PARADOX - Chapter 90 - Final Chapter

Chapter 90

May 25, 2012 – New Berlin Base, Antarctica





They finally reached a huge double door with a large red sign on it that read, “Eintragung verboten.” “Entry forbidden,” Monday mused, glancing at the small print. “Das Hereinkommen ohne Erlaubnis unterwirft Sie der Todesstrafe.” (Entering without permission will subject you to the death penalty). This was the place all right. Reads like something Hans would post.

He signaled for the explosives team to place a charge on the door. Dorbec shook his head and held up one of the disintegration rifles. “Might be faster with this little gadget, Mon Ami,” Dorbec grinned. He pointed the rifle at the door and pushed the button. A large circular section evaporated. He continued to push the button until the entire door was gone including a large section of the wall.

“Thanks mom,” Monday stated. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The room they entered was huge, fully thirty meters across and at least that or more in depth. It was filled to capacity with machinery that only a gaggle of mad scientist would appreciate. Dozens of men were standing around with their mouths open, unaware of what was happening beyond their inner sanctum.

“Everyone out!” Monday shouted.

As one of the men walked past him, he grabbed him by the lab coat. “Where is the Bell Project?” Monday demanded.

The man was too frightened to answer. All that came from his mouth was stuttering and gibberish. “Show me.” Monday pushed the man in the direction of the equipment.

The scientist walked towards the center of the huge room and pointed to a large circular depression with a railing around it. “It’s down there,” he stated. “About twenty meters beneath the dome.”

Monday looked over the railing to the top of a dome, which was about twenty feet down. He could see nothing but a hard ceramic surface. “Is there an access elevator or ramp to get down to it?”

“It’s pressurized,” the man answered. “If you penetrate the dome the pressure inside would destroy everything in this room, including us. Everything beneath is remotely controlled using robots.”

Monday motioned for Megan to come over and take a look. “Do you think this Nazi is telling the truth?”

Megan quickly surveyed the area, checking out the monitors and equipment. “I think he is. I could probably disarm the Bell if given enough time, several hours perhaps.”

Monday shook his head. They didn’t have several hours to spare. He suddenly heard a flurry of gunfire coming from the direction of the door.

“The Nazis are counter attacking!” Dorbec yelled. “Hundreds of the nasty bastards are coming from all sides.”

“Get the explosives people in here!” Monday yelled back.

Chester ordered several of the SEALS to pop red smoke grenades then got on the radio to the airships hovering above. “The red smoke marks our position!” Chester yelled into the mike. “I want you to disintegrate everything beyond forty meters of this circle. Destroy as much as you can so the Nazis will have to cross a wide-open space to get to us. Is that clear!”

As soon as he signed off, the commanders of the airships began the destruction of the buildings surrounding the red smoke. Noting that each building was being destroyed, SS troops ran towards the safety of the sprawling complex and away from the red smoke. Dozens, like Hans, were too close to the Bell lab and could not make it across the opening gap to safety. Instead, they were determined to crush the invaders.

Chester ordered the SEAL Teams to start clearing what was left of the buildings and hallways surrounding the lab.

Hugging the wall in the remains of a large building, Hans was frightened, but angry at the same time. He could not figure out where General Kietel was with his own fighters. They should have overwhelmed the American forces by now and infantry should be swarming around the area by the thousands.

What Hans was unaware of, was that the Arianni aircraft had plugged the tunnel between chamber two and three and any Nazi Fliegenkämpfer that tried to fight its way through the gap, was destroyed. Infantry had no defense against such weapons.

“Power in our ships is running low,” a British Commander signaled to Chester. “Can’t keep up this bloody battle much longer or we will not have the power to get out of this rabbit hole.”

“Did you copy that Monday?” Chester spoke into the mike.

“I copy,” Monday replied. “Charges are almost set. Dorbec, get the rest of the people back to the extraction point.”

The explosives experts finished wiring their triggers and looked at Monday. At first Monday couldn’t understand why, then one of them pointed at his watch. Monday realized they wanted to know how long to set the timers for.

“How long will it take us to get out of the complex and through the tunnels?” Monday thought. “No resistance and we will make it in fifteen minutes. Resistance…?”

