‘What kind of shift?’ Sophia said.
‘The OSS sent a special team of US soldiers to seek and capture a specific list of Nazi scientists. Chemists, biochemists with coveted achievements in particular fields. They extracted the scientists from basements, cellars, castles, byzantine caves, death row. Secreted them in the United States. In this base.’
‘What sort of achievements are we talking?’ Sophia said.
DC paused at a nondescript door and held his hand out. ‘Lockpicks.’
Didn’t he have his own?
She took a pair of full-length lockpicks from her jeans and handed them over. He crouched in front of the door and got to work. Sophia took the opportunity to remove her jacket and stow it in her ruck.
‘Their speciality was human experimentation,’ DC said. ‘Conducted under the guidance of the Ahnenerbe institutes across Germany.’
‘Sounds like Denton’s kind of people,’ Sophia said, slipping her ruck back over her shoulders.
‘Well, that is where he started,’ DC said.
‘I’m betting he’s already—’
DC shushed her and focused on picking the lock. She felt her cheeks burn.
‘If you can’t do it, just give it to me,’ she said.
‘Look, I’m good for something,’ DC said.
‘Yeah, being ambiguous,’ she said.
‘I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise,’ DC said.
The door opened and he stepped aside.
She stepped through, pausing with her hand out. He dropped the lockpicks in her grasp. His fingers lingered across her palm. She stepped through and down a flight of metal stairs blackened with grime. Dangling from exposed wires, light globes peppered her descent. At the bottom she powered on her torch and turned her body to let DC by. He held a finger to his lips as he brushed past. His scent offered slight comfort at this subterranean depth, ten stories below Grand Central terminal.
The corridor was more of a tunnel, unlit and damp. Sophia followed without a word until it opened into a larger space, connecting with three other tunnels. Before them, a blast door that was retracted.
‘Welcome to Neverland,’ DC said, stepping into the concrete foyer. The entire base was still lit, feeding off Grand Central terminal. Or at least the power was still intact. Many of the globes and tubes had deteriorated.
‘So this is where they took the Nazi scientists?’ Sophia said.
She followed him inside, checking the corners of the enormous two-level foyer. Parts of the foyer that were not concrete had peeled or fallen away, leaving rusted metal skeletons across the balconies, stairs and walls.
‘Most of them,’ DC said.
She passed a long reception desk coated in a thin layer of dust and dirt. Debris crunched underfoot.
DC paused to check the plaque at reception for directions to the different levels. He dusted it with an elbow. She knew it wouldn’t be very forthcoming but it should give them a clue at least.
‘What sort of human experimentation did they do for the OSS?’ Sophia said. ‘Were they programming operatives back in those days? Playing with viruses?’
It got a small laugh out of him. ‘Not really,’ he said. ‘Once they had the Nazi scientists here, they brought thousands of Army-enlisted men. The men unwittingly volunteered to expose themselves to comet-borne viruses.’
‘I almost don’t want to ask why,’ Sophia said. ‘But I will anyway.’
He turned to meet her gaze.
‘Why?’ she said.
‘Easy.’ DC started up the stairs. ‘They wanted to make Captain America.’
‘Who’s that?’ Sophia said. Her voice bounced off the concrete walls.
DC paused in mid-step and studied her. ‘You’re j — you don’t know,’ he said. ‘He was a new comic book superhero in the forties. They used to draw him fighting Nazis and punching Hitler.’ DC continued up the stairs. ‘He was injected with an experimental serum that imbued him with greater powers.’
Sophia snorted. ‘Like the Chimera vector?’
‘Sort of,’ DC said.
‘Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?’ Sophia said, climbing the stairs after him. ‘You know, sounds like Captain America was inspired by the virus testing they did here.’
DC waited, watching her from behind a crumbling balustrade. She almost stumbled on a step and blushed.
‘Who knows?’ he said. ‘The OSS did recover a serum the Nazis developed during the war.’
‘Denton was ranting about a Nazi serum,’ Sophia said.
She caught up with him and continued through the upper level. The paint was peeling from the walls and some of the fluorescent tube lights dangled from one end. Sophia moved between them.
‘That serum kept Denton young and cunning for decades,’ DC said.
‘At least until he cashed in on the Chimera vector,’ Sophia said.
‘Yeah,’ DC said, following her. ‘The Chimera vector was … sexy in many ways.’
She turned to find his gaze was lower than it should’ve been.
‘Superior,’ he said. ‘Superior in many ways.’
It was his turn to blush.
She continued walking, keeping her smile to herself.
They reached a new courtyard. Vibrant green moss had bloomed out from what was once a thriving garden in the center but was now overrun by lichen. The moss spiraled around the pillars and curled over the balconies. Sophia wondered how many more decades before the entire base became a spongy emerald labyrinth.
The ceiling above was decorated with a large circular mosaic of what Sophia assumed was the OSS emblem. A pair of metallic eagle’s wings, or paratrooper wings. The eagle’s head, however, had been replaced by a single eye. The eye was large and gaped down at them, bits of the mosaic missing from the pupil.
‘OSS emblem?’ Sophia said.
DC shook his head. ‘It was a golden spearhead, and then it was a snake and thirteen stars. This looks like the Chinese Commando para wings, except there’s no parachute. Just a giant creepy eye.’
‘Maybe it’s the Fifth Column emblem?’ Sophia said, grinning.
DC shook his head and returned the smile. ‘I’ve never seen one,’ he said. ‘But this would be pretty close I guess.’
‘So, where to, Cap?’ Sophia said.
‘You’re the Cap, not me,’ DC said. ‘I’m au naturel.’
‘Sophia is fine,’ she said. ‘No Captain.’
‘You don’t speak Spanish?’ DC said.
‘That’s French.’
‘Oh,’ DC said. ‘Well anyway, it should be in containment on level six.’ He pointed to the moss garden below. ‘That’s level one.’
‘Five more below that,’ Sophia said. ‘We need to get a move on.’
‘I’ll lead the way—’ DC said.
But Sophia had started down the stairs to the courtyard.
‘Or you can,’ he said.
The moss in the courtyard was as tall as grass, springing back after each step. She moved into the center, eyeing the two diverging hallways ahead of them. DC walked down the stairs behind her.
DC said, ‘Be careful walking through—’
The ground gave way under her feet. She reached out but there was nothing to grab hold of. The entire courtyard fell beneath her. Moss, marble, plaster, debris — all of it. The heavy debris plummeted below, banging off rafters and beams. She fell after it, crashing through a plaster ceiling. It was like frozen powder, exploding under her feet the moment she landed. She kept falling. Another ceiling tore apart below, battered by chunks of marble. She scratched for the edge of the hole, but slipped through. Damp air filled her nostrils. She tried to grab a passing metal beam but it knocked her off-course, crushing the air from her lungs. She gasped. Everything spun, blurred. She drifted for the wall. Crashed into it, slid downwards. Dust and bits of debris stung her eyes. She dragged herself on the wall, slowing her fall. Hooked something. She let go so it didn’t dislocate her shoulder, but it was enough to slow her down.