Henri gave his number two a nod of thanks. Emil deserved to be here, too. He swallowed down his sentiments and looked for Kane and the others. But they weren’t here. The Underworld was as it had been for years. Quiet.
“Commander? Lieutenant?” Henri and Emil turned and found one sharpshooter standing in front of the first of a line of doors built into the uppermost level. “I think you should both see this.”
The soldier promptly stepped out of the way when they arrived. The high-ranking pair continued inside to find a single body. There were no signs of foul play, either.
“There’s another one next door,” the same soldier announced.
“Over here too,” another man added.
“This place wasn’t abandoned,” Henri said. He looked at Emil. “It was deserted. These men were left behind to starve and rot.”
“What about the gas?” Emil asked. He turned and pointed at another of his men. “Check the environment for toxins.”
The soldier nodded and shrugged out of his pack. He quickly produced a device that reminded Henri of a plastic black brick with buttons and a small screen. He tapped three of them and stepped away, sweeping the device back and forth. After thirty seconds, he turned and stared at his commanding officers.
“The air… it’s clean.”
Being the leader he was, Henri slung his rifle over his shoulder. Then he gripped the sides of his mask with both hands.
“Sir, wait!” Emil warned.
Henri stared at him. When Emil backed down, Henri removed his mask and took a deep breath. The air was, indeed, uncontaminated. He looked at his men and gave them a reassuring nod. One by one, they each removed their breathing devices. Emil did, too, though he went last.
“Was there ever poisonous gas?” one man asked.
“And what about the cave-in?” Another added.
Henri didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Emil did.
“It doesn’t matter. We still have a mission to accomplish.”
“What happened to them then?” Luka asked, standing in front of one of the rooms.
Henri was pretty sure he already knew the answer to that. After the U-boat had gotten stuck in the ice, someone ordered that the Underworld was to be cut loose, fully knowing he would sentence their own loyal followers to death.
And whoever he was, he had single-handedly derailed the Sixth Seal for sixty years.
Emil left his side and returned to the railing overlooking the South Wing. “Sir,” he said, “there’s an elevator built into the back wall.”
Henri had already noticed it but had been too overstimulated to care. He turned. “I am aware, Lieutenant.” Henri had seen where an elevator could come to rest at the back of the room, though it wasn’t there now.
“No, sir. Not there.” Emil pointed down to the lowest level. “There. And it’s missing, sir.”
Henri hurried over. He followed Emil’s finger. It pointed toward a hole in the back wall of Sub-Level 5. He needed to see what was down there, but he also had a job to do. As much as Krause’s request bothered Henri, he needed to do as he was told and retrieve the item in question. He reminded himself that the recovery wasn’t just for Tobias Krause. It was for them all.
Henri turned around, picturing the entrance to the West Wing. “Master Chief, with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Lieutenant?”
Emil snapped to attention beside Henri. “Sir?”
“Take the rest of your men and hunt down Kane and the others. We’ll meet you below shortly.”
“But how, sir? The elevator is gone.”
Henri faced him. “If there is one…”
“There might be another!” Emil marched east and barked, “Move out!”
The only ones left overlooking the South Wing were Commander Henri Vogel and Master Chief Petty Officer Luka Meier. Henri shouldered his rifle and narrowed his vision. He focused solely on his mission and pushed the questions brewing in his head aside.
“Commander, what now?”
He let out a long breath. “We are to retrieve an item for Herr Krause.”
The master chief’s spirits perked up at the mention of personally doing something for their leader. Henri respected the young man’s enthusiasm. Luka had yet to be seasoned by the grind and still craved gratification. Some younger soldiers, like Luka, required acknowledgment from their superiors.
But Henri didn’t. Henri believed in their cause, their purpose, not the man. Krause was just the Sixth Seal’s figurehead to him, nothing more. But some of the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed men coming up through their ranks saw Krause as more of a god than simply an idealistic man with no moral compass and an unlimited supply of money.
Henri had been one of them once, but the over-the-top secrecy had eventually diminished his steadfast beliefs in Tobias Krause. He understood it but despised it. Ulrich’s death had also chipped away at his faith. His death never sat right with Henri. Ulrich was too good at what he did to walk into a trap like that one.
“Commander?”
