The Sixth Seal полностью

Henri locked his jaw. “Move.”

The order was for himself as much as it was for Luka. The gritted words pushed Henri into motion. They would do as Krause said and head down to Sub-Level 4. They would also search the offices and find the journal he so desperately wanted.

As they exited the South Wing and re-entered the room with the Sixth Seal eagle, Henri’s eyes darted over to the man walking next to him. He needed to get Luka occupied with something else so he could have a moment alone with the journal and see just what Krause was really up to.

As they neared the midpoint of the cavernous hangar, Zahra realized that only three of the four horsemen had been ready for battle. The one aircraft was off to the side, still waiting for half its panels to be installed.

I wonder what stopped them… Based on their timeline, the Sixth Seal should have had the bombers raring to go during the war, not after. Another reason could have been that they had purposely waited for things to calm down and then strike. Or they flat-out failed, and Black Sunset died on the ground.

Yana and Hammet had already mounted the central platform. Zahra knelt and inspected one channel of cables. The channel itself was covered in a wide-slotted metal grating, making it easy to maintain the facility’s life source. The channel, as well as its three siblings, carried the cables beneath the platform with room to spare. The cables all met in the middle and then were fed deeper into the earth.

Again.

How deep does this place go?

She voiced the question to the others as she climbed up to them. “How deep are we?”

“Honestly, it’s hard to calculate,” Hammet answered. “Two hundred feet, maybe?”

When Zahra reached the top of the ten-foot-tall platform, she quickly figured out what it was for. This was the hangar’s control center. Workstations, complete with bolted-down chairs, dotted the circular hub. Each workstation sported a variety of gauges and different colored buttons.

“Think they still work?” she asked.

“What, the lifts?” Yana replied.

Zahra nodded.

The Russian rubbed the back of her neck. “I hope not.”

“Whatever else we find here,” Hammet said. “This place must be destroyed — buried beneath the mountain.”

Just like Egypt, Zahra thought. That discovery, while incredible and historically significant, also needed to be destroyed and forgotten.

“Definitely,” Yana agreed.

They looked at Zahra.

“Yeah, yeah…” she held her hands up in surrender. “I know.”

“What will your superiors say?” Hammet asked.

Zahra shrugged. “They don’t have a voice down here. This is my op, and I say this place needs to be turned to rubble. The world will thank us.”

“No, they won’t,” Yana added. “No one outside of a few will even know this place ever existed.”

Zahra sighed. “Yep. But it’s for the best. No one needs what’s down here.”

Hammet turned to the door at the back of the hangar. “Speaking of which…”

“Let’s go,” Zahra said, descending the other side of the control center. “Let’s see where the next rabbit hole takes us.”

“I don’t like rabbits.” Yana’s comment had come under her breath.

“Really, why?” Zahra asked. “I think they’re cute.”

Yana waved her off. She wasn’t getting into it.

Now, Zahra really needed to know why the hardened mercenary didn’t like them.

“Were you bit by a bunny?”

Hammet snorted a laugh but immediately held in another when Yana shot him with a deadly gaze. “I have killed men for less, Herr Braun.”

Zahra didn’t doubt that, but she knew Yana meant it in jest. They were a team down here. They all needed each other.

Zahra grinned and began humming “Little Bunny Foo Foo.” She made sure it was just loud enough for Yana to hear.

The only reaction the Russian gave her was a guttural growl and an increase in foot speed. She had enough of Zahra and Hammet for the moment and left them in the dust.

Hammet leaned in closer to Zahra. “You antagonize her?”

Zahra shrugged. “Why not? She’s a big girl. She can handle it.”

“She is also a trained killer.”

“I ain’t no southern belle either, you know?”

“Believe me, I know.”

With that comment, Hammet picked up his pace and fell in line beside Yana. He left Zahra alone with her thoughts and the lack of a proper comeback. So, she swallowed her pride and moved on.

“Stupid jerk…”

“What was that?” Hammet asked, stopping and staring at her.

Apparently, she’d said it loud enough for Hammet to hear.

“Nothing,” she replied quickly. She sighed. “It was nothing…”

The west elevator came to rest on Sub-Level 4. Henri and Luka were already kneeling. Both men waited for someone to jump out and ambush them, but it never came. Henri silently stood and motioned for Luka to follow him. He would have rather had Emil by his side, but he trusted the lieutenant more to lead the hunt for Kane than he did the master chief.

In truth, Luka was just the next best option.