PARADOX - Chapter 77

PART FOUR

Chapter 77

May 21, 2012 – Arianni Base – Near Eclipse Island – Australia



Dom rubbed his weary eyes. He was scanning the history of the rise and fall of the Third Reich. This was not his area of expertise however; the research he was conducting might possibly save the world, as he knew it. He was alone in an expansive library open to the Arianni public, one of the most extensive libraries he had ever seen. The rest of his team had retired for much needed rest.

They safely made it to the Arianni Base near Australia and Monday immediately started gathering information on what actions needed to be taken and the priority in which they should be done. Dom was assigned to a team consisting of himself, Henri, Megan and the CIA man, Larry Lofton. As it turned out, Lofton was an amateur historian, but he was fantastic and well studied when it came to Nazi history.

They tried to determine what changes might have already been made in history so that The Team could pinpoint Mueller’s location, find him and eliminate the threat. Although the history records he now perused may have already been compromised by Mueller’s activities, Dom knew enough about the era to spot historical anomalies, especially among histories second echelon leaders.

They had learned their lesson with the assassination of Pontius Pilate. Although Pilate’s untimely death had created no major rift in history, because he was by most standards a minor player on the world stage. Had it been someone like Julius Caesar or another member of the Julian family line, the results may have been catastrophic. Each day that went by gave Mueller a chance to drastically change the past, and the history he might generate would be horrible to contemplate.

They also discussed the potential danger of leaving the Nazis and Szekler back in time, but finding them would take precious time they did not presently have. Only Szekler posed a possible threat because of his intelligence. Most likely he would set himself up as a local lord of some type and history would bypass him. The Nazis were a lesser threat; they would either turn to banditry or somehow work their way into the Roman Army.

Dom’s thoughts returned to the material he was researching. He had to locate Mueller’s starting point so The Team could stop him. He knew that Mueller was not well educated. Muller was the grandson of a high ranking Nazi officer who served under Herr Wolfram Sievers, the Reich Manager of the Ahnenerbe and an SS Standartenführer during World War II. Also, Mueller was entrenched deep into the Neo-Nazi movement and considered himself a pure Aryan.

Dom had already researched the background of Wolfram Sievers; in the event Mueller decided to contact his grandfather. He found nothing that would draw unusual attention.

“Where would Mueller start?” Dom asked himself. As a cashiered commando, he would probably lean towards the SS. The SS fit Mueller’s ideal military force, heartless, ruthless and merciless. With his training, he would probably advance very rapidly.

Dom was about to give up for the day. He had been working for fourteen hours and his eyes were red and sore. He flipped through an SS photograph album and spotted a photo of Reichfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler and other SS officers viewing a large-scale model of the concentration camp, Dachau.

“That’s the man Mueller would idolize,” Dom thought. “Founder of the SS.”

He scanned the faces in the old photograph.

One of them looked vaguely familiar. Dom got out a pair of magnifying glasses and enlarged the photo.

“Mueller!”

A man standing in the far background was none other than Helmut Mueller. He knew it was Mueller because The Team had provided him with a photo of Mueller when he was still in the German Army.

“Found you, you bastard!” Dom blurted. He looked at the caption on the photograph. January 20, 1941.

Dom grabbed the book and headed for the council room where Monday held his meetings. Half way there, he ran into Megan, Henri and Lofton in the hallways, in their pajamas.

“Must be important!” Megan glanced at the others. “I guess Monday has made some breakthrough or something.

Dom was puzzled at first, he then heard the communicator at his belt buzzing. Obviously it had been buzzing for a while but in his fatigue he had not heard it. The entire Team was being assembled.

They were last to enter the council chambers. The rest of the Team focused on a large computer monitor. A female voice described something going on in a semi-panicked voice. Monday glanced at the late arrivals and motioned towards the monitor.

“They seem to be destroying the petrol tanks in the distance.” The woman pointed in the direction of several huge white tanks. One tank was on fire with flames gushing out in every direction. As they watched, another tank exploded in a large mushrooming fireball.

“They arrived about twenty minutes ago and attacked Willy Field, about seven miles from here,” the newscaster continued. “A cargo plane was just landing from Christchurch loaded with fresh fruit and it was destroyed on the runway. According to the American Air Force, the unknown aircraft has burned Williams Field and Willy Town. From Willy Field they moved on to Scott Base operated by New Zealand. Sources here tell me that Scott Base has also been destroyed They appeared in the skies over Mac-Town, as the locals call McMurdo, a few moments ago.”

The commentator stopped talking for a few moments to allow her cameraman to pan around showing the damage to the huge fuel tanks. An annual sealift by cargo ships as part of Operation Deep Freeze delivered eight million US gallons of fuel for McMurdo residents annually.

“When I arrived here earlier this morning to interview Doctor Megan MacKenzy concerning her incredible message broadcast to the scientific community and the media about an organization known as The Brotherhood and about some New Nazi threat, she was unavailable. According to Doctor Herbert Rienzi, the Base Director, she departed Antarctica with a team of Special Forces personnel, destination unknown.”

