Zahra said what everyone was thinking. “This man wasn’t the captain… It’s this Krause guy.”
Hammet’s reaction to the man’s name was apparent. He’d heard of him.
“Who was he?” Zahra asked.
“A renowned Nazi general. He was deeply involved in the Ahnenerbe.”
“The crazies? Well, the crazier crazies…”
A chill washed over Zahra’s skin, and she shivered. She stepped away and took a moment to collect her thoughts.
“So,” she finally said, moving the investigation along, “the German and Soviet arms of this Sixth Seal outfit broke ties shortly before the Berlin Wall went up. What about the Americans?” It hit her. She spun around. “The Cuban Missile Crisis.”
“When was that again?” Hammet asked.
Both women replied in unison. “1962.”
Zahra continued. “Okay, so political tensions broke apart the Sixth Seal. Is that what happened?”
“Sounds like it,” Yana replied. “But how?”
“Funding,” Hammet replied. “I bet the flow of money stopped. One country couldn’t keep the Underworld operational, not back then.”
Zahra shivered again. “Come on. Let’s get topside. This place is a bit too tomb-y for my liking.”
“Yes, please,” Yana said, quickly exiting the cramped office.
For a moment, Zahra contemplated grabbing the American’s M1911. Her motive differed from Yana’s. Zahra wanted it as evidence, not as a usable weapon.
Forget it. She folded the invaluable communique and pocketed it. This is enough.
“Let’s go,” Zahra said. As soon as she exited the office, the U-boat shuddered. She looked at Yana and Hammet. “Let’s go quickly.”
They ran, high-stepping and vaulting over bodies as they did. Zahra allowed the others to move first. Part of her was still back in the captain’s quarters. She pictured the American, whom she guessed was some kind of CIA double agent.
The CIA had been born from the Office of Strategic Services following World War II in 1947 via the National Security Act.
It didn’t really matter what he was; he’d been a traitor and a Sixth Seal operative. It begged the question: Who else in the American ranks had been too? The letter was dated 1960. That meant that the Americans, the Germans, and the Russians had all been playing nice through some turbulent times.
The trio made it to the ladder that led up to the hatch.
“Please, go faster,” Hammet begged, watching Yana shamble up toward the surface. He stepped aside. “Your turn, Zahra.”
Even through her haze, Zahra smirked. “Ever the gentleman.”
He eyed her. “Get moving, or I’ll leave you behind.”
Zahra was about to reply but didn’t get the chance. The U-boat cried out, and the sound of snapping tree trunks filled the air around them.
Zahra’s hands went to her ears.
So did Hammet’s.
“Is that the ice?” he asked.
Zahra looked back toward the bow and gasped. “No, that’s the damned sub. Climb!”
She launched up the ladder with Hammet right on her butt. They monkeyed up it while the vessel shook violently. Zahra’s vision vibrated along with it, and she lost her footing. Her foot slipped off the rung and caught Hammet in the face. He growled but kept moving.
As did Zahra.
There would be time for apologies later.
Hopefully.
Yana was already topside. If she were smart, she’d be ascending already.
Apparently, she was not smart.
“Faster, you two!” she shouted, looking down at them from above. “Keep climbing!”
Zahra could barely hear her over the noises the sub was making.
Climb, she told herself. Climb or die.
Her head cleared the open hatch. Yana half-dragged her out of the hole. Yana stumbled back as the U-boat trembled, bringing Zahra to the ground with her. They landed as one, each of them letting out oomfs as they hit.
Hammet exited next as they picked themselves up.
The bow of the sub cracked and peeled away from the rest of it.
“Oh, shit!” Zahra yelled, shoving Yana toward the cliff. The Russian snagged the line and hastily began her ascent. When she was ten feet up, Zahra grabbed the line, but another intense upheaval threw her back. She spilled past Hammet. The German grabbed the line to steady himself.
“Zahra!” he shouted.
She careened stomach-first into the handrail of the conning tower, nearly continuing up and over it. The entire front half of the U-boat was coming apart under her feet.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Untie the lines and get moving! I’m right behind you!”
Hammet didn’t want to go, but he did as she said. He loosened the knots and started up the cliff. Zahra tried to push away from the railing but couldn’t keep her footing. The vibrations were so strong that they threatened to take her down if she let go.
Gotta try, Zahra.
So, she did. Zahra turned around, keeping a tight grip on the handrail. As soon as she let go, she was immediately thrown to the floor. She landed on her hands and knees and stayed there as the sub began to lean toward the ocean. She looked back and saw only death.
The U-boat, from the tip of the bow to the conning tower, was nearly gone. And soon, the tower itself would be as well.
“Zahra!”
She faced the cliff and spotted Hammet through shaking vision. He was still where she had left him. Only now, he was clipped onto the static line, and his right hand was stretched out toward her.
He waved her forward. “Run!”
It was now or never.
Zahra reached behind her and climbed to her feet with the help of the railing. Then, it too came loose. She teetered backward over nothing. Her heels found nothing but air. Through her boots, she gripped the tower floor with her toes and leaned her upper body forward. It was enough to rock herself away from the dangerous precipice, and she took off at a clumsy sprint. Zahra ran for her life as the tower platform fell away from beneath her section by section.
At the last second, she planted her left foot and jumped.
Zahra reached out… and caught Hammet’s outstretched hand.
She dangled over the ocean as the remaining pieces of the front half of the submarine crashed into the water. It was like a small iceberg separating from the continent.
Zahra dug her toes into the cliff and snagged the line with her free hand. She clipped on and took a long, steadying breath. She climbed until she was at eye level with Hammet.
She reached out and patted his cheek. “My hero.” Hammet winced. The right side of his face was red like he’d been punched. That’s when Zahra remembered that she had kicked Hammet in the face while climbing up inside the conning tower.
“Sorry,” she said, cringing. She looked back down at the water. “Next round’s on me.”
The corner of his face curled upward. “I’ll remember you said that.” He flicked his eyes up. “After you.”
Zahra shook her head. “No, you go. I… I need a minute.”
Hammet nodded and started his ascent, leaving the winded archaeologist alone with her thoughts, her fried nerves, and the frigid, though refreshing, Southern Ocean breeze.
Chapter 22
Zahra
Two sets of hands greeted Zahra when she reached the clifftop. Yana and Hammet almost greedily pulled her up and away from it. They each looked her over before relaxing. Everyone had survived wholly unscathed, minus Hammet’s quickly developing shiner.
“What happened to you?” Kyle asked, joining them. He was studying the German’s face.
“She kicked me,” Hammet replied, tipping his chin toward Zahra.