The Sixth Seal полностью

“What about Lieutenant Becker?” He looked away. “Oh, I see.” Emil was dead. She stood tall and clenched her fists tightly. “What about me? I believe I am ready to assume command of our forces.”

“Zelda, you—”

“My father believed in me.” She stepped closer. “Commander Vogel believed in me. Why won’t you?”

He set down his glass. “Thank you for the water, Zelda. Now, please, leave. We will have this discussion at a more appropriate time.”

“When? When it only suits you?”

His tired eyes darted up to her. “How dare you speak to me like that!”

“Like what?” Her expression hardened. She filled her gaze with fear. “Do I remind you of someone else — someone who also spoke his mind?”

He looked away. “Zelda, Commander Vogel—”

“I was talking about my father!” Zelda shouted. She had never raised her voice to her grandfather before. “You once said that he was the best there ever was. You both trained me to be better than even him.” She turned and headed for the door, stopping just before stepping through and leaving. “One day, it will be my time, and when it is,” she looked over her shoulder, “I will be successful.”

Zelda left her bewildered grandfather alone with his thoughts.

Time to get to work.

She had a few calls to make.

Since Henri had exited the Underworld’s intersection of archways, his foot had not let up on the gas. As he neared the outer doors, relief had crept into the back of his mind.

But he still had the lake guards to deal with. If Krause had ordered Henri to be removed from command, then the remaining men — all of them — would have been given the same order. And if he got past these four troopers, he’d also have to take out the last four back at the LC-130.

One thing at a time, Henri. Make it outside first.

His next obstacle was the outer doors. He’d been troubled by the way they had closed automatically behind them. Apparently they were on a timer, some mechanism installed in the floor that triggered them to close. He hoped for the second option. Henri didn’t want to have to stop to open them.

When he was within one hundred yards of them, a blinding light appeared as they slowly crept open.

Looks like it was a trigger.

He relaxed and willed the Sno-Cat to go faster. He was nearly free.

When he was fifty yards from them, they somehow started to close.

No!

The doors had only made it halfway open when they had somehow been reversed. The only way that could have happened without there being some malfunction… was if someone had closed them from the outside.

“Krause.” That confirmed Henri’s prior hypothesis regarding the old man and the rest of the men being on the lookout for him. “Not today.”

Henri reached over to the passenger side and grabbed his rifle. If he made it outside, there would be an immediate firefight. Luka had wanted to take him alive, but it seemed that Krause had changed gears and now valued Henri dead just as much.

Or more.

Thirty feet to go, and Henri realized that he’d make it with plenty of room to spare. He readied himself for conflict and waited for the first trooper to appear.

He did.

A single soldier stepped in front of the Sno-Cat and sent a stream of bullets pinging off the vehicle’s metal body. Four rounds struck the windshield, spider-webbing it badly. Only one bullet made it through. The tough glass had mostly held up, though now, Henri could barely see where he was going.

But he could see the trooper. The man backed up and pumped another burst into the cabin windshield. Henri ducked just as the front end cleared the threshold to the outside, just as a fast-moving Goliath careened into it.

The mechanical beast shrieked as it clipped the roof of the Sno-Cat, sending it rolling like a toy car. It nearly smeared the trooper into paste, but the soldier had dived out of the way with only inches to spare. Henri was trying to see what it was — it looked to be a plane, albeit just the fuselage and shortened stubby wings — but he was quickly thrown to the roof, then the floor, and finally bounced against the passenger-side door.

That’s where the Sno-Cat’s roll stabilized.

Henri’s head was killing him. He’d hit it several times. He opened his eyes, rolled onto his stomach, and reacquired his rifle. Luckily, he had not taken off his backpack. He had opted to keep it on while he drove. It had been uncomfortable, but worth it. If something like this happened, then he didn’t want to have to go searching for it, too.

He bellycrawled outside through the decimated windshield and was swiftly surrounded by four men. Henri knew when he was outgunned. He released his hold on his weapon and waited.

“Commander Vogel, you are relieved of duty!”

Henri looked up at the speaker. “So I’ve been told.”

“Where is everyone else?” another trooper asked.

“Dead. They are all dead.”

He was made to stand at gunpoint, and they bound his wrists with thick zip ties.