“Set your timers for thirty minutes,” he ordered. The technicians looked at him with fear in their eyes. Aware that he was serious, they set to their tasks. Each explosive device was armed with a booby trap. Anyone trying to disarm it without the code once the timer was set, and the bombs would automatically explode.

Monday heard rapid firing in the direction of the door again.

“We’ve got Nazis trying to push their way in,” Chester stated in the mike. “Looks like several dozen of them.”

“Can you hold them?” Monday asked.

“We’re down to just our Team,” Chester replied. “Lt. Beartalker and Dorbec took the rest to the extraction point.

“All set!” the leader of the explosives Team stood and yelled. The moment he finished, he was hit with several rounds and ragged holes started pumping bright red blood from his neck and chest. Seconds later, grenades exploded all around them. Several of the technicians were killed instantly, the last one wounded. The railing around the pit was torn and twisted with jagged pieces of steel pipe peeled up like the broken stumps of metal trees.

Incredibly, other than ringing in his ears, Monday was unscathed. He looked around and saw several SS troopers moving among the equipment. They must have entered through a back door or blown a hole into the far wall to get inside. “We have enemy inside,” Monday spoke into the mike.

Chester, Scout, and Weps rushed into the room and took cover behind some heavy equipment. They saw Monday standing next to the remains of the jagged railing. A cloud of dark smoke hid the area behind him. Monday pointed in the direction of the enemy, who were still shooting sporadically in his direction.

Weps zigzagged to Monday’s position and slid behind a large metal housing. He looked at Chester and gave him the signal… on three. Counting down on his fingers, the second he hit one, Chester and Scout started laying down covering fire. Weps stood and aimed the disintegration weapon towards the other side of the mangled well and pulled the trigger. Everything started to dissolve in a mist of vapor and hiss of steam. For a few moments, little could be seen because of the smoke and powdery ash. Finally, the weapon ran out of power. Weps threw it to the ground and pulled his HK MP7 around from his back.

At that instant, a tall figure jumped on Monday’s back and pulled him to the floor. It was Hans, covered in gray ash, his pretty uniform torn and blackened in spots. He had a sharp thin blade in one hand and a riding crop in the other. His face was screwed up in a visage of pure hate. Unknown to either man, the poison gas explosives that the riding crop was supposed to trigger, had been destroyed when Dorbec disintegrated the entrance door.

Like a cat, Hans was quickly back on his feet. He took a lightening quick slash at Monday and cut him across the cheek. The cut was not deep but would leave a scar. Monday could not get to his weapon, which he had leaned against the railing, and the explosion had thrown it yards away.

Monday stood and wrapped his bandana around his hand. A thought came to his mind. “Should have used the prison yard rush first,” he remembered telling Dorbec when Dorbec had killed Wilhelm von Liegntz. Monday roared and charged Hans. When Hans lunged with the knife, Monday grabbed it by the blade and head butted Hans as hard as he could. The blade came free and Monday tossed it away.

Hans was still in a daze from the hard butting, but as soon as his eyes focused he started lashing at Monday with the riding crop. In a fit of rage, Monday reached down and grabbed Hans by the hips and threw his two hundred pound weight into the air like a medicine ball.

Hans sailed up then came down on one of the jagged metal bars torn from the railing by the explosion. The bar entered his anus and ripped its way through his intestines and stomach and up into his lungs, barely missing his heart. Hans looked at Monday in shock before the incredible pain started.

Monday knew that even without the explosion to come, Hans would be dead before half an hour was up. He turned to Weps. “Let’s go, we’ve got less than twenty minutes to make it to the tunnel entrance.”

He took one last glance at Hans hanging on the rod. The man’s face was still filled with anger and hatred.

“Good bye superman.” Monday grabbed the wounded technician and they rushed out of the building.

Hans looked down at the timer on the bombs. He concentrated on the red numbers as they slowly wound down. He was in such pain, he mentally urged to numbers to go faster.

As soon as they were back aboard the airship, Chester gave the command for all ships to run like thoroughbreds for the cave entrance. It was a race against the clock. If they didn’t make it out in time, the pressure from the nuclear bomb and the freeze bombs would crush them.

