Amber

Chapter 29

“The Russians from the lake must have heard us in the church and followed us down here.” Bones didn’t stop running as he panted the words.

“Not Russian.” Leopov was a step or two behind Bones. “They’re speaking German!”

They kept on until they saw muzzle flashes ahead of them. Realizing they were trapped, with gunfire on either side of them, they ducked into the first alcove to appear since they left the one with the gold.

Chips of stone peppered their upper bodies as they made the turn. Even once inside the alcove, the barrage of arms fire continued from both ends of the corridor.

Maddock, from his position low against the wall, said, “They must be shooting at each other.” They heard a howl of pain emanating from their left, then a string of what all of them except Leopov could only assume was foul language.

“”That’s Russian, coming from that side,” Leopov said, pointing to the left end of the corridor.

“Russians and Germans battling each other?” Willis looked confused.

Leopov made a noncommittal gesture. “That’s what it seems like.”

Maddock backed up from the edge of the alcove a little. “The Russians must have come from the dive site on the lake, but what about the Germans? What are they doing here?”

Before anyone could answer a hail of bullets strafed the entrance to the alcove, sending the team skittering deeper inside for cover. “Get back!” Bones led the way toward the rear. Unlike the others, this one was empty, containing no items whatsoever. Also unlike the others, however, it had a door set into its rear wall. Bones tried the handle, an ornate brass affair, while the others trooped up behind him, the sounds of the gunfight still raging out in the corridor.

Locked.

“Out of the way, Bones.” Willis backed up and turned sideways toward the door. Bones rapped on the wood. “This thing’s pretty heavy duty, Willis, I don’t—“

But the hefty African-American was already charging. When he was a few feet from the door he launched his right leg out in a flying kick, while keeping his back foot on the ground. The heel of his booted foot impacted with the door to the side of the keyhole, splintering the wood. Still, the door held.

Willis landed on his feet, staring at his handiwork. “One more time.”

“Hurry, Willis!” Professor eyed the corridor anxiously, where the fighting drew nearer. Willis backed up again and repeated the maneuver. This time the door caved next to the lock, and Bones reached in and opened it. The team rushed through without waiting to see what was on the other side, since bullets now ricocheted around the alcove. Bones went through last, closing the door behind him. He locked it and then took some of the larger wood shards and did his best to stick them in place to camouflage the fact that the door had been breached.

They were inside a small room, no more than twenty feet square, but with a high ceiling, featuring an intricately designed floor consisting of mosaic tiles laid out in a grid. Most of the team was glad just to be out of the way of immediate arms fire, but Maddock couldn’t help but stare at the floor. “Some of this looks familiar… from our briefing materials… these images, they were in the Amber Room. Look.”

He walked out onto the floor and pointed to a tile, featuring a depiction of the amber clock, and another with the Prussian Eagle; still another displayed a cherub. But it was Bones who commanded everyone’s attention when he pointed across the room and said, “Check out that door.”

A gilded, arched doorway beckoned on the opposite side of the room. Behind it, their flashlights set off flashes of orange and gold. Leopov’s mouth dropped open. Even Willis appeared slack jawed. Professor’s eyebrows scrunched up, as if he were deep in thought. Maddock’s gaze was more lingering, tracing the tiled floor into the golden room.

Could it be?

“You think… ” Professor began.

“It has to be.” Leopov sounded as sure as could be. “The amber chamber. Or at least part of it, from what I can see.”

“Let’s go.” Willis made a move to start across the floor when Maddock’s arm lashed out and barred his way.

“Hold on, cowboy.”

Willis’ eyes widened, and for a moment Maddock swore he could see golden light reflected in his irises. “If you were a Nazi, wouldn’t you put in one last booby trap to catch the uninitiated?”

Willis froze in place. “I’ll bet your right.”

Bones looked up from his place, the farthest out toward the golden entranceway. “Wouldn’t surprise me if, at one wrong step, that whole ceiling comes down on us.”

They heard muffled shouts and Leopov turned to look at the door they’d broken through to get here. “What do we do?”

Maddock examined the tile flooring. The others saw him staring at them and did the same. Soon discussion broke out about the meaning of the various imagery on the different tiles, but Maddock waved them down and extended a finger to a tile a few steps away from them.

