Selena came up beside him. "SR. I'll bet it's short for Schwarze Rose, Black Rose. These are full of plague."
"Son of a bitch," Nick said.
"The bastard means to spray that stuff from the air," Ronnie said.
"This ends tonight," Nick said. His lips were pulled into a tight line.
He looked at the steps leading up from the wine cellar.
"If I remember those plans right, those steps lead to the kitchen."
"That makes sense," Selena said.
"Once we're inside it won't take long before they discover us. Anyone that's armed, shoot them. We don't know if there's any more of this stuff except what's down here, so don't kill Gutenberg. We have to try and take him alive."
The muffled sound of automatic weapons came through the closed door to the kitchen.
"What the hell is that?" Ronnie said. "Sounds like a firefight up there."
"Only one way to find out," Nick said.
CHAPTER 61
Albert Halifax settled back in the soft leather and sipped whisky from one of Gutenberg's collection of fine single malts. The glow of a Tiffany lamp on the end table cast a mellow light over his polished wing tip shoes. He was on his third drink. Across from him, Gutenberg sat with a similar glass in a similar chair, waiting for Halifax to come to the point.
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer had arrived unannounced earlier that afternoon, accompanied by his personal bodyguard. The two men sitting in Gutenberg's study were the last leaders of AEON.
Halifax broke the silence. "A thousand years and it comes to this."
"What do you mean, Albert?"
"You know what I mean. Centuries of work undone and all because of an upstart group of Americans no one seems able to eliminate. It reminds me of Shakespeare, done badly."
"Shakespeare?"
"Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" Halifax quoted. "Richard the III." His voice was husky with the Scotch.
"It's not over yet, Albert."
"No?"
"No. Besides, it's not just the Americans. The Russians are responsible for most of the events of the past week."
"Russians, Americans, what's the difference? We're next."
"This isn't like you, Albert. Get hold of yourself." Gutenberg's voice took on an edge of steel. "You're safe here. Tomorrow the containers will be taken to the airfield. By the next day, the disease will be released over Moscow and New York and everyone will be too busy to worry about us. I should have done that in the first place instead of sending Schmidt. We only need to be patient a while longer."
"I can't say I'm sorry about Krivi," Halifax said. "Pushy wog. But I must admit, he was useful."
"Look at it this way. Albert. You and I now control all of AEON's resources. We'll find new men to take the place of the others and this time, we'll consolidate the power between the two of us. Lately things had become too…"
"Democratic?" Halifax finished for him.
"Yes, exactly."
Shouts sounded somewhere in the building. Then the sound of automatic weapons.
"What was that?" Halifax said.
Gutenberg stood. "Come with me."
Halifax rose as Gutenberg strode over to a wall of books. He reached up to the fourth shelf and tugged on a leather bound volume near the end. The bookcase swung open, revealing a lighted passage beyond.
The two men stepped inside. Gutenberg pulled on a lever and the bookcase slid shut. They were in a passage three feet wide, lit at intervals by bulbs overhead.
"You devil," Halifax said. "I haven't seen one of these servant passages in years."
"It's quite extensive. We can go anywhere on the first and second floors. There are peepholes in each room."
Intermittent gunfire sounded through the walls. The sounds were muted inside the passageway.
"This way," Gutenberg said.
They moved down the passage until they came to a corridor branching off to the right.
"What about stray rounds?" Halifax asked. His voice was nervous.
"We're safe in here. The walls are stone, nothing's coming through them."
Gutenberg stopped and peered through a small opening in the wall. A lever protruded from the wall. He pulled it down and a section of the wall opened into a dimly lit room. The sound of shooting was much louder.
"Where are we?" Halifax whispered.
"This is the gun room," Gutenberg said.
He went to a large glassed cabinet and opened it with a key he took from his vest pocket. One side of the cabinet held shotguns and rifles in an upright rack. The other side held a second, smaller cabinet with several drawers. Gutenberg pulled open the bottom drawer and took out a German Luger pistol and two loaded magazines. He inserted a magazine into the gun, pulled back on the toggle slide and stuck the pistol in his belt. He dropped the second magazine in his jacket pocket.
"This one's for you." Gutenberg handed Halifax a Walther .380. "It's loaded. I assume you know how to use it."
"Of course."
Halifax managed to sound offended. He reached around Gutenberg and took an engraved over and under shotgun from the rack.
"I prefer one of these."
Gutenberg shrugged. "As you will. Ammunition is right there."
Halifax loaded the gun. "Now what?"
"Now we find out what's happening. My men should have things under control by now."
A sudden burst of fire in the next room sent them scurrying back into the hidden passageway. The door closed behind them.
"That doesn't sound like it's under control," Halifax said.
"If you have nothing positive to say, keep quiet."
Without waiting for a reply, Gutenberg moved along the corridor and put his eye to the spy hole looking into the next room.
He saw two of his men lying on the floor. Both were dead. A man in gray battle dress and wearing a red beret stood over one of the bodies. Gutenberg recognized the insignia on his collar.
"Russians," he hissed under his breath.
"Russians? Why would they be here?"
"They're after me," Gutenberg said. "And if they know you're here, they're after you too."
"What shall we do?"
"Nothing. We wait until they decide we're not here and go away."
The shooting had stopped.
"You might as well get comfortable," Gutenberg said.
CHAPTER 62
Nick waited at the head of the stairs by the kitchen door. Ronnie and Selena were on the steps behind him.
"Ready?"
He pushed the door open. It moved a few inches and lodged against something soft and heavy. Nick looked through the opening and saw part of a brightly lit kitchen counter. A rack of metal pots hung over it. The shooting had died out. He pushed harder until the door was open enough to slip through. The body of a large man in a white apron and shirt had been blocking the door. His shirt was red with blood. A large knife lay near his hand. Vegetables were scattered over the floor.
"They shot the cook," Selena said. "Why do that?"
"He's a witness," Nick said. "Whoever it is, they're not going to leave anyone alive in this building."
"They must be after Gutenberg, just like we are," Ronnie said.
"Yeah. You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Russians?" Ronnie said.
"Probably Spetsnaz. Vysotsky's people."
"How many you think?"
"Not too many. Maybe eight or ten. They wouldn't need more than that."
Nick led them over to where the kitchen doors stood open to the rest of the Château.
"Too bad Korov isn't here," Ronnie said. "We might get by without shooting it out."
"You want to try and convince them we're on their side?" Nick said.
"Nah. Just sayin'."
Nick turned to Selena.
"You see movement, don't hesitate. Shoot it."
"What if it's someone like the cook? Not one of the Russians or Gutenberg's men?"