The Gemini Divergence (10 page)

In the middle of the dessert valley there was
a hastily constructed city of wooden shanties and Quonset huts.

Out of one of the huts emerged two U.S. Army
OSS officers. They walked across the main road in front of the
building they had just exited to find a better vantage point in
which to view the approaching trucks.

One of them, a lieutenant, lit a cigarette;
clasping his hands and turning away from the wind, then turning
back around while taking a drag of his freshly lit smoke.

Captain Chet Hanson, the more senior officer,
looked behind himself at his junior, Lt. Mark Mason, who then
silently offered one by holding out the pack in his outstretched
hand. The elder Hanson nodded disapprovingly and turned back around
to view the incoming caravan.

Lt. Mason stepped forward as he flicked ashes
behind himself and said, “So these are all the special guests,
huh?”

“I believe so,” said the captain. “And we’re
supposed to keep them out of sight from the public for the time
being, and allow them to work on whatever the higher brass brought
them here to do.

“So it’s going to be another project like Los
Alamos?” said Lt. Mason. “We just let them work on their little
toys and keep them from the rest of the world and the rest of the
world from them.”

“Except that it’s not a bomb this time”,
interjected the captain. “I hear that these people work on rockets,
big ones, not toys… big enough to deliver those Los Alamos
firecrackers to anywhere in the world.”

The convoy of deuce and a half ton trucks
finally pulled into the camp, quickly parking at angles in echelon,
down the middle of the large main drive.

Though the trucks had stopped, the dust had
only begun falling out of the air when all of the tailgates began
opening.

Soldiers were the first ones out; then
turning to help men in civilian clothing climb down from the
military trucks.

There was much confusion as the soldiers
started barking orders at the men in civilian clothing; telling
them to stand in lines.

All of the civilians were re-located German
scientists from Operation Paperclip.

The Germans were stunned at the hot and arid
New Mexico weather. None of them had ever witnessed anything like
it. Many of them were using their hats or whatever they could find
to fan themselves as they waited.

Most of them cried, “Waser bitte”, for water
because if the heat wasn’t bad enough, the dust falling on them
could choke a horse.

After they were all lined up, the captain
stepped forward to address them.

In a very loud and commanding voice he
started, “Gentlemen, I am sorry that all of you are not yet
acclimated to our American deserts. I promise that all of you will
be able to drink all of the water you wish as soon as you are shown
to your quarters. All though this may seem like a prison, I am to
do whatever I can within my budget to make you feel at home. You
are not yet allowed to leave here. I am not even allowed to tell
you exactly where in the American south west that you are, as my
government has not yet decided how long you will be staying, or if
there will be any legal problems allowing you to stay, or whether
you will be receiving citizenship. As soon as I know anything, I
will surely let you know.”

Captain Hanson looked around at many of their
blank faces and said, “Oh hell, I may just be spinning my wheels
here… Do any of you speak English?”

The few soldiers and the Germans that spoke
English responded with polite laughter.

The captain then threw the speech over his
shoulder in a large comical gesture, causing everybody, even the
German speaking men to laugh.

Capt. Hanson then gave the order, “Sergeant,
please see to it that at least one English speaking man is placed
in each barracks.”

The First Sergeant turned and saluted the
captain while reporting with a “Yes Sir.”

The captain continued, “All of the sergeants
will show you to your quarters. Please try to feel at home. We will
have a general assembly meeting at 8:00AM to get started. I will
see all of you there. Thank You.”

The soldiers in the crowd started to figure
out which guests spoke English and which did not and assign them to
barracks accordingly.

Lt. Mason turned to Capt. Hanson and asked,
“Don’t you think that this was an extreme stroke of luck?”

“Luck,” responded the captain, “I thought I
would get out of this God forsaken desert when the war was over and
the Manhattan Project was dissolved.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” returned the
lieutenant, “I mean capturing this much of a secret program. This
many people. This many assets, as well as all of the drawings, it
just seems too easy. It smells fishy to me. I hope we are doing the
right thing.”

“Are you trying to suggest that a government
that does not exist any more is in the process of trying to trick
us?” queried Capt. Hanson. “I think that you are letting your
imagination run wild. You need to give it a rest and try to make
the best of however long we have to stay out here. Besides if it
was a trick, don’t you think that somebody higher up the food chain
would have figured it out by now?”

“I guess so,” Lieutenant Mason admitted
sluggishly, “but why do we have to hide them out in the middle of
the desert? If there is no more enemy, than whom the hell are we
hiding them from?”

