Tobias Krause didn’t take any chances when it came to his medicine.
He had tried to take multiple doses at once, with the hopes of decelerating his condition more aggressively, but it almost killed him. He should have known better. It had killed most of his test subjects in Germany, too. Those that survived became permanently comatose. Now, he used their bodies as permanent test subjects.
He pulled open the drawer and smiled when he was illuminated in an undulating golden aura. The journal would have transformed this archaic concoction into a masterpiece. Technological advancements were what they were missing when Project Fleshgod was founded. Tobias understood that. It hadn’t been their science — the technology of their era had blocked them.
But no longer. Tobias had no choice but to do something drastic. The Reliquary wasn’t the only historical discovery the Sixth Seal had made over the years. Shortly after the war ended, something phenomenal had been found in the Amazon by Mengele’s private military, a tactical element that had eventually been absorbed into the Sixth Seal. The discovery had been the main reason he’d preemptively left the Underworld.
And it is there I must go. Not only was the environment as deadly as Antarctica’s, but the rainforest contained countless other dangers. So be it.
He ran his fingers over the drawerful of auto-injector pens and mumbled the words to Happy Birthday.
“Happy birthday to me…”
He picked up a pen, removed the cap, and jammed the tip into his neck. The serum was jettisoned into his bloodstream, making him fall to his knees and gasp for air. But as soon as it started, it was over. Tobias stood on less shaky legs. Regrettably, the youthful feeling of the medicine only lasted a few days.
It used to last months.
“Happy birthday to me…”
He shut the fridge and reluctantly returned to his wheelchair. He needed to keep up appearances, even for the few days that the wheelchair wasn’t needed. He drove himself back to his desk, passing several framed documents as he did. One of them, in particular, filled him with great pride. It was a diploma for a Ph.D. in anthropology that he had received from the University of Munich in 1935.
He wheeled himself behind his desk and pressed the button for the elevator again. It reversed direction and rose away from the floor. As it did, he glanced at the diploma again and silently read the name. The certificate did not belong to 95-year-old Tobias Wolfgang Krause.
It belonged to 112-year-old Josef Rudolf Mengele.
“Happy birthday, Todesengel…”
He still loved that nickname.
Tobias Krause had been a useful alias for Josef Mengele since the war ended. He had visited the best surgeons in the world. After several excruciating procedures, he’d been physically transformed into Dietrich Krause’s late son, a man who had died in an automobile accident outside Berlin. It had helped immensely that Mengele and Tobias already resembled one another.
The alien DNA-based serum had also helped.
It had slowed down the “time-related deterioration of the physiological functions necessary for survival and fertility,” his aging, significantly. It allowed him to stave off death for a little while longer.
No one alive knew the truth.
Not Zelda.
Even Ulrich had been unaware.
He’d used his best operatives to silently eliminate those who had discovered the truth, disguising the assassinations as something else entirely.
Though Mengele’s goal of immortality had taken a significant blow, it wasn’t dead. Project Black Sunset had been the dream of Himmler and Dietrich Krause. Mengele had assisted in it for his own benefit: Access to the Reliquary.
The Geisterbombers would have wiped out half the world’s population. With that, it would have been so much easier for Mengele’s iteration of the Sixth Seal to rise and assume authority over what was left. He and his unkillable private army would wipe out those who didn’t conform to their new Führer’s ideology.
That was still on the table if he played his cards right.
The Schutzstaffel’s Angel of Death smiled, “Happy birthday to me.”
PRAISE FOR NICK THACKER & MATT JAMES
“Two of the genre’s best writers team up!”
— Ernest Dempsey, USA Today bestselling author of WHERE HORIZONS END
“Matt James and Nick Thacker teaming together is like mixing nitroglycerin and C4 — a high energy, explosive mix that is sure to be a blast. Bring it on!”
— Greig Beck, international bestselling author of the Alex Hunter series
“Imagine a collaboration between James Rollins and Clive Cussler, and you’ve only scratched the surface of what Matt James and Nick Thacker have accomplished!”
— Michael McBride, international bestselling author of SUBHUMAN
“You will not find a more dynamic duo than Nick Thacker and Matt James!”
— Rick Jones, international bestselling author of THE VATICAN KNIGHTS
“Thacker and James are two of the very best!”
— Andrew Clawson, bestselling author of THE ARTHURIAN RELIC
“Thacker and James are at the top of their game!”
— David Berens, USA Today bestselling author of HAT CHECK
About Matt James
Hi, my name is Matt. I’m the international bestselling author of the electrifying JACK REILLY ADVENTURES, as well as two dozen other titles, including DARK ISLAND, and the intense UNSEEN action-horror novels. Moreover, I’ve been fortunate enough to partner with USA Today bestselling author Nick Thacker to create the wildly popular ZAHRA KANE archaeological thriller series. I’m also the Managing Editor for Conundrum Publishing, and I host REAL–LIFE FICTION on YouTube, a video podcast that features the book industry’s finest talents.
My work is heavily influenced by the likes of Indiana Jones, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, The Mummy (1999), National Treasure, and The Goonies. As you can see, I’m a little obsessed with tales of daring adventure. When I was growing up, other kids went nuts for Star Wars or Star Trek. But not me. I fell in love with the globetrotting antics of Dr. Henry Jones, Jr., and the rest, as they say, was history. From that moment on, I was hooked. Though I dabble in other genres from time to time, my heart will always belong to ADVENTURE.
I live twenty minutes from the beach in sunny South Florida with my amazing wife, our two beautiful daughters, a lovable pitty, and an overly dramatic black cat.
YOU CAN VISIT MATT AT:
Website: MattJamesAuthor.com
Podcast: Real-Life Fiction
ConundrumPub.com
About Nick Thacker
Nick Thacker is a thriller author from Texas who lives in Hawaii and Colorado. In his free time, he enjoys reading in a hammock on the beach, skiing, drinking whiskey, and hanging out with his beautiful wife, two dogs, and two daughters.
For more information and a list of Nick’s other work, visit Nick online:
www.nickthacker.com