With everyone reassembled, leadership again tackled the issue of splitting up.

Finley said, “We’re the odd team out, and we’ve got one down, making for three. You two combined have eight, plus the professor.”

“Right,” Sharp replied. “Why don’t you take two of ours? That will make it five and six plus the professor.”

“Very well. Give me your Hungarians, Lord Sharp, and we’ll be on our way.”

“You want Liza and Hilda?”

“They seem resilient.”

“You know what they are, and how they have to . . . replenish themselves from time to time if they get hurt?”

“I’m perfectly aware of their capabilities and limitations, Lord Sharp. I’ve worked with their kind before. I imagine they thrive in this sort of subterranean environment. Let me borrow them and I wager our forces will be about equal in strength, despite the numbers.”

Sharp thought about it a moment, then he nodded.

“Girls, go with Lady Finley through the door on the left. Her group is in need of your services.”

“Yes, Lord Sharp.”

They fell into line with Finley’s group, their khakis sticking out amongst the black leather.

Finley quietly moved them to the front of the line before turning the latch and jumping back to the side.

This time, no gunfire erupted from behind the door. Instead they were greeted by an empty concrete tunnel, gaslight flickering in the sconces.

“Let’s go. Girls, take point.”

Hilda and Liza slowly led the way down the tunnel, machineguns ready.

Rip turned and found Blair giving him a smug look.

“You could have told me.”

“It’s more fun this way.”

He looked down the tunnel to the left once more as the team members continued advancing.

“She’s using them as tanks.”

“I’m not familiar with the term.”

“Meat shields.”

“Ah. Yes. Yes, she is. Smart, that Lady Finley.”

Blair did not seem perturbed in the least by the older woman’s decision in the matter.

“Best you stay away from those two,” she said, slipping her arm into his. “They can offer you a stat bonus and skills, on occasion, if you give them your blood. But the power can become addictive, and it always leads to no good.”

“No good? What do you mean?”

“Well, those who accept their offer are delighted with the bonuses, at first. But invariably, they want more. Whether it’s a feature of the increased power, or simply human nature to grow greedy, no one is quite sure. What we do know is that whoever takes the skills and bonuses they offer eventually ends up dead through acts of stupidity combined with hubris, or . . . they become like those two.”

“You mean they transform into full-blown vampires.”

“Precisely. So, like I say, best you stay away from them. As a stranger to our world, you should seek to minimize your interactions with Hungarians.”

“Wait. Is everyone from Hungary a vampire?”

“Certainly not. But plenty are. As you can imagine, no one wishes to engage the Austro-Hungarian forces in battle, and for good reason. Their little empire sits in the south of the continent unmolested by all their neighbors. And enhanced vampires are quite formidable on the battlefield and elsewhere, as you have seen.”

Bixby brought their attention back to the middle door.

“Still believe it is not trapped, Mr. Chance?”

“Aye, sir. I do.”

“Very well. Will you do us the honors, then?”

Chance nodded and leveled his rifle as he approached the door. He paused for a moment, then flung it wide open.

Everyone flinched, waiting for a bomb or gunfire.

Instead, blinking lights slowly flashed at them from a large breadboard holding several vacuum tubes.

Carefully, checking for traps along the way, Chance led everyone inside the narrow room. On the far side, a solid metal round vault door greeted them, slightly smaller than the tunnel it closed off.

“Looks like this way’s blocked, Colonel.”

“I see that,” Bixby said. “But what is all this?”

Rip said, “Electronic access.”

He walked in and looked over the open circuits and the wires connecting them to the door.

As he stared at it, a notification popped up on his implant.

[You see a circuit board.]

Yes. Not helpful.

He looked to the right and found a curious device connected by a wire to the circuit board. It looked like a metal drum, about one foot long and six inches in diameter, lying on its side. It had four keys jutting out its front along with a grid of ten pushbuttons on top, arranged in a 5x2 grid.

“And what is this?” Bixby said, standing beside him.

[You see a cipher device.]

“A cipher device? It does kinda reminds me of an enigma machine, only more primitive-looking.”

“Enigma is a good word for it. What does all this entail, Sergeant?”

“Near as I can tell, the vault door there won’t open without someone entering the proper code here.”

“Proper code, you say?”

“Yes. The top buttons have letters of the alphabet printed on them, see? A, B, C, D and E for the top row, but also K, L, M, N and O underneath. The lower buttons have the same setup, with F, G, H, I and J on top, P, Q, R, S, and T below. So, it appears to me that if we have the levers up or down, it will change the input into the circuit board between the top and bottom letters. The first button will input A or K depending on whether the first lever is up or down. Sort of like the shift key on a typewriter, if you will. Although, this keyboard is missing the last six letters of the alphabet.”

“Lady Brooke, are you familiar with devices such as this?”

“I thought you’d never ask, Lord Bixby.”

Blair stepped forward, smiling at the men, and examined the device.

“Yes. The A, B, C and E buttons have been used repeatedly.”

Curiosity overcame Rip.

He said, “How can you tell?”

“I have a code breaking skill. Any spy worth her salt has one. I can also easily see where fingers have touched the keys. It appears to be a four-letter input code. But once the door is opened, users reset the keys by pressing this small lever on the side.”

“So, can you open it?” Bixby said.

“Of course. The code is A, L, M, and O.”

She pressed the levers and keys, tapping them out with sure clicks. The vacuum tubes on the circuit board glowed brighter for a moment, and they heard a massive lock sliding back into the door along with the hiss of steam releasing.

Slowly, ponderously, the vault door swung open, revealing another concrete tunnel stretching out ahead.

“Right!” Bixby said. “Guns at the ready, everyone. Let’s see what’s what they’re hiding.”