Neither Zahra nor Yana voiced an opinion. They just stepped back over to the railing and to Hammet and stood in silence.
“There’s no way this place was built during the war,” Zahra said, speaking to no one in particular. “This must have been here before that.”
“Long before that,” Hammet added.
“How long, though?” Yana asked.
“Hmmm,” Hammet muttered, thinking, “Best guess, based on Himmler’s career timeline, is that they started construction in the early thirties.”
“Okay,” Zahra said. “I can get on board with that, at least until we find something saying otherwise.”
“If that’s true,” Yana added, “then that means the Underworld was operational for nearly thirty years. Remember the date on the communique?”
“Yeah.” Zahra sighed. “1960.”
No one spoke for a minute.
“Can you image what this must have cost,” Yana said.
“Even back then, it was possible with countries like the United States, Germany, and the Soviet Union financing it,” Hammet explained. “I bet they all had private donors involved.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Zahra said.
“Um,” Yana started, “how do we get down to the lower levels?”
Zahra scanned the upper level, stopping on the wall opposite their position. There was an opening, and even from here, she could tell it was cut by man — not nature.
“Over there.” She pointed at it. “That could be a way down.”
Yana and Hammet fell in line behind her, and they headed to the right. Unlike the U-boat, all the doors here were shut. Occasionally, Yana would veer off and open one out of curiosity. She didn’t verbally confirm what she saw, which to Zahra meant they were, indeed, bedrooms.
“If the other two doorways lead to spaces like this,” Yana said, voice low, “then there must have been hundreds of people working here at one time. This was a full-fledged community, not just a covert military installation.”
Hammet stopped. “I think you’re right.” The rooms paused for a span to reveal a passageway cut directly through the rock. Hammet stepped closer, clicked on his flashlight, and pointed it into the corridor. The beam ended in inky darkness. “I believe there’s another room like this one to the west. Which means…”
“There’s one to the east,” Zahra said, looking across the space. She clearly saw another passage through the rock.
“Three wings, one goal?” Yana asked.
“Or it could be three separate projects,” Hammet replied, “not just Black Sunset.”
“Come on,” Zahra said, struggling to peel her eyes off the eastern passage. “Let’s keep moving.”
As they pushed on, Zahra spotted additional cables running along the wall above the rooms. A single cable then branched off and disappeared into the wall above each door.
“It’s an elevator,” Hammet said, pulling Zahra out of her own head.
And it was.
The square hole cut into the back wall of the “South Wing” held a sizable platform elevator, complete with interior lights.
“Twenty feet?” Yana asked.
“Yeah,” Zahra replied. “Looks about right.”
Zahra stepped up first but didn’t walk out onto the platform. She inspected it first. The left and right-hand walls contained two sets of aggressive tracking. Two gear-like wheels sat within each of the four tracks. As the lift moved up and down, it would act like the internals of a watch.
“Going down?” Yana asked, sounding unsure.
“Looks like it.”
Hammet leaned in but didn’t cross the gap. “Hopefully, not too fast.”
“Yeah…” Zahra’s voice shook slightly. “Let’s hope.”
She took the first step. The platform didn’t give an inch or make any unwanted noises. Zahra fully entered. When she safely made it to the middle, she turned and nodded. Yana and Hammet entered in unison. Their added weight was accepted without issue.
Everyone let out a collective breath.
Yana held her hand over what would act as their down button. She waited for twin nods before pressing it. When she did, the elevator groaned but moved. There was no roll-down gate to keep anyone, or anything, from spilling out. Zahra was actually thankful for that. It gave them an uninterrupted view of the South Wing as they slowly descended to the bottom floor.
Yana explained her reasoning for selecting the bottom floor. “I figure that we start at the bottom and work our way back up to the exit.”
That was fine with Zahra. Hammet didn’t disagree, either.
The first thing Zahra noticed during their descent was that every level possessed similar passages between wings. It made sense. They’d allow people from each area to easily travel from one room to the next.
Zahra combed through what they knew about the facility, and something stuck out.
“Hammet?”
“
“Tell me again, when did the Germans first explore this area?”
