by Jaxon Reed
She finished the last bite of her pie and stared back at him. He wore an astonished look on his face mixed with profound grief.
“Rick, I know you were going to ask me to marry you.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know how much I love you. You mean the world to me, Nance.”
“I know. I know. But I know other things, too.”
“Like what? What could be worth knowing beyond that?”
She sighed and crossed her arms, wondering how far to take this. Finally, the decision made, she drove forward full tilt.
“I know a lot of things. I know your trip was ostensibly to visit Bryan Air Base in Texas to help train new recruits, but the real reason you went down there was to interrogate Nazi pilots at the POW camp in Hearne.”
His eyes grew wide. He said, “How—”
“I know that after the war you’ll get a job as a pilot with TWA. You’ll meet a stewardess, fall in love with her, and ask her to marry you. You’ll raise three beautiful boys and live to a ripe old age, retiring in the Catskills.
“You get over me, Rick. And that’s how it should be. Life goes on. The people you love die, and you mourn their loss. Then you die and those still living mourn you. Death is inevitable. It’s how you live your life that counts, how you treat others, how well you come to know God and whether you accept Jesus or not. That’s what you’ll be judged on when your time comes before God’s throne.”
Nancy took another sip of coffee then set the cup down. She said, “All of that’s worth knowing, beyond the love you once had for me. My time here is done. I’m only back for a little while, to set things straight. Then I’ll be gone again.”
He looked down at the table for a long moment. Finally he glanced up again and held her eyes with his own. He said, “Okay. I accept you’re gone, and that you’re only back temporarily to help apprehend your murderer, whatever kind of evil being he is. I accept that once you’re gone again, I’ll move on and live my life without you.
“But I want you to accept that what we had was real. The love I had for you, the life we could have led together, all of that was real. And I will mourn your loss for a long, long time, Nancy Chance. You will never be far from my thoughts, no matter who I marry. I want to make sure you know that.”
Nancy reached across the table and touched his hand lightly. She nodded. Marcie smiled, looking first at her, then at him.
Rick stood up and said, “Come on, let’s go get that guy.”
Chapter 5
“We have reports that work is progressing in Chicago, Tennessee and New Mexico. As for the last one, my sources indicate they plan to test bombs out in the desert there.”
Kurtz had escaped the MPs. He relayed the information to Felix in a calm voice, but the fae could sense hidden tension in the German agent. The man’s blood pressure spiked, and Felix sensed Kurtz’s amygdala lighting up.
They met in Central Park again, this time far from the streets and prying eyes. They sat on a park bench near a deserted pathway, watching the snow as it came down in a gentle shower, cloaking them in privacy and covering the landscape in fluffy cold whiteness.
“What are you trying to say, Heinrich?” Felix’s voice sounded toneless, but nonetheless carried the implication Kurtz’s life hung on the response.
“All I’m saying is, it might be best to leave town. Work on the bomb can be disrupted elsewhere. It doesn’t have to be here.”
“You are a known entity, Heinrich. You think you could just travel cross-country and evade detection? New York is the perfect hiding place for you. I got you into the facility in New Jersey, I can get you in elsewhere.”
Kurtz opened his mouth to point out the illogical conclusion that if he couldn’t travel easily, it might not be easy to find work again.
Felix cut him off before he could say anything. “I can escape detection from our enemies much easier than you, Heinrich. But you, you’re a problem.”
“I am a problem?”
“Yes, you are a problem. The woman at the military base who interfered with our plans . . . she knew where to find you.”
Heinrich snorted. “That was simply bad luck.”
“No, Heinrich, she knew where to find you. She can find you right now, too. And that’s the problem I’m talking about.”
Heinrich opened his mouth. He did not get the chance to argue. A shimmering vertical line of blue-green light appeared on the path, quickly widening, and the woman in question stepped through carrying an iron rod.
Felix said, “Sorry, Heinrich, but you’ve become a liability.” He made a pulling motion toward the German’s chest.
Heinrich gasped and slumped, sinking off the bench and down to the ground. Felix jumped up and ran down the path, away from Nancy.
Nancy threw her rod at him. It broke into a dozen spikes, all swarming toward Felix. He jerked to the right, and suddenly another version of Felix peeled off from his body. Then another. The metal pieces flew after the new Felixes while the original disappeared in a flash of light.
The two clones stopped running, turned and assumed fighting stances on the path, only to be met immediately by the spikes. They both exploded in clouds of oily black smoke.
The spikes made an aerial U-turn and rushed back toward Nancy, flying in tight circles around her to form a cylinder of protection. But Felix did not reappear to resume the fight.
Nancy said, “Find him, Cait.”
“I am trying. But his spell is particularly adept at thwarting my sensors. We were fortunate your hunch about him visiting Herr Kurtz proved accurate.”
“Never trade your luck for skill.”
“That statement does not compute. I have analyzed it repeatedly since you first mentioned it to me 281 years, three months, and—”
“Help me save Kurtz. He may have some valuable info for us. I’ll perform CPR, you fibrillate his heart or something.”
She approached the fallen spy, and moved his body so it lay flat on the ground.
