“You kicked him in the face?” Kyle asked. Yana snickered, and no one explained. Kyle shrugged, letting it go. “Find anything?”
“Yeah, we did,” Zahra replied.
“Care to divulge?” Kyle asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Zahra looked past him, finding multiple sets of eyes from the research team watching them. “Not in front of mixed company, no.”
Kyle led them further away from the others. “What did you find?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
“This,” Zahra replied. She dug into her coat pocket and produced the Sixth Seal communique. “It’s not good.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” Yana added. Even the stoic Russian looked outwardly disturbed by the presence of the paper.
Kyle glanced at Hammet. He gave the American pilot a simple nod.
Kyle didn’t accept the evidence. “Keep it. Let’s wait until we’re back in the Sno-Cat. I have a feeling we’ll have a lot to talk about on our drive back to the plane.”
Chapter 23
Zahra
Zahra and Kyle gazed back toward the coastline from outside their parked Sno-Cat. They had just returned to the LC-130. Kyle had debriefed her, Yana, and Hammet the entire time. No stone had been left unturned. He now knew as much as they did.
During the return trip, they had also gone over what to do next and what all of this could mean on a grander scale.
“There’s a lot to digest, huh?” Kyle asked.
Zahra nodded. “For sure. Do you think these guys really are still active?”
Kyle turned away from the pristine landscape and faced her. “Based on what you found in the sub and what happened to you in Chile, it sure sounds like it.”
“I was afraid of that.” Zahra still couldn’t believe it. “A secret society pulling the strings from both sides during World War Two. I—”
“Don’t believe it?”
Zahra scratched her head through her stocking hat. “Oh, no, I do, and that’s what scares me the most.”
Kyle placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get on board and out of the cold. Then we can figure out the next move.”
Zahra nodded. She followed the Skibird’s captain up the loading ramp and glanced south, looking out toward the mass of Antarctica. She was amazed by it — the fact that she was even here was a treat. How many people can say they’ve been here before?
She turned away but paused. Huh.
Zahra stepped south, seeing something odd. A foursome of snowy rooster tails kicked up in the distance … and each one of them was headed straight for them.
You’re just seeing things.
Zahra continued up the ramp and slipped. The incidental change in her gait saved her life. The telltale sound of a bullet whizzing by her head caused her to dive to the ramp; then she rolled off it. Now, the entire plane was buffeted by gunfire.
“Get to cover!” Kyle shouted.
There were still people outside, gathering gear. Hammet was helping Ethan unload the second Sno-Cat. Both men were a good thirty feet from the base of the ramp, and there was nothing to hide behind between them and the plane. As soon as Zahra hit the ground, she rolled backward into cover behind the LC-130’s rear landing ski.
Yana was right.
Technically, Zahra was unarmed.
But not for long.
Zahra shrugged out of her pack and quickly unzipped it. She dove inside and pulled out her most trusted survival tool. It was also something she’d used as a weapon several times.
A few years back, an old friend, a former DARPA engineer, designed a custom grappling hook for her. Zahra’s was spring-loaded and could hold her weight. After, the clawed head would release and collapse. It helped mightily with the retrieval process. Most hooks were of the one-and-done variety. But not hers.
She buckled it to her belt and left the backpack behind. Zahra checked her immediate surroundings. Then she spied Hammet and Ethan. The two men were gone. But where? She was certain they hadn’t made a mad dash for the plane. She would have heard them. Her only guess was that they had taken refuge inside the Sno-Cat.
The owners of the four trails came into view seconds later. Four white snowmobiles slowed as they neared. Each one of them carried two men. Each man was armed with firearms favored by the Russian military.
The Sixth Seal? Wow, that was fast.
She slinked beneath the plane and headed for the left, rear landing gear. Zahra slid into cover behind the massive ski and watched the strike team move. They were, or had once been, military. That was plain to see. They moved in coordinated fashion. Zahra prayed that they weren’t Spetsnaz. The famed Russian special forces unit was one of the deadliest in the world.
“Who are you?” she asked no one.
The lead pair stopped and knelt. One man shouted back for the others.
“Move up!”
The words were in Russian.
Damn. Still, that didn’t mean these guys were SF. Could just be mercs.
She paid close attention to their clothes and even more attention to their weaponry. Her prior assessment had been correct. Each man was dressed dissimilarly from the next. Their weapons were from different eras, too. A few of the AK variant rifles were newer. Others looked at least two decades old.
Attacked by a German assassin in Chile and now Russian mercs in Antarctica. She shook her head. I wonder what’s behind door number three?
Four of the gunmen rushed forward, rifles raised. They quickly scaled the ramp and headed inside. Zahra expected to see a line of hostages led out at gunpoint, but instead, she heard the thwap of suppressed gunfire.
“Dammit.”
Two men headed for the parked Sno-Cat, and the last two stayed behind by the snowmobiles.
Zahra gritted her teeth. There was no clear avenue for her to launch a counterattack. As of now, there was nothing she could do. So, she’d need to stay put and wait for an opportunity to act.
She knew of one person who could throw a monkey wrench into these guys’ plans. Zahra had her own Russian mercenary on her side.
“Where are you, Yana?”
Chapter 24
Yana
Yana dove away from the open loading ramp just as a bevy of bullets sizzled past it. She covered her head but looked back in time to see Zahra hit the deck and roll off, presumably uninjured. Yana didn’t typically care about what happened to others during a mission, but she had grown to like Zahra. The two shared similar personalities. Also, the archaeologist didn’t treat her differently. Yana’s profession didn’t bother Zahra.
More bullets struck the plane’s hull. This was why she hated not being properly armed. The only weapon she had on her was her pilfered tactical knife. It was currently out of sight, wrapped in a paper towel, and taped to her left forearm beneath her coat sleeve. She had learned to conceal weapons of all kinds in unique and interesting ways back in her time with the FSB and thereafter.
She’d lost sight of Kyle just before the attack. He had continued deeper into the cargo hold en route to the cockpit. Yana edged back toward the ramp, crawling on her hands and knees. She needed to see what had become of her teammates.
If Zahra were as smart as Yana knew she was, she’d be hiding until given an opening. She eyed the second Sno-Cat, looking for Hammet and Ethan. Neither man was visible from her angle.
Voices picked up outside. They shouted at one another in Russian.
“Not good,” Yana said. The Sixth Seal had been a powerful conglomerate of American, German, and Russian forces. Apparently, they still were. “Not good at all.”