Kingdom of Darkness

by Andy McDermott

  ‘Where is it?’ Macy asked.

  ‘If we knew that, you would not be here,’ the Nazi told her.

  ‘If they knew that, we’d be dead,’ Nina added. Macy blanched.

  ‘According to these, the spring lies somewhere along Alexander’s route to India,’ said Kroll, turning back to the inscriptions upon the pithos. ‘They also say that the statue of Bucephalus that Andreas placed inside Alexander’s tomb will reveal its location, but only to those who prove themselves as wise as Alexander by completing his tests. I believe you solved the first of these.’

  ‘Yeah, the riddle of the Gordian Knot,’ said Nina. ‘Use brute force to cut through the problem. I’m sure you would have come up with that answer quickly enough. It seems to be your solution to everything.’

  ‘That is because it works,’ Rasche said from outside the vault.

  ‘But now that you have found the relic, the next part of the text makes sense,’ Kroll continued. ‘It says that once the riddle of the statue is solved, it will lead you from Alexander’s tomb to the Kingdom of Darkness, and the spring itself.’ He looked back at the ancient artefact in its case. ‘The fish confirms a theory I have long held, but have never been able to share with the world. Do you recognise this?’

  Nina examined the device he picked up, a collection of interlocking bronze cogs sandwiched between rectangular metal plates. It was a complex machine – even more so than the fish. ‘It looks like . . .’ Surprise as her memory produced a match. ‘The Antikythera Mechanism? A working copy?’ Banna was equally astonished.

  Kroll nodded. ‘It is an astrolabe, made by Andreas himself – as was the duplicate found in the shipwreck. When I first saw this one in Greece, I thought it was a much later addition to the shrine. It was not until I learned about the work in the 1970s to date the Antikythera Mechanism that I realised its true age.’

  ‘Andreas built it?’ asked the Egyptian.

  ‘Yes. He lived for a very long time, and he learned a great deal during his life. He became an extremely clever man. Clever enough to hide his greatest discovery in a way that only those of equal brilliance could find.’

  ‘You mean the Spring of Immortality,’ said Nina.

  ‘I do. Now,’ said Kroll, returning the device to its place, ‘I am learned in ancient Greek, and also in the history of Alexander himself. Given time, I will find the spring. But with three archaeologists to assist me, I am sure I will do so much sooner.’ He smiled, the expression conveying only menace.

  ‘What’s the rush?’ said Macy. ‘I mean, you’ve kept hidden for seventy years. Why do you need it right now?’

  ‘Because they’re running out of water,’ Nina said, understanding. She looked at Kroll. ‘That’s why you’ve taken such a huge risk by coming out into the open, isn’t it? A place this big, you must have a lot of thirsty guys running around.’

  ‘The water of life is reserved for the Oberkommando!’ barked one of the guards.

  Nina gave him a disbelieving glance, then addressed Kroll again. ‘Oh, I get it. The water’s only for the elite. The Hitler Youth turn into the Hitler Oldth, but you live for ever, right?’

  ‘When our time comes, all members of the New Reich will share the water of life,’ replied Kroll. The line sounded as if it had been spouted often enough to become a platitude. The guards seemed to believe it, however. ‘But yes, even rationing our supply, there is little left.’

  ‘You’ll be able to stretch it out longer without your buddy who died in Los Angeles, I guess.’ The Nazi gave her a sharp look; Jaekel’s death was clearly still a touchy subject. That realisation triggered another, Nina’s mind going back to the FBI briefing in New York. ‘There were eight of you originally. What happened to the other two?’

  ‘Oster was killed before we escaped Europe. After we reached Argentina and built the Enklave, we realised that Henkel did not share our views. He was purged.’

  ‘For the good of the New Reich, right?’ she said sarcastically.

  ‘I . . . I do not understand,’ said Banna. ‘You say the water has kept you young for seventy years? How is that possible?’

  ‘It’s the carbon-60, isn’t it?’ Nina said to Kroll. ‘The buckyballs in the water? They capture the impurities in the body that encourage the ageing process.’

  The Nazi was surprised. ‘You are very well informed, Dr Wilde.’

  ‘You can thank the FBI for that. They analysed Jaekel’s flask of water.’

