The Gemini Divergence (44 page)

Then they suddenly heard one of the men on
the roof behind them; shout ahead to the man on the street.

“It’s now or never,” explained Jack, as he
balanced the end of the pole on the edge of the roof.

Gus gritted his teeth and held on for his
life as he and Jack pushed the pole over the edge of the roof and
vaulted over the street below.

As they were arcing over the street in what
seemed like slow motion, their assailant, as well as the Embassy
Marines, watched in wonder as they floated over the street until
they crossed the wall and fell into the pool.

The assailant on the roof finally reached the
end facing the embassy and shouted something in German to his
partner on the street, who then shrugged his shoulders and walked
away.

A group of Marines quickly surrounded the
pool with guns drawn and demanded to know who they were.

Gus and Jack simultaneously pulled out their
wallets and removed their ‘Lemay’ cards.

The guard that was in charge took one of the
cards as he yelled in an authoritarian tone, “You don’t bust into
my embassy on my watch pal,” as he quickly read the card he lowered
his tone to a boyish wonderment, “Is this for real?”

~~~**^**~~~

The Space
Race / Kaiser Mondkrater

Schwerig was amazed at how fast the German
expansion into space was developing.

As he was being transported to Von
Sterbenbach’s new palatial headquarters on the moon, he gazed out
of the craft’s window to see an entire city that he knew very
little about, sprawled across a lunar crater basin.

He thought back to times when every single
engineering development in the new Reich crossed his desk.

Now there were entire cities that he had
little or no influence over and little knowledge of. Not because he
wasn’t able to handle it, but because there was now so much of
it.

The Germans had indeed begun an entire nation
unto itself in space.

Ten or fifteen years ago, he could have never
imagined this, but he had now grown to accept these things, as well
as his new job as General of Raumsfahrtwaffe Operations.

Schwerig had never been to Von Sterbenbach’s
new office, and had rarely spoken to him since being promoted two
years ago, but now he was being summoned to brief the new Führer on
the present status of the Raumsfahrtwaffe.

He still had many questions to ask Von
Sterbenbach.

The shuttle landed on a well constructed pad
of the new city, ‘Kaiser Mondkrater’, as his thoughts went back to
his first landing at New Swabia.

Most of the new city was well hidden within
the crater, but high on the brim of the crater wall stood a
magnificent crystal palace.

He had heard that most of the new city was
made from glass wrought from the silicates of the lunar
regolith.

As he looked at the crystal palace, he was
shocked to see what looked like snow falling inside of the
crater.

How could that be possible?

He quickly deduced that the cities nuclear
reactor was venting steam out into the vacuum of the moons absent
atmosphere, which was then falling slowly back into the crater in
the form of tiny ice crystals.

After disembarking the space ship, he stepped
into the base shuttle that would take him up to the palace.

As he was whisked along the futuristic
enclosed highway, he watched as the new city passed by. He could
see people everywhere going about their daily business.

It was evident that the new Reich had evolved
from a totally militaristic stratocracy into a more civil society,
as he observed many pubs, and restaurants as well as every type of
private business imaginable… already functioning on the moon.

The military metro shuttle slowed to a stop
and Schwerig was shown to a guarded elevator that would take him up
to the palace.

As he rose above the city, he gazed out of
the glass elevator at the city he had just traveled across and was
mesmerized by the beauty of the falling ice over the complex. The
stars were clearly visible through the manmade precipitation.

Upon reaching the top, he was greeted by a
junior officer that led him past a formidable palace guard that had
bean named the Praetorian guard in emulation of the Romans. Von
Sterbenbach had even placed the Roman fasces onto his new coat of
arms.

Schwerig could not believe the beauty of the
new palace. There were spectacular picture window views of the
lunar landscape in every direction. This location had to have been
chosen for the myriad of vistas that it offered.

There were dazzling light displays from
tinted crystal everywhere in the palace. Surprisingly, even though
the natural light from some of the displays was blinding, the
overall lighting was dark like a restaurant. Von Sterbenbach must
have had an army of architects and artists to dream this one up.
Everything that was not crystal was colored in black, grey, and red
and trimmed with silver or chrome.

Upon arriving at Von Sterbenbach’s office,
the junior officer opened the door for Schwerig and told him that
he was to go directly in, the Führer was expecting him.

The office was very large with picture
windows along most of the back wall.

Von Sterbenbach was standing at one of the
windows, gazing out.

Schwerig walked in and snapped to attention.
He appeared much more dashing with his new general’s uniform. He
had also let his hair grow grey, which in Schwerig’s case was more
silver.

The new Führer turned from the window, “Ah,
General Schwerig, thank you for arriving on time, as usual, of
course. What do you think of my new headquarters?”

“It is magnificent. It must be the most
tantalizing castle that I have ever seen. What do you call it?”

“Schloss Krystal Adler
.”

“Splendid name indeed my Führer, very
fitting. Actually I am overwhelmed by your entire city here. It is
a glorious jewel for the crown of the Fourth Reich. It is very
obvious that the mining operations must be doing quite well to pay
for this opulent majesty.”

“Yes, our compatriots in the Transvaal have
been extremely cooperative with us.”

Von Sterbenbach sat at his desk and put his
fingers together, “Tell me General Schwerig, I wager that you have
many questions to ask me.”

