The Sixth Seal полностью

She held up both hands. “What I think my colleagues are saying is that it would be foolish to blindly believe that all parties stationed on this frozen rock are playing by the rules and following the treaty to the letter of the law.” She lowered her hands and stared down Kyle. “I’d be curious to see what Palmer and McMurdo are storing in their more restricted areas…”

The American soldier sighed. “Your unwarranted paranoia is noted.”

“Oh, it’s not my paranoia. It’s my training.” Zahra grinned. “I’m good at sniffing out bullshit.”

“Same,” Yana said. “I always expect the worst and hope to be pleasantly surprised.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Zahra said.

Hammet nodded. “Nor could I.”

Kyle could see that he was defeated. “I hope I can prove you wrong when we leave for the sub. But that doesn’t change my stance on weapons.” He looked at Yana. “Which means you’ll get nothing. Am I clear?”

“Da,” Yana replied, meeting his glare with one of her own.

“Good.” He turned. “Now, follow me to your rooms. We have an early morning ahead of us.”

Zahra desperately needed sleep, but she already knew that little would come. The jetlag was running full steam ahead through her system, and the lack of nightfall wasn’t going to help. She figured her room would be outfitted with blackout curtains, same as on an Alaskan cruise. She’d taken one as a kid and had been shocked to find out that the sun only set for four hours at a time during the peak summer months.

Antarctica was experiencing something similar but on a more drastic level.

She didn’t even bother to look at her watch. At this point, there was no reason to wear one. Time was irrelevant here.

Cheer up, Zahra. You’ve gone without sleep before. Just not after thousands of miles of travel and two brawls. First, Sicily. Then, Chile.

She prayed there wouldn’t be another. Three fistfights on three continents, all within the span of a few days, would have to be some kind of record.

The others gladly hit the sack, but not Yana. She couldn’t sleep, though she was happy that Zahra had gone down quickly. She needed it much more than Yana did. Yana could go days without proper rest. She only ever needed a couple of hours. Sometimes less than that.

But what Yana needed more than sleep… was a weapon.

She had no plans of using it against anyone here. Yana just really wanted one — anything. So far, since they had arrived in Antarctica, no one had proved themselves to be a threat to her life, even Hammet. The German, knowing Yana’s identity, both unnerved her and intrigued her.

The dorms where the others had crashed were positioned directly above the bar on the second floor of the GWR Building. Yana and Zahra were bunked together, which was nice. Having someone sleeping below you that you could trust when the shit hit the fan was a bonus. She had waited for Zahra to start snoring before heading back downstairs.

Palmer Station operated on a twenty-hour-a-day schedule. That meant the people here did, too. There would always be someone around. That was both good and bad, depending on what exactly you had planned.

For Yana, it was a positive. It would be infinitely harder to steal a weapon from someone if there was no one around to steal from. She headed back to the bar and found a lone soul sitting at it. He wasn’t entirely alone, however. Two of his cohorts were watching a movie. She didn’t know which one, and she didn’t care.

I’m sure Zahra would know.

Yana gave him some room, studying his wears as she drew nearer. Sadly, the security officer wasn’t outfitted with a firearm, but he did have a knife strapped to his belt.

Good enough.

Yana zeroed in on him, not the blade. She had an idea, one an attractive woman like herself had used on countless men over the years. This would be easier than most, too. This guy was young and guaranteed to be lonely.

She sat down next to him and spun to face him. “What’s a lady have to do to get a drink around here?”

Yana laid her accent on heavier than usual. She knew from experience that men loved it. One guy even went as far as to say it made her come off as a Bond villain, which was apparently a turn-on to him.

Men…

The officer met eyes with her, unable to say much of anything. Yana locked her jaw, refraining from screaming at the boy to get off his ass and get her a beverage.

He finally got the hint.

“Uh, what would you like?”

Good boy.

“Vodka, no ice. Mister?”

He stood and sauntered around to the back of the bar. “M — Mitch.” Yana eyed his sheathed knife. She needed to loosen him up a little. He was rigid and looked mightily unhappy about being here.

“Why the long face, Mitch?” she asked.