Monday allowed the commentator to drone on for a while about the message sent out by Megan. “McMurdo Base is under attack.” Monday informed those who had arrived late. According to this news reporter from Australian TV, they have not yet identified the attackers, but we can assume it’s the Nazis.” He halted as the cameraman zoomed in on one of the dark aircraft flying low over another row of fuel tanks.

“These unidentified craft are the ones doing the damage,” the reporter continued. “Base authorities have not commented on the assault or who may be behind it. The aircraft you see do not appear to be recognizable. An officer by the name of Captain Spears told me a few moments ago that the aircraft are unidentified and do not belong to any nation that he is aware of. Obviously, they must belong to a country with advanced technology because the weapons they are using appear to be lasers instead of bombs.”

Once again the cameraman panned around. Half a dozen saucer shaped aircraft were moving from target to target. As soon as they halted over a particular site, a green line appeared beneath the vehicle and slashed back and forth like a knife blade, cutting the building or object into pieces.

“Fliegenkämpfer,” Daria stated. “Those are Nazi fighter craft. I saw scores of them on the airfield at New Berlin Base and when we evacuated to the lunar base.”

They watched in anger as the dark disk shaped Fliegenkämpfer moved from target to target. One vehicle flew over the harbor and sliced a tanker unloading supplies at the docks then moved out into open water and destroyed a US Coast Guard Ice Breaker. Another sliced the Science & Engineering Center, while still others flew from building to building destroying each one.

“The aircraft are nearing our position now,’ the reporter stated in a nervous voice. “Earlier, it was difficult to see in the darkness, but the lights from all the explosions and fires have turned the night into day. Who are these people? Where is the American Military.”

Disguested, Megan threw an arm out towards the monitor. “There is a world treaty against military operations on the Antarctic Continent.”

“Tell that to the damn Nazis,’ Chester blurted.

They watched as the Fliegenkämpfer continued to destroy each building. After a few minutes, the entire base was enveloped in flames.

“I don’t know how long we can continue to broadcast,” the reporter continued. We are on a hillside near a radar dome and our message is being sent by way of satellite from Black Island. The disk ships are heading in this direction and they are obviously coming to destroy these radar stations. We have been told to head for safety in some rock outcroppings by Captain Spears. I will continue to record this incredible news event, but for now, this is Crystal Duncan signing off for ABC News, Australia.”

“There must be a thousand people at McMurdo this time of year,” Lieutenant Beartalker winced at the destruction of the base.

“Doctor Rienzi,” Megan whispered.

“The airfields, docks, cargo ships, icebreaker…everything gone,” Monday added. Why would the Nazis destroy an unarmed base? They have to know we are no longer there.”

“Hans!” Daria watched the monitor with horror and sadness. “Hans doesn’t need a reason, he’s the perfect SS soldier.” The way she spat out Hans’ name showed her hate and disgust for him.

“Hitler, the Hitler I met, did not seem to be the type of man to destroy innocent scientists and other civilians.” Monday just watched Daria with concern and sympathy.

“I agree,” Dom replied. “He may no longer be in charge. Or, if he is still in charge, he may not be aware of Hans’ actions.”

“This is definitely a wake-up call for the rest of the world!” Megan shouted. “As soon as copies of this broadcast reach the world news services, the shinola is gonna hit the fan.”

“I’m certain the US Air Force or Coast Guard also got a message out.” Monday glanced around the group. “Now that the Nazis have played their hand, our military will have no recourse but to respond.”

“Respond with what?” Chester shrugged. “If those flying disk have the capabilities that the Arianni attribute to them, our military aircraft don’t stand a chance against them.”

“The United States is the only nation that has been openly hostile to them,” Ariana cut in. She had been monitoring the news and Team’s reaction from her seat near Dorbec. “An American submarine fired on the Nazis first and they responded. That action gave them an excuse to declare war on the United States. No other country has noted any intent to join with the Americans. It is also possible that the Brotherhood is active and may have a hand in this. There is no reason why the American government should not have declared war against the Nazis by now.”

“Our Special Operations Forces fired on the Nazis,” Monday corrected. “They are under the direct command of General Jones, who went against the orders of the President. Obviously the President, who is a member of the Brotherhood, has different plans. Are you certain that the Brotherhood and the Nazis are bitter enemies?”

Arianna stood and walked over to the computer monitor and punched in some data. “The Brotherhood’s plan was for world domination under the guise of creating world peace. They now know that changing history cannot do it. The greed and urge for power in such men does not dissipate if one plan fails. The Nazis hold the upper hand at the moment due to their technological advantage; however, the free countries of the Earth hold a numerical advantage. If the Nazis can keep the world from uniting, divide and conquer, they can achieve their goal of world domination. The Brotherhood is well aware of this and may have possibly made a deal with the Nazis.”

Megan stood for recognition. “Why would they need to go to war at all? They can wait for the Earth Crust Displacement to take effect and much of the world population will perish without having to fight them. All they will have to do then is fly in, park their saucers and start breeding baby Nazis.”

No one had an answer for that one.