PARADOX - Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Munich Germany, January 18, 1941



Dom lounged against the wall in the corner of the room watching the SS soldiers where they stood behind Mueller. He had left Daria in the Hirschgarten earlier in evening and told her not to move. She was already spooked from an encounter with two Gestapo agents, who simply wanted to flirt with her. Monday was in an improvised cell, a cage used for large animals, and Mueller was gloating.

“Cencio, Szekler, von Liegntz, Fleischer, probably Schäfer, they’re all gone,” Mueller spat. “Who’s left? Little old me.” Mueller was practically foaming at the mouth. “Lieutenant Colonel Mueller, make that General Mueller as soon as I deliver the Fuhrer’s granddaughter to him. We know she’s here and the Gestapo will find her. We also know Doctor Prestano is with her.”

“Go to hell!” Monday barked at Mueller. He was cramped from bending over in the small animal cage. He did not want to sit on the floor because it was covered with animal feces.

“Now be a good little doggie.” Mueller turned to leave the room. He was laughing at his sordid joke. “You and your fellow mutts will be on your way to Dachau in a few hours. I understand that Doctor Raucher has taken a special interest in you. You will be his first test subject.”

As soon as Mueller left the room, Dom walked over and whispered to Monday. “We’ll hit the train on the way to Dachau. Try your best to let us know what train car you’re in.”

Monday was shocked at first, hearing whispers with no one in the room. He then realized that Dom was using one of the cloaking devices. “Thanks Dom,” he replied in a whisper with his hand over his mouth. “Now get the hell out of here so you can turn off that device. No telling what damage you’re doing to your mind and body.”

“I’m leaving now,” Dom answered. “Be ready when the train stops. We’ll arrange transport of some kind.”

As soon as he was clear of the museum grounds and safely on a dark trail leading across the Isar River, Dom turned the cloaking device off. He felt no ill effects even though he had been under invisibility for almost an hour. He placed his white wig on his head and walked slowly, like an elderly man, towards the train station.

The weather had changed considerably. It was bitterly cold and a gusty wind was whipping paper and leaves along the tracks. When he arrived at the station and entered, the warmth from the coal stove in the corner was a blessing. There were only four people in the station, three soldiers and an elderly woman.

Dom walked over to the wall where a large chalkboard listed arrivals and departures. There were only three departures listed, two towards Augsburg and one towards Salzburg. Dom rapped on the clerk’s window. The sleepy clerk slid his window open and glanced down at what he thought was an elderly man.

“My nephew said he was leaving for Karlsfeld tonight,’ Dom stated, knowing that Karlsfeld was in the direction of Dachau. “I don’t see his train listed.”

“Military?” the Clerk croaked.

“Yes, he’s been assigned to Dachau.”

“The military train leaves at two in the morning,” the bored clerk replied. “With the war on they don’t list their schedules.’

“Thank you,” Dom replied, walking over to a map of the area hanging on the only wall without windows. The map was dirty and faded but showed a large area around Munich. He noticed the train had to pass through a small town by the name of Moosach, and there was a major road just outside Moosach that would take them all the way to Vaterstetten where the time ship should be hidden, waiting for their return.

Dom left the station and hurried towards the Hirschgarten. It was already eight thirty and they had little time to make their plans. Before he entered the beer hall he removed the wig and threw his hat back on his head. The place was still crowded with people drinking and eating late meals. The bitter cold had driven many into the warm interior of the hall. He ordered a Weisse beer from the bar and turned to search the place.

Daria was sitting at a table with several families. Their family resemblance was so close it looked as if they could be her sisters and aunts. She had chosen the perfect cover because the Gestapo would not be looking for large family groups. Dom finally got her attention and nodded in the direction of the door. He quickly finished his beer, and pushed through the growing crowd to the exit.

Once they were clear of the beer hall and in the shadows of a chocolate store, Dom told her what he had discovered. Concern and fear and fatigue were heavy on her face.

“Dachau! What are going to do?” Daria asked.

“We’re going to ambush the train,” Dom replied. “Just like in the American Westerns.”

“Two people ambush an entire military train?” Daria did not sound convinced that it was such a good idea.

“Our only option,” Dom replied. “Here’s what we’ll do.” For the next few minutes he outlined his plan. It was a simple plan, so simple it might just work.

The first thing they had to do was commandeer a vehicle, one large enough to transport nine people. There would be eight of them and the vehicle driver, which they would have to kidnap and keep with them until they were safely back at Vaterstetten. If they just stole the vehicle, the owner would probably report the theft to the police and a search would be quickly mounted. The German police were very proficient in their duties, even more so during wartime.

