39 Clues - 05 - The Black Circle (11 page)

sense of heightened urgency crackled in their voices."We'll need to get to the upper

section," said Amy. They were looking at a seating chart for the State Kremlin Palace,

where Amy had circled Row 3 in one of the balcony boxes.Amy checked her watch

again."Two hours and counting. I don't think we're going to make it.""We'll make it,"

said Dan, heading for the entrance of the looming white theater.There was a hallway

outside the main seating area, with doors leading inside and lots of ornate artwork on

the walls. Tourists were perusing the space, waiting for a chance to get inside and look

around. The next tour didn't start for another twenty minutes."This is our chance,"

whispered Amy. "Come on, we'll sneak in while everyone is milling around."* *

*Somewhere in the deep recesses of the very building in which Dan and Amy searched,

a person tracked their every move.Very resourceful, these two, NRR thought. They

might make the deadline after all.NRR dialed a phone and let it ring several times

before the call was picked up."Is this a secure line?"121"I will not dignify that with an

answer," NRR answered."Okay, okay. Just make it quick.""I will be seeing them shortly.

Do you stil want me to go through with it?"A pause ensued on the line. NRR was used

to this. The contact was a thinker who liked to weigh every option."They are

extraordinary, aren't they? No one can say they haven't proven themselves.""They

understood from the start it could not be done alone," NRR responded."And recruiting a

team like the Holts? Simply remarkable. I didn't think it was possible.""So we go ahead,

then?" asked NRR."We're a go. If they make it to your desk, take them to the room. I

think they're ready."The line went dead and NRR turned back to the bank of video

screens.122CHAPTER 12All the doors into the theater were locked, but it was only a

few minutes before a maintenance worker emerged, pushing a garbage can on wheels.

Dan saw the opportunity they needed and shoved Amy into the man's path. When she

hit the cart, Amy caught her foot on the metal wheel and flew forward onto the marble

floor."You little monster!" she said, turning beet red and forgetting for a moment that

she was visiting one of the more opulent concert halls in Europe, disguised as an

adult.When she got up, the man was wearing a cramped smile, trying not to laugh. He

mumbled something in Russian that Amy felt sure meant "hopeless klutz," then

wandered down the long corridor, shaking his head."Dan?"Amy looked every which

way, straightening her ridiculous wig and glasses, but there was no sign of her

brother.123"Pssst. Over here," said Dan.Amy turned around and saw that a door to the

theater was open just far enough for Dan's goatee to poke out at her."Get in here

before someone sees you."Amy backed up slowly as a group of women walked past,

chatting quietly in Russian. By the time they'd disappeared, Amy had her back against

one of the two doors. Dan grabbed her by the arm and yanked her inside."What's

taking you so long?"Amy scowled at her brother. First he pushes me, then he pulls me.

Now he gets all over my case."You're starting to annoy me," she said, gearing up for an

epic brother-sister argument. But when she turned toward the stage, her anger melted

away. Amy loved the theater almost as much as she loved books, and the State Kremlin

Palace was a stunner if ever she'd seen one. The stage was set with blue lights shining

down as night descended on the scene. There were scale model buildings and a

Russian-style church deep in the background. It was breathtaking from where they

stood, like a scene from a fairy tale in which Anastasia came back to life and Rasputin

roamed the woods.Long rows of seats lined the middle of the theater, all of them

empty, awaiting theatergoers who wouldn't arrive until evening.Dan led the way into

the darkness along the back wall of the theater. "The balcony's up there, so

the124stairs can't be too far. This place is gigantic. It must hold at least six thousand

people."They could hear a door opening as they crept onto the stairs, which were

hidden behind a curtain. Amy put her finger to her lips, then looked back to see that a

security guard had entered. And what was worse, he had a giant German shepherd on

a leash.Dan waved Amy along and soon they were at the top of the gilded stairway,

down a short hall, and standing in Balcony Box 4. Dan began searching for row number

3, then tried to imagine what Dl meant. He hadn't got that far in his thinking before

Amy could tell he was stumped. She crouched down low, peering over the edge of the

balcony. The dog was guiding the guard closer toward the stairs."He's coming this

way!" said Amy.She crept over to Dan, and they both looked at the scribble of numbers

and letters on the piece of paper again."There are three Ds -- Dl, D2, D3. Maybe they

refer to doors?""Could be," said Dan. He whispered al the letters and numbers again.