  Schneider spoke; all Nina understood was Jaekel’s name, but the remark was definitely pointed. ‘Jaekel failed,’ Kroll replied angrily. ‘If he had killed Koenig before he gave the stolen papers to Dr Wilde, the Egyptians would not have been warned of our operation, and we would not have lost so many men.’

  ‘Why did he try to kill Nina?’ Macy asked hesitantly.

  ‘Believe it or not, Dr Wilde,’ said Kroll, turning to the redhead, ‘when we learned about the discovery of Alexander’s tomb, we considered asking you to help us obtain the statue of Bucephalus.’

  Nina was startled. ‘Me? Why the hell would you think I’d do that?’

  ‘There are certain elites – business, political, religious – who would oppose our return to power because it would threaten their own. You have been quite adept at eliminating their members.’ The empty smile briefly returned. ‘But it did not require much research to see that you do not share our vision for the world. So when Jaekel encountered you in Los Angeles, he tried to remove a potential threat after eliminating his primary target.’

  ‘You mean Volker Koenig?’

  Kroll gestured at the vault door. The two guards stepped back, signalling for the archaeologists to return to the study. ‘Volker was a disruptive influence,’ said the leader as he followed them out. ‘A renegade and a traitor. He deliberately sought degenerate outside influences that turned him against us. But we did not realise the true extent of his treachery until he broke into my office one night. He stole the plans for our operation in Egypt – and also read all the information that had been compiled on you, Dr Wilde.’ The Nazi indicated a modern laptop computer on his desk, incongruous in the Gothic surroundings. ‘He thought that as the world’s most famous archaeologist, and the director of the International Heritage Agency, you were the best person to stop us – he did not know that you had resigned from the IHA. Nor did we. So we sent Jaekel after him . . . and you.’

  ‘How the hell did Jaekel even get into the country?’ demanded Nina. ‘He was a wanted war criminal, and his fingerprints were instantly flagged after he died. So how did he get through immigration?’

  ‘We have been readying ourselves for our return to the world. Every man in the Enklave has multiple passports: Argentine, German – and American. Holders of American passports are not subjected to biometric fingerprinting on arrival in the United States.’

  ‘Good to know that all that money we spend on Homeland Security’s worth every penny.’ Kroll’s phrasing prompted another question. ‘Wait, you said every man in the Enklave? What about women? I haven’t seen a single woman since we got here.’

  Something resembling a giggle came from Schneider. ‘Women have their place in the New Reich,’ he said, with a creepy little smile. ‘Where they belong.’ His gaze wandered lustfully over Macy’s body. The young American shrank back behind Nina, suddenly very conscious of her light summer clothing.

  ‘We are building a fighting force,’ announced Kroll. ‘For that, we need men. Females are needed to grow our numbers, but we keep them to the minimum necessary. They can be a . . . distraction.’ He gave the leering Schneider a disapproving look.

  It took a moment for the repellent implications to sink in. ‘I guess when you’ve got no socialists, trade unionists or Jews to come for, all that’s left are women,’ said Nina, sickened.

  ‘Do not test my patience, Dr Wilde.’ Kroll closed the
vault door, then moved the banner back to conceal it. ‘Now. The relic contains the location of the Spring of Immortality. You will find it for us.’

  ‘No, I won’t.’

  The bluntness of her response surprised the Nazis. Walther moved as if to hit her again, but Kroll waved him back. ‘You will. Or we will kill you.’

  Nina somehow managed to conceal her fear as she stared back at the obese monster. ‘Kill me, and you get nothing. I don’t think you’re smart enough to find the spring on your own – and without it, you’re just a group of thugs who are running out of money, and running out of time.’ Anger rose in the room, but she pressed on. ‘And that’s assuming the Mossad don’t track you down first. They know you’re still alive – how long do you think it’ll take them to find your little kingdom?’

  ‘If the Mossad come, we will deal with them,’ Kroll growled. He took a pistol from his desk. Nina didn’t need her husband’s knowledge of firearms to recognise it as a Luger, the standard-issue sidearm of both the Nazi military and the SS. ‘As we will deal with all who oppose us – including you.’ He pointed the gun at the American. ‘Are you really willing to die to stop us from finding the spring?’

