The Gemini Divergence (9 page)

“Never the less it would only be prudent that
we accept the possibility and plan for it.” Said the General, “We
need to alert Berlin that we will have to speed up the exodus plan
and send everything we have now and everything else as it arrives.
We must assume that we will not have this embarking point for more
than a week.”

*~*

The next day General Von Sterbenbach had
arrived at Riese and was checking into the officer’s quarters.

The sergeant at the desk informed him, “Herr
General, your departure is still scheduled for tomorrow. There are
no names on the boarding passes and no one has assigned seats. This
is to assure that we get everybody on a flight as soon as possible
and that we don’t have to deal with petty squabbling about who was
assigned to what seat and where. I am also afraid that the only
luggage allowed is a single bag that you can personally carry in
one hand, and whatever you can wear or carry in your pockets.”

“I understand, Feldwebel,” answered Von
Sterbenbach as he turned and left for his room.

Upon arriving to his billet, Von Sterbenbach
put his key into the door and entered.

At first he hung his coat on the hook behind
the door. As he was doing so, he noticed in the mirror on the back
of the door, that someone was already in the room, as he could see
somebody’s foot around the corner of the bed.

Without turning Von Sterbenbach drew his
Luger from its holster and then slowly turned, not yet showing
himself to whomever was waiting around the corner.

Von Sterbenbach raised his side arm to point
through the wall at whoever it was and then jumped into the room to
confront whoever was there.

Once inside the main room he found to his
surprise that it was Schwerig, who was pointing his Luger right
back at Von Sterbenbach.

Von Sterbenbach looked baffled.

Schwerig, with his crazy smile said, “Well
general, it appears as though we have what I believe they call a
Mexican stand off.”

“Why are you pointing your gun at me Major?”
asked the general.

“Why did you give orders to kill me?”
returned Schwerig.

“It is my prerogative as your Commanding
Officer to do so,” offered Von Sterbenbach, “You will never get
away with this. Others will know that there were orders to kill
you. They will figure out that you have killed me.”

“No they won’t,” Schwerig answered
sarcastically, “After you are dead, no one will know that there
were orders to kill me because the only ones that would have known,
would have been you and Toelke, and he is already dead.”

“How did he perish?” queried the General.

“I am afraid that there will probably be no
inquiry into Toelke’s death as he was killed by a random Sturmovik
attack” answered Schwerig, “and as for your death, they will assume
that Toelke just followed his orders before he perished, as he had
just received orders from SS headquarters to finish you off, once
you arrive here. They are in the attaché that I have cuffed to his
dead wrist.”

Von Sterbenbach looked as though he was going
to explode. He quickly reached over and turned out the lights and
the sound of rapid movement ensued.

Suddenly there was a gunshot, then
silence.

~~~**^**~~~

The Big War /
Lemay’s Qualms

The awesome power and the thunderous roar of
returning bombers permeated the air as General Lemay stood atop the
field tower with his binoculars in his hands.

He pulled them away from his eyes as he took
a few puffs from his ever present lit cigar.

His aid, behind and to his right, politely
asked the General, “What do you think will become of all of these
planes now that the war in Europe is over, Sir?”

Lemay looked over his shoulder at him with
slight annoyance, then turned back to looking at the planes as he
said, “They’ll be shipped to the South Pacific just like everything
else, including me, until Japan surrenders; but after that. I’ll
save as many of them as those idiots in congress will allow me too,
but I am sure that most of these beautiful machines will become
storm windows in a post war America.

“That’s heartbreaking… But you will still
have a lot of accomplishments to be proud of from this war. You’ve
invented the flight box. You have captured German rocket and jet
technology to use in the future Air Corp. The list go’s on and on,
sir. There is also no telling what innovations that you will come
up with when you arrive on Tinian Island to engage the
Japanese.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t capture one of those
overgrown lightning bugs!” retorted Lemay. “We didn’t even figure
out what the hell those spectral horse flies were, or sadder yet,
are still.”

“But Sir,” the aid tried to sooth. “The war
in Europe is over now. You don’t have to worry about those things
anymore.”

“Well if I didn’t figure out what in Heaven’s
name they are, then how in the world can I ever guarantee that they
won’t just fall out of the sky on us again sometime?” queried
Lemay, “And then what? I still will have no idea what the hell they
are, or what the hell to do with them. If they were German, than
where the hell did they park them? Where the hell are they now? Did
the Russians cart them off? Won’t that be dandy? How on Earth do I
explain this to congress? They will think its time to put me in the
funny farm. Then again, how in the hell am I going to explain it to
them if these things show up in the future some time, and I didn’t
tell them before. It will make me look like a damn fool,” Lemay
finished as he was leaning up against the rail thinking.

After a few moments of thought he continued,
“Oh, the press is already playing them down as flight crews having
too much to drink the night before, or me working them too damn
hard, but in reality, it is probably the biggest unanswered
question of the whole damn war, hands down… But few seem to know or
care as much as me.”

