AURORA (Original Novel)

Chapter 25. Heart of the earth

Accompanied by nine dead men, the scientist, a day later, in the early morning, reached the secret territory. From the outside it might seem that there was nothing special here, near a small hill that smoothly turned into steep cliffs, there were five Yurts, but all this was just decoration and in the crumbling stone slope, openings for firing points were barely visible. The muzzles of machine guns stuck out of them, ready to riddled unwanted guests. The horses walked as if in a daze, they were influenced by a certain power of the Amber-Eyed Creature, otherwise the animals strove to throw off their riders, who were corpses that, by an unknown will, moved and even spoke. The wounds on the necks and chests were covered with sheepskin coats and scarves. Schlözer was very nervous, because something was burning, smoldering and moving under his ribs. It seemed as if there was a living bomb installed in the body and the clock mechanism was ticking, threatening to explode. Four men came out of the nearest tent; they were dressed as Mongolian shepherds and it looked ridiculous. The bright faces of the Europeans revealed them as strangers who were unsuccessfully trying to pretend to be something other than who they were.

"Wotan drinks and thunder roars!" Said one of the guards, it was a code key word, fortunately Ludwig knew what to answer.

"Wotan is sober and the thunder has disappeared." - The scientist muttered. The workers of the secret facility looked at the travelers with doubt; apparently they were confused by the fact that the password was given by the professor, and not by his entourage.

"Documentation?" - One of the gatekeepers extended his hand, demanding a pass, an encrypted letter. Stefan had it and his corpse obediently pulled the envelope out of his travel bag. The inspectors scanned the text and asked.

"Where is the tenth?"

"Fell from a horse and broke his neck." - Stefan croaked, Ludwig shuddered, it was unusual for him that the dead could talk. All the way, the man felt dumbfounded and terrified from the realization that on either side of him were riding empty shells, controlled not by human will.

"Okay, go further into the gorge. I'll let them know so they can let you through." – Four gatekeepers disappeared into the tent. A strange procession headed by a scientist moved forward; After about five hundred meters, metal trailers with small windows appeared; they were surrounded by barbed wire, behind which, as Ludwig assumed, there was a strip of mines visible from the dug up ground. A little further away, small pebbles stuck out of the soil; the symbols Ludwig had already seen were shining on them, and one could feel invisible energy emanating from them. In the shadow of an overhanging rock stood a real tank, looking with its muzzle at the narrow passage through which the guests were galloping. At least twenty people, armed to the teeth, lurked on small hills and rocky ledges. They carefully watched the approaching people.

"Act naturally, whatever they say, do it. The main thing is to go through this chain of stones." - The voice in Ludwig's head said calmly. A man with the insignia of an Obersturmführer approached them and said:

"Professor Schlözer, please follow me, leave your things and horse to my people, your companions can rest in the barracks." - He waved his hand towards the trailers. The scientist got off the mare heavily, his lower back ached, his legs were giving way due to nerves, but he tried to hold on and not show that he was very scared and nervous. There was a burning sensation in chest, thereby reminding him that at any moment the thing could tear out the heart of a careless person or incinerate his insides. The officer walked along a well-trodden path to a steep mountainside in which a heavy metal door, out of place in this landscape, could be seen. The ground vibrated a little underfoot; it seemed as if a huge heart was beating underneath. Schlözer swallowed the lump in his throat. Behind the armored door there was a narrow corridor, at the end of which another machine gun barrel protruded from a thin crack. The military man led his charge around the corner, and they found themselves in a well-heated room, with a plainclothes officer sitting at a table. He checked Ludwig's face with the photograph, nodded to the officer and asked the scientist to sign some paper, after which, after passing two more firing points where about ten people were on duty and there were machine guns everywhere, they found themselves in front of the lift. A common mine elevator for workers at various mining enterprises. The bars moved and with a rumble, the cage with two passengers began to slowly lower.