  It was harder than ever for Nina to hold firm, but she did so. ‘Yes,’ she said. Kroll’s fat index finger curled more tightly around the Luger’s trigger . . .

  Then eased. ‘It would seem that you are,’ he said, his voice unexpectedly calm, almost curious. His malevolent eyes bored into hers for several chilling seconds – then the gun swung away.

  Locking on to Macy.

  The young woman gasped in fright. ‘You may be willing to die, Dr Wilde,’ said Kroll. ‘But what about your friends?’

  Nina sidestepped to put herself between Macy and the Luger. ‘Don’t you even—’

  This time Kroll did not wave Walther off. The huge man smashed Nina to the floor. Macy shrieked, Banna jumping back in horrified shock.

  Nina groaned, her shoulder searing as if it had been hit by a baseball bat. She forced out words. ‘Fuck . . . you, you . . . Nazi bastard.’ Walther kicked her savagely in the side.

  ‘If she is not going to help us, we should kill her,’ said Rasche. His eyes developed a manic gleam. ‘I will do it myself.’

  Kroll shook his head. A command, and Walther reluctantly stepped back. ‘Dr Wilde, you will help us, or I shall have your friends tortured. To death, if necessary.’ He turned to Macy and Banna. ‘The same applies to you. Cooperate, or you will be responsible for the suffering of the others. Do you understand?’

  Macy nodded in silence. ‘Yes, yes,’ whispered Banna, trembling.

  ‘They’re gonna kill us anyway,’ Nina warned.

  ‘That is up to you,’ said Kroll. His expression of curiosity returned. ‘You are willing to die to protect the secret. Why is that? Why do you care?’

  She managed a thin, sardonic smile. ‘Gee, why would I want to stop a gang of Nazi war criminals who’re trying to build a whole new army from getting hold of the secret of eternal life? Plus you tried to kill me in Los Angeles. That’s why I came back to help the IHA. You made it personal.’

  The SS leader was about to respond when a sudden thought stopped him. ‘You came back to the IHA,’ he said, calculating, ‘but you had kept it a secret that you had even left.’ He moved to stand over her. ‘Why did you leave?’

  ‘Because I’d had enough of all the bureaucratic bullshit,’ Nina said, though she couldn’t help a slight hesitation.

  Kroll picked up on it. ‘I do not believe you.’

  ‘It’s the truth. If you’d ever dealt with the UN, you’d know.’

  He shook his head, jowls rippling over his collar. ‘You forget, Dr Wilde, I am an officer of the Schutzstaffel. I am trained in interrogation, and I know when someone is lying. As you are now. That tells me the matter is very important to you. So I will ask you again: why did you resign?’

  She sighed, feigning defeat. ‘Okay, okay. I had a half-million dollar offer to write my autobiography and I needed time to work on it. It was a mercenary thing to do, and I’m not all that proud of it, but half a million bucks is a lot of money.’

  ‘That was not a lie,’ Kroll said after a moment. ‘But . . . it was not the whole truth, either. There is something more. Why did you resign?’

  ‘Who am I, Patrick McGoohan? I told you the reason. Half a million reasons, actually.’

  Kroll’s stare remained locked on to her. ‘Rasche,’ he said, ‘shoot one of the others in the knee. The girl or the Araber, I do not care which.’

  Rasche’s face lit up. ‘Jawohl, mein Führer!’ He drew his gun and pointed it at Macy’s leg—

  ‘No!’ Nina cried.

  Kroll raised a hand. ‘Halten.’ Rasche froze, angry disappointment upon his face. ‘Well, Dr Wilde? The truth – or I will command him to fire.’

  Nina looked helplessly up at her friend. This time, her expression of defeat was not faked. ‘I resigned because . . . I’m ill. Terminally ill. I’m dying.’

  Kroll regarded her closely, also noting Macy’s dismay at the admission. ‘The truth at last. Of what are you dying?’

  ‘I was poisoned. By something the Soviets discovered in the Cold War, an organic toxin. I don’t know how long I’ve got left, but probably not long. And that’s why I came back to the IHA,’ she admitted. ‘So I could make one last discovery, by opening Alexander’s tomb. And stopping you from raiding it.’ She sat up, pressing a hand to the new bruise where Walther had kicked her. Revulsion instinctively crossed her face as her fingers felt the line of tumorous bulges beneath her clothing.