Cait said, “I am afraid all efforts will be useless. Felix did not just stop Kurtz’s heart. He took it away. There is nothing in the chest cavity, leaving us with zero chance at resuscitation.”
Back in Marcie’s apartment, Nancy sat morosely with her friends.
At least she no longer felt guilty about drinking Marcie’s coffee. Cait had fetched her a large supply of fresh grounds from a nearby alternate in which the United States had not yet entered the war. The cans of Maxwell House were identical in every way to their own world’s, indistinguishable from one another.
As they sipped, Rick said, “It would have been nice to interrogate him, Nance. but I can’t shed any tears for that Nazi. From what you said, his dynamite would have taken out some critical people in our weapons program.”
Inwardly, Nancy’s heart leapt at his term of endearment. Nobody else had ever called her “Nance,” in her life or afterlife.
She said, “It’s worse than that. Kurtz was our link to Felix. It’s going to be a lot harder to find the fae again. His cloaking spell is different from anything we’ve seen before, and the computer is having a hard time cracking it.”
Marcie said, “And you just left his body there? That poor man.”
Nancy looked up at Marcie’s horrified face. She had not taken news of the events well.
“Marcie, his heart was gone. Felix must have teleported it somewhere. There was no way to save him, he had already suffered too much damage by the time I got to him. And he was not a ‘poor man.’ He was a Nazi. Don’t be too sympathetic.”
“But you just left him there.”
Rick snorted. He said, “No telling how many of our people he’s taken out. We’ve been suffering from sabotage for months. You never read about it in the papers, though. It’s all hushed up. I wouldn’t shed any tears for the man. That’s one less saboteur we have to deal with, far as I’m concerned.”
Nancy reached across the table and gripped her secretary’s
hand, reassuringly. She said, “Somebody will find him, Marcie. It’s not like people haven’t died in Central Park before.”
“But won’t they notice he has no heart?”
Nancy shook her head. “Honestly, I doubt it. They’ll look at how old Kurtz is, they’ll note it happened in the snow and the cold, and go from there. I doubt they’ll do an autopsy. Who knows, Felix might have replaced the heart by now, just to cover his tracks.”
Marcie’s eyes grew wide. She said, “He can do that?”
Nancy nodded. “Yes. If he can take the heart out, he can put it back in. It would make things neater. I wouldn’t put it past Felix, he’s shown himself to be very careful with his murders. With me, he made sure to shoot me in the head after I went down, even though he killed me in much the same way.”
Rick said, “We’ve got to figure out a way to catch this man without the help of your computer. What can you tell me about the weapons program he’s trying to disrupt? I know it must be critical to our victory, otherwise he wouldn’t be messing with it.”
“It’s all classified, but I don’t see the harm in you knowing.”
Privately, Nancy thought, Cait could erase the knowledge from their minds at any time. So, there really was not any harm in them knowing, at least for now.
Out loud she said, “We’re working on an atom bomb. It involves a huge release of energy when an atom is split. I know that sounds odd, but just take my word for it. They’ll be known as ‘city busters.’ One bomb is strong enough to wipe out an entire metropolis. We should have at least two developed by the end of the war, in a couple of years if things go as they should.
“The war will end in 1945. The Russians and their neighbors are taking care of Germany for us. They’ll dismantle the Reich from the east and eventually take Berlin. We’ll come in from Normandy and Italy and provide a second front in Europe. Germany will be destroyed, but not from nuclear bombs. Those are reserved for Japan.”
Rick said, “Good. Serves the Nips right, after Pearl Harbor.”
Nancy smiled grimly and said, “After the war, that term will be seen as pejorative. The Japanese and Germans are destined to become some of our closest allies in the years ahead.”
Rick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Nancy smiled again and continued. “For now, or rather in 1945, the Japanese will refuse to surrender. The President will have a choice to make. He will either have to initiate a prolonged invasion of Japan with everybody there fighting our boys to the last breath, or he’ll drop a couple of atom bombs. Then he can tell them to surrender or we’ll take out every city they have, one by one.
“In almost every alternate, the President chooses Option Two, and the Japanese surrender by the first or second bomb that’s dropped. And that’s what is supposed to happen in our world, too. But it won’t occur if work on the bomb keeps getting disrupted by Felix.”
Marcie said, “And we can’t find him?”
Nancy shook her head.
“Then what are we going to do? How are we going to stop him? Your idea of keeping an eye on the German was brilliant, but now he’s killed the poor man!”
Nancy said, “I haven’t figured that out yet, Marcie. I hate to say it, but we’re probably going to have to wait until he strikes again, then I’ll have to trust Cait can port me to wherever he shows up in time to catch him before he can do more damage.”
“It’d be a lot easier if we kept an eye on the places he’s most likely to hit,” Rick said. “Where’s the next key development in the atom bomb supposed to take place?”
Nancy’s eyes grew wide. She said, “Rick, that’s it! They were making silver bars in New Jersey for the electromagnetic separation of isotopes.”
Rick and Marcie looked at one another. Marcie shrugged.