Despite the danger, they wandered around the streets of Munich checking out vehicles. Time was growing short so when they spotted a truck pull over to a curb and park, Dom nodded at Daria. Just as they started to cross the street, another vehicle beeped its horn and roared pass them. The vehicle pulled into a garage several buildings down.

Curious, Dom headed for the garage. As soon as they entered, he spotted the perfect vehicle. It was a1937 Austin 18 hearse, and appeared to have modified seating. The driver was wiping his hands and putting tools back into a large toolbox.

“Excuse me,” Dom stated. “That’s a nice hearse you have there. Why the seating?”

The man turned and gave them an unfriendly stare. He noticed Daria standing next to Dom, and his features softened a bit. “A farm family with eight children just purchased it,” he replied. “They needed something large to pack around all those kids so I installed seating for them. I admit it is a waste of a good hearse.”

“Not at all my man.” Dom pointed a pistol at the mechanic. “We have need of a vehicle with plenty of passenger room and it looks like we’ve found it.”

The mechanic was surprised and angry. “The Gestapo will hang you if they catch you. Are you Englischer spies?”

“Italian patriots,” Dom stated. “No need to get messy and try to overpower me, the young lady with me can use a weapon better than I can.”

The mechanic put up no resistance as Dom tied his hands behind him with a coil of rope from the workbench. It took Dom several minutes to figure out the clutch system, but within seconds they were on the road headed towards the small town of Moosach a few miles away. Luckily, the mechanic had just returned from putting gas in the vehicle when they spotted him.

When they arrived at the town, they found a perfect spot to conduct an ambush. The railroad tracks ran close to a row of buildings with a road on the other side of the buildings. They parked their vehicle in an alley facing the tacks so all they had to do was back up into the main road and head quickly out of town.

“I don’t know how fast the train will be going, but, according to the map there is a station about half a mile further down,” Dom stated, as he pulled the hearse into position. “I hope they have to slow down to stop at the station.” He glanced at his watch, it was eleven thirty. They had two and a half hours before the train was scheduled to leave Munich. It was going to be a cold wait.

Monday leaned against the wall in the old boxcar. He could see the cross ties through the gaps in the flooring as they raced by beneath the train. About fifty or sixty of them were packed into a cattle car, from the ripe smell, and space was at a premium. He was relieved to see that the Team was crammed in with him and the others. He thought for a minute that they would be separated and placed into different boxcars. He had no idea what Dom’s plan was, but he knew they had to be ready to react at a moment’s notice.

They were given no food or water and the guards had stolen their winter coats. It was bitterly cold and his fingers and ears were numb. They were not beaten because Doctor Raucher wanted them in good shape for his experiments. Monday could see the cold and fatigue on the faces of his Team members as the squeezed tightly together for warmth.

Dom could hear the rattle of the train in the distance. The tracks were about fifty yards in front of him and he was debating whether or not to get out of the hearse and move closer. Problem was, there were no buildings to hide behind and he would look suspicious standing out in the open. He would have to take his chances from where he was.

As the train grew closer, Dom started the hearse to get it warmed up and gave the bound mechanic a look that advised him not to try anything. He nodded at Daria to keep a close eye on the man. Dom pulled the strange Arianni weapon from his coat pocket. It was bulky but not as big as the shoulder fired weapon that Alem had shown them. There was no way the larger weapon could be effectively concealed on this operation, so Alem provided them with a hand held version.

As the train came within firing distance, Dom aimed the weapon at the front wheels and mashed the button. The entire locomotive disintegrated and the cars continued to roll past. Dom was shocked. He had not intended to kill anyone but he did not know the range and spread of the weapon. After a few minutes the boxcars started slowing down. Without the engine to pull them, they slowly ground to a halt.

Guards begin to spill from a caboose attached to the rear of the train. They were yelling for the engineer in the forward locomotive, uncertain why he had stopped the train. The commander of the guard finally reached the spot where the locomotive should be, and froze with his eyes wide and mouth open. The only part of the locomotive that remained was a two-foot section closest to the first boxcar. The commander gave the order for the guards to open the boxcars and assemble the prisoners in ranks. The boxcar doors were quickly slid open and the prisoners poured out into the bitter cold to be jostled into position by the guards.

Dom counted twelve boxcars. He could see no sign of which car Monday and the Team may be in. He had also counted sixteen guards. Movement near one of the boxcars caught his attention. A man was standing facing in the opposite direction urinating against a train wheel. By his height and features, Dom could tell it was Monday.

Dom’s first thought was to fire at the guards, but they were so close to the prisoners and the weapon might catch them in it’s sweep. He hoped that the boxcars were empty so he swung the weapon and started firing at the boxcars. Each car disintegrated as he aimed and pushed the button. There was almost no sound, just the swooshing noise of particles falling to the railroad tracks.

