Page 23 (1/2)

Sarabbed it in midair, then stepped onto the deck and knelt beside the hatch She gave each of the hatch’s four dogging levers a solid rap, then set the hae Three more times she repeated the process before each of the levers let loose in turn, sliding aside with a screech

Remi took a breath, looked at Sam ide-eyed anticipation, then lifted open the hatch Immediately she wrinkled her nose and jerked her head back “Oh, God, that’s awful”

“I guess that answers the question of whether her crew’s still aboard,” Sam said

“Yeah, there’s no doubt about that,” Re into the open hatch “He’s staring ht in the eye”

The body earing a Kriegsain, the word “body” seemed a woefully inadequate description of what Sa at

Trapped inside the dry, airless interior of the Molch for sixty-four years, the corpse had undergone a transformation Sam could only describe as part liquification, part mummification

“Pretty safe to assume he suffocated,” Remi said “Once he was dead the body would have started decaying, but without oxygen the process ground to a halt, leaving himhalf-baked, if you will”

“Oh, that’s lovely, dear I’ll carry the ie always”

The position of the remains, which lay sprawled on the deck at the botto, spoke volumes about the man’s final hours ordeath was tightening its grip on hien, it seeravitated to his only exit, half hoping for some miracle that he knew in his heart would never come

“I assu up here while I poke around,” Sam said

“Be uest”

He clicked on the flashlight, then slid his legs into the hatch, probed with his foot until it found a rung, then started doard A few feet from the bottom, Sam stepped off the ladder, opposite the body, and used his arms to lower himself to the deck

Iloom wash over him He wasn’t particularly claustrophobic, but this was different sohten up and barely wider than his outstretched areonlike feel to it The bulkheads, painted in a dull gray, were festooned with cables and pipes, all see everywhere and nowhere at once

“How is it?” Remi called down

“Disgusting is the only word to describe it”