Suddenly, it hit her. She laid it flat and explained. “See, look at it.” She picked up a few of the words. “These sentences consist of English, German,
“Can you read it?” Hammet asked.
“Given some time to learn it, yeah, probably.”
Yana placed a hand on Zahra’s shoulder. “We don’t have that kind of time, Zahra.”
“Let her try,” Hammet urged.
Zahra nodded and let out a long breath. “Okay, here we go.”
She zeroed in on the bold typeface at the top. Zahra figured they’d be the easiest to translate. But a sequence of numbers in the top right corner of the page caught her attention first.
“Hang on, that can’t be right.”
“What can’t be right?” Hammet asked.
Zahra pointed at the numbers. “This is the send date for the transmission.” She looked at her partners. “It says, 1960.”
“1960?” Yana and Hammet asked in unison.
“Yeah, 1960.” She looked up at the ceiling, trying to play it out in her mind. “These guys were still in operation fifteen years after the war ended?”
Yana stepped away. “That means there has to be a base of operations somewhere out here.”
No one argued. It made sense to Zahra. Why else would a cargo vessel be here?
“1960…” Hammet mumbled.
“What’s wrong?” Zahra asked.
Hammet looked at them. “The year cannot be a coincidence.”
“What do you mean?”
Yana’s eyes opened wide. “The Berlin Wall.”
Hammet nodded. “Construction started in 1961. What do you bet that tensions between Germany and the Soviets played a role in this organization’s collapse?”
“Who says they collapsed?” Yana asked.
Hammet gestured to the bodies. “This feels like an evacuation to me.”
“Is there anything else pertinent, Zahra?” Yana asked.
Zahra calmed down and returned her attention to the communique. “Let’s see…” She pointed out the words that came to her first. “This says,
“Himmler’s scholars and scientists,” Hammet explained. “They were the true zealots. They’re the ones that came up with the Aryan race lunacy.”
“What else?” Yana asked, looking as uncomfortable as Zahra felt. “I would like to leave soon.”
“Same,” Hammet said.
“Okay, here.” Zahra nudged Yana. “This says,
Yana’s eyes opened. “That’s what the German in Chile said.”
“The assassin?” Hammet asked.
Zahra unconsciously stroked her bruised throat. “Yeah, him. He said that we’d never find it. You think that’s what they called their installation?”
Yana smiled. “Welcome aboard the crazy train. It’s more fun here.”
Hammet shook his head. “Keep going, Zahra.”
Zahra nodded and did just that. She stopped at a string of words. She mumbled them to herself several times before she was comfortable with what they said.
“Project Black Sunset.” She looked up from the paper and met the eyes of two equally confused investigators. “What the hell is Black Sunset?”
No one had an answer.
She cleared her throat, feeling her legs quickly turning to jelly as she continued reading. “
“You tell us,” Hammet replied.
“I can’t. There’s nothing else about it.” She kept reading. “Okay. Here we go…” Zahra pointed at the last line. “Sorry, Hammet, but you were wrong. This reaffirms that
Yana patted Hammet’s shoulder. “Told you it was an evacuation.”
Zahra slapped the paper. “Got it. They called themselves the Sixth Seal! It’s right here.”
“The Sixth Seal?” Hammet asked. “That’s awfully ominous. Who wrote this letter?”
Zahra read the name. “Someone named Dietrich Krause?”
Hammet stepped away and took in the first body with new light.
Zahra said what everyone was thinking. “This man wasn’t the captain… It’s this Krause guy.”
Hammet’s reaction to the man’s name was apparent. He’d heard of him.
“Who was he?” Zahra asked.
“A renowned Nazi general. He was deeply involved in the
“The crazies? Well, the crazier crazies…”
A chill washed over Zahra’s skin, and she shivered. She stepped away and took a moment to collect her thoughts.
“So,” she finally said, moving the investigation along, “the German and Soviet arms of this Sixth Seal outfit broke ties shortly before the Berlin Wall went up. What about the Americans?” It hit her. She spun around. “The Cuban Missile Crisis.”
“When was that again?” Hammet asked.
Both women replied in unison. “1962.”
Zahra continued. “Okay, so political tensions broke apart the Sixth Seal. Is that what happened?”
“Sounds like it,” Yana replied. “But how?”
“Funding,” Hammet replied. “I bet the flow of money stopped. One country couldn’t keep the Underworld operational, not back then.”
Zahra shivered again. “Come on. Let’s get topside. This place is a bit too
“Yes, please,” Yana said, quickly exiting the cramped office.
