The Gemini Divergence (53 page)

Again, it seemed to be totally in slow
motion; except for the high rate of speed that the Overseers were
now fleeing the scene.

“Oh shit!” yelled Gus, just before the rocket
hit the ground and exploded into a bright ball of fire that greatly
contrasted the steam cloud from the liftoff.

They covered their heads as debris began to
fall through the palms onto the ground around them.

“What do we do now?” cried Jack.

“There goes any hopes of Hawaii, we’re going
to be stuck here cleaning this up for weeks.”

“Why us?”

“Because there was a nuclear weapon on that
thing, we need to get into bunny suits and scan the area now.”

Just then the PA beckoned, “We have a Broken
Arrow with an Alpha 4 condition… Prepare for Alpha 4! Gus? Jack?
Where are you buddies?”

“See, I told you so,” smarted Gus.

A couple of Voodoo’s suddenly arrived on the
scene, flying over the carnage as Gus and Jack walked back towards
their planes, but the fighter aircraft were too late, the Overseers
had already vanished.

It took the Air Force three months to clean
up the radiological damage caused by the Bluegill Prime explosion,
as well as to repair the launch facilities.

Gus and Jack also spent the time refitting
all of their aircraft they could get their hands on with the new
Faraday cage shielding.

*~*

“So, I hear that you have already put your
plan into motion,” said Von Sterbenbach, as he clasped his hands
behind his back and stared out of one of the picture windows in his
palace office, with his back to Schwerig, “How is it going so
far?”

“The first assault was a total success, the
target was completely destroyed, our assault force was able to
complete their mission and egress the scene before their fighters
could arrive on site.”

“How long will it take them to launch
another?”

“Well from that particular site, it will be
weeks or months… They could still, however launch from Vandenberg,
Cape Canaveral, or Kwajalein and the Soviets still have Kapustin
Yar, Novaya Zemlya, and Baikonur”

“Hmmm… I believe that we have greatly under
estimated Herr Von Braun’s toys, as well as the proliferation of
his ideas… We never thought that his rockets would amount to much,
but look at how he has us jumping now… Is there any way to take him
out of the picture?”

“I’m afraid that would be very difficult. The
Americans shelter him from harm almost as much as the Soviets hide
Korolyov.”

Von Sterbenbach turned to look at Schwerig,
as he was thinking.

Schwerig started to root through his attaché
and pulled out some page size photos of the Bluegill Prime attack,
“I have photos of the attack and the damages, if you would like to
see them, My Führer.”

Von Sterbenbach silently held out his
hand.

Schwerig stepped forward and presented
them.

As Von Sterbenbach thumbed through them, he
queried, “And you could do this again when they retry?”

“Yes My Führer, it may be a little more
difficult, the Americans do seem to learn and not make the same
mistakes twice. I expect them to anticipate our arrival next
time.”

Von Sterbenbach clasped his hands, still
holding the photos, behind him as he pondered in disgust, “Why are
they lobbing these atomic weapons into space?”

Schwerig answered rhetorically “Why are the
Soviets and Americans building more weapons than they need to
destroy each other? …I believe it is all intended to be used on us
and as a warning for us.”

“Well, I’m not going to be bullied.”

Schwerig firmly reassured, “I stand with you,
my Führer.”

11 August 1962

The Soviet Union launched Andriyan Nikolayev
inside of Vostok 4 and Pavel Popovich inside of Vostok 3 with the
intention to be the first dual space flight and rendezvous in
space.

Nikolayev was to make the first television
broadcast from space and the two capsules were to eventually
rendezvous and share radio messages.

The Raumsfahrtwaffe detected the television
transmission emanating from the Vostok 4 capsule and decided to
keep their distance.

They were, although, very curious as to the
purpose of Vostok 3. Why wasn’t this one broadcasting?

While they made no attempt to capture Vostok
3, they made several passes of the capsule to ascertain its
purpose.

Popovich took several photographs of the
objects and reported them to his mission control at Baikonur.

Eventually the objects disappeared and
Popovich continued on with his mission, rendezvousing with Vostok 4
and exchanging radio greetings.

After they both returned from their missions,
little more was said about the incident and the photos were
confiscated by the Soviet Government.

Both Cosmonauts remained mum about anything
that was witnessed during their simultaneous missions.

However Pavel Popovich’s wife, Soviet Air
Force colonel and engineer Marina Popovich, became a well known
outspoken UFO advocate within the Soviet Union for years to
come.

1 October 1962

American television started buzzing with rumors and
hearsay that there may be Soviet missiles inside of Cuba.

Though there was, as of yet, no
definitive proof; speculation ran rampant.

The White House ordered the Air Force to take
reconnaissance photos.

3 October 1962

NASA Launched the Sigma 7 capsule, carrying
astronaut ‘Wally’ Schirra, during the Mercury-Atlas 8 Mission.

Schirra’s mission was greatly overshadowed by the
media with the excitement and speculation about the Russian’s
missiles in Cuba.

During his sixth orbit, Schirra witnessed an object
over Madagascar.

NASA denied the sighting to the American Press, but
in later years, ground controllers from Australia and South Africa
confirmed the sighting event.

The most noteworthy happening during Mercury 8 was
probably that Schirra, a well known wise cracker, was the first
astronaut to refer to a UFO as ‘Santa Claus’ which would from then
on replace bogie as the standard euphemism used to describe UFOs
during NASA missions.

14 October 1962

A U.S. Air Force U-2 brings back photographic
proof that the Soviets were indeed, installing missiles into
Cuba.

15 October 1962

Johnston Atoll had been completely
decontaminated and rebuilt after the Bluegill Prime mishap.