“The American people, that’s who,” answered
Capt. Hanson, “The American public… How would we easily be able to
explain to all of the brave men that fought this war, and are now
home, unemployed, and can’t find work that we are gainfully
employing hundreds of Nazis with tax dollars that they can’t even
really afford to pay? Hell, I fear that possibility of that anger
more than I feared the Nazis in the first place.”

~~~**^**~~~

The Cold War
/ Stalin’s Briefing

Comrade Stalin was sitting relaxed in his
chair at the head of the table in his Kremlin meeting room, or at
least he was trying to appear relaxed.

In reality he was lighting his next cigarette
before his last one was done. He tried desperately to hide from the
public that he was a hopeless chain smoker. He felt that it would
make him appear weak.

The whole purpose of changing his name to
Stalin, Russian for wrought of steel, was to appear immortal and
insurmountable.

All of his Generals and advisors were smoking
as well; trying to keep up the appearance that chain smoking was
common and not to make their Premier feel abnormal.

They were all silent as Stalin spoke,
“Comrades, can one of you brief me on how the captured German
rocket scientists, which we have placed at Kapustin Yar, are
progressing?”

There was complete silence as everybody
looked at each other with complete horror… No one wanted to speak,
and risk uttering a single errant word in front of Stalin.

Stalin was agitated at the silence so he
deliberately picked somebody, “How about,” there was temporary
silence as Stalin decided who to call on when he suddenly blurted
out, “You Gennedy. Why don’t you tell me what you know about how
they are coming along?”

Gennedy Kasparov turned in terror as he heard
his name roll from Stalin’s lips.

As he was trembling, he stuck his hand into
his shirt to hold his three bar cross of the Russian Orthodox
Church for help. He even trembled with more dismay that Stalin may
discover his religious relic and realize that Gennedy was a devout
Christian.

“Well Comrade Stalin Sir,” He stuttered, “The
last that I have heard is that they have successfully sent some
newts into space and recovered them.”

“Did you say… newts?” Stalin asked as he
exhaled his smoke.

Gennedy nervously stuck his fingers into his
collar and said, “Yes Premier Stalin sir, I was told newts.”

Stalin slammed his fist on the table
screaming, “I hate newts! …They are slimy and disgusting.”

Everyone in the room practically jumped out
of their pants they were so frightened by his increase in
volume.

Stalin then stunned them by suddenly
reclining and softly saying, “Good thing that they have used newts
for such a dangerous test. I would really hate to see them use
dogs. Don’t you think?” Stalin looked around the room as if to seek
a response of approval.

Immediately everyone in the room spoke at
once with agreement and praise for the Premier’s opinion.

Stalin continued, “We will use dogs when it
is safer for one, then that dog will be an immortalized hero of the
Soviet Union.”

Again the meeting attendees responded with
unanimous praise.

Stalin then turned to one of his favorite
sycophant suck ups, Dmitri Yost, and asked, “Well comrade Yost,
what are your thoughts about our use of these enemies from the
Great Patriotic War?”

Dmitri stood to talk, as he always did,
standing practically at attention in his perfectly pressed pseudo
uniform and responded, “Comrade Stalin Sir, I think that it is a
boon for the people of the Soviet Union that we have been fortunate
enough to be able to use these people to now help us become
powerful enough to stand up to the west.”

Stalin relaxed and leaned back with his
cigarette in the hand of his right arm that was propped upright on
the arm of his chair. “It makes me pleased that you also feel this
way comrade Yost. Tell me, what do you make of the reports of
Hitler’s demise?”

Yost answered, “Comrade Stalin Sir, I believe
our generals when they say that they have found Hitler’s body,
burned by his aides outside of the ‘Führer Bunker’ in Berlin, after
he had shot himself in the head.”

Stalin took a drag from his cigarette and
turned his head to look out of the window for a second as he
exhaled, as if thinking. After a moment while still gazing out of
the window, he asked, “Do you agree with these reports from our
patriotic generals, Gennedy?”

Dmitri looked shocked that Stalin had
diverted his attention and sat back down.

Gennedy was shocked that Stalin had returned
his attention to him and felt like he should stand to follow suit
with Dmitri, so he stood nervously and reported, “Yes, Comrade
Stalin I have heard the reports that Comrade Yost has just
mentioned.”

Stalin then asked, “Have you then heard other
reports as well, Comrade Kasparov?”

Gennedy realized that he had boxed himself
into this question by not correctly wording his previous answer, so
he carefully proceeded, “Well Comrade Stalin, I have also heard.”
He paused nervously, “Well, some unbelievable and what seem like
crazy reports that Hitler and a group of handpicked followers
escaped to Antarctica in some sort of new secret advanced
technology vehicle. But I must add, Comrade Stalin, that these
reports do not come from our trusted generals, but from word of
mouth from the collected rumors of our very patriotic but
uneducated foot soldiers.

Stalin turned to look at Gennedy and calmly
asked of him, “Do you believe that there could be any truth to
these rumors? …I am uneducated. Is this the reason that I feel this
needs further investigation?”

Gennedy’s Heart stopped cold. He quickly
backpedaled and said, “Oh no, Comrade Stalin, that is not what I
implied. I have only assumed that our most competent patriotic
generals have probably already investigated and vetted these
rumors. I am sure that if they had found any truth to them that
they would have notified you immediately.”

Stalin shook his head in agreement while
putting out his cigarette and said, “Yes, Comrade Kasparov, I
agree. But just for good measure…”

Stalin turned to Dmitri and requested,
“Comrade Yost?”

Yost snapped to attention again as he stood
and reported once more, “Yes, Comrade Stalin.”

Stalin continued, “Comrade Yost, just for
good measure; have Hitler’s body autopsied again, just to make
sure.”

Comrade Yost responded, “Yes Sir, ingenious
idea Sir, I will have it taken care of immediately.”

~~~**^**~~~