Nancy said, “Never mind. All you need to understand is, it’s easier to use copper but they had to use silver since copper is in such short supply due to the war effort. So they borrowed tons of silver from the Treasury. Literally tons. It was all melted down into huge bars then cut into coils for giant magnets.
“All of those silver coils have been taken to a secret facility they built in the Tennessee River Valley. It’s called Oakwood. If Felix is going to sabotage something, I bet it would be there!”
In her mind, Nancy said, “Cait, I need you to monitor Oakwood for us. Pay extra attention to what’s going on there.”
Cait said, “I am on it. I will also step up observations at Los Alamos and other high profile areas connected to the Manhattan Project, as per Rick’s suggestion.”
“Thanks.”
Out loud, Nancy said, “Okay, I’ve asked Cait to keep an eye on things. She’ll pay close attention to our secret sites in Tennessee, New Mexico and elsewhere.”
Rick frowned. Nancy noticed and said, “What?”
He said, “They’re not so secret if everyone knows about them.”
“Everybody doesn’t know about them.”
“You do. Felix does. Now we do.”
“Rick, I remind you that you wanted in on this.”
“Well, I don’t mind knowing about it myself,” he said, glancing at Marcie. “I’m just unsure how comfortable I am with a bunch of civilians knowing about it.”
Nancy said, “Rick, you better be glad I know about the Manhattan Project. And I’m not part of this world anymore, remember?”
“I know, I know. I’m just . . . uncomfortable.”
Cait said, in Nancy’s mind, “Tell him I will be more than willing to wipe everyone’s memory when this is all over.”
“Stay out of this, Cait.”
Out loud she said, “Look, it’s a good bet Felix is going to show up somewhere. When he does, I want to be ready. I’m going to get some rest, then I’ll head to Oakwood. If he went after the silver coils in New Jersey, I bet he goes after them again in Tennessee.”
“I’ll go with you,” Rick said.
“What? No, stay here. It’s not safe.”
“Nothing’s really safe, Nancy. Besides, you’re dealing with the military. I can be of more assistance to you there than back here.”
“We’ll talk about it after I get some sleep.”
Chapter 6
Nancy hoped to wake up before the others and sneak away the following morning. But she came into the kitchen to find Rick cooking pancakes and pouring her a fresh cup of coffee.
After a private conversation with Cait in her head, in which the computer assured her that a door could be opened for Rick to escape in case of trouble, Nancy finally agreed to let him come along.
Cait said, “He is correct in that his military knowledge might prove useful.”
“I’m just not used to battling fae with a sidekick, that’s all,” Nancy said. She watched Rick’s broad back as he flipped pancakes at the stove, his flattop haircut gleaming softly in the morning light streaming in from the kitchen window.
“In my estimation, your former beau would make an excellent fae hunter.”
“He still has a life to lead, Cait! He’s not immortal, and he can’t be allowed to die yet. He’s got a wife to marry and kids to raise. Those descendants aren’t going to be around in this alternate if he dies right now. He really shouldn’t be going out there with me.”
“I will provide him additional safety precautions. But I calculate a higher percentage of success if he accompanies you. As you know, the United States must be the first world power to succeed in developing the atomic bomb. America must defeat the Axis in order to prevent this alternate from prematurely sliding into chaos.”
“Fine. He can go with me. But you need to do everything you can to keep him safe.”
A vertical sliver of blue-green light appeared in the middle of a road outside a small town. It quickly grew wider, allowing Nancy to step through. Rick followed close behind. He caught up and walked down the road alongside her. It led downhill into a fog-covered valley. Their clothes changed as they walked along, thanks to Cait. Now they were clad in light blue overalls.
Rick said, “Kinda reminds me of Burma Shave signs.”
“It’s a completely secret city. People don’t even know what they’re working on. The government wants to keep it that way, too.”
As they walked into town they passed a baseball diamond in a field on the side of the road.
“At least folks can enjoy themselves,” Rick said.
“Yeah. They’ve got intramural leagues and everything.”
The town came to life as sunlight flooded the streets. Men and women streamed from their homes and walked to hastily erected buildings. Everything seemed designed for utilitarian purposes. All the structures were simple, with wood, brick and white paint put to good use.
Nancy said, “Cait says we should report for duty at the ‘Uniform Depot.’ That’s where they inspect the clothing for decontamination.”
“Decontamination?”
Nancy nodded and said, “The scientists are dealing with radioactive materials, and have to go through a decontamination process. Otherwise, they’ll get cancer and their lifespan will be shortened considerably. Cait says our job will be on the team inspecting clothes and other things with a Geiger counter. Mainly we’ll just be required to report any high readings.”
“Whatever you say. I don’t understand much of what you’re saying, though.”
“That’s okay. Nobody else here knows what’s going on, either. You’ll fit right in.”
They found a nondescript building with wooden whitewashed walls and a tin roof on the other side of town. A sign out front indicated it was the correct facility.
Nancy said, “Cait has placed the appropriate papers in your pocket. You’ll need to show them to our new boss.”
Rick reached his hand into the front of his overalls and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He said, “That wasn’t there a minute ago.”