“If you look closely, you can see that some of the tiles have the main image superimposed over a Roman numeral. Take this one here, with the crown, for example. It has a five.” All sets of eyes in the room focused on the ‘V’ that was almost invisible against the more elaborately inscribed crown image. They agreed they could see it.

“And then look.” Maddock pointed to another tile, straight across the room from the first toward the golden entrance. “Looks like a pair of crossed bugles or horns of some kind, superimposed over the Roman numeral six.” The figure ‘VI’ was visible in the tile.

Then Professor, looking ahead on the floor toward the opposite side, pointed to a third tile. “There! That one’s got a five, the one with the Roman god or whoever that is.” A ‘V’ lurked beneath the figure with a flowing beard and wavy mane of hair.

Maddock stepped up to the edge of the tiled floor, the one with the first ‘V’ about a four-foot jump away. “Five-six-five has been the key so far. Let me go first. If the place starts to fall apart at least you’ll have a chance to leave the way we came. But no sooner had he said it than they heard the rumble of multiple pairs of feet walking into the alcove outside.

“Go Dane, hurry!” Leopov pleaded. If she was acting, Maddock, thought, she was doing a convincing job.

He steadied himself and jumped onto the first tile, both feet landing firmly on the cherub and its ‘V’. His arms flailed a bit but he caught his balance and stood stock still, eyes shifting in their sockets, searching for signs that he had triggered something.

Nothing happened.

He heard clapping from someone in the team behind him but didn’t turn to look. “Keep going,” Bones urged.

Maddock lined up his next tile, the one with the trumpets. He took a deep breath, released it, and leaped. Again, he landed smoothly on his target, staring down at the “VI’ while he planted himself in place, careful not to let his feet touch any of the eight surrounding tiles.

“Last one!” Leopov called.

Maddock eyeballed his next mark, the god and his numeral ‘V’. He made the leap to it, this time teetering a bit as an intense amber glow from the next room distracted him, eliciting a gasp from someone, but he recovered quickly. “I’m okay.”

“That’s one giant leap for mankind, Maddock!” Professor congratulated.

“I’ve still got one more jump to make. Maddock eyed the series of tiles leading to the room in front of him, and as he looked up into the space he was attempting to enter he caught his already short breath. “It definitely looks like that could be the Amber Room.”

The glow from the place was nothing short of electrifying, rays of light shifting and sparkling, even if he looked down at the floor. It had a dizzying effect on him and he decided it would be wise to make his last move before he succumbed to vertigo. His right foot slipped on the takeoff but he still cleared the threshold into the golden room… into the Amber Room. He tumbled into it, tucking into a roll and coming up with arms braced over his head in case he had unleashed a booby-trap that was about to strike him.

“Yes!” Bones’ triumphant yell was heard over the sound of a gunshot striking the outer door.

Maddock got to his feet, willing himself to ignore the opulence around him. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted across the room. “The rest of you, one at a time — make the crossing. Now!”

Willis jumped first to the first tile and landed with a grace that belied his size. As soon as he made the leap to the second tile, Professor bounded onto the first. In this manner they crossed the room, with Leopov going next after Professor. By the time Bones brought up the rear and landed on the first tile, they heard a muffled argument outside the door, but as they listened it moved away, still audible but no longer right outside the door.

“They’re almost here, people, move it, but don’t fall!” Maddock encouraged.

Willis and Professor made it across. Bones made it to the second tile. Then Leopov made the leap into the Amber Room, where despite the grandiose surroundings, all four of the team faced into the small room where Bones still had one important jump left to make, and for now, the door to the outside corridor remained closed.

A noise sounded just outside it, though, something loud enough to spook Bones, who whipped his head back to look at the door, then turned around quickly to make the jump without pausing. His hastiness was a mistake, because although he cleared the tiles on his initial bound, he landed off balance just barely inside the boundary of the Amber Room, rocking back wildly. He was about to fall flat back onto the tiled floor when Willis and Professor wrapped their arms around him and scooped him into the Amber Room before he could hit the tiles.

“Crazy Indian,” Willis muttered, depositing Bones into the spectacular setting.

Bones breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks. Never thought I’d—“

They heard someone try the door.