The Sixth Seal полностью

When the door shut, Tobias cranked back on the joystick of his motorized wheelchair and rolled away from his office window. This was where he spent most of his time, staring out over the grounds of his grand estate and thinking back to when he was young and able.

Tobias continued around to the back of his ultra-elegant desk and slid himself beneath it. His desk phone rang. No one owned this number that wasn’t involved with his personal business.

He quickly answered it. “Yes?”

The news came fast and without pause. Tobias respected the undercover agent’s ability to deliver information so effectively. The entire call lasted less than a minute. When Tobias hung up his phone, his hands shook, and his eyes widened.

This news was interesting, to say the least. Though the information hadn’t been made public yet, Tobias’ contact had gladly clued in the family patriarch. He owned similar contacts throughout the world’s governments, militaries, tech conglomerates, and social media kingpins.

This one happened to be inside the American Department of Justice. Six decades earlier, several Sixth Seal voices had pushed to institute a series of regulations that would forbid all military presence in Antarctica. Unknown to most, the reason for the Antarctic Treaty wasn’t to preserve the untainted continent’s ecosystem but to keep people away from the Underworld’s ruins.

“Could it be?” he muttered. He picked up his desk phone again and dialed.

The line rang for an eternity before finally being answered by a man he trusted most — he fully trusted no one, of course, as he had been trained, but this man was the one he had shared the most with over the years.

“Yes, Herr Krause?” Henri asked, speaking the language of their birth on the other end. Not everyone within the Sixth Seal was German, as the American DOJ agent had proved, though most were. Most operatives were descendants of original members.

Commander Henri Vogel wasn’t just a trusted confidant but also a deadly operative and the current field commander for the entire Sixth Seal. No one held higher authority than Henri did.

No one except Tobias, of course.

World War II had taxed several superpowers heavily, including the United States and the Soviet Union. Back then, both parties, like Nazi Germany, had contained people that did not see eye to eye with their own regimes’ leadership. No one, not Truman, not Stalin, or even Hitler, knew what was happening behind the scenes.

A select few knew enough, however, and these powerful men could move mountains at the drop of a hat.

They were the true leaders of the world.

“Prepare to move out. There is news coming from Antarctica that I need you to look into.”

“Yes, sir. I will see to it.”

Tobias grinned. “Good. If this is what I hope, then it’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

“This is wonderful news, sir.”

Tobias appreciated Henri’s enthusiasm. Like Tobias and numerous others, he had been waiting in secrecy for decades to bring the Sixth Seal into the light. That had always been the goal, but their success in working from the shadows had altered their course, as did the loss of projects like Black Sunset.

It would truly change the world for the better.

“Remember, Henri, this is our calling. It is up to you. If you succeed, we can save humanity.”

“I know, and I thank you for this opportunity.” Henri sighed. “Too bad Ulrich is not here to see this.”

My son failed his last mission, he thought. He does not deserve to see anything.

Ulrich and Henri had been close. Henri had once been Ulrich’s lieutenant. Henri, conversely, was much better at following orders. He was a soldier through and through. Ulrich had been more of a freethinker. There was no room for freethinkers in the Sixth Seal.

Not anymore. Tobias had made sure of that when he tightened recruiting standards.

There were facts that Henri would undoubtedly discover on his own if he proved successful, facts that could drastically change his outlook on the Sixth Seal and his superior.

Tobias Krause’s secrets had secrets. Over the years, he’d become an expert at compartmentalizing information. It was the reason he was still alive after all these years. No one knew enough about him or his operation to use against him. But he trusted Henri’s ability to think clearly and decisively while in the moment. Unlike Ulrich, Henri had never failed Tobias. Henri had never given Tobias a reason not to trust him.

“I will have my team on the ground tomorrow.”

“Do better than my son, Commander.”

“Yes, sir. We will have boots on the ground by morning.”

Tobias smiled. “Perfect.”

“Thank you, Herr Krause. I’ll be in contact soon.”