Bunker 77

9. Planning

The sound of my boots thumping on the tiled floor broke the silence in the corridor, earning some confused and annoyed looks from the passersby. The multicoloured files closed against my chest as I rushed towards one of the double doors in the corridor.

Still breathing heavily, I paused to straighten my blouse before opening the door. The clatter in the room died down when I stepped inside, and multiple pairs of eyes pierced through my soul.

"If you planned to join the mission, the least you can do is be early to the meeting," Eli's snarky remark reached my ears, and the scar on his cheek made him look more scary than he should be. Even his hair seemed to be grayer than the last time I saw him. 

I gulped, setting down the files on the table before taking a seat beside Rian, who sent a small smile to me. "I'm sorry.  I won't do it again."

Sam, the man beside Eli, chuckled. "If there is a next time."

I frowned at that. What's up with these guys?

"Let's start the meeting," said Paula, stopping anyone from making another remark. "I know you guys don't like the research team tagging along in the mission. But retrieving the manuscripts from Bunker 77's vault is just as important as saving James' team."

Paula stood up and passed the files I was carrying to everyone in the meeting room. There were seven people at the table; four of them were tasked with saving James' team, while the rest of us, the researchers, were tasked with retrieving the manuscripts. 

I flipped to the first page of the file. An old picture of a stack of books covered the page. 

"As you can see in the file, the books are the written records of Bahari Kingdom's events, including the timelines of the war. They were photographed in the vizier's office before they were put into a safe vault after the death of King Aryan. No one knew the location of the vault until one of the researchers found a diary of the vizier where a map of the vault was. We sent word to one of the spies, and she confirmed the location in Bunker 77," explained Paula, showing us the picture of the map through the projector. 

I squinted my eyes at the picture; the paper was old, but the outline of the map was still visible. 

"But how can we be certain that the manuscripts are still there? The Sinarians might have moved them to another place," the guy beside Sam, whose name I didn't know, said. 

Paula and Henri shared a smirk before they rested their gazes on me and Rian, who raised his eyebrow in confusion. I pursed my lips, and my hand unconsciously went into my pocket and felt a small vial.

"They can't," said Henri, a smug smile on his face. "The entrance of the vault was designed with very, very tight security. Only a few people knew how to open them. The Sinarians could never guess it, even in their dreams."

"Which is?"  Rian asked, crossing his arms.

Henri put his hand on Rian's shoulder. "The answer is you, my friend. Only a person with King Aryan's blood can open the door."

Eli nodded; it was making more sense to him now. "That's why Professor Atheer insisted on bringing Amna on this mission. So, she can open the vault."

Right at the moment, only three living people, at least those that we know of, know the key to the vault. Uncle Atheer, Faris, the discoverer of the vizier's diary, and me.  Uncle Atheer entrusted the information to me because I was trained under him as a researcher, compared to Rian, who was trained to be a warrior.

"Yes.  The vault contains important documents that could help us win against the Sinarians. There is a high chance the original document of the 1910 Agreement is kept in the vault. If we get the document, we could declare our land free from the Sinar Kingdom," said Paula.