He tucked one of the semi-automatics in his own vest and handed the other one to Sam. As an afterthought, he grabbed a few spare magazines for good measure.
Something else caught Coulson’s attention. Night Vision goggles. They both had them raised up on their helmets, giving the dead men an almost insect like appearance. They weren’t expecting the place to be lit up. That meant they hadn’t expected the Navy sub to be there. Interesting.
Jack grabbed a pair of night vision goggles from one of the dead men and slid them over his head. It never hurt to be prepared.
“Let’s go find the others.” With a slap on Sam’s back, Jack shouldered his pack and took off in the opposite direction to where he’d thrown the grenade, leading the way for Sam to follow.
Sam took another look up the companionway, and then looked at Jack’s back growing smaller as he sped down the length of the sub.
“Fuck it.”
Hand over hand, his huge feet clanging against the steel rungs, Sam climbed the ladder with amazing speed for someone his size. Then again, he’d been climbing ladders between decks his entire navy career.
Nearing the top he slowed, favoring stealth over speed. Very slowly and without a sound he reached up through the opening, expecting to have his hand shot off at any moment.
Chapter 33
Muller sent two men to deal with the personnel in the American sub, thirty to search the cavernous base and with the remaining eight he proceeded to the wet dock alongside which the U-Boat had been so thoughtfully tied up by the American sailors, right before he emptied an entire clip of his machine pistol into them. To him, they weren’t sailors, unarmed or otherwise. They were simply witnesses and his orders had been very clear.
The sound of the exploding grenade and the ensuing bursts of automatic gunfire brought a smile to his thin lips as he climbed the conning tower of the U-Boat. He would be the first German aboard the boat in over 70 years. He could almost feel the spirit of the founder of The Brotherhood he served. He was climbing the very same ladder General Kammler would have climbed when he began his journey to the Antarctic.
When he climbed into the conning tower, he waved his men to hold position. He wanted to savor this moment alone. From a pocket in his snow camouflaged parka he removed a small handheld device no larger than a smartphone. Only this was more like a Geiger counter than a smartphone, one calibrated to detect the emissions of a substance not detected by any instrument on earth for decades — Xerum 525. The last quantity in existence and manufactured during the final months of the war before the camp that had enriched it was liberated by the enemy.
Removing his glove, Muller swiped the screen to activate the small detector. A graphic wheel began to spin on the screen, like a snake chasing its tail. Seconds later the graphic changed from red to green and formed a solid circle. A reading of ‘100 %’ appeared inside the circle.
They’d found it. The weapon was theirs once again.
His cold blue eyes fell to the screen once more to verify the reading. It remained the same.
Muller’s orders were to report the success immediately to Barnes, a man not known for his patience. A quick look around at the immeasurably thick concrete that covered every surface put an end to the idea of using the satellite phone. He could barely hear half a dozen words from Barnes when he was using the phone out on the ice shelf. In the bunker, he wouldn’t have a chance in hell.
“Fuck him, he can wait,” Muller assured himself as he made his way down the ladder into the U-Boat.
Unlike Jack and Sam, Muller had fully expected to find the U-Boat in operational, seaworthy condition when his men breached the bunker. What he hadn’t expected to find was the Virginia Class nuclear attack sub. Barnes had told him it had been destroyed. Now he would have two prizes for The Brotherhood — the weapon and a nuclear sub. His place in the new Reich was assured.
Chapter 34
Jack raced the length of the passageway, hurtling through open hatches as he sought out the weapons locker in the forward section of the boat. It was only when he saw the crew bunks did he realize something wasn’t right.
Wrong deck.
He recalled a mental image of the evacuation diagram in the sick bay. It wasn’t the first time Jack’s almost eidetic memory had come in handy. Now he knew exactly where to go.
Another companionway and ladder lay ahead, leading to the upper level where the weapons loading hatch was located. That’s where he’d find them. He hoped he was the first to find them, but shook the thought away. All he could do was keep them safe until they could work out a plan. Having civilians in the mix changed things, though. His mission was to secure the U-Boat. But one of his duties as a soldier was to protect the civilians.
At least he wasn’t alone. Turning his head, he expected to see Sam trying to fit through the last of the hatches leading to the crew quarters. The entire length of the narrow passageway was empty. Not only did the man not have his back, he was nowhere in sight.
What was the deal with the guy? Guys like him were the reason Jack worked alone. Nobody to let you down. Nobody to be looking out for.
“Goddamn it,” Jack mumbled under his breath. There was no time to turn back to help one man. There were five people up on the next deck that needed him. He climbed into the companionway.
Sam finished spinning the wheel, dogging the hatch closed before inserting a locking pin through the mechanism so it couldn’t be opened from the outside. The last thing he wanted was more party favors being dropped down the hatch. His head was still thumping like a blender full of rocks and fire alarm was still ringing in his ears, but he had to keep going. He needed to catch up with Jack. Fortunately, Sam knew exactly where to go. If there was one place aboard a submarine that he could find with his eyes closed, it was weps. Mission accomplished, Sam bolted aft along the passageway toward the crew quarters.
Finally urgent whispers could be heard from an adjacent compartment. Jack recognized Jameson’s voice and he didn’t sound too happy, either. Tension filled the air as Jack entered.
“Tell him I need a gun,” Leah demanded of Jack before he was even through the hatch.
“I’m not giving her a weapon. She’s more likely to kill one of us with it than the enemy,” Jameson said adamantly.
“Because I’m a woman?”
“No,” the captain responded, “because you’re a civilian oceanographer, that’s why.”
Leah waved at Dave and Juan who were each holding a handgun. “You gave them guns.” She planted her hands firmly on her curvaceous hips.
“We don’t have time for that, we need to Hotel Alpha out of here. The bastards dropped a grenade down the hatch. They mean business.”
“Hotel Alpha?” Leah stopped being a pro-gun advocate momentarily.
“Haul Ass,” Juan explained proudly.