~~~**^**~~~

The Big War / New
Swabia

A glorious golden brown sunrise, the auburn
orb rising into the sky, illuminating a beautiful blue tint onto
the ice of Antarctica, and the dark sea’s that crash onto her
ancient ice cliffs.

In a semi hidden valley opening onto the sea,
there was movement; tiny figures moving about like ants… But a
closer look reveals them to be people.

Inhabitants were traversing to and fro over
ice that had been trodden into slush, working hard at their tasks
to build. As quickly as possible, build and disguise their new
home.

To them it is called New Swabia, a memoire of
their ancient home.

In under ground docks built to look like
outlets of under glacial rivers there sits docked a small fleet of
German U-boats, loading and unloading their wares.

Most of the modern city lay hidden beneath
the ice.

They have labored hard to tow a row of under
water icebergs and anchor them together to build a deadly under
water reef, to ward off any explorer that might find the valley
curiously attractive.

Only the Kriegsmariner U-boat pilots were
aware of where the safe egress point actually was. The only place
that any information about its location was stored was in the minds
of her captains.

Suddenly, a blinding light, as bright as the
sun, shone through a gap in the clouds. Dazzling light that cast
dancing shadows everywhere. But the workers paid no heed.

Any normal person would be frozen in awe, but
these workers give little regard, as if it were something that they
saw every day.

A small crew of runners dutifully set across
an open field, laying down temporary light beacons in the shape of
a cross. The field was not large enough to land a conventional
airplane, but it was large enough for a vertical take of and
landing craft.

No modern helicopters could ever reach from
Africa or South America to Antarctica, further ensuring their
seclusion.

Slowly but straightforwardly the ominous
flaring craft lowered to its specified and now marked landing
space.

As it neared the ground and dropped below the
hill line, one could finally observe past the bright lights of the
craft and actually see parts of the lumbering vehicle. German
Luftwaffe markings were clearly visible on its hull.

It hovered momentarily as the landing gear
protracted; three folding hydraulic legs with cleated feet on their
ends.

It landed with a slight spring in the
suspension, as it adjusted to keep the craft level while sitting
itself terra firma.

As its very quiet but not completely silent
engines began to wind down, a ramp began to lower from the
bottom.

Once it touched the ground, hydraulic
outriggers lowered from the ramp in order to firm it up enough to
haul cargo up and down its length.

The first on to the now lowered ramp were
ground crew running into the craft preparing it for
de-boarding.

After a brief pause, people began to exit the
craft. All carrying bags and dressed in Arctic gear.

The ground crew was backing up a truck to
unload all of the ship’s cargo, as the people were disembarking the
shuttle.

As the last passenger walked down the ramp,
he stopped at the bottom.

He pealed back the hood of his arctic parka
to more clearly view his surroundings, thus revealing his face.

It was Schwerig.

~~~**^**~~~

(The Late 40s)

~~~**^**~~~

The Cold War /
White Sands

From a distance the trucks were barely
discernible from the desert bushes. The billowing clouds that must
have literally been several tons of dust being pummeled into the
air looked like a giant plow laying the desert floor wide open.