  Again, Kroll caught the blink-fast flicker of her expression. ‘What was that?’

  ‘What was what?’ Nina asked, confused.

  ‘When you touched your side. There is something under your clothes.’

  ‘She was searched,’ Rasche insisted. ‘There is nothing hidden.’

  ‘Did you look, or did you just feel?’ Kroll snapped. ‘Dr Wilde, raise your shirt.’

  ‘What?’ Nina protested. ‘What the hell for?’

  ‘Do it!’ The Nazi leader glanced at Rasche, whose gun was still aimed at Macy.

  ‘Okay, okay! Jesus,’ Nina tugged up her grubby top. ‘There! Happy now . . .’

  She had meant to say that with as much defiance as she could muster, but the words faded as she saw the growths on her skin.

  In the whirlwind chaos of her visit to Egypt, she had not given them more than a cursory glance. But now she saw to her disgust and horror that even in the few days since she’d revealed them to Eddie, the loathsome excrescences had visibly grown. Worse, more had appeared, several angry red blisters extending the line of infection further around her torso. ‘Jesus,’ she repeated, this time in a whisper.

  Macy gasped. ‘Oh my God! Nina . . .’

  Kroll bent to peer at the tumours. ‘They are worse than you expected.’ It was not a question.

  ‘That’s right,’ Nina said, determined not to let the Nazi see her despair. ‘So you can’t threaten me. I’m already dead – I just haven’t stopped moving yet. And putting a bullet in my head would probably be doing me a favour.’

  ‘We still have your friends,’ Rasche warned.

  ‘We may have something more.’ Kroll straightened, a smile slowly oozing on to his lips. ‘I think you will help us find the Spring of Immortality, Dr Wilde. And you will do so because you want to.’

  ‘And why would I do that?’ demanded Nina.

  The smile widened, exposing crooked, nicotine-stained teeth. ‘In the seventy years that we have been taking the water,’ said Kroll, ‘not one of us has been ill, even for one day. Not with so much as a cold. And the water does not merely prevent sickness. It cures it. Schneider had pneumonia when we found the pithos; after he drank from it, the infection disappeared.’ Schneider n
odded in confirmation. The SS commander regarded Nina with the air of someone making an offer that could not be refused. ‘The spring is your only hope of staying alive, Dr Wilde. Help us find it . . . and we will share it with you.’

  20

  Nina was speechless. Not at Kroll’s offer in itself, but for what it could mean to her. She had resigned herself to the sickness spreading through her body, accepting that death was drawing ever closer . . . but now someone was offering her hope.

  That someone being a murderous war criminal.

  ‘Think about it, Dr Wilde,’ Kroll went on, seeing her uncertainty. ‘You would not only be cured, but by drinking the water you would extend your own life. You wanted to make one last discovery – but how many more could you make with another century in which to make them? Find the spring, and I shall give you a lifetime supply of its water.’

  Rasche objected sharply in German. Kroll responded with a verbal explosion that made his second-in-command flinch. The leader stalked across the room to stand right in front of Rasche and harangued his subordinate at full volume, spittle flying from his mouth. The younger guards seemed genuinely terrified by the outburst.

  Kroll finally stopped ranting – but remained in Rasche’s face, nose to nose as if daring him to reply. Tight-lipped, jaw clenched, Rasche eventually drew himself to attention and said, ‘Nein, mein Führer.’ Kroll nodded in angry satisfaction and slowly stepped back, not breaking eye contact until he drew level with Nina.

  ‘Trouble in the ranks?’ she asked.

  The baleful stare turned upon her. ‘Do not test me, Dr Wilde. My offer is genuine – although Obersturmführer Rasche did not approve. But he is now in agreement with me. As is every other man in the Enklave.’ He looked to Schneider, Walther and Gausmann, all of whom bowed their heads in deference. ‘Did you know that your name in German, Wilde, means a maniac, a savage? But that is not the impression I get from you. You are an intelligent and rational woman, so I will make you a proposal that only a fool could turn down. If you help us prolong our lives, I will help you save yours. I will of course let your friends go, unharmed. That is my offer. What do you say?’