Sometimes it helped to say things out loud. "SKP BAL BOX4 R3 Dl 45231 D2 45102 D3

NRR.""Hurry, Dan! That dog is serious business. It looks angry and hungry. You know

what that means-- "125Dan walked along Row 3 and sat down."What are you doing?

This is no time to sit around! Do something!""I am," said Dan. "I think I got this.""You think you got what?" Amy said nervously. She was searching on the floor for a button

or a lock, anything that might get them away from the approaching guard dog. "Look

for some dials or a hidden panel. Make yourself useful!"Dan calmly got up and sat in

the next seat over, seat number 5 in the row. He'd been in seat number 4. Then he got

up again and sat in seat number 2."Seriously, Dan, you've lost your marbles.""I don't

think so," he whispered. "45231 might be the order in which a person has to sit in the

seats in Row 3. Let me finish."He sat in seat number 3, then moved right up next to

Amy."If something doesn't happen when I sit down, we're in big trouble."He took a

deep breath and plopped down in the seat. There was a soft snick behind a curtained

wall at the rear of the balcony."I think you did something," whispered Amy. She could

hear the German shepherd sniffing at the top of the stairs now.Dan and Amy moved

quietly to the rear of the balcony and pulled back the red curtain. One of126the panels

had slid open an inch, revealing a black seam of darkness behind. "Kto tarn?"Amy

nearly jumped out of the balcony at the sound of the guard's voice. He was right

outside, about to enter, as Dan slid the panel open just enough to glide through. Amy

followed and the curtain dropped. She slid the panel shut.The German shepherd whined

and sniffed, searching everything in the balcony, including the curtain. But the dog

didn't find anything. Dan and Amy had vanished.* * *"I guess we follow the lights,"

said Amy.They were in a long, narrow corridor with runway lights embedded in the

center of the floor. The walls and ceiling were black, so that it felt like walking in the

midnight sky along a line of stars. They snaked back and forth for fifty feet and came to

the end."Looks like an elevator," said Dan. "D2 -- door number two."Amy nodded her

agreement in the darkness. A row of five elevator buttons, each round and circled in

red, glowed softly against the black wall."Remember the order?" asked Amy. Dan

stepped up to the bank of buttons and began pushing them one at a time. First the 4,

then the 5, then the 1, 0, and 2.127The doors opened with surprising speed and Dan

jumped back, accidentally clocking Amy in the arm with his elbow. The entire back wall

of the elevator was covered with a giant portrait of the Kabra family. Ian looked

particularly smug."They really think a lot of themselves, don't they?" said Dan."You said

it," agreed Amy.They glanced at each other, and Dan could see that Amy's hands were

trembling again. She had a lot on her plate, being the older of the two, always having

to be the responsible one. Dan felt an unexpected twinge of guilt. "We're doing okay,

you know," he said.Amy started to smile, but just then the elevator began to plummet.

She grabbed a rail and held on for dear life. Dan wasn't so lucky. He rolled around on

the floor of the elevator until it came to an abrupt stop, the doors opening once

more."I'm starting to think this place is haunted," said Dan. There was something about

being way underground that scared Dan, like he was trapped in a mine shaft and the

air was running out. "How far below-ground do you think we are?"Amy didn't answer.

