“I know, I know,” Zahra said, staring daggers into him, “I told you so, right?”
Henri simply shrugged and continued toward them. When he arrived, Luka and the four sharpshooters took up positions behind the trio. Luka knelt and dug through the captive’s belongings. The only members of the strike team to stand in front of the prisoners were Henri and Emil.
Henri squatted, smartly staying six feet from them. “I can honestly say that the three of you impress me. Your teamwork is what every commander desires from his men.”
“Is that what you are to these hounds?” Yana asked.
He looked at her. “Yes. I am Henri Vogel, Commander of the Sixth Seal Operations Group.”
Henri glanced over Yana’s head and saw that Luka was holding the Mengele journal. “I’ll take that now, Master Chief.”
“No, sir, you won’t.”
Henri lifted his eyes to the young man as five rifles swung his way. He slowly stood, keeping his hands where they were visible. He was fuming, but he also knew he was outnumbered. Going ballistic on Luka wouldn’t solve anything.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“They are following my orders, Commander,” Luka replied. “Or rather, we are following Herr Krause’s orders, as we are meant to do.” He stepped through Zahra and Yana and stood with his back to them. Henri expected one of them to take Luka off his feet, but they held back.
That also impressed him. Most wouldn’t be able to show such restraint.
“You are relieved of command,” Luka continued, “and will return to Stuttgart in our custody.”
The only member of Henri’s team not to point a weapon at him was his faithful lieutenant. Emil’s face screamed confusion. It was plain to see that he wasn’t in on this double cross.
“Lieutenant?” Henri asked. “Where do your allegiances stand?” His number two didn’t make a move, one way or the other. “Emil?”
The lieutenant’s eyes darted over to Henri. Emil sighed and leveled his rifle at Henri. “I’m sorry, sir.”
He locked eyes with Henri, but there wasn’t any malice in them. They were full of the cunningness of a man with a plan. His eyes darted over to Luka, then back to Henri.
Copy that, Lieutenant.
But Emil and him weren’t enough of a force. Henri was going to need a little help. He dropped his gaze down to Zahra and noticed that she hadn’t been relieved of her grappling hook.
“Bella corda, signorina.”
Henri hoped Zahra would pick up on the clue. He had once told her that he spoke a bit of Italian. He also hoped that the mention of her ‘nice rope’ would be enough to sway her into helping. If Henri were in her shoes, he would have if it meant surviving.
Zahra’s glare softened. She glanced up at Luka’s back, then reconnected eyes with Henri. The former Sixth Seal Commander didn’t look away until he was certain she’d gotten the message.
She did.
Zahra mouthed the word “asshole” and then mumbled something to Yana and Hammet. The assassin and KSK commando returned her words with equal looks of uncertainty. They both looked at Henri before returning their attention to Zahra.
“You idiots!” Zahra shouted. “This is all your fault!” She lowered her hands, placed one of each on Yana and Hammet’s chests, and shoved them backward.
A lot happened all at once.
Emil swung his rifle around and shot his treacherous protégé in the forehead.
Yana and Hammet added to their backward momentum and rolled into the legs of soldiers who were supposed to be guarding them. Emil’s sudden “betrayal” had shocked them into inaction.
Zahra dove forward, twisted in the air and caught Luka’s rifle as the lifeless master chief dropped it. She landed on her back and shot the middle two men.
Henri brought his own weapon up and popped one man in the upper chest while Emil shot the last one twice in the gut, an inch beneath his protective armor.
Yana and Hammet took up arms and aimed their pilfered rifles at Henri and Emil. Zahra did too, but from her back and upside down. The five survivors didn’t move, nor did they pull their respective triggers.
No one else had to die down here.
Chapter 62
Zahra
The circumstances had quickly switched from a dire hostage situation to a good old-fashioned Mexican standoff. Zahra’s precarious positioning was uncomfortable to say the least. She was currently lying on top of the dead master chief’s left foot.
The floor shook violently. Zahra’s teeth chattered, and the back of her head bounced atop the floor. They needed to leave — now.
Zahra made the first move.
“How ’bout we all put our guns down and settle this topside?” She set down her rifle first and rolled over onto her hands and knees. “I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to die down here.”
Kyle — Henri — and the man he called Emil glanced at one another, but they didn’t follow her lead and relinquish their weapons.
“What did you do to the Reliquary?” Henri asked.
Yana answered. “In a few minutes, it’s going into orbit.”
Zahra held up her hands and rocked back to her knees. “Which is why we have to leave. This entire place is going to come down on top of us at any moment.”
That wasn’t the news Henri was expecting to hear. He lowered his aim. So did everyone else.
The floor shivered.
“And the journal?” Henri asked.
“Leave it,” Hammet said. “Let it burn.”
Everyone raised their rifles again — except Zahra. Her weapon was still on the hangar floor.
Henri’s eyes were intense. “I can’t let that happen.”
“Why not?” Zahra asked. It was a simple question and one she wanted the man to answer honestly. When he didn’t reply, she pressed him. “Your own organization just tried to kill you — both of you — and yet, you still want that?” She pointed at the little, black, blood-splattered book still clutched in the dead master chief’s hand. “Without Krause and the Sixth Seal, what good is it?”
Henri smiled like a shark. “Who said anything about not having the Sixth Seal?”
Oh, duh!
“You plan on taking over, don’t you?”
Henri didn’t get to answer. The next audible sound they heard was something straight out of War of the Worlds. A bwomp bwomp like that of the movie’s tripods rose from beneath them and shook the hangar violently. Zahra could not even describe the feeling of the sound waves blown through her. They pounded her body and made her wince as her vision was rattled.
“Ah!” she screamed, holding her head and falling to her knees.
The others were being affected similarly. Zahra shut her eyes until the five pulses ended.
Suddenly, the floor cracked.
They stood, all in different states of recovery from the sonic assault.
“What was that?” Henri asked, yelling louder than he needed to.
Yana shook her head like a dog. “I believe it’s a spaceship taking off underground!”
Hammet helped Zahra up. The low, mechanical whale call had hit her the hardest.
The floor cracked again; this time, a section of it fell and knocked Henri and Emil off their feet. Zahra was yanked free of Hammet’s grip and went down to one knee as she watched the two men disappear. The master chief and the journal he held went with them.
Good riddance.
Chapter 63
Henri
The top three ranking Sixth Seal operatives slid towards the north wall. From what Henri could see, that was where fractures had originated. They spread out like tentacles from there. The bomber, still under construction, sat to their left. Pieces shook free and fell, their metallic composition ringing around them.