The guards and prisoners panicked. The orderly formation split into a screaming mob as both guards and prisoners headed for the protection of the buildings. Dom saw Monday and the Team racing in his direction. He turned to see that Daria was blinking her flashlight off and on as a signal.

Within seconds they piled into the waiting hearse and were on the road towards Vaterstetten. Monday and the Team were chattering like half frozen monkeys, and it took several minutes before Monday could bend over and kiss Daria. The heated hearse quickly brought them back to life.

“Love your mode of transportation.” Weps grinned. “Is it an Italian thing or do you enjoy a taste of the macabre?”

“Best set of wheels in town,” Dom chuckled. “Herr goober back there just filled her up and kicked the tires for us.”

“I guess going back for Mueller is not on the agenda!” Henri stated. “The entire German army will be after us.’

The cheer died down when they spotted a military roadblock ahead of them. Word of their escape and the destruction of the train could not have spread so fast.

“Curfew.” the mechanic blurted from the rear seat. “No civilian vehicles are allowed on the road after twenty-three hundred hours. Why do you think I was in such a rush to make it back to the garage? You may as well surrender now.” The man sounded elated.

“What’s it going to be?” Dom glanced around him. “Stop and take our chances or pedal to the metal?”

“Eight men and one woman out on an early morning cruise?” Don’t think so,” Henri replied. “And, we’re not exactly dressed like military or government officials. Our uniforms were confiscated in Munich and we’re wearing stinking garments and resemble escapees from a raccoon convention.”

Dom drew within fifty meters of the roadblock then pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The powerful hearse engine screamed and the vehicle jumped forward like horses from racetrack gates. They were through the roadblock and widening the distance before gunfire erupted behind them. It would take a lucky shot, unlucky in their case, for a round to hit the speeding hearse in the dark surroundings.

“They’re after us!” Dom yelled, after glancing in the rear view mirror.

“How far to Vaterstetten?” Monday asked.

Henri thought for a split second. “About seven kilometers, or a little over four miles. They are certain to radio ahead.”

“Pull over and hide behind a building at the next intersection!” Bones yelled from the back. Dom had no idea why Bones wanted him to stop, but he quickly made a right turn, drove for several blocks and pulled into a dark alley.

“What’s up Bones?” Monday asked as Dom turned off the lights.

“Red paint.” Bones replied. “I found a can of red paint and several brushes under the seat back here. I’m going to paint a big Red Cross on both sides of the hearse. This may not be a military ambulance, but in the dark they could mistake it for one."

In less than five minutes Dom pulled back onto the main street and headed east. Within a hundred yards a police vehicle speed past them and continued on. Before they made it another kilometer, two more military vehicles passed them without stopping.

“Adapt, improvise and overcome!” Monday stated. “Looks like they’re falling for it. Way to go Bones.”

They made it all the way to the outskirts of Vaterstetten without being stopped. As they pulled into a secluded wooded area, Daria pushed a button on a device and the Arianni airship became visible. They had hidden it with a cloaking device before they left for Munich.

They exited the hearse and headed for the airship. Monday cut the bonds of the mechanic. “I could leave you here to freeze to death,” he stated. “But that would not be civilized. Go ahead and head home. If the police stop you, try to explain how people from the future kidnapped you and flew of in a space ship.”

As soon as they were aboard the airship, Daria took the controls and gently lifted them into the night sky.

“Mission failure.” Monday whispered behind her.

“There’ll be other chances.” Daria was upset by the dejected look on his face. “We can still send teams back to get Mueller.”

“Getting Mueller is no longer necessary,’ Henri chimed in. “With the information and history books he gave the Nazis, history will be drastically changed. We don’t know how, but it will be.”

Suddenly, a bright green streak shot past the ship on the monitors, followed immediately by several others.

“It’s Mueller!” Daria screamed. “He’s attacking us with the Nazi airship. We’re not armed.”

“Our only chance is to zip back and forth until we reach space where we can go into time drive,” Monday replied.

For several minutes they shot from point to point in order to lose Mueller. Each time they came out of hyper drive, Mueller was there in an instant. They finally made it into low orbit, and Mueller closed in on them.

Daria engaged the time drive. The split second they jumped, their airship clipped Mueller’s ship catching him in their time shift. The power was not enough to pull two ships through, but suddenly, the ship Mueller was in turned a rosy red and pealed off. It disappeared in a flash.

As they entered their own time, Daria glanced nervously at Monday.

“Was he destroyed or did he make it?”

Monday shook his head. “We’ll never know.”