Zahra had no problem conceding her efforts to the much larger and stronger German soldier. Hammet gripped the rock in both his thick hands, and he pushed and pulled in several different directions.
“You’re right. It does move!”
Yana grinned. “Told you so.”
“To be fair,” Hammet said between grunts, “I never openly doubted you.”
“But you did doubt—”
Click.
The sound was high-pitched and metallic. Hammet’s right fingers had depressed something around a corner. He gripped and pulled.
A section of stone one foot around swung open on a hinge. Beneath the lid was a single red button.
“Oh my God,” Zahra whispered. She grabbed Yana and gave her an uncomfortable sideways hug. “You did it.”
Yana leaned away from her. “Please, let go.”
“How did you see something back there?” Hammet asked, pointing to where they had started.
She shrugged. “I have always had keen eyes. It’s what has made me so effective at my job.”
“Think it still works?” Zahra asked, staring at the button.
“Only one way to find out,” Yana said.
“What about the gas?” Hammet asked.
Yana rolled her eyes. “Hold your breath. I mean, we are outside.”
Hammet didn’t look convinced. He just stepped back.
Zahra reached forward but stopped. She stepped aside. “All yours, Yana. You found this place.”
The Russian smiled widely and slammed her palm down on the button. The action was answered by a low rumble, then nothing.
Yana looked down at her feet, then at Zahra. “Um…”
Her confusion was launched into deep space and replaced with shock as the middle section of Yana’s wall split in half. The trio staggered backward and watched two doors roll away from one another to reveal an entrance measuring fifty feet tall and two hundred feet wide.
As they yawned open, a row of lights attached to the ceiling winked to life one by one, stretching farther than they could see.
“Holy crap,” Zahra said, stopping just outside the entrance.
Yana stepped up next to her. “Now that’s a door.”
Hammet craned his head up. “Yes. Very impressive.”
Zahra looked back and forth between the opening and the loading dock. “Huh?”
“What?” Yana asked.
“Anyone else notice that the ground out here is the same width as the door?”
Hammet turned and examined it. “Can’t be a coincidence.”
“I have a question,” Yana said.
“Just the one?” Zahra replied.
Yana sniffed the air. “Do you smell gas?”
Zahra had completely forgotten about it. The awe she felt had contaminated her body, not the gas.
“No,” she replied. “It’s clear.”
The trio stayed thirty feet from the threshold and headed back to the centermost part of it.
“Maybe the gas is deeper inside?” Hammet suggested.
“Could be,” Zahra replied.
“Is anyone else wondering why the doors are so big?” Yana asked.
Zahra silently crossed the boundary between the surface world and the Underworld, excitement tickling. Her boots found the smooth stone. Before she went any farther, she turned and faced her teammates. “Let’s go find out.”
Yana and Hammet entered, and the three explorers set off into Himmler’s prized Antarctic installation.
“Hang on,” Yana said, “let me do something first…”
Zahra and Hammet watched Yana jog over to the eastern wall and flip open an identical panel. Inside was another red button. She pushed it, and the massive door immediately began to shut.
She hurried back over to them and shrugged. “Those pricks can open it for themselves.”
Chapter 36
Emil
Lieutenant Emil Becker of the Sixth Seal shivered, and it had nothing to do with the freezing temperatures. The uncontrollable convulsions weren’t caused by anything bad or harmful. It was quite the opposite, actually. The forward team leader shook with wonderment — with happiness. He had just witnessed the single most marvelous act take place.
Emil had just watched the entrance to the Underworld open.
They survived!
He had expected to watch Kane’s team shrivel up and die, yet they seemed to be alive! That wasn’t the only occurrence that had stunned the man. The sheer size of the entrance was stunning. There was nothing in his vast Sixth Seal knowledge base that had prepared him for it and nothing still that could explain the reason for doing so.
What the hell is down there?
Some information about the Underworld was shared freely between members. Other facts, like those involving the specific projects and experiments below, were not. Those were of the need-to-know, and no one, not even the commander, knew enough about them to confidently speak of them. Plus, it was strictly forbidden by Herr Krause to talk about it.
Emil reached for his satellite phone and fumbled with it. He looked down at his shaking hand.
Get ahold of yourself.
He willed it to stop.
It did.
He grasped the device and dialed the number for his superior.
“Commander, do you copy?”
It took a few seconds for him to reply. Calls weren’t easy to connect in environments such as this.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
By now, the other men in Emil’s team had gathered around him. He allowed them to listen in on his side of the communication. They deserved to hear what Henri had to say.
“They found it, Commander. They found the Underworld.”
“They did? Impressive. Congratulations on a job well done, Lieutenant. You and your men should be proud.”
Emil let out a long breath. “We are, sir. Thank you. But there is more…”
He quickly recounted what his team had seen. It didn’t take long. Besides the grand reveal and Kane’s survival, there hadn’t been much of anything to report. They had followed Kane from the Russian camp in their own Sno-Cat, staying far enough back not to be noticed. An unrelenting storm had assisted them in the effort.
“Are we still waiting to engage?”
“Yes. Allow these rats to scurry about. Let them be the ones to sniff out the toxins.”
“And if there aren’t any toxins?”
“Yes, well, regardless, I would prefer not to get in a firefight with them inside the open entrance tunnel. We cannot underestimate them. I will not lose men to rash foolishness.”
“Agreed. What is your ETA?”
“The master chief and I are still two hours out. Sit tight, Lieutenant. We’ll join you as soon as we can.”
Emil longed to enter the Underworld, even if it was just to cross inside the doors. But he knew his place, and he had his orders.
“Yes, sir. We’ll be waiting for you at the northern end of the lake. See you then.”
Chapter 37
Zahra
Zahra was thrilled to be out of the cold. The ambient temperature of the secret passage was downright balmy compared to what was outside. Still, she kept her winter gear on. They all did.
She was also thrilled not to have been poisoned to death. It called into question the vitality of Dietrich Krause’s coded message, or they were still too shallow. It was very possible that the cave-in had happened further inside and that the internal grounds were still toxic.
She looked up at the row of lights lining the center of the tunnel’s ceiling. It appeared the electricity wasn’t an issue here. She still had no idea how. The only thing that made sense was nuclear power, though, she didn’t know how viable an option that really would have been back then — especially all the way out here.