“I believe so, yes,” Hammet replied. “Looks straight out of
“It’s Franken
That got a grin out of Yana. “Well, throw it.”
Hammet looked at Zahra for confirmation. She nodded. “Do it. And step back… just in case.”
The KSK commando threw the switch.
The throw switch lever snapped into place, releasing a hum of electricity. It flowed all around the three operatives. Hammet rejoined the two women, and they watched as lights slowly winked to life above and below them. Some of the bulbs burst as they ignited after being dormant for decades.
Zahra took in the upper level as it came into full view. She extinguished her flashlight and saw that the entire room was one giant circle roughly two hundred feet across. A twenty-foot-wide catwalk ringed around the perimeter of the space, though only half of that was walkable space. The catwalk also showed off dozens of cut-and-paste doors. Each door paired with a room of some kind. The ceiling held several enormous pulley systems and monstrous platforms. This was how the workers would have moved heavy machinery in and out of the Underworld.
“The cave-in — the poisonous gas—” Hammet started.
“A lie,” Zahra finished. “I think we may have had some help with that…”
Hammet eyed her but figured it out. “The American on the U-boat?”
She shot the man with a playful finger gun. “Bingo.”
“He saved everyone,” Yana said. “A single act prevented all of this from coming to light. He potentially saved millions of lives. Maybe even billions.”
The gravity of the statement really hit Zahra hard. One special agent took down this entire operation with little more than deception. But then he had gotten stuck in the ice as well. Even then, he did what he knew was right and killed everyone involved, knowing that he was also destined to die.
“Kinda reminds you of the end of
“For the greater good,” Hammet said. “We owe that man a lot.”
“Yes, we do,” Yana said, leaving Zahra’s side. She went off and inspected the closest room. She tried the handle and found it unlocked. When it opened, she stepped back.
“What is it?” Zahra asked.
Yana looked at her. “It’s a bedroom,” Zahra and Hammet glanced at one another, “and it’s occupied.”
They gathered around the now open door. Yana entered and knelt beside a bed holding a decomposed body. She brushed a layer of grime away from the person’s breast pocket.
“Golubev,” she read. “Another Russian.” She straightened his sleeve to get a better look at a sewn patch. “A colonel, from what I can see.” She stood. “I wonder what happened to him?”
“Probably starved,” Hammet suggested.
“How do you know?” Yana asked.
“Well, there are no physical signs of foul play. No gunshot wounds, knife wounds, broken vertebrae…”
“He could have been poisoned,” Zahra suggested.
“Possibly, but in this environment, and without aid… I bet once the Sixth Seal closed up shop, and after the U-boat got stuck in the ice, the people still here were left to fend for themselves and starved. They may have had enough rations to hold out for a little while, but without care packages coming in regularly…”
“That’s terrible.” Yana and Hammet gazed at Zahra. “Oh, I’m not saying these bastards didn’t deserve it. Still, what a way to go. Left behind in Antarctica to starve to death because of a lie too.”
“I’d rather take my own life than die this way,” Yana said, exiting the quaint crypt.
Zahra didn’t outwardly agree or disagree. Honestly, she had no idea how she would respond if she’d been left in a situation like this.
The three explorers regrouped at the railing and watched as level after level was revealed by the cascading flow of electricity. Hundreds of lights ignited section by section. After six stories of such activity, the lights stopped at a large circular floor with a split running north to south across it.
“Is it a silo?” Yana asked.
Zahra looked up. “Not unless the mountain opens, too.”
Yana let out a nervous laugh. “At this point, I’ll believe anything.”
“It’s a factory.” Hammet had not joined in their hypothecation. He had continued to study the floors beneath their feet. “I can see what looks like advanced aeronautic engineering equipment. Well, advanced for the time.”
Something clawed at Zahra’s spine. She turned and looked back the way they’d come. It hit her.
“The other doorways. The one’s back with the Sixth Seal eagle…”
Yana joined her. “You think there’s more of these rooms?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious that there are.”
Yana could only shrug. No one could be sure of anything until they poked around some more.
“Ladies?” They faced Hammet. “I think we should focus here first,
