PARADOX - Chapter 76

Chapter 76

May 19, 2012 – McMurdo Station - Antarctica



“Are you certain you want to do this?” Doctor Rienzi asked Megan.

Megan swiveled around in her chair with frost in her eyes. “We contacted the President, he refused to cooperate in any way. This is our only option. The world must know what is going on.”

Doctor Rienzi nodded his head. “If I were the enemy, I would try to destroy McMurdo Base while you and the others are still here. I think Doctor Stiehl and everyone involved in this situation should be evacuated, including you.”

“Why me?” Megan could not understand his reasoning. “I was sent here to locate the cause of the Earth Crust Displacement. Now that we know the Nazis are behind it, and that we cannot get to them without help, of what value am I?”

“You have a valuable mind. We will need people like you if we are to defeat the Nazis.”

Megan snorted.

“Don’t be childish.” Doctor Rienzi grinned. “Let’s get back to the cafeteria and alert Doctor Stiehl before it’s too late.”

“I agree with Doctor Rienzi.” Monday looked at the somber faces around him. “We are presently on ground zero and we are likely to be the first target of the war.”

Daria shook her head. “I still do not think they will attack the Base so long as they know I am here.”

“Things change.” Doctor Rienzi sent her a warm smile. “You are complicit in the escape of Mueller. Whose to say this Hans fellow will not persuade Hitler to classify you as a traitor? Does this man have the temerity to go against Hitler?”

Daria searched her mind. Thoughts of Hans’ cruelty and evil disposition flashed back into her memory. “He is evil enough to go against my grand… against Hitler.”

Monday could see the turmoil clouding her features. Evidently she had grown to like this new Hitler, perhaps even to think of him as her grandfather.

“First priority is to get everyone to a secure location,” Monday continued. “How many personnel will that Nazi time ship carry?” He directed his question to Ariana.

“It’s much larger than our own time ships. In an emergency situation it should be able to transport at least thirty five personnel, possibly more.”

“That sounds about right,” Monday mused. “We had around twenty six personnel, lots of equipment, a horse and other items on our time trip. Do you think your people will allow us to enter your base?”

Arianna smiled. “Do they have a choice? It’s not as if they will shoot at us or try to prevent us.”

“I want everyone in this room aboard that ship in half an hour. That includes you Megan and you also Lieutenant Beartalker. You may take as many of your men as you see fit.”

Navy Corpsman John Carney stood. “Beggin’ your pardon, Doctor. I was shanghaied into this outfit and I’m sick and tired of narrow escapes and time travel and all this crazy stuff. I did not volunteer for Special Operations and I want to go back to my damn ship.”

Monday grinned and looked at Chester.

“We genuinely appreciate your services.” Chester stated. “We have our own medic back and I am certain Lieutenant Beartalker has one on his team, so you are at liberty to return to your ship. The Air Force here at McMurdo can probably arrange it for you.”

Megan started to say something but Monday cut her off. “We need everyone. That includes you Megan. I hope you will also join us Doctor Rienzi.”

“My station,” Rienzi answered. “I will not leave McMurdo Base at this time. I must organize resistance and locate safe areas for my people. We are not military so I hope to evacuate the base until we know the plans of the enemy. Unfortunately, I do not think they will give us much time. You are our single best hope for the future, get out while you can.”

“Grab what you can carry and move out,” Monday ordered.

Monday watched as Ariana sat down in a comfortable seat and adjusted a strange looking headset. He had not been in the control room when they returned from their time mission and everything was new to him. The monitor displays were three-dimensional and so advanced he had trouble analyzing them. Dorbec occupied the copilot’s seat next to her and was watching her with fascination. Daria was standing by his side, refusing to be separated from him.

“Why don’t we take a short hop into the future and see if we win or loose?” Daria was mesmerized by the monitor displays.

Ariana smiled back at her. “For some reason, which we have been unable to determine, the time jumps will not allow us to go into the future. We can travel to any period in the past, but the future is blocked.”

“I noticed that the laws of physics don’t seem to be in play either,” Monday stated. “These ships can go from point A to point B in an instant, make forty-five degree turns, and stop on a dime. If we were in an ordinary airship, under normal G forces, we’d be jelly on the walls.”

“That’s because we are not actually traveling thousands of kilometers per hour,” Ariana replied. “We travel using the space/time continuum. Space and time is warped from point A to point B and we simply move from one point to the other instantly. The time travel system works similarly, but takes incredible power that normal ships do not have. Each time ship requires one of the antimatter pods; the jewels you referred to. Our normal drive, which we use most often, can only reach a speed of five thousand kilometers per hour.”

“Warp drive!” Dorbec chuckled. “How do you drive or fly these things?”

Ariana pointed to her headset and to the one Dorbec was holding. “These devices allow out thoughts to interface with the ship. The ship goes wherever we think it to go and at the speed we think we want. We can put it on what you call autopilot once we have given directions to the ship’s computer. The ship will automatically assume control if there is a danger that our slow minds cannot handle. The last time I flew you and your Team to our main Base I used normal drive, which took us several hours. This time I intend to use warp drive as soon as we are clear of McMurdo Base and we will arrive near out destination instantly.”

“Do the Nazis have a lot of these ships?” Monday was curious.

Ariana shrugged. “Our intelligence indicates they have had their mining operation on the back side of the moon for about fifteen years. That is where they extract most of their raw minerals and their factories are located. Best guess would be they have in the vicinity of three to five thousand fighting ships, and perhaps sixty transport ships, which are much larger than the fighters.”

“What about armament and weapons?”

“We know they have nuclear weapons and short range lasers. Other than that we never concerned ourselves with their destructive ordinance or capabilities.”

“How many ships do the Arianni have?” Dorbec was afraid to hear the answer.

“Forty.” Ariana answered. “None have offensive weapons, but they do have built in defensive shields.”

“It’s going to be a difficult war,” Monday thought. Although the United States did not have technology on their side, they did have numbers. The Nazis may have air superiority but they did not have conventional forces, or at least large conventional forces. As far as he could determine, there were three separate missions that had to be undertaken. If they could talk the Arianni into helping, one Team had to assault Berlin Base and try to knock out the Bell Device they were using to create the Earth Crust Displacement. Another team had to work with General Jones and the Joint Chiefs to formulate a plan to check and then defeat the Nazis and at the same time Locate and eliminate the leaders of the Brotherhood. A third force would be needed to return to the past and find and neutralize any damage Mueller may be causing.

The future looked interesting.



AS NOTED. DUE TO OVERWHELMING READER RESPONSE, I HAVE DECIDED TO EXPAND BOOK ONE INTO A MUCH LARGER BOOK INSTEAD OF WRITING BOOK 2.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ENJOYED READING THIS BOOK, AND I HOPE YOU LOOK FORWARD TO ITS CONTINUATION AND CLIMATIC CONCLUSION.



Le Vieux Gerrier