And now, the countdown for Bluegill Double
Prime had commenced, only this time they built observation bunkers
for island personal.

They also had F-101s already in the air
patrolling the perimeter of the island, waiting for another visit
from the Overseers, as well as anti aircraft guns, poised, ready
and waiting.

As the launch time neared, Gus and Jack were
not watching the rocket, but scanning the horizon for intruders,
but none appeared.

When the countdown had finished, the rocket
took off as scheduled. Many in the control room wiped their brows
in relief as the status reports were heard throughout the control
room.

The countdown for the bomb activation then
commenced and the number of status reports increased, as the bomb
technician’s reports were added to the rocket technician’s
reports.

Then, suddenly, “Intruders!” alerted a radar
operator, “they’re faint, but they’re there.”

“Damn it, here they come,” commented the
control supervisor, “Can the fighters reach them?”

“Not at that altitude,” answered the radar
operator.

Everyone in the room watched helplessly as
the objects approached the Bluegill Double Prime rocket.

Then, a minute and a half after launch, the
rocket disappeared from the screens.

Observers looking from the windows could see
the explosion in the sky.

As the debris started falling from the
heavens, Jack facetiously quipped, “I guess we have a couple more
months to kill, what the hell.”

Gus just frowned and shrugged his
shoulders.

18 October 1962

The CIA and the Air Force agreed that objects
in the photos taken over Cuba, were indeed Soviet missiles, and
sent their report to Secretary of Defense McNamara, who received
the report late in the evening.

McNamara then called for an emergency meeting
first thing in the morning and summoned all the appropriate
people.

Once the meeting was started, Army General
Maxwell Taylor, Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff queried angrily,
“Why on Earth have you waited until morning to tell us about
this?”

“Oh, put a sock in it General,” interjected
Lemay, “It’s all part of the real plan, you just haven’t been
briefed yet.”

McNamara, frowned at Lemay, then went on to
brief all of the generals in attendance about the secret war that
had been being waged with the Nazis since the end of WWII.

Once the now informed generals were silent,
with their jaws on the floor, the meeting went on.

The President asked General Lemay, “Can you
please fill us in what has been going on lately?”

“Certainly, Mr. President,” answered Lemay as
he picked up the papers in front of him, “I think that the
Raumsfahrtwaffe has changed tactics… They have suddenly ceased any
attempts at capturing any of the Soviets, or our capsules, and they
have diverted their attention to destroying our atomic testing in
space… So far they have destroyed the last two endeavors at
detonating a weapon in space.”

“Do you think that the faux saber rattling
between us and the Soviets is fooling them?” asked Kennedy.

“I do… I don’t know for a fact, but what I do
know is that they are spending much of their reconnaissance efforts
on trying to figure out what the hell we are doing in the Gulf of
Mexico, the Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean, and I’m sure our
activity in the Pacific is baffling them as well… Doctor Volmer has
used one of his gadgets to somehow figure out that they are
monitoring our TV news broadcasts.”

McNamara then asked, “Well, if they are
successfully destroying all of our tests, what will happen if we
want to launch an actual attack? Will we be able to pull it
off?”

Lemay smiled and answered, “We have a plan…
They have been spending all of their time observing Air Force
activity. So I suggest that, with co-operation of General Taylor,
and the Army,” as he made a polite gesture to the Head of the
Chiefs of Staff, “that we use one of the Army’s missiles to launch
an Air Force device, and that we do it post haste.

General Taylor smiled at Lemay and then the
President and said, What ever I can do.“ then turned and shot an
angry look at McNamara while rolling his open right hand over,
silently suggesting,
what the hell is this crap?

20 October 1962

America launched an Air Force Checkmate
device atop an Army Xm-33 rocket.

It was a much smaller yield at only 7
kilotons which was more inline with the Hiroshima device, but the
Raumsfahrtwaffe was taken totally by surprise and could not
intervene in time.

The ad hoc test was a total success.

22 October 1962

The Soviets suddenly took the Raumsfahrtwaffe
by surprise again by launching their own atomic space device from
Kapustin Yar.

Schwerig was livid at the news, because now
he not only had to watch all of the American rocket activity, but
now he had to watch all of the Soviet rocket activity as well.

22 October 1962

President Kennedy addressed the American
public during a nation-wide broadcast to announce that the Air
Force and the CIA had confirmed the existence of Soviet Missiles in
Cuba.

Schwerig angrily tapped his fingers on his
desk as he watched the broadcast; thinking,
this is maddening…
what the hell are they doing? Is this another Bay of Pigs or is it
slight of hand to divert my attention from something else?

24 October 1962

The Soviet news agency TASS broadcast a
speech by Premier Khrushchev, ranting that, “This American ‘pirate
action’ will lead to war.”

Again, Schwerig watched, while nervously
picking his teeth with his thumbnail.

He felt the weight of his command as he
pondered,
I feel like the unpopular kid while the other children
are planning a party… what the hell are they up too?

25 October 1962

The U.S. Navy turned back 14 Soviet ships en
route to Cuba during the famous ‘line in the sand’ confrontation in
the Atlantic Ocean.

26 October 1962

The Air Force, tired of Kugelblitzen
assaults, installed surface to air missiles on Johnston Atoll in
order to protect their rockets until they reach their event
horizons in space.

The Raumsfahrtwaffe could obviously not wait
in space for them, because once they reach space, they would
detonate.

So on the 26
^th
of October,
Bluegill Triple Prime was launched, and detonated successfully in
space.

28 October 1962

The Soviet Union learned from America’s new
method and successfully tested another nuclear device over Kapustin
Yar.

28 October 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended when President
Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the weapons in
Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union. In reciprocation the
United States removed its missiles from Turkey, on the Soviet
border.

~~~**^**~~~