An object fell free.
Zahra stared down at it, breathing hard.
“A book?”
No, not a book. It was black, skinny, and roughly six-by-nine inches. It’s a journal!
She snagged it off the floor, sat, and opened the cover with shaky hands. The language inside was the same one from the U-boat communique. She slowly deciphered the combo of English, German, and Russian but didn’t understand most of what she read. Oddly, there was also no mention of Black Sunset through the first six pages.
But there was the mention of another project. It seemed to be the main subject of the journal.
“What the hell is Project Fleshgod?” She sprinted through more of it. “‘The Reliquary has yielded much, but nothing usable for us thus far.’” She squinted. “The Reliquary?”
Traditionally, a reliquary was a container designed to hold holy relics. Zahra seriously doubted that whatever was being mentioned here was being used for that purpose. In light of where she was, she suspected that it was another codename for something else.
Then again, Hitler did fancy religious artifacts.
Either way, the journal was, in actuality, a notebook filled with data, results involving a particular succession of experiments. Some were performed on people, and the author used medical terms and references that were way over Zahra’s head.
She flipped through a few of the pages. Fleshgod 1.0, Fleshgod 5.7, Fleshgod 11.2…
The next time Zahra stopped flipping, her eyes immediately fell onto a drawing. It spooked her into standing bolt upright. It depicted a winged figure wearing a heavy robe with a cloak draped over its head. Even though it was produced in now faded pencil, Zahra could still feel the being’s demonic eyes burning holes through her flesh and into her soul.
Only one word accompanied the drawing.
“Todesengel.” Its utterance caused Zahra to drop the journal on the desk and step back. Her hands went to her mouth. “The Angel of Death…” Zahra’s eyes welled with tears, and her breathing grew frantic. “Oh my God. Mengele.” She eyed the journal. “He was here.”
She took another step back. Her foot came down on the busted drawer handle, and she stumbled into the back wall. She elbowed the framed map and dislodged it from the wall. It came crashing down to the floor, noisily smashing face down.
When it did, Zahra noticed something dangling right next to her head. She looked to the left and found a single key hanging from a tiny hook. The map had been covering it.
“Oh.” She swallowed back her surprise and pushed herself away from the wall. She removed the key from the hook, smiled, and in her best Cork impression said, “Hello, love.”
Chapter 43
Henri
Commander Vogel led a reconfigured seven-man forward team to the entrance to the Underworld. With him were Lieutenant Emil Becker, Master Chief Petty Officer Luka Meier, and four handpicked sharpshooters who held the rank of Chief Petty Officer. Years ago, Ulrich had chosen to replicate the Navy SEALs when it came to their members’ individual rankings.
Emil had quickly chosen these four to join Henri, Luka, and himself. He’d trained them, after all.
These seven were the best cold-weather operators that the Sixth Seal had, not that Henri knew who the other four were on a personal level. If they succeeded here, and these men survived, then he’d afford them a proper conversation and introduction.
They all wore gas masks as a precaution. As Henri had said before, he wasn’t about to lose any men to rash foolishness.
He paused twenty feet from the rockface and looked it over. He tried but didn’t spot any imperfections — anything that looked like it should not belong. But he couldn’t. The entrance Emil had witnessed open was perfectly concealed.
How is there still power here?
“General Krause’s men knew what they were doing,” he muttered.
“Excuse me, sir?” Emil asked, stepping up next to him. He had not heard what Henri had said.
Without facing him, Henri said, “Open it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Emil hurried away with a pair of men. Luka took his mentor’s place by Henri’s side. The remaining two soldiers stood back and kept their attention on the surrounding landscape. Henri doubted there was anyone else to fear out here, but he couldn’t guarantee it.
Everyone kept quiet and waited for whatever was about to happen to happen.
Just when Henri was about to snap on his lieutenant for inaction, the earth beneath his feet rumbled. Then, the most remarkable thing occurred. The cliff directly in front of him split open like a melon. Two massive doors continued sliding away from one another until there was an opening fifty feet tall and two hundred feet wide. It was a magnificent sight, one that nearly brought the hardened man to tears.
“Die Unterwelt.”
There had always been a sliver of hope in Henri’s mind that the Underworld still existed and that it could still be operational. He let out a long breath and stepped inside with Luka close behind him. Once he was indoors, Henri stopped and waited for the others to regroup around him. They had left four men outside to keep watch, just in case Zahra’s team slipped past Henri and the others.
“Lieutenant, your men—”
“Have been given orders to shoot anyone on sight that isn’t one of us.”
Good.
Henri took a long inhalation of the filtered air of his gas mask. He let it out slowly, deliberately. “Gentleman, I congratulate you on this historic feat. You’ve made your commander very proud.” He shouldered his rifle. “Now, finish the mission and clear this place of the vermin that have invaded these hallowed halls.”
“Commander?”
He faced the lieutenant. “May I speak with you, sir?” He looked around. “In private.”
Henri nodded. “Master Chief, bring up the Sno-Cat. The rest of you, secure this entrance.”
While Luka headed outside to retrieve the Sno-Cat, the other men ventured deeper inside, leaving Henri and Emil alone.
“Excuse me for saying this, sir, but I think it would be wise to contact Herr Krause. I am uncomfortable with keeping things from him, especially when it relates to this.” He motioned to the entryway.
Henri’s lip curled, but he calmed. Emil was correct, as he usually was. He was a soldier to the letter. Tobias Krause’s wishes superseded everything to him, even his field commander’s orders.
“Agreed,” Henri said. “Give me a moment. I will contact him myself.”
Chapter 44
Tobias
“We’ve done it, sir. We’ve opened the entrance to the Underworld.”
Tobias was filled with an emotion he had not felt for some time: joy. After decades of not knowing what lay beyond, his men had gained access to the Underworld. He cursed his shaky legs and weak bones. While his medicine kept the Grim Reaper at bay, it continued to degrade his body. It had been a necessary trade at the time. Now, it was too late to regret it.
The fact that Kane’s team had entered the facility without immediately succumbing to the toxins brought up another issue. What if the facility wasn’t as contaminated as they were led to believe? Would Dietrich purposely lie about it?
Tobias squeezed his fist hard. Fool, he thought, berating himself. Fool!
If the facility had been accessible all this time…
He cleared his throat. “Excellent news, Commander. Now there is only one thing left for you to do…”