Her eyes were locked on the monstrous Gothic door that stood twenty feet in front of

them down a cavelike passageway."This is so Dungeons and Dragons," said Dan."It's

D3, the last door. Dan, I think we found him. We found NRR."128"We've discovered a

lot more than that. I think we just found some sort of old stronghold."Amy walked out

of the elevator and Dan followed until they stood before a door of iron and wood with

an ancient set of dials set into its surface. There was only one problem. The writing on

the dials was in Russian."Give me the guidebook," said Amy. Dan unzipped the

backpack and handed the book to Amy. She thumbed through the pages, trying to

remember...."Here! This is it. It's zero to ten written out in Russian and English."Dan

leaned over and glanced at the page. The passage was dimly lit at best, but he could

see the strange Russian letters."Are we sure about this?" asked Dan.Everything about

their Russian journey had smelled like a trap, and now they'd entered some sort of

secret lair from which they might not be able to escape. But none of that mattered to

Amy, and she was pretty sure it didn't matter to Dan, either. Come alone, as your

parents did. The words thrummed in her mind, driving her forward."What if Mom and

Dad were here?" she whispered. "They could have stood right here, trying to figure this

out. It's like they're calling us."Dan nodded."That's exactly how I feel," he said. "You want to do the honors?" asked Amy.129"You bet I do," said Dan. He scanned the list

for a few seconds and went to work on the dials."Four ... Five ... One ... Zero ...

Two."When the last dial was turned, the lock clicked open and the door slid back on its

hinges with a grinding sound of old metal. A female voice echoed quietly from behind

the door."Come in. I have been expecting you."130CHAPTER 13"This place gives me

the serious creeps," Dan whispered."You're not k-k-kidding," stammered Amy. No one

was waiting for them. They'd entered a small, round room with an elaborate painting

that covered all the walls and the domed ceiling. There were no doors except the one

that had closed behind them."Where'd she go?" asked Dan. "And how the heck are we

getting out of here?"Amy shrugged her shoulders nervously, gazing at the intricately

painted walls around her."It looks like something Michelangelo would have

done.""Hey!" said Dan. "I know some of these people. That's Ben Franklin!"Sure

enough, the bespectacled figure was towering over their heads, holding the string for a

kite and smiling into the sky."And I'm pretty sure that's Napoleon. He's definitely small

enough," said Amy.131"That's gotta be Churchill," said Dan, spying a round man

making the V sign."Dan," said Amy, her eyes huge in her face. "They're all Lucians.

Every one of them."Dan's stomach sank. It could only mean one thing. "We're in a

Lucian stronghold," he whispered."Bad," said Amy. "Very bad! Let's get out of

here!"She ran her hands frantically over the great surface of the door, searching for a

latch or a dial that would set them free."Come on, Dan!"There was a fast sliding sound

from one of the walls, and Dan turned around to see that a panel on the far wall had

opened. The painted form of Sir Isaac Newton stood next to the door and seemed to

beckon them forward.The voice returned, confident and smooth as silk."There is no

need to be afraid. Follow the lights. Quickly now, before you're caught!"A runway of

lights directed them down an endless hall, just as they had upstairs. These lights were

orange, not white as the others had been, and they seemed to go on forever."Follow

the lights until you reach the twelfth door on the left. And hurry! These halls never stay

empty for long.""The voice must be coming from a speaker in this room," said Amy.

"She's not in here."132Dan and Amy took one last look at each other and nodded. They

had no choice. Not two steps in, the panel slid shut and it was more dark than

light."How many doors is that?" said Dan, trying to figure out just how imprisoned

they'd become. "We're never getting out of here."They counted the doors until at last

they came to the twelfth. They stood for a long, silent moment. A door opened

somewhere in the distance and they stood perfectly still. Dan turned his head and saw

a figure seven or eight doors back walking away. The panel opened just long enough

for the person to slip through and then it closed again."An agent of some k-k-kind, no

doubt," whispered Amy."Let's do this," said Dan.He lifted his hand to the knob, then

hesitated."Are you absolutely sure we went twelve doors on the left side?" asked Dan.

"It would be a real bummer if we were knocking on the wrong door."The last thing Dan

wanted to do was barge in on a meeting between dark-suited secret agents.Amy

hesitated. Dan could tell she wanted to go back and recount, just to be sure, but the