The Sixth Seal полностью

Raegor breathed out heavily. “Oh, Zahra… The reason we are a successful organization is ‘because’ I care so much about this — and you. I’m nothing without my field team. I was once the man who knew he was possibly sending his men out to die. I’ll never be that man again.”

“I appreciate that.”

He laughed. “I’m sure you do. Give us a moment, Zahra.”

She could tell that the other end had been muted. Now, it was just Zahra and her thoughts. She turned and leaned back against the rail. She spied Yana and Hammet looking at her.

Yana held up her hands, silently asking, “Anything yet?”

Zahra waved them off.

“Zahra?”

“I’m here.”

“Okay, here we go… You’ve got a deal. From now until this business is over, you will lead a task force, codename PAINTED WOLF.” Zahra snickered. “Yes, Eddy thought you’d like it. The ‘painted wolf’ is more commonly known as the African wild dog and is the most successful hunter in all the animal kingdom.”

“Well, let’s hope the name brings us some luck.”

“Agreed. And because of your inability to properly vet anyone right now, I’m also giving you full authority to fill out your team. I need you to be one hundred percent sold on whoever you bring in; is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

Raegor sighed. “We’ll talk again once you’re back on solid ground. I’ll have more directives and debriefings once I’ve had the time to process all of this. Some first assignment, huh? Raegor out.”

“Goodbye, Zahra,” Eddy added. “And congratulations. We are truly in uncharted waters.”

Zahra looked out over the Southern Ocean. “Thanks, Eddy.”

The line went dead.

Zahra pocketed the device and took a deep breath. That must have signaled Yana and Hammet to rejoin her.

“What did he say?” Yana asked. “We need to do something. It was clear that this Vogel wasn’t the man in charge. This doesn’t end in Antarctica.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Hammet agreed, looking very unhappy.

“Yeah, about that…”

Yana and Hammet looked at one another.

“About what?” Yana asked.

Zahra stuck her hands in her pockets and looked down at her feet. “I don’t suppose you two would want to, you know, hunt the Sixth Seal out of existence or anything?”

“Absolutely,” Yana replied, eyes alight with excitement.

Hammet stood at attention. “It would be my pleasure.”

Zahra had been building her task force roster in her head the moment she was given clearance to do so. Two more members were easy yeses, and she knew both of them would happily join up, including a certain pilot friend of hers.

Yana stepped up next to Zahra and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. Yana had formally moved past the whole no-touch thing. “So, Ms. Kane, I only have one question for you now?”

“What’s that?”

The Russian smiled and winked at Hammet. “When do we begin?”

Zahra couldn’t hold back her smile. “Right now. Yana Fedorov, Hammet Braun… Welcome to PAINTED WOLF.”

Henri Vogel, former Commander of Sixth Seal operations, sat in the backseat of the Sno-Cat, hands in his lap, cuffed with zip ties, exhausted, distraught, and furious. The five-seat vehicle’s tank tread chewed through the ice as they pushed forward in silence. The cabin was at capacity. There was a trooper on either side of him and two up front in the captain’s chairs.

In a matter of a few hours, since Master Chief Luka Meier had led his mutiny, Henri’s world had crumbled to dust. Everything he’d known was gone. He’d dedicated more than half of his life to the Sixth Seal, and because of curiosity, Tobias Krause had taken it away.

It made him want to look deeply into Ulrich’s death. Henri had rightfully believed that his commander had botched the infiltration of a Swiss clinic. Why would Krause lie about his own son’s death?

But Henri knew why. Ulrich had also been a curious man.

“I’ll kill him.”

“What?” the trooper to his right asked.