PARADOX - Chapter 72

Chapter 72

May 19, 2012 – McMurdo Station - Antarctica





As soon as Beartalker finished with the unsettling news, the door to the computer room flew open again. A short black man with frosty white hair ambled in. Megan knew who he was immediately.

“Doctor Rienzi,” she said, rushing over to give him a big hug. Doctor Herbert Rienzi was one of her professors in college and over the years they had developed a very close friendship. Renzi was the civilian leader of McMurdo Base and pretty much told the military what to do also.

“I assume you have the news?” Rienzi hugged Megan with gusto then turned to Beartalker who handed him the latest piece of paper.

Rienzi scanned the sheet and passed it back. “What a mess!” he remarked. “Just who in sam hell is supposed to make the decisions around here? Hitler’s granddaughter! Flying saucers! What is this nonsense about? I thought you were here about the Earth Crust Displacement, Megan, not to start world war III?”

Megan took a few minutes to enlighten Rienzi on the particulars of her mission and what she had learned so far.

“The Brotherhood! You mean to say our President and a large chunk of our congress is in bed with this secret outfit?”

Megan nodded her head.

“And you say there are aliens living beneath the ground called, The Arianni?”

Megan nodded her head again. “Not exactly aliens, a human race far older than anything we ever dreamed of.”

Doctor Rienzi shook his head and glanced back at Beartalker. “Are you certain the military hasn’t been performing LSD or paranormal experiments on Megan?”

Beartalker smiled and nodded his head in reply.

“I’m afraid this is a decision I cannot make. What does your boss, the General, tell you to do?”

Beartalker glanced at Sparks. “Still waiting for an answer.”

Rienzi glanced over and spotted Daria sitting at a small table with a cup of coffee in front of her. Another young lady in a strange uniform sat in a seat across from her.

“Fraulein Wolff?” he asked, speaking in perfectly unacccented German.

Daria was startled by the sound of German, but quickly recovered her composure. “Call me Daria,” she answered, pointing across the table. “This is my friend Marta.”

“You and I have got to have a long conversation some day, young lady,” Rienzi chuckled. “What is your opinion on this awful mess?”

Daria took a deep breath. “I think when they said they will destroy the base they were bluffing. Whoever is in command of those ships, and I’m sure it’s a man named Hans, would not consider destroying the base so long as I’m here. None of the Germans would dare kill the Fuhrer’s granddaughter.”

Rienzi’s eyes opened even wider. “I’ve been given some astonishing information over the past few moments, so I am going to take your word that Hitler lived, that you’re his granddaughter, and that there are Nazis flying those strange air ships above us. You are correct. They may not destroy the station, unsure in which building you might be. We seem to have what we in America call, a Mexican standoff. Do you have any ideas on how to proceed from this point?

Daria nodded her head and glanced at Beartalker, who started to say something, but was interrupted by another message. He paused to read the message.

“The President has ordered us to turn Miss. Wolff over to the Nazis, along with the two Nazi officers and their air ship. Evidently the Nazi high command advised him that unless she is returned, they will declair war.

Megan stood and grabbed the piece of paper from Beartalker’s hand. “We should have declared war on the bastards already!” she yelled. “Just who in hell do they think is responsible for the Earth Crust Dispalcement? It doesn’t take a genius to determine that millions of innocent people will die from it?”

“Sir!” Sparks yelled, taking the headset from his ear. Everyone in the room focused their attention on him.

“A Los Angeles Class submarine just off the coast has launched tomahawk missles at the Nazi aircraft over the Base. The Nazi’s are high tailin’ it out of here.”

“I reckon they’re under control of Special Operations Command,” Beartalker grinned. I think we have the answer to your question, Megan. General Jones just declared war on behalf of the United States.”

Marta looked at Daria with fear. This was precicely what they had hoped to avoid. Their lives were not worth the death of so many on both sides.

“Inform the Nazis we will return.” Daria stood and walked over to Beartalker. “We’ve got to stop this insanity.”

Doctor Rienzi answered in a calm soothing voice. “It’s not about you. The General did not declare war to prevent the Nazis from getting you back. His reasoning comes from a strategic level, not a personal one. He realizes that we have to stop the Nazis from completing their mission, or civilization as we know it will cease to exist.”

“Doctor Rienzi is correct,’ Beartalker stated. “One way or another we have to fight them. They give us no choice.”

Megan’s anger faded and she suddenly had her thinking cap back on. She turned to Daria. “Do you know the exact location of this place where the Nazis keep their machine? The one they’re using to create this Earth Crust Displacement?”

“New Berlin Base!” Daria and Marta replied at the same instant. Daria turned to Marta. Although she had been inside the Base, Daria had no idea where it actually was. Whereas, Marta had been in and out of New Berlin many times and she was a member of the Nazi military.

“I can tell you where it is located,” Marta said. “But, you will never get past their security.”

“Could we hit them with a nuke?” Beartalker asked.

“Not unless you have a nuclear device that can penetrate miles of rock and soil or a submersable that can dive to a depth of twenty miles or more.”

“Twenty miles!” Megan whistled. “Their base is twenty miles below the surface?”

“Closer to thirty,” Marta shrugged. “Twenty miles of water and another eight miles of chambered tunnels. There is only one way in and one way out, and that is by using a Fliegenkämpfer or a transport ship.”

“We have one of those Fliegenkämpfer thingies.” Megan sounded exuberant.

“Not exactly.” Sparks looked up sheepishly from his seat by the computer console. “The Nazis destroyed it just before they bugged out.”

“Rats!” Megan blurted. “What about their other bases, can we get to them, maybe steal an air ship, or hit their main base?”

“All are well guarded and very deep underground,” Marta replied. “Main base is on the far side of the moon and it also has its defenses.”

“The moon!” Sparks squeaked.

Marta smiled at the nervous young man. “The moon.” She nodded her head.

“What about these other people, the Arianni?” Doctor Rienzi cut in. “If they’ve been around for over a hundred thousand years, they must be very technologically advanced.”

“The only thing I have heard about them is that they are passavist,” Marta replied. “Their civilization has banned violence and they do not have a military force. High command, our leaders, think of them as no possible threat.”

“Then why are they condoning the assassination missions?” Megan blurted. “Doesn’t sound like passavism to me.”

Marta shrugged her shoulders indicating that she had no answer to the question.

“What I fail to understand, is why the President and other high level members of this Brotherhood, do not want to eliminate the Nazi threat.” Doctor Rienzi directed the question to Beartalker. “What is their agenda? What do they have to gain by worldwide disaster?”

“Way above my paygrade,” Beartalker replied. “My mission is to protect Ms. MacKenzy, and those orders come from General Jones, not the President.”

Doctor Rienzi glanced around the small group. No one had an answer to his question. He walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a hot cup of coffee, then sat down heavily in one of the vacant chairs, his mind churning.

“We have another bogie.” Sparks ended the pregnant silence. “Another Nazi air ship has landed on the runway.”