A screech of metal announced the mechanized retrieval of the stairs, as well as the closing of the nose door.
Yana was in the left-hand pilot’s chair. Hammet sat next to her. The only option upfront for Zahra was to slide between them both and sit down in a very nerve-wracking position within the tip of the nose.
“Bombardier seat,” Hammet explained. “Yana says it was the envy of the crew.”
Zahra’s nose curled up. “I bet.” She looked down at the backward-facing seat behind Hammet. It was positioned in front of a wall of aeronautic instruments. “You’re more than welcome to it.” She patted the backrest of this seat. “I’ll take navigation.”
She sat and buckled in, happy to find an upgraded, though still six-decade-old, five-point harness. She tightened it down… and waited. The elevator continued up at its same casual pace. Zahra willed it to go faster. Her legs bounced, her eyes closed, and she bit her lip.
“Nervous flyer?” Yana shouted.
Zahra opened them and looked over her right shoulder and across the aisle. “Not usually. But this thing kinda feels like a winged soup can.”
“Not to mention that we only have three working engines!” Hammet added.
“Not helping!” Zahra shouted.
The platform clunked into place.
“We ready?” Yana asked. Zahra gave her a thumbs up. “Okay. Let’s do this!”
Chapter 69
Zelda
Even from halfway across the main house, she could hear her grandfather screaming at someone on his phone. Usually, she didn’t pry, but she was too curious not to. She used her years of training to move silently. Even at her age, nineteen-year-old Zelda Krause had already been on several missions, mostly assassinations. She was exceptional at getting up close to her targets and killing them with her favorite weapons, her twin karambit knives.
Even now, Zelda had them sheathed at the small of her back beneath her white designer jacket. She never went anywhere without them or the Walther PDP pistol holstered beneath her left armpit.
She leaned into the heavy, wooden door and gently pressed her ear against it. The first thing she heard confused her.
The second thing she heard shocked her.
“I don’t care if he’s your commander!”
Vogel?
“He has been negligent in his duties. Do not let him escape!”
Zelda leaned away from the door. Grandfather is removing Henri from command? Why?
“If he does, detain him and bring him to me. But if you must, kill him.”
Zelda knew for a fact that Henri Vogel was an exemplary soldier. When her father was alive, he would go out of his way to tell her so.
“Do you understand, Petty Officer? Do not let him leave the Underworld! Lock down the lake!”
Zelda’s eyes opened wide. The Underworld! They found it!
Her grandfather’s latest outburst caused him to break out into a coughing fit. She hadn’t heard him this worked up in years. He was always in such control of his emotions. Whatever had happened regarding the commander, it had deeply upset him, and she doubted it was negligence of duty.
Zelda lifted her fist to knock but stopped. She leaned in again and listened to him hack uncontrollably.
She listened to him struggle.
She listened to him suffer.
What if she didn’t help him? What if he died here and now? The stress could easily stop his heart.
What a pity. And with Henri no longer in command…
Since she’d been a little girl, Zelda had been promised the world. She’d been refused a normal life and assured a major leadership role while on her way to inheriting the Sixth Seal. And since her father died, Zelda had heard very little about it from her grandfather.
She realized something just then.
He’s been shutting me out. She clenched her fists tight. He has no intention of giving me my birthright!
But she didn’t know enough yet. She needed more time to collect additional intel. She had a few people inside the organization that believed in her. They were the same people who had believed in her father. They believed that the Sixth Seal needed a younger mind at the top, someone less risk-averse, someone more willing to do something drastic.
She composed herself and knocked.
Soon, Zelda.
Then, she said, “Grandfather, are you okay? Grandfather?” She made sure to lace her voice with faux concern. Until this recent revelation, she had admired her grandfather deeply. Zelda’s mother had died when she was very young. She hardly knew the woman. Her grandfather was the only family she had left.
For now.
The door unlocked, and she rushed in. “Grandfather, are you okay?”
He was sitting back in his chair wheezing, holding his chest, but it looked as if he’d gotten his air back. The color was returning to his face, too. She went straight to his personal bar and poured him a glass of water.
“I’m here, Grandfather. I’m here…” Zelda hurried to his side and handed it to him.
He took a long sip and let out a long breath. “Incompetent fools surround me.” Zelda looked away. The comment really did sting. “Oh, Zelda. Not you. These soldiers don’t hold a candle to you.”
She held back her smile. So, does he still have faith in me?
“Grandfather? With Commander Vogel — with Henri not in the picture anymore, who will take his station?” He shot her with an angry stare. “I’m sorry, Grandfather, but I could hear you from across the house.”
He sighed. “I’m not sure what will happen.”
“What about Lieutenant Becker?” He looked away. “Oh, I see.” Emil was dead. She stood tall and clenched her fists tightly. “What about me? I believe I am ready to assume command of our forces.”
“Zelda, you—”
“My father believed in me.” She stepped closer. “Commander Vogel believed in me. Why won’t you?”
He set down his glass. “Thank you for the water, Zelda. Now, please, leave. We will have this discussion at a more appropriate time.”
“When? When it only suits you?”
His tired eyes darted up to her. “How dare you speak to me like that!”
“Like what?” Her expression hardened. She filled her gaze with fear. “Do I remind you of someone else — someone who also spoke his mind?”
He looked away. “Zelda, Commander Vogel—”
“I was talking about my father!” Zelda shouted. She had never raised her voice to her grandfather before. “You once said that he was the best there ever was. You both trained me to be better than even him.” She turned and headed for the door, stopping just before stepping through and leaving. “One day, it will be my time, and when it is,” she looked over her shoulder, “I will be successful.”
Zelda left her bewildered grandfather alone with his thoughts.
Time to get to work.
She had a few calls to make.
Chapter 70
Henri
Since Henri had exited the Underworld’s intersection of archways, his foot had not let up on the gas. As he neared the outer doors, relief had crept into the back of his mind.
But he still had the lake guards to deal with. If Krause had ordered Henri to be removed from command, then the remaining men — all of them — would have been given the same order. And if he got past these four troopers, he’d also have to take out the last four back at the LC-130.