“Yes I do, my Führer. I mean no disrespect,
but when I left you in Riese, I thought that I had surely killed
you… It was quite a shock to see you breathing again, let alone
emerge as my new Führer.”

Von Sterbenbach laughed, “I thought so as
well. Actually, only hours after you left, the Russians overran the
base and found me barely alive on the floor.

They couldn’t believe their luck to capture
another Feldmarschall as well as Paulus. They summoned their best
field surgeons to revive me and then whisked me off to Moscow.”

“Then why have I never heard of it? …The
entire world knew that Paulus had been captured?”

“Because the Allies and the Wehrmacht never
believed the Russian’s claims that I had been captured. There were
too many reputable German officers, including yourself, that
testified to my most certain demise. I was transferred to a
Siberian Gulag, where I stayed for ten years… After the Russians
finally released me, I struggled to restart my life in Germany; as
very few people there believed my story either. Then I heard that
Skorzeny was covertly recruiting ex Nazi officers into an
organization named Die Spinne. I contacted him… ‘He’ remembered me,
and before I knew it, I was in Argentina waiting for Bormann to
die, so that I may then come forward.”

“That is truly and amazing story, my Führer.
You must tell it to all.”

“I may, eventually, but first, I have to say
that I am extremely impressed with your hand in the evolution of
the aircraft that I witnessed back in Riese to the wonder weapons
that we now possess. You have truly out done yourself.”

Before Schwerig could respond, Von
Sterbenbach suddenly pointed out the window and beckoned, “Look,
here comes my personal Praetorian fighter squadron back from daily
maneuvers.”

Schwerig turned to see nine fighter saucers
in three sub formations, or Schwarms, of three each, all flying in
perfect formation past the palace before landing.

Von Sterbenbach queried, “I hear that one of
your men was following an American U-2 over the Soviet Union when
the Soviets started shooting at both craft.”

“Yes sir, they shot down the American. I
believe his name was Powers.”

“Why were you’re men following the
American?”

“We were trying to figure out how the
Americans always seem to know where nuclear weapons are being
manufactured, stored and tested. They were using this particular
U-2 as well as others in additional parts of the world for that
exact purpose.”

“What have you found?”

“They have a special unit in their Air Force
called AFOAT, which has been a thorn in our sides from very early
on. They seem to be the front line unit for finding practical uses
for new technology and applying those technologies toward
intelligence gathering. I have been pursuing one of their top
scientists since you sent me to liquidate him in the purge years
ago… when he was on our side. I also ran into two of this unit’s
members in Buenos Ares, but they ultimately eluded us, and I am
sorry to report that when they spoke to me, they alluded to their
knowledge of El Impenetrable and Colonia Dignadad.”

“I’m not too concerned about that.”

“Why not?” asked Schwerig in total
surprise.

“With today’s reconnaissance capabilities,
there are no more true hiding places, just places out of reach… So
you have been keeping a close watch on this AFOAT unit?”

“Yes sir, we observe their operations around
the globe. I have also looked in old reconnaissance photos and
discovered that the individuals that we ran into in Buenos Ares
have been around for quite a while.”

“I am not overtly worried about them either.
To me, they just seem akin to learning a new word, and then
suddenly realize that people have been using it all along. But I
would still keep a keen eye on them, and if they can get close
enough to talk to you, I would be concerned about your safety.”

“Of course, my Führer.”

“I want you to start briefing me more often.
I am very concerned about the changes in leadership around the
Earth. Khrushchev was bad enough, but now the Americans have
elected an Irish Catholic with a reputation for being as loose of a
canon as Khrushchev. Lord, help us if they get along and unite
against us. We must fuel this supposed Cold War and keep them
apposed for as long as possible, it is our only hope.”

May 1960

The Russians launch a Vostok capsule into
space.

Unfortunately, it is quickly detected and
attacked by a German patrol.

The dead orbiting capsule is still witnessed
by astronauts in space to this day and is rumored to have been
manned by a cosmonaut named Vasilla Zavadovski.

It is also rumored that the Soviet Union
launched several manned capsules in the upcoming years, but never
took the credit for, or announced any of them.

Fearing continued attacks by the Germans in
space, coupled with their own fierce learning curve, the Soviets
had decided not to publicize any space missions until they had been
a complete success.

It is not known how many actually
perished.

During 1960 Nikita Khrushchev was boasting
that the Soviet factories were turning out rockets and missiles
like sausages, and that the U.S.S.R. also had deployed nuclear
armed orbital weapons.

In November of 1960 the free world picked up
the Russian voice of a supposed Cosmonaut named only, ‘Alexis’.

From the translation it was suspected that,
there had been a miscalculation to achieve orbit, sending the
capsule into a translunar trajectory. As the Earth turned, radio
receivers around the globe continued to receive S.O.S.
transmissions from a fixed location in space.

But, perhaps, the biggest story about the
Russians in 1960 was Khrushchev showing up unannounced in America
as part of a UN delegation, where he played out his infamous ‘Shoe
banging incident’.

When Ambassador Sumulong from the Philippines
was addressing the UN assembly defending American colonialism,
Khrushchev barged onto the dais and shooed Sumulong away like a
small child or pet, then he removed his shoe and banged it on the
podium to get everyone’s attention, taking the microphone and
calling Sumulong a ‘Toady of American Imperialism.”

~~~**^**~~~