Daria ran to Monday when she saw the blood on his cheek. He shrugged. “Not serious. A parting gift from your old boy friend.”

“Hans?” Daria had a look of disgust on her face.

“Not any more,” Monday kissed her.

The airships raced through the large chambers and into the exit tunnel. The few Nazi fighters they encountered wisely got out of their way. The pilots pushed the airships as fast as they could without crashing into the walls. Finally, the leading three ships broke through the tunnel and sailed into the open ocean. The last ship was less than thirty seconds behind them when the detonation occurred.

The shock wave and effects of the blast was so incredibly fast, it overtook the last airship.

“We’re losing the shield!” Ariana yelled. They knew that if the shield went down, they were finished.

“Power is going too,” Ariana screamed. “We’re not going to make it.’

“Warp drive!” Monday yelled.

Ariana knew that many ships had been lost trying to use warp drive in the atmosphere. Beneath the sea, surrounded by tremendous pressures, she did not know what would happen. One thing was certain, they would never make it to the tunnel exit otherwise.

She commanded the ship to go into warp drive. That was the last any of them saw or felt.





Epilogue



General Jones stood in his favorite room, the air traffic control room, patiently waiting for information from the assault force. A voice with a French accent finally broke through on the monitor.

“Strike Force Bell reporting in,” a static laden voice stated.

“Go ahead Strike Force Bell,’ General Jones answered.

“Mission accomplished.”

Everyone in the control room yelled, despite angry looks from the General.

“Go on,” General Jones urged.

“The Bell Project was destroyed, New Berlin Base assumed destroyed, three airships returning home.”

“Three airships?”

“No sign of Colonel Schmidt or Doctor Stiehl.” The voice was much lower, almost a whisper.

“Head home,” General Jones ordered.

“Incoming call, Sir,” an Airman told the General.

“On the speaker.” He pointed at the monitor hanging on the wall.

“This is General Freiedrich von Weichs from the Free German Base on the moon,” a voice stated. “I wish to talk with whomever is in authority.”

“General Henry Harley Jones here, go ahead General Weichs.”

“Sir we seek an end to hostilities. Those who led us into this conflagration are presumed dead and it is our humble wish to seek peace.”

General Jones knew that many on Earth would not want to make peace with the Nazis after the deaths of millions of innocent people. He also knew that should the war continue, thousands, possibly millions more would die. He did not have the supreme authority to make peace, but he’d be damned if he’d fight an unnecessary war.

“All allied forces are ordered to stand down,’ General Jones spoke into the mike. The powerful communications system could reach anywhere on earth. “General Weichs, you need to set a time to talk with my civilian representatives, when we get some. We in the military do not have the authority to make war or peace. But, I guarantee your safety in any event.”

“Thank you General.”





Monday slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on a hard surface. It was totally dark. He couldn’t remember anything at first, but gradually bits and pieces started to fall in place.

“Anyone here?’ he asked.

No answer came back.

He rolled over on his side and bumped into a soft object lying next to him. His hands explored the object and he discovered the soft warm curves of a woman.

“Daria!” he spoke louder.

He heard a murmur and a sudden intake of breath.

“Where am I?” Daria questioned.

Monday heard a rustling noise then a bright light lilt up the area. Daria was holding the flashlight she carried in her pack. She pointed it at Monday to make certain it was him, then down towards the floor, or deck, or whatever it was.

“We survived the explosion,” Monday finally answered. “But I don’t know where we are.”

He borrowed the flashlight and swung it around. He saw Ariana coming awake in the pilot’s seat and Dorbec sitting next to her shaking his head. He continued to sweep the area and saw several other bodies lying on the floor. One was just starting to raise himself up. It was Chester.

The moans and whispered voices around them signified that everyone was returning to consciousness.

“No power,” Ariana said from the pilot’s seat. “Does anyone have one of the disintegration weapons?”

“Here,” Weps answered from several feet away. He stood on shaky legs and handed the weapon to Ariana.

Ariana removed the power capsule from the weapon and reached beneath a control panel. Within seconds, the lights came on.

