greeted with a small selection of booze, a projector screen, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Harry had just admitted to being a spy for the last seventeen years. Helen Tasker, who was understandably scared and confused by what was happening, blinked out of the emotional overload to ask a very important question. Harry Tasker’s answer was Zahra’s favorite line in all of True Lies.

“Have you ever killed anyone?” Helen asked.

Doped up on truth serum, Harry replied, “Yeah, but they were all bad.”

Arnold’s glassy, vacant stare sold it beautifully.

Zahra snorted. “Classic.”

Yana also laughed but at Zahra’s expense. “You Americans and your odd fetish with nineties Arnold. Predictable.”

“Predictable?” Zahra smiled wide. “Says the blonde Russian girl who only drinks vodka. What are you going to tell me next, that you grew up with a Grizzly bear as a pet?”

Yana rolled her eyes, and the two women quieted and continued to watch the movie from the rear of the room. The projector screen hung near the door and was positioned in front of a half dozen recliners with a massive selection of DVDs on the neighboring wall. There was also an impressive collection of novels.

“Where is our pilot, I wonder?” Yana asked.

Zahra shrugged. “Probably duking it out with a polar bear or something.”

“There are no polar bears in the Antarctic,” Yana quickly slipped in.

“Party pooper. Duking it out with a penguin, then.”

The outside door opened, but Zahra couldn’t see who it was that was stepping through. The GWR Building was constructed with a two-stage door that was not uncommon for large buildings anywhere in the world. The first door allowed the person in. While it shut, a second door opened, allowing the visitor or employee access to the structure’s innards. The multiple layers of entrances kept in as much of the air conditioning — or, in this case — heat as possible.

A massive human being stepped through the second set of heavy doors. He was at least six-three and built like a lumberjack. His eyes were ice blue and radiated focus and leadership. Whoever he was, he looked the part of a captain or commander of some kind.

“Ford?” Yana whispered.

Zahra sharply shook her head. “No, I think this is someone else.”

She recalled that Eddy had contacted the Germans. Was this their representative?

“Looks familiar, yes?” Yana asked.

Zahra knew exactly what she was getting at. This guy reminded her of the man who had attacked them in Punta Arenas.

His eyes found them.

“Oh, shit,” Zahra muttered, bringing her glass to her mouth. “Get ready to rumble.”

Yana flicked her eyebrows up, also taking another sip.

He pounded across the center of the room, drawing everyone’s attention. Even the foursome sitting in front of True Lies turned and watched the man move.

He stopped three feet from Zahra and Yana. He stared them down, then stood at attention. If Zahra were a betting woman, she would have wagered that this guy was in his late thirties, though with some people, it was impossible to tell unless it was revealed. Zahra herself was in her early thirties, yet she was constantly mistaken for someone ten years younger. It was a flattering error… until it wasn’t. Sometimes, it was flat-out annoying.

“Hammet Braun,” he announced. “Kommando Spezialkräfte, 4th Platoon, here as ordered.”

“You’re KSK?” Zahra asked.