The soft red alarm light pulsed quietly on the desk terminal, casting a dark glow over the pale face of Herr Weber. The head vault master looked as if he had just seen a ghost. His fingers hovered over the glass screen, shaking so badly that he could barely tap the keys to override the warning chime.

"The sequence was started five minutes ago!" Herr Weber stammered again, his voice tight with sheer panic. "He is down in the subterranean vault wing right now!"

Clara did not wait for the old man to recover his breath. The time for talking was completely over. Every second they wasted standing in the...