“That will give us enough power to run the support system,” Ariana stated. “But not enough power to fly the airship. It looks like the explosion combined with the warp jump drained what power we had left.”

“I’ll check the rest of the ship for injuries.” Chester wobbled away.

“Can you bring up the screen monitors?” Monday asked. “It’d be nice to see what’s outside the airship.”

Ariana placed the headset on and the monitors lit up. Daylight was breaking but it was still too dark to make out any details.

An hour later they were all assembled in the control room except the Navy SEALS who were checking and cleaning their weapons. Thankfully, no one had suffered any major injuries, only minor cuts and bruises.

“Instruments read normal conditions outside the airship.” Ariana turned to Monday. “Some equipment requires more power to operate so I cannot establish our present location.”

“Get Lt. Beartalker and a SEAL team ready to deploy.” Monday glanced at Chester. He suddenly realized that Chester was basically in command of the airship, but old habits took over.

Ten minutes later they opened the outer door and extended the ramp. Lt. Beartalker and the SEALs poured out and set up a security perimeter around the airship. As soon as they received the all clear, they started exiting the aircraft.

It was a beautiful clear day. A vivid blue sky filled the heavens and a gentle breeze was blowing. Tall emerald grass swayed in rhythm to the breeze and the outline of snow capped mountains were framed in the distance. The air was fresh and clear with a subdued smell of perfumed flowers.

“Gorgeous!” Daria remarked as she surveyed the scene.

Monday nodded his head in agreement and reached for her hand. “I’ve never seen a place so beautiful. Wonder where we are?”

They continued in awe to survey the pristine setting. Megan finally turned around and glanced into the sky. There were three moons hanging like Christmas ornaments in a crystal blue setting.

“I can tell you one thing for certain.” Megan pointed at the sky. “We definitely are not in Kansas.”







Author’s Note:



I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I did writing it. Your comments and recommendations, critical or otherwise, would be very helpful as I now go into the editing and polishing phase. Also, be sure to read, PARADOX II, and OMNIVICTUS coming soon and continue to follow Monday and his intrepid Team as they fight to survive against awesome new villains and incredible challenges.



Paradox is for sale as an ebook on Amazon.com and Lulu.com



Dramatis Personae



Kean Monday Stiehl – Archeologist, Professor, ex-Army Special Forces

Daria Wolff – German Nurse

Dominic Prestano – Doctor of Paleontology, Professor Emeritus.

Chester Schmidt – Retired Army Special Forces Lt. Colonel

Heinreich von Schwerin – Called Henri, Colonel, German Bundeswehr (Army)

Kenny Carney – Ex Special Forces, nickname, The Scout, one of Monday’s old SF Team.

Graydon Zanyk - Ex Special Forces, nickname, Bones, one of Monday’s old SF Team.

Charlie Lanier - Ex Special Forces, nickname, Weps, one of Monday’s old SF Team.

Mike Grace - Ex Special Forces, nickname, The Geek, one of Monday’s old SFTeam.

Oddball - Ex Special Forces, One of Monday’s old SFTeam.

Larry Lofton – Retired Army, working for CIA.

Helmut Mueller – Cashiered German Commando, Professional Hit Man.

Jean Marcel Dorbec – Retired French Colonel, Mercenary

Lars Udo Gabler – One of Dorbec’s Mercenaries.

Claude Bedeau D’Aubigne - One of Dorbec’s Mercenaries

Cencio Contadino – A member of the Teutonic Knights, and The Brotherhood.

Bruno Schäfer – Member of German Cultural Ministry, Neo-Nazi in the Karotechia

Doctor Vlad Szekler – Doctor of Ancient History from Budapest, member of Ahnenerbe

Hans-Ulrich Rudel II – General in New Berlin, son of Nazi war hero.

Señor Juan Ramone Louis Felix d’Amador – Director General of Hans’ villa in Argentia

Wilhelm von Liegntz – Colonel in New German Weirmacht

Ariana – A leader among the Arianni

Megan MacKenzy – Geophysicist for the Polar Geophysics Group

Lieutenant Mallard Beartalker – US Navy SEAL Team Commander